Book Review
Year One
by Nora Roberts
St. Martin’s Press © 2017
Chronicles of The One Trilogy Book 1
Summary:
The sickness (“The Doom”) spread like wildfire. With a 100% mortality rate, the population was quickly divided into segments: those that are immune, and those that are destined to succumb. Many who survive find themselves with new-found magick. Such a surge in power can, and does, corrupt some survivors.
Survivors of The Doom are left to rebuild their lives. They look for friends and loved ones, praying to find one another. Strangers encountered are met with suspicion and occasionally violence. Communities must rebuild and hide from “Raiders” seeking only to destroy. People gifted with magick must also hide from those that hunt them out of fear of that power.
Into this world The One will come. She will be born of two witches and is predestined to fight for the light in order to save the world from the darkness.
My Thoughts:
I found books 1 and 2 of The One Series on the Barnes & Noble Annex recently. Feeling lucky to score a deal on 2/3 of a Nora Roberts trilogy, I purchased these books without reading the story summary. I quickly realized how (in COVID-19 quarantine) these books would make me feel super uncomfortable. Reading these pages created a worst-case of the anxiety which kept me up at night in the early weeks of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Once I separated myself from reality and immersed myself into Nora Roberts’ disease-ravaged world, I was truly able to enjoy the story. I appreciate the way Nora Roberts paces her stories, offering readers glimpses of the story from multiple viewpoints. It also allows her to introduce a broad community of characters without readers feeling bogged down by exposition.
Alas, Babylon was required reading in my sophomore high school English class. (I was a sick and twisted student who not only read the required reading in English, but had the nerve to enjoy most of it.) I do not remember the entire story, but I remember being fascinated with the rebuilding of a community. It starts with the emergence of leadership. From that leadership, trust is built. As trust is built, people begin to band together to take care of each other and think through the basics of survival, like clean drinking water and food.
As leaders emerged in this story, I found myself equally drawn in and fascinated. Humans have an amazing ability to adapt and survive. This book is a fantasy twist on that survival, along with a light-versus-dark battle for the souls of humanity on top.
This book, if your anxiety-filled, COVID-fearing brain can get through The Doom, is enjoyable. I started the second book in the trilogy, Of Blood and Bone, almost immediately after I finished this book. It pulls you in!