This review applies to the (current) entire Borrowed World series, books 1-6.
Instead of using the overdone catalyst of an EMP attack, the author chose a mundane and much more likely terrorist attack that brings down the US power grid for the majority of the US. This sudden widespread loss of electrical power leaves a group of coworkers stranded several hours away. This is how we’re introduced to the main characters and their struggle to return home, and what happens to them afterwards.
The author took the time to tell the story and let us get to know the characters. Good character development, a believable storyline, and details made this a highly enjoyable book. I usually have a good number of credits on file with Audible, as I get books faster than I can listen to them. However, I burned through all of my credits getting these books and even ponied up the cash for the last one, as I had no more credits available. The books were on the short side (about 8 hours each), but were page-turners and they went by fast.
Decent post-apocalyptic fiction needs to have the same quality of writing as any other book, with the addition of a plausible set of events and realistic reactions by the characters. You get that with this series. As for prepper fiction, this is better than most, with a good many incidents creating “thinking” moments on how best to prepare for such events.
The author is an excellent job of weaving details and a wide plethora of characters in a manner which wasn’t overloading for the reader. While some authors will pile on the number of characters all at once, this author introduced new characters with just enough information on them to be relevant. We learned more about the character as the story continued, which allowed the reader to easily keep track of an increasing number of people involved in the story.
One aspect of this series, which doesn’t always appear in survival fiction, is the very realistic loss of characters and events that don’t always go in favor of the protagonists. This kept me from being able to guess what was going to happen next, which was part of why this series was so good.
If you’re into prepper/survival fiction, check out this series.