Year One (Chronicles of the One, #1)

by Nora Roberts

'A match for end-of-the-world classics like Stephen King's The Stand' - New York Times Review of Books

As this world ends, a new one begins.

From number one New York Times bestseller Nora Roberts - an epic, apocalyptic tale of good and evil, love and loss.

With one drop of blood, the old world is gone for ever. And in its place, something extraordinary begins...

They call it The Doom - a deadly pandemic that starts on a cold New Year's Eve in the Scottish countryside. There's something mysterious about the virus and the way it spreads. As billions fall sick and die, some survivors find themselves invested with strange, unexpected abilities.

Lana, a New York chef, has the power to move things and people with her will. Fred can summon light in the darkness. Jonah, a paramedic, sees snatches of the future in those he touches. Katie gives birth to twins, and suspects that she has brought fresh magic into the world, along with new life.

But The Doom affects people differently. Along with the light, a dark and terrifying magic will also rise. As the remaining authorities round up the immune and the 'Uncannies' for testing, Lana, Katie and others flee New York in search of a safe haven. The old world is over, and Year One has begun.


'Nora Roberts weaves a powerful story of a deadly plague in this gripping, movie-like narrative' - Good Housekeeping

'A deadly pandemic known as The Doom kicks off in the Scottish countryside. Who doesn't want to read this?' - Emerald Street

• ISBN10: 0349414963
• ISBN13: 9780349414966
• Publish Date: 11 October 2018 (first published 5 December 2017)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
• Imprint: Piatkus Books
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 448
• Language: English

Reviews

[jesstheaudiobookworm]

3.75★ Audiobook⎮ Year One was a strange one, for me. Nora Roberts is one of the biggest names in fiction and I was excited to finally experience her writing. But her library of work is so large that I didn't know where to begin. Year One is her most recent release and after reading the synopsis, I thought it sounded perfect for me.

But before even pressing play on this audiobook, I made two mistakes that greatly impacted my listening experience. The first was setting my expectations too high. Whenever I first read a "household name" author, I always end up being disappointed because I just cannot contain my expectations. They run away from me. It happens every time and Year One was no exception. Oh, the writing was beautiful, to be sure. Roberts certainly has a way with words. But the story itself was just a little too much for me.

My second mistake was not understanding what I was getting into regarding Year One's genre. The synopsis gives off a strong Dystopian vibe and it's possible that, after picking up on that vibe (and digging it), I didn't fully comprehend what else was being said. In other words, the Fantasy (magical) theme completely blindsided me. Don't get me wrong, I like Fantasy just fine. I just didn't know how to deal with this odd (to me) combination of Science Fiction/Fantasy.

That's partially on me for not realizing what I was getting into, but I also think a lot of it was on the storytelling. Even after I figured out what was going on ("Oh, okay. Apocalypse + Witches= Year One. Cool."), I still couldn't get into it. There were too many seemingly random themes sewn together with the thinnest of thread. There are only so many times I can say something like "A magical baby savior?! Okay, cool." What I'm saying is that Year One pushed me to the limits of my ability for suspension of disbelief. At a certain point, I actually thought "What's next, zombies?!". And honestly, I wouldn't have been completely surprised if zombies had shown up out of nowhere, but maybe Roberts is saving that for the next book...

With that said, I did have an easier time adjusting to what was thrown at me once I stop listening for a while, processed what I had heard, and came back to the audiobook. I made it through 11 of the 12 hours before tabling the audiobook for a few months. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I didn't want to finish the story (and review it) in that frustrated state of mind. As it turned out, I enjoyed the last hour more than I thought I would. Because of that, I won't 100% rule out the possibility of continuing the series. At least now I know what I'm in for.

Narration review: Julia Whelan was the best thing about this audiobook. I feel like I've said that exact sentence before, but what else can I say about her that I haven't already said? The woman is unreal. She's easily one of my favorite narrators and I've heard her carry so many audiobooks, just on sheer talent alone. If you love audiobooks, but have yet to hear Whelan perform, you need to reevaluate your priorities. Thank me later. ♣︎

[Melanie]

Review originally posted at BooksOfMyHeart.net.

4.5 stars

This will surprise some people and not others, I’ve never read Nora Roberts before. I have no idea why. I guess none of her books ever jumped out at me. But that changed when I read Kimberly’s review over at Caffeinated Reviewer. Her review really caught my attention and I quickly checked out my library to see if they had the audio of this book (they didn’t but were more than happy to purchase it for me, when I requested it. I love my library, they do this for me often).

I went into this book with no idea what to expect from Nora Roberts. Of course I had heard of her, I think everyone has. She is wildly successful. I knew her as mostly a contemporary romance writer. This is a genre I don’t read much in and I think that colored my image of her (I’m embarrassed to admit). I had even looked at several books in her In Death series under the name of J.D. Robb. I think the sheer volume of books in that series kept me from starting it. I will have to make an effort to prevent this from happening in the future, because this was an amazing story and I’m ashamed I waited so long to try her work.

Okay, now the story. Year One is a dystopian story. As I was listening to it, I thought it has a similar feel to Stephen King’s The Stand. There is a plague going around killing almost everyone in sight. Half the population is gone in a few weeks. Here’s where things deviate from King a lot, many seem to be immune and don’t get sick, but are now different. Some turned into fairies, elves, shifters, witches and more. Some become power hungry crazy people, bent on destruction. Some people stay human. Some of the human people become especially evil. It’s like everything else, doesn’t matter what race, religion, gender, etc, there are good people, bad people and evil people. That doesn’t change, even if you now have wings.

I really enjoyed watching all of the characters survive this plague (called the Doom). I thought their story of having to watch family and friends die was very touching. Seeing them trying to get out of areas like NYC kept me on the edge of seat. It was nice when they started to come together as a group and becoming a bit of a society, even if it is nothing like what they had before. This does not mean you should cozy up to too many of the characters. This is a dystopian novel, after all. Just because they survive the plague, doesn’t mean life is easy. People will die, and that should not be a surprise to anyone.

I think Roberts did a great job creating this new world. I love all the different powers that people develop after surviving Doom. The fact that the characters are a bit scared of their new selves seems very realistic to me. I can’t imagine how I would feel if all of a sudden, I could disappear into a tree, like the elves can in this book. Another part of realism in this book are the religious group bent on killing off all the people who have powers now (called Uncannies). Purity Warriors are the terrorist group they sound like. They only want humans to inherit the earth. And humans who stand in their way can go the way of the Uncannies.

This is the start to a great series. I can’t wait to see where she takes it from here. I highly recommend you give this series a try if you like a good dystopian fantasy with great suspense.

Narration
I can’t remember if I’ve ever listened to Julia Whelan before. I knew I recognized her name, but couldn’t put a title with it. When I looked at Audible, I saw why I recognized her name. She’s read a lot of great books, many of which have been on my TBR pile for a while. I guess I need to start picking up more books from her. She did a great job with this book. There is a large cast of characters and she nailed them. Accents, genders, she struggled with none of it.

[kimbacaffeinate]

Dark post-apocalyptic fantasy. RTC

[Beth C.]

I liked it far more than I expected. The story is interesting, and the characters are as well. There is also a bit of a similarity in where we find ourselves as a country right now, with the seething hatred of "other". I can definitely say that I would read the sequel - I'm invested enough in the story and those within it to want to know what happens next and where the world goes from here.

[Leigha]

It’s the end of the world as we know it in Nora Robert’s first fantasy book.

I purchased this novel on release day. I was so excited about her tackling a new genre, particularly fantasy. I think the first couple of books of her In Death series, considered mysteries, are some of her best works. I expected a new life and energy that’s been lacking in her recent romances. But after finishing this book, I wished I saved myself some time and money.

It’s boring, slow, and unoriginal. I could keep adding to this list, but those are the primary reasons. For a book about the end of the word, not all that much happens. The world ends. People come together to make a new version of it. Bam, that’s it. That’s the plot. This particular version of the world includes people with magical abilities. Not just your standard witches and wizards deal, it’s going to include pixies and elfs too. Only, we’re not going to focus on those interesting ones. We’re going to center our story around witches. *sigh*

Let’s talk about the characters. The synopsis makes it sound like this book will include multiple points-of-view. It’s not entirely misleading. However, the POV narrows down to one particular character in the last third of the novel. The one character I don’t find all that interesting. Although, I didn’t find the other supposedly “main” characters to be interesting or dynamic either. Honestly, this book is only backstory. It seems to me Roberts is more interested in exploring Fallon’s story, the baby born from Lana and Max. I suspect Fallon will eventual reconnect with the New Hope group, most likely finding a love interest in one of Katie’s twins. So disappointing it hurts.

tl;dr An unoriginal, boring first fantasy novel written by Nora Roberts.

[stacey_is_sassy]

It’s the end of the world as we know it…

OK, first up, this is not my normal type of read. I am a romance reader, and Year One was not romantic at all. A virus that makes you hurl your guts up till you die is not my idea of fun and games. Watching people die because evil invaded the world, was hardly a party. Sure, I knew I’d be seeing the end of the world, but come on, it’s Nora Roberts. I kind of hoped that there’d be a little hearts aflutter and sweet nothings, but unfortunately, that would be a BIG NOOOOOO!!

Look, it wasn’t all doom and gloom…OK…it was mostly doom and gloom. But, there were some parts that let in the light. We meet some interesting characters along the way and we see strength in people who didn’t even know they had it in them.

For me, Year One was all about reflecting on ME and how I would handle the world coming to an end. How would I feel knowing that with a cough, it could be the start of my end? Would I be able to go on if all of my loved ones were gone? Could I survive without modern luxuries? Is there a chance I’d be pointing the finger at someone hoping they’d take the blame for my sorrow? Should I just turn the page and start anew? I just don't know. In the end, I decided that I didn’t want to think about it and I hoped that I’d be dead and buried before something like this hit our world.

Now, I can’t really judge this against other stories of the like because I haven’t really read many books like this one. I found the beginning thoroughly engaging. I wanted to see how the world went bad and what caused it. While the middle still held my interest, I was confused with the swapping and changing of our lead characters. It all comes together eventually, but the jumping made it harder to follow. The ending, well, I can honestly say that I was a little underwhelmed. Yeah, I know this is the first book in the series, but I felt like there was no clear path to where we were heading. What am I sticking around for? Who’s left? Who’s path am I supposed to be desperate to follow?

Look, it’s Nora Roberts, so it’s still bloody good, but it’s definitely not what I was hoping for. I wanted to see at least one of the couples together, living, loving and growing after The Doom. What we get are sparks that flicker, fizzle, flutter and flash and maybe even ignite. Unfortunately, we don't see the ignite and not even sure they stayed alight. Some of the lights go out and we’re left with darkness, heartbreak and loss.

This is not a light and fluffy read. It’s pretty dark and depressing. Do not go in thinking you’ll meet a couple and follow their journey towards a new beginning because you’ll be disappointed. If you start Year One with an open mind, knowing that it’s not romance, you may find the journey interesting.

Not a winner but definitely not a loser either. I read the whole thing and even though it took me longer than normal, it was still interesting.

Stacey is Sassy, received an advanced copy of this story. The copy provided is not the final copy and may be subject to edits and changes.