It’s happened. Billions went to bed and billions never woke up.Overnight the world as we know it is gone. Those who remain are mostly lost. A few know what to do and are ruthless in doing it.To avoid being one of the dead, Bill Arthur leaves the city to find a place in the country he can call home. With a handful of friends, he draws on his knowledge and starts rebuilding a new world. A better … rebuilding a new world. A better world. Until he meets someone else who wants to be the boss.
Filled with holy zeal, the Reverend Jedidiah Powers wants to make Rocheport a city of God and fights Bill every step of the way to get what he wants. Even if it means killing people to do so.
The Morning Star is not your everyday zombie-filled post-apocalyptic novel. It’s about working together, independence, freedom, and good old-fashioned know-how. Preppers, survivalists, homesteaders, libertarians will find inspiration in The Morning Star.
The Morning Star is the initial book in CW Hawes’s The Rocheport Saga. If you like post-apocalyptic classics such as Earth Abides, The Day of the Triffids, Death of Grass, and Terry Nation’s Survivors, you’ll enjoy this series that is thoughtful and captivating.
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Good post-apocalyptic books tend to scare me and not in a good way, mostly because I can envision them actually happening. Zombies, not so much. But a realistic ending of the world as we know it is an ever-present possibility in today’s society with environmental disasters, the wrong fingers on The Button, and new diseases with no cures. And The Morning Star is one of these types of books. Everything in this book is possible and that’s the terrifying part. Survival isn’t just about finding food, it’s about fending off your fellow man who is out to take everything from you, and in this terrifying novel, even your body to be used as food.
We follow Bill, our protagonist as he adapts to his new way of life. At first, a loner, with no desire to be a leader, but due to circumstances, finds himself very much the leader, wanting to rebuild society and maintain much of its technology, which he fears will be lost in a short time if not preserved.
In this first book of the series, a budding romance is formed between Bill and a much-younger woman, which also seems very likely in the event that not many people are available to choose from, and losing everyone in your life creates a strong desire to connect with another, even if they don’t get the joke of your time or know the bands and music you listened to as a teen. The bond goes much deeper when survival of the human race is at stake.
I highly recommend this page-turner! While it took me a while to come down from the jitters I felt reading it, the story was just what I needed to make me appreciate what we have, and boy do we have much to be thankful for!
C.W. Hawes provides an all to realistic apocalypse scenario where most of humanity gets wiped out by a fast moving virus. The survivors must make the most of what’s left and rebuild some semblance of civilization. This is one of the most well-thought out series in the post-apocalyptic genre. C.W. Hawes tackles an apocalypse from a variety of perspectives – emotional, psychological, technological and societal. He keeps the human story moving forward and he’ll keep you turning pages. This is an excellent series for prepper and non-prepper alike.
4.5 stars
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Having started and abandoned two other books of the same genre before opening this one, it was great to find something intelligently written by a writer with real talent; as soon as I’d read the first page I was sure I was going to love it.
Bill Arthur is a guy in his late fifties who is surviving after whatever happened on ‘That Day’. Along his travels southwards from Minnesota, after leaving groups that weren’t working out, he teams up with several others, and they settle in Rocheport, Missouri. All is going smoothly – but then another group turn up, led by a religious zealot.
This is a post apocalyptic book about real people, about survival and the effect of TEOTWAWKI on humans used to every technological convenience. It’s told by Bill in the first person, in a laid back sort of diary format. Of course, this structure has its limitations, namely in describing events that happen to others in Bill’s group, and further afield, but this is handled well, and never clumsily.
I liked Bill a lot, enjoyed reading his philosophical thoughts and the methods employed for the group’s well-being; I was engrossed all the way through. Although not a gun fights and action book, it is not without suspense and danger, and is certainly a page turner.
I’ve knocked off half a star because of an editorial issue (ie, one the editor should have picked up on) that is one of my pet whinges: the not infrequent use of the term ‘Sally (or whoever) and I’ when it should have been ‘Sally and me’**, and because I was frustrated that we were never told exactly what happened on ‘That Day’, or why it occurred.
These small issues aside, I absolutely recommend this book for lovers of this genre; it’s a quiet gem, and one I’m glad I’ve discovered. C W Hawes is a terrific writer, and I’ve already begun the second book in the series.