Year oNe

released OUT NOW! 400 pages | Paperback/ebook

Author Colin sinclair, Tim Major, Julian Benson Publisher abaddon released OUT NOW! 432 pages | Hardback/ebook Author Nora roberts Publisher Piatkus Books

As apocalypses go, the one in Nora Roberts’s series-starter Year One might just be the most romantic. Okay, not for the literally billions of people who die of a mysterious plague, but for the survivors, for whom the end of the world brings something magical. In the wake of disaster, apparently normal people discover they’re actually paranormal: they’re elves, or fairies, or witches, or some other kind of fairytale creature.

Sounds bonkers, right? It’s definitely an inventive way to add sparkle to a tired subgenre, so it’s a shame it doesn’t quite work. The magic lets Roberts play with characters who’d never survive, say, a Cormac McCarthy novel, but it also makes things a bit too unreal. And who’s got time to worry about a vaguely worded prophecy when you’ve got gangs with guns marauding all over the place?

More frustratingly, there’s just too much crammed in here. Like the title suggests, this is the story of the first year after the apocalypse (from patient zero’s first cough onwards) and it’s got a sprawling cast of characters. That means everything happens fast, and while the breakneck pace will keep you turning the pages, you might also find yourself turning them backwards, trying to figure out if and where you missed something.

A fun idea for a book, then, but maybe one that would’ve worked better as a TV show. Sarah Dobbs