Desolation (Stone Age #2) by M.L. Banner

Desolation (Stone Age #2) Reviews

• 
  Tracey Madeley

  *** Goodreads First Reads ***
  
  My biggest problem with this book was its protagonist. Namely I was struggling to find the main character. Logically it should be Max, as he is the one who seems to unite everyone. He is the benefactor of Bill & Lisa King, in that he has accumulated food in preparation for the apocalypse. He implements the plans for Cicada which will be the home for scientists like Dr Carrington Reid and Dr Melanie Sinclair. It will be the place everyone will gravitate to, even self appointed spiritual leaders such as the teacher. Yet we know so little about him as a character, it is hard to get a sense of who he actually is.
  
  Like many dystopian novels, there are a multitude of characters, in order to show how different people react to losing everything. How neighbours will turn against each other in a bid to survive and how intellectual reasoning will mean nothing, when faced with someone who is bigger and stronger. However, when there is time to prepare, such as in the defence of the town by Carrington and Melanie, strategy outwits the more heavily armed assailants.
  
  All the characters are either related, married to. or know one another, the exception being the teacher, who appears to be an outsider in every sense of the word. He appears to have carved out a niche for himself, by offering people hope. as a prophet of God. Yet power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, causing him to drug innocent women in his group, in order to rape them.
  
  The Mexican gang, who capture Max and the only means of working transport, are a little cliché. I am sure there would be bandits arising during such a time, but it is a bit like a scene from a spaghetti western. There are scenes of intense cruelty and gore, but the writer handles them with sensitivity. as a necessary evil, to add realism rather than a reason for sensationalism.
  
  Overall this is one of the better dystopian novels I have read and the idea of a disaster due to a solar flare is not beyond the bounds of possibility.
  
• 
  Susan Chatham

  started good. second book too but ended "out there"
  
  Won't be reading anymore from this series. Slid to "out there" for me.
  Plus some stuff just don't add up
• 
  Tonya Bailey

  Engaging
  
  An enjoyable end of the world as we know it series. I look forward to the next one in the series.
• 
  Martha

  This is an engaging character driven, post-apocalyptic scenario, pitting good and evil. My rating 4.25.
  
  A solar flare has devastated the world as we know it. Electronic technology is gone, the cities are in flames and conductive surfaces, such as water, continue to give off electrocuting charges. Many are dying from starvation and disease, not to mention violence as people sink to thievery and worse trying to protect themselves and obtain food for their families.
  
  Maxwell Thomas is a wealthy man who was prepared for the disaster. He had several homes and escape plans. He even knows of a secret community, Cicada, where the scientists were to gather for survival. Unfortunately Max has been ‘commandeered’ by a drug cartel with some vicious members. He must escape and get back to Bill and Lisa King in a resort community in Mexico.
  
  Bill and Lisa have supplies thanks to their good friend, Max. They are willing to help others in their community until neighbors try to take the supplies by force.
  
  Far away, in Illinois, “the Teacher” leads a religious group of followers. He has gathered an army of men to protect him and provide the basic needs of shelter, food and water for the crowd that follows. Since their supply is limited they conscript the followers to work, including attacking communities along their path to fill the needs of the cult.
  
  College student, Darla King and her younger brother, Danny are walking away from the fires of Chicago, trying to get to their grandparents’ home in Michigan. It is a dangerous world to be traveling as wicked men are willing to rape and murder and steal the resources that are found along the way. After several attacks and difficult escapes, Darla and Danny stumble into the cult crowd. Darla quickly learns that crowds are not always safe.
  
  Steve Parkington, Darla’s boy interest, and his father have crashed in their small plane. They find themselves with a small group of survivors on a well-stocked and protected ranch, known as Wright ranch.
  
  In Nebraska, Maggie, an astronaut and scientist, becomes the sole survivor of a space capsule crash. Now she must fend for herself in a hot and hostile world. Along the way she will rescue and be aided by another scientist who is traveling by bicycle to get to Cicada.
  
  I was quickly engaged by the good characters and their battle against the evil forces. I liked the excellent story telling writing style which pulled me in and made me care about the characters. The author shifts among the scenes until the people and groups converge.There seemed to be a few loose ends but I still was engaged and enjoyed the tale.
  
  I did not realize this was a second book in a series until I started it. I wish I had read/listened to them in order but still this was good but I could tell that I missed some character build up as well as the initial disaster. I will want to pick up the first book and I am also interested in the Cicada series that follows these events even if it is set years later.
  
  Audio Notes: Mikael Naramore does a good job with the various voices and the emotional energy of the story. He also delivers the narrative with strong, appropriate pacing. The narration made this an easy and engaging listen, enhancing the story.
  
  I received this audio from the publisher for an honest review.
• 
  Wendy

  "Desolation" the sequel in the apocalyptic "Stone Age" series begins 10 days after an event that left Earth depleted of power, chaotic with dwindling food and water and lawless as people fight to survive. In Mexico with Maxwell (Max) Thompson held prisoner by the cartel and looking for a way to escape, the King family must find a balance between giving charity to those in need and protecting what they have. When ruthless, greedy neighbours and a vicious local cartel attack their home the Kings and new friends the Fernandez's fight for their lives.
  
  M.L. Banner brings realism to an apocalyptic world filled with violence and death after a solar storm destroyed power globally producing an economic and societal collapse. The only temporary hope lies in those who are prepared for survival, and a secret base that lies hidden in Colorado.
  
  Threads of the plot follow not only the King family's fight to stay alive in Mexico; Max's escape from the evils of the cartel; Darla and Danny King's struggle to find a way to flee a radical cult; Dr. Carrington Reid's turbulent journey to Cicada; but also Wilber Wright, his family and friend's valiant stand to protect their resources. Fast-paced and action-packed the tension escalates when not only the Wrights and Parkingtons face an assault by the Teacher's army, but Dr.'s Carrington Reid and Melanie Sinclair with survivors in Fort Laramie face not only an attack by freed prisoners but a disastrous earthquake. Cleverly the author builds intensity and suspense with a 150 year old secret that may hold the key to humanity's revival in the mountains of Colorado, a mystery to be explored in the next series.
  
  Although I enjoyed this book I was thrown when the plot took a sudden turn near the end, wrapping up subplots by moving forward to the future to the descendants of some of the characters in a community established by Wilber's brother in caves near his ranch. Yet this does not detract from a riveting main plot that keeps you on the edge of your seat and includes a dash of romance between scientists Reid and Sinclair, as well as the reuniting of Steve Parkington and Darla King.
  
  Like all dystopian novels the reader has to keep track of multiple characters but in "Desolation" I found more of a complexity to personalities like Lisa and Bill King who struggle with their beliefs and conscience as they weigh charitable giving with an uncompromising and tough choice to kill or be killed to protect their supplies. For Darla trying to reconcile the dark evilness of the Teacher's army to protect her brother means bartering her sense of justice and humanity while Dr. Melanie Sinclair drugged and held hostage loses any logic and reasoning after being raped. To survive it is the unexpected dark decisions of these characters and others which makes them not only realistic but unforgettable.
  
  I liked "Desolation", rate it highly among dystopian novels and plan to continue reading M.L. Banner's next series "Cicada".
  
• 
  David

  *** Contains Spoilers ***
  
  Desolation by M.L. Banner picks up right where Stone Age leaves off. Power is a thing of the past and everyone is living without life's usual comforts and necessities. Things are very bad for our characters we know and have become attached to. The world has been devastated from the solar flare and CME. Our group of characters are struggling to make it day to day in a harsh and unforgiving world. Melanie, the astronaut, has crashed in the middle of the heartland, Dr. Reid is making his way to Colorado on his bicycle and the Kings are still doing well in the home of their friend Max. Max is taken and being held prisoner by the local drug boss, and the kids are now following along with a religious group as they head west in hopes of finding a new home.
  As in any great apocalyptic setting there is the emergence of a religious group. M.L. Banner doesn't miss out on this opportunity and sets up a character known as the "teacher" or "prophet" to lead his "followers" through the land of desolation. Their group grows as they conquer town after town. He is every bit as crazy as those we see on any given day in the news. This adds a great and terrifying element to the story as this religious group forces people to follow them or have their town pillaged.
  Tensions run high as people begin to realize that food, water and daily needs and supplies are running out. Max and the Kings are well off as Max has been preparing for the end of the world and their journey to CICADA. The journey will a long and relentless one as they encounter people with unknown motives. After weeks of travel the kings are surprised to be reunited with their missing daughter who has made a life for herself with a husband in a small group of survivors living on a ranch.
  As the story line jumps ahead in time we learn a bit about CICADA and who will be accepted and what the purpose of this place is. In the final jump in time one final and very important person has arrived at CICADA to seek help for his people.
  Desolation is a very well constructed and presented story, as one of many possible outcomes after the world comes to a stop. I found myself locked in to each story line and turning pages in anticipation of the next groups journey. The characters have great personalities and back stories/histories that make them unique and interesting. The real life science of Desolation mixed with the apocalyptic scenery all makes for an intriguing and page turning book. The ending left me completely wanting to read the next book, as far as cliff hangers go this is as good as the one in Stone Age and the brief excerpt at the end of the book for the next book titled CICADA is fantastic. I'm now left eagerly waiting for M.L. Banner's next book in the saga. If you haven't read Stone Age do so now!. Desolation is a must read for those of us who love post apocalyptic stories.
• 
  Brian's Book Blog

  Check out this and all my reviews at
  Brian's Book Blog
  
  How do we survive this new world?
  
  Desolation takes place after the storm that wiped out most of the world’s power and has devastated both people are places.
  
  The narration was good for this. I have no complaints but I don’t really know what else to say about it. His voice was good for this type of fiction, but I didn’t come away wowed or bored — I don’t think this is the fault of the narrator, but more on the author. This is better than some I’ve heard recently. I’d be interested in checking out other books that Naramore has narrated based on my enjoyment of his voice in this one.
  
  I have to start my review off by saying that I did not read the original story in this series before reading this. I’m kind of regretting that. I’m not sure if the people in the Desolation came from Stone Age (book one) but there was little to no character development at all. This is a series I would highly recommend you read the first before trying to read the second. With that being said, I also don’t think this works as a stand-alone — for the reason listed above and because there wasn’t much explanation as to why the world was the way it was. It was just a “this is how it is now” type of story.
  
  I have a really hard time rating something like this because I don’t know if I would have liked it more had I read Stone Age or not. The story just felt drawn out and kind of plain. I seriously wonder if most of the bang were written in book one.
  
  The story had some neat characters in it that had slightly better back stories and more interesting story arcs. But overall most characters felt underdeveloped and underutilized throughout.
  
  Overall, with not much to go on this book was missing quite a bit. But I hate rating it low for that reason — so I’m going to give it an above average rating just because I did finish it. It was enjoyable enough to read from beginning to end.
  
  I may revisit this if I get a chance to read the other book and see what I think of it after I understand they who and why of some of the people within.
• 
  J.D.

  Full disclosure: I received an e-book copy of Desolation as a winner in a Goodreads Apocalypse Whenever giveaway.
  
  Until I got into apocalyptic literature in earnest several years ago, I never realized just how many potential modes of demise there could be. Frankly, I’m verging on sick of zombies, largely because they are impossible—more so than alien invasion, in my humble opinion. Then along comes M.L. Banner’s Desolation, and suddenly I’m back in the happy land of genuinely possible apocalypses (if such a place exists). In short, it’s the sun that gets us this time, with an earth-directed coronal mass ejection from the sun that wrecks electrical and electronic infrastructure around the world. Goodbye computers, internet, television, cellphones—virtually everything that uses an electrical circuit or computer chip. And since virtually everything uses a computer chip or electrical circuit, things go bad pretty quickly.
  
  The story revolves around several different groups of people who find themselves up to their epaulets in the detritus of collapsing civilization, while trying to stay ahead bands of thugs, neighbors-gone-wild, and a roving army led by a self-anointed prophet. The story rotates through the groups as each struggles toward their specific goals, which may not be all that different in the end.
  
  Desolation offers up what any good apocalyptic novel should (besides the obligatory end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it)—a good story peppered with some things blowing up and/or falling apart. To his credit, the author avoids going too “Mad Max” in the aftermath, even decades after the event. Even better, the dead stay dead. Overall, it was a good read, while not being too heavy. I recommend it to any enthusiast of apocalyptic literature, or anybody who just wants a good story. 4/5
  
• 
  Ann Ellis

  "Desolation"
  by ML Banner
  4 1/2 FANGS
  
  
  I am an independent reviewer for 'Paranormal Romance and Authors That Rock'. I received this book from the author and from 'Paranormal Romance and Authors That Rock'. This is my honest review.
  
  This book is the second in the series "Stone Age." This book begins with the survivors regrouping after a earth changing radiation blast that came from the sun.
  
  This novel can be classified as a cross between a dystopia and horror novel. The book is an interesting twist on the subject of the end of modern civilization. The book tells different story vignettes about different characters that are dealing with the end of modern life. The world that has been woven by the author is desolate and graphic. The stories of individuals begin to intersect as the world becomes more dangerous and unforgiving.
  
  Everyone has lost something. Their pride, their ability to do the job they were trained for and, they have lost family and friends. Many people are lost without the conveniences of their old lives and they look to others to lead them. Others thrive in this changed world.
  
  Now people begin to rebuild their lives, make and keep promises while others take and destroy what they can't take from others. It's a world that brings out the best and the worst in every surviving person.
  
  Though it is conceivable to read this second book as a stand alone, I recommend that you read the first book, "Stone Age." "desolation" is written well. The various story lines can get confusing because of its inherent complexity. It is well worth your time to read this book.
  
• 
  Jennifer Reed

  I was given a copy of this book by the Author for an honest review.
  
  Desolation is a great apocalyptic story. I didn't read the first book called STONE AGE, but it was not hard to follow this story. It has a great storyline, with well-developed characters. The world building is just awesome. The story follows a group of people that know each other, they are friends and family. When a massive solar storm knocks everything out (all electronics), cars will not run that have computers in them, cell phones, computers, etc. Anything electronic will not work. The radiation from the storm is rising, and slowly killing plant life, animals, and eventually humans. These different groups of people must get to a place called Cicada, is the key to their salvation. This is a great story that kept my interest throughout the book, and made me want more. I give DESOLATION 4/ 5 stars.
• 
  Vicki

  I really liked this one .
• 
  Brad Hedrick

  I enjoyed the first two books of this series and look forward to book 3. I wish I had done a little more research and realized there was a book 3. I have a bad memory and by the time it comes out I will have forgotten most of it.
  
  The abbreviating of the names in Book 2 was retarded. Maybe I am a little slow, but after following characters for a book and a half and then having their names changed made it hard for me to follow. Stepha? How to you say that? Like I said...retarded. Maybe if the author only used the abbreviated names when they were spoken it would make more sense and be easier to follow. Was there a character limit in place or something?
• 
  Marinda

  Desolation picks up A.E. (after event) If you've read Stone Age then you know all about the solar event that decimated the earth and ended life as we know it. In this book we learn more about Max and the Kings and their trials and tribulations just getting out of Mexico and travels to make it to Cicada. Dr. Reid and Melanie work their way to Cicada and make a pit stop in a little town and make a big difference. We also see life and loss and what will happen if a life changing event hit the world, loss of our basic humanity is the biggest problem. I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be reading the next in line
• 
  Ricardo

  I absolutely loved the first book in the series, Stone Age, as it was both very original and fast-paced, while sticking to what I generally love in dystopian fiction.
  Desolation was no disappointment: I believe it's even faster-paced and more action packed. The characters evolve in an interesting way though I would have liked to be able to 'connect' more with them.
  I think M.L. Banner is particularly good at depicting this dystopian future and immersing the reader in it, which is what counts!
• 
  MaryJane Rings

  I liked this book. it was a sequel to "Stone Age". I felt the story was realistic and brought out the primal instincts of the human will to survive. The characters were interesting and the story moved without repetition.It continued to follow the original story line and the new characters were necessary to continue to tell the story of the cataclysmic event that destroyed civilization.
• 
  Elizabeth Gibbs

  I received this book from Goodreads Giveaways.
  
  I enjoyed the story a lot. I'm a sucker for apocalypse novels so when I won this I was delighted. I loved the concept. The only thing was the story is broken up by short chapters that bounce back and forth and I kind of wished it was a little more fluid. Other than that a great read.
• 
  Janeandjerry

  I LIKED THE FIRST BOOK BETTER BUT THIS IS STILL WORTH READING CAUSE IT TELLS YOU OF WHAT HAPPENED AFTER EVERYTHING HAPPENED IN THE FIRST BOOK. THIS IS BOOK TWO WITH STONE AGE BEING THE FIRST AND CICADA BEING THE THIRD. NOW CAN'T WAIT TO READ THE NEXT BOOK TO SEE WHAT CICADA IS LIKE.
• 
  Ekaterina

  This is not literature.
• 
  Beth Tidman

  I loved this book. It picked up where Stone Age left off. Lots of action. Looking forward to reading Cicada now.
• 
  Anton

  Excellent post-apoc book
  
  Excellent post-apoc book, with good characters and world setup. Looking fore ward to the third. It is scary and thoughtful at the same time.