2024 the best sci fi novels review

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(as of Dec 16, 2024 21:04:09 UTC - Details)

SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE FROM NETFLIX AND ACADEMY AWARD-WINNING DIRECTOR KATHRYN BIGELOW

“Fantastic story, a real page-turner. Impossible to put down." – Stephen King

From the author of Cold Storage comes a riveting, eerily plausible thriller, told with the menace and flair of Under the Dome or Project Hail Mary, in which a worldwide cataclysm plays out in the lives of one complicated Midwestern family. 

In Aurora, Illinois, Aubrey Wheeler is just trying to get by after her semi-criminal ex-husband split, leaving behind his unruly teenage son. 

Then the lights go out—not just in Aurora but across the globe. A solar storm has knocked out power almost everywhere. Suddenly, all problems are local, very local, and Aubrey must assume the mantle of fierce protector of her suburban neighborhood. 

Across the country lives Aubrey’s estranged brother, Thom. A fantastically wealthy, neurotically over-prepared Silicon Valley CEO, he plans to ride out the crisis in a gilded desert bunker he built for maximum comfort and security.

But the complicated history between the siblings is far from over, and what feels like the end of the world is just the beginning of several long-overdue reckonings—which not everyone will survive . . . 

Aurora is suspenseful storytelling—both large scale and small—at its finest. 

From the Publisher

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09FK2H6R2
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper (June 7, 2022)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 7, 2022
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 5075 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 299 pages
Reviewer: B. Hutcherson
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: would make a great movie
Review: Good characters lots of surprises and plot twists and a lot of heart. Also some plausible science and some uplifting observations about human nature. Excellent, quiet thriller.

Reviewer: JonceeH
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Just what it says it is, a beach read.
Review: Implausible tail of TEOTWAWKI. Easy, quick read as long as you're no too critical about the likelihood of humans acting the way he describes.For a more realistic view of societal demise, read "One Second After" by William Forstchen. It's well grounded in human behavior. Hint: prepare and be armed.

Reviewer: GregM
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Fantastic read
Review: Highly plausible premise of a CME hitting Earth. The collapse of the grid and the chaos that ensues. The characters are well defined and the plot is gripping. Finished in one sitting. Be prepared for a sleepless night. This story is worth it. Kudos to the author. Well done.

Reviewer: Katharine A. Draper
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Interesting premise, mediocre follow-up
Review: I bought "Aurora" becasue it was an Amazon book of the month (I loved "Lessons in Chemistry" so much that I give most of Amazon's picks a try) but was disappointed. The premise was great - a solar flare of sorts causes the planet to completely lose all power and while the science was down pat the story just sort of meandered after the electric grids shut down. There were great characters that I loved; Norman, a retired scientist, Aubrey, a single mom raising a stepson, Phil, the local pothead who proves to be more resilient than expected, and Rusty, Aubrey's ex-husband who has gambling and drug issues. My problem was that the more I read the less I cared about any of them and that only a few were fully fleshed out. I guess it just didn't "flow" for me and I thought the ending was rushed. Twenty or so pages to finish off the first 250? It didn't work and I was admittedly struggling to get through it once I finished half the book. Not an awful read by any means but not something I'd recommend.

Reviewer: R. Jones
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A Gripping Apocalypse Novel
Review: In this novel David Koepp tells the story of a nearly world wide apocalypse (the complete destruction of the power grid in most of the north and south hemispheres) through the lives of just a few inter-connected individuals. The result is an entertaining and fast-moving book that holds your attention from start to finish. By avoiding the overly grandiose scenes you might see in an end-of-the world movie, he's able to tell a more personal story that really gets you interested in the characters and what happens to them. A great book for a day at the beach or an afternoon on the porch.

Reviewer: Michele Morrissey
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: everyone should read this
Review: People don't realize that the earth only has the water it has. It only has the air that it has. There is no magic that comes from space to make more water or air. what is on this earth is all there is. That being said, this book give the reader a wake up call. If something happens to the power grid, we will be out of light, energy, power. No electricity, no fresh water because there is no power to clean the water, no aircondiditoning because there is no power to run it. No machines to keep patients alive, babies in icu alive, people dependent on power to run their wheelchairs, heart machines. It is a really wake up call.

Reviewer: Linda McDaniel
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: ending
Review: Great book could not put down.

Reviewer: Cheryl Stout
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: "Work, love, courage. Any other human pursuit is horses***."
Review: This was a character driven disaster novel with the emphasis being more on the characters than on the disaster, I felt. I enjoyed it but it was different than most post-apocalyptic tales out there.The tale revolves around Aubrey Wheeler and her brother Thom Banning.The world is hit with a cataclysmic Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) from the Sun which knocks out almost all the power grids worldwide, which controls electricity, water flow, and so much more.Aubrey and her stepson live outside of Chicago in the suburb of Aurora, Illinois, trying to stay away from her abusive ex-husband.Thom is a billionaire who planned for a disaster by preparing an old missile silo and inviting a select few to go there with him and his family.This is a tale of family dramas, old and new, of deciding what's really important, and of surviving.If you're into hardcore post-apocalyptic fiction this might not be for you but if you're looking for a slow paced family drama that will make you think, I can recommend this book.

Reviewer: Brian
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: As used books go I couldn’t have asked for better. Book came exactly as described in great condition. Very very happy with this. I will be buying from this seller again.

Reviewer: John The French
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I just received this book and when I opened it, the first 22 pages are printed upside down - very weird. Wondering if anyone else received a copy like this? Sorry, no review on the book just yet.

Reviewer: Nonya
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: ❤️✅•Various points of view•A character-driven story•The story revolves primarily around a brother, Thom, and his sister, Aubrey.•Outstanding writing•A mix of likeable and dislikeable characters.•Story development is intriguing.💔❌•It was marketed as a thriller, but it didn't feel like one to me.•In general, I would have liked to know more about the scope of the disaster and humanity's actions.•I'd also like to know how the rest of the population is dealing with and reacting to the blackout.Overall, this book did its job and kept me interested & entertained; I enjoyed reading it.3.5/5🌟

Reviewer: Eddy Van Swalm
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Honestly, i was hoping for more, especially after the gem that was Cold Storage. I didn' find it breathtaking.It's good writing of course, but it's more about the social interaction with a teenage son, that isn't even hers,her scumbag ex husband and her estranged very rich brother during what i would call a dystopian lite period. It's a little bit funny, when not everything goes has her partime Sheldon Cooper brother expects it to go. There is a little terror, a little humour. But that's the problem with the book. Unlike Stephen King, i was able to put it down. It's exceptional in a sense that it paints a nice doomsday scenario. I don't believe, when it happens, there will be that much goodwill around. It will be guns behindthe closed curtains, not baking cakes for each other. Don't get me wrong, i will buy every book from this man. I just hope the next one is as good as the first, not the second.

Reviewer: S. Geen
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I liked it and hopefully the screenplay will be better. It felt like I was reading a coles notes version. I suppose I am used to more character development, more plot substance. This was like a B movie, not great, but not bad either… I did read it in a few hours. I read fast. It kept my interest -I just wanted more.