Continuing a series is always exciting. By the third part, you have a pretty good idea of the main character’s motivation, strengths and weaknesses. To continue their adventures and see whether changed circumstances change their behaviour is exciting.
Were your expectations met, did they do what you thought? As for the narrative, there’s the possibility that things might not have turned out how you expected or hoped. The action might have gone off in a different direction. In some cases, there is a period of consolidation in later books in a series, others race ahead with new plot strands coming thick and fast.
So, which one is this?
Chantelle Atkins is an author whose work I’m growing to love.
I read the first part of this series recently and reviewed it here.
Part one was an amazingly strong piece about the collapse of society as we know it and the emergence of a new social order, in which children are the dominant force. The survivors split into groups, all of them are organised in different ways but they all share the same goal. To survive.
Part two followed on and kept the tension levels high. The story developed in a frightening yet completely logical way as the survivors learned more about their world and the new normal. Except that the new normal was consistent only in the fact that it kept changing. Once again, nature took charge of a large part of the action, it almost feels like revenge for the way humanity has abused it over the years.
Now, we get to part three.
Here’s the description,
The adults are all dead. Society has collapsed.
Relentless storms have left carnage in their wake: homes flooded, precious resources ruined, missing children…
The two warring tribes of Heron Village are now united against a bigger threat. Chess is missing. Was she lost to the storm or has David, the enigmatic man in white, taken her?
Former enemies, Gus and Reuben work together to find the truth and rescue their friend; downing their weapons, ending their feud and confronting the leader of the town community. While Gus is taken under David’s wing, Reuben discovers how dangerous the man in white really is, and as the storms and floods finally abate, a brutal Winter sets in, making survival almost impossible…
The book is available on Amazon, click here for your copy.
My thoughts.
Picking up from where we left off, our survivors have dealt with everything that has happened so far.
They’ve had baking heat, rain and floods, and now it’s snowing. Hard choices need to be made, just to get to the next day.
If you’ve made it this far through the series, you’ll know all about the way that nature seems to be conspiring to take revenge for the way we’ve treated her.
This extra character adds to the depth of the tale; as if the mere act of surviving the end of the world wasn’t enough for them to deal with. The thing I love about this series is the way the characters react, it’s so realistic as we get inside the minds of the children, who are having to grow up and adapt to their new lives fast.
It would make a fantastic story just showing how the children are dealing with whatever nature throws at them, but the author introduced another element in the last part. This is developed into a chilling confrontation in this story.
As you’ll remember, there’s another group of survivors living nearby, controlled by one of the few adults who has survived. But what are his intentions? In a world with imperfect communications, there’s only one way to find out.
No spoilers here but this course of action is brilliantly examined, showing just what human nature is capable of. Once again, there’s a cliffhanger ending to contend with, making us wait for the next part.
Highly recommended.
About the Author.
Chantelle Atkins was born and raised in Dorset, England and still resides there now with her husband, four children and multiple pets. She is addicted to reading, writing and music and writes for both the young adult and adult genres. Her fiction is described as gritty, edgy and compelling.
Her debut Young Adult novel The Mess Of Me deals with eating disorders, self-harm, fractured families and first love.
Her second novel, The Boy With The Thorn In His Side follows the musical journey of a young boy attempting to escape his brutal home life and has now been developed into a 5 book series.
She is also the author of This Is Nowhere and award-winning dystopian, The Tree Of Rebels, plus a collection of short stories related to her novels called Bird People and Other Stories.
The award-winning Elliot Pie’s Guide To Human Nature was released in October 2018.
YA novel A Song For Bill Robinson was released in December 2019 and is the first in a trilogy, followed by Emily’s Baby and The Search For Summer in 2021.
In 2022 she released another collection: The Old Friend – A Collection of Tales and Poems and the first in the supernatural YA series, Hangman’s Revenge, which was co-written with Sim Alec Sansford.
Chantelle has had multiple articles about writing published by Author’s Publish magazine and runs her own Community Interest Company – Chasing Driftwood Writing Group.
Links:
Website/blog : https://chantelleatkins.com/
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/chantelleatkinswriter
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Chanatkins
Pinterest: https://uk.pinterest.com/chantelleatkins/
https://www.instagram.com/chantelleatkinswriter/
Email Newsletter Sign Up: http://eepurl.com/bVVbGD
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chantelleatkinswriter/
Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chantelle-Atkins/e/B00J7ACVCY/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1
Books;
The Mess Of Me
The Boy With The Thorn In His Side – series
Bird People and Other Stories
This Is Nowhere
The Tree Of Rebels
Elliot Pie’s Guide To Human Nature
A Song For Bill Robinson
Emily’s Baby
The Search For Summer
The Old Friend – A Collection of Tales and Poems
Hangman’s Revenge
Project Pandora
Days End
The Day The Earth Turned – series
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