Today I review After The Crumble. A new book review James? Yes finally. I was sent after the crumble in between a move or two. It got put on the back burner. Also I was a slow reader. I fixed that. I used this book to train on some speed reading techniques. Which will help me get these reviews out much faster.

“Our future has crumbled. In the late 2020s, the grid finally flickered out for the last time, succumbing to attacks from a newly formed Resistance, fuel scarcity, and general entropy.
It is now the year 2037 and many have died, with the few that managed to escape death solely concerned with their daily survival. Gavin Collier is one of those lucky few, but survival alone isn’t enough for him anymore.”

After the crumble

The story begins with Gavin searching for a  Bichon Frise dog he heard rumors about. While the world has gone to hell he wants a fancy dog for breeding purposes. This leads to him getting into some trouble with bandits. He decides to take them on alone. He does succeed in killing them all but gets injured in the process.

He manages to make it to a small town where a doctor he knows patches him up. The doctors young and beautiful niece helps to get Gavin back to health. They quickly fall in love and pan to marry.

The story has characters relate how the crumble came. How the “Machine” became too big and unsustainable. The end was sped up with help from rebels. The rebels did eco terrorist acts and attacked the government however they could. Destroying technology, atms, power stations etc. All in an attempt to hurry the crumble.

After the crumble follows Gavin, Lea and his family through their farming and bandit fighting.

The Good

I liked the positive spin on living after a disaster. Many novels set during this time are bleak. People are just surviving. No one has dreams anymore. They just move through life. In After the crumble you see people picking up the pieces. Pursuing their dreams. Doing more than just what needs to be done to live. Laughing and loving.

A few of the characters were well developed. Gavin had a lot of personality. He had interests, pain and pride. He also dropped a lot of pop culture references. Star Wars and Conan. Many used to make points the character has. Sometimes he comes off a little preachy but so do I.

Each chapter begins with a little factoid on things leading to the crumble. I like the way they progress up to the most recent events. Many of them you may already know.

The Bad

This book had a few issues with me. Things that didn’t seem to make sense. Like after getting attacked and killing a boy Gavin starts smoking a joint. I certainly have nothing against marijuana. I do not think It wise to compromise your senses after a violent encounter with more possibly coming. Then the whole taking on an entire bandit encampment alone.

Gavin I thought was a well developed character. Some of the others though I don’t really know anything about. I didn’t feel like I got to know them.

When Gavin goes off on one of his lectures everyone just agrees with him. When I go off on lectures about breast milk, vaccines, or eating toxic shit people lose their minds. A little push back would have been realistic to me.

Some may be put off my Gavins theories on religion or of God. I don’t see how they could be offensive. The Godspark was kinda interesting. Like the kind of conversation had under the moon with maybe too many drinks.

Then there was the weird mystic stuff that crept in later in the book. To be it threw a monkey wrench in the book. Seeing auras and godspark in people. For a book grounded in the facts that could lead to the collapse to then plunge down that rabbit hole seemed odd. I like magic in my fantasy books. Here it felt out of place.

Conclusion

If you want to read a prepper book that shows doing more than just surviving. A book that has some humor and pop fiction. A little magic thrown in too. Then After the crumble might be the book for you. In fact if you really want it I’ll send you mine. I live in a tiny house I can’t keep everything I review. Be the first to send your shipping address to me James at  Survivalpunk dot com. Enjoy.

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