#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A stunning new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts–Year One is an epic of hope and horror, chaos and magick, and a journey that will unite a desperate group of people to fight the battle of their lives… It began on New Year’s Eve. The sickness came on suddenly, and spread quickly. The fear spread even faster. Within weeks, everything … quickly. The fear spread even faster. Within weeks, everything people counted on began to fail them. The electrical grid sputtered; law and government collapsed–and more than half of the world’s population was decimated.
Where there had been order, there was now chaos. And as the power of science and technology receded, magick rose up in its place. Some of it is good, like the witchcraft worked by Lana Bingham, practicing in the loft apartment she shares with her lover, Max. Some of it is unimaginably evil, and it can lurk anywhere, around a corner, in fetid tunnels beneath the river–or in the ones you know and love the most.
As word spreads that neither the immune nor the gifted are safe from the authorities who patrol the ravaged streets, and with nothing left to count on but each other, Lana and Max make their way out of a wrecked New York City. At the same time, other travelers are heading west too, into a new frontier. Chuck, a tech genius trying to hack his way through a world gone offline. Arlys, a journalist who has lost her audience but uses pen and paper to record the truth. Fred, her young colleague, possessed of burgeoning abilities and an optimism that seems out of place in this bleak landscape. And Rachel and Jonah, a resourceful doctor and a paramedic who fend off despair with their determination to keep a young mother and three infants in their care alive.
In a world of survivors where every stranger encountered could be either a savage or a savior, none of them knows exactly where they are heading, or why. But a purpose awaits them that will shape their lives and the lives of all those who remain.
The end has come. The beginning comes next.
more
Good book, although it does not rival her romance novels.
This one is definitely outside the scope of the usual Nora Roberts romance stories, although there are definitely ties to the series of hers that involve magic—especially the last few that blended together all kinds of magical/fantasy lore. I enjoyed this story, although for those of you looking for a light bedtime read this may not be for you. It’s dark, post-apocalyptic urban fantasy… so if you’re scared of the dark or watching The Handmaid’s Tale makes you sleep with the light on, maybe be really sure before you dive into this 🙂
This is a new Nora Roberts for me! I’ve been a fan of her romance novels, especially the Three Sisters Island trilogy, which I read at least twice a year. Not a J.D. Robb fan – too much bad stuff in the news.
But…
Year One grabbed me by the throat and held me there until the last page, whereupon I hit the bookstore immediately looking for the next one and discovered that I really did get Year One as it came out. Curses, Nora Roberts! Waiting is so hard to do….
YEAR ONE is super storytelling, inventive and scary. I loved the audiobook! (Pro Tip: Don’t go grocery shopping prior to a possible snowpocalypse whilst listening to this book. )
The first time I read Year One we weren’t in the middle of a pandemic. Now we are, and this book hit much harder because of it. While our pandemic is nothing like the one that everyone in this book was going through so many things resonated from start to finish.
What surprised me so much about this book was the beauty and light that we see coming from the people who are really fighting to build a better world. They know it is not going to be easy and that have so many forces fighting against them, but they are still pushing for that better world after all the death.
One of Nora Roberts best books in years Year One will have you fearing the unknown and falling in love with it at the same time. The forces at play are much bigger than you could ever imagine but these people will stop at nothing to let the light win.
Nora Roberta doesn’t disappoint
Really great
This book was fantastic! I would definitely recommend! This is my first book by Nora Roberts, and I cannot wait to explore more.
Now for the 4 star rating instead of 5:
The first 50% of this book was fantastic. It was thrilling, fast-paced, mysterious, and dangerous. I loved the different storylines and watching them all converge. I thought the writing was well done, and the stakes were so high I often feared for our characters.
That said, the second half of the book was blotchy. There were times where it was incredibly slow (like, skim paragraphs to get to the juicy parts slow), and the characters started getting too many. They became less fleshed out, and more black-and-white, good vs evil. Their storylines became less intriguing, especially during that whole New Hope Settlement scenes, those were incredibly boring.
The ending was satisfying, it felt like the story had come full circle, but also left a lot open-ended for the second book.
Loved it!!!!
I finished Book One and could hardly wait for the next in this trilogy .
I did not enjoy it
Wow! After reading ‘The Awakening’, the first in Nora Roberts Dragon Heart Legacy, I wanted to read more of her superb storytelling of magicks. Finding ‘The Chronicles of The One’ was another fantastic breath of fresh air. The story of The One embodied in Fallon Swift was a joy to read, I loved the apocalyptic fiction of a pandemic, read while we’re still in the midst of our real-world global virus. This, wound into the fabulous world of magicks, light and dark, good and evil has been a wonderful escape from our everyday world. Combining a supernatural element into a plague book made for an exciting read and a sure fire way for me to read the next two books in this delicious trilogy. This story will stay with me for months to come. Love it.
Would you believe this is an apocalyptic novel involving a pandemic!! I had no idea until I started reading it. This pandemic killed off 80% of the world’s population leaving a combination of humans, dark Uncanny and light Uncanny. The novel follows three groups of survivors: Max and Lana who are witches; Jonah and Rachel EMT and doctor who bring Katie and three babies with them; Arlys a news reporter, Chuck a computer genius and Fred a fairy. They all arrive in New Hope where it looks like they will have a successful community of humans and Light Uncanny when threats from the Dark Uncanny and Purity Warriors become all too real. They are after the infant that Lana carries and who is prophesied to be the One who will save the world. This was a page turner and I am ready to start book 2.
Really enjoyed this trilogy!
This series was so great. I couldn’t stop reading once I started.
I read the entire series, which I totally recommend. Amazing that the first book was published in 2017, and the trilogy is about a world-wide pandemic. Very timely! It’s interesting to see what could happen. As always, Roberts injects a certain amount of romance into her books, and this trilogy especially, has a great deal of the magical and fantasy in it. Great read!
I love when Nora delves into the fantasy and this book is no different. Sped thru the first one and now onto the second!
New Year’s Eve was the beginning of the end as an unknown sickness spread and, in a short period of time, took out over half the world’s population. As electricity, science, and technology fall, magick rises in many people. Some of the people were good while others allowed darkness to take over. But as the survivors fight to make a new life in the midst of the crumbling world, there is hope.
Nora Roberts is one of my favorite authors and this book is a prime example of why. Full of action and intrigue, this well-written book pulled me in from the beginning and kept me hooked until the end. I’m really looking forward to the next book and highly recommend this one.
In my quest to continually better my writing skills, I devour books. Picking up bestsellers I’m searching for their magical ingredients – what makes this book a New York Times bestseller? Is it the characters, plot or writing style?
The book I have just turned the last page of is Year One by Nora Roberts.
A deadly pandemic with the name of ‘The Doom’ starts in the outback of wild Scotland. Within 72 hours people are dying. Sounds like fun, right!
What I really appreciate about his book is that the price is only £2.99 in the UK for the ebook, and the paperback is also reasonable at £7.25. So many bestselling authors charge huge prices for their books simply because they can, so respect to Nora Roberts for not being greedy.
I couldn’t put this book down, and now that I’ve finished it I am still thinking of the characters and what they will be doing, which is in my mind a true indicator the book was well done. It also means I will definitely be buying book 2. Nora Roberts writes in such a way that reading is a pure joy, very easy and relaxing, no having to go back and re-read something to make sense of it.
Talk about opening lines that are complete winners, instantly drawing the reader in… check this out… When Ross McLeod pulled the trigger and brought down the pheasant, he had no way of knowing he’d killed himself. And billions of others. I mean, wow, what an opener. I just knew straight away I was in for a good read.
I love the people Nora has brought to life. In the beginning we are introduced to quite a few people and I wondered if we were going to have one or multiple main characters. In the end it is one person that carries the majority of the story. Meet Lana Bingham, dabbling witch who is dating an author-come-magician Max Fallon. Blimey, how my heartbeat quickened as they run for their lives.
This book has an awesome plot. With the descent of The Doom people are affected in four different ways: 1 – they die, 2 – they’re immune with no effect, 3 – they live, but they’re now full of magic and good, and lastly, 4 – they live, but they’re now full of magic and evil. If you like Elves, Fairies, Magicians etc you’ll really love this book. On top of a great plot is fabulous character building. It is full of people you want to root for, and those you want to boo from the side-lines. Complete with great settings and scenery descriptions and you can understand why this is such a bestseller.
Listened to this on audio and it was superb! Julia Whelan did a fantastic job with the narration. Looking forward to the rest of the series.