Sunday, January 1, 2017

Review For PRELUDE TO MAYHEM by Edward Aubry- 4 1/2*


Title: Prelude To Mayhem
Series: Mayhem Wave #1
Author: Edward Aubry
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic
Rating: 4 1/2*
Publishers: Curiosity Quills Press
(Nov 26, 2016)
Ebook: 342  pages
ISBN: B01MZY5TKN 
FTC Disclosure: ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley

On May 25, 2004, the world transformed. Nearly all signs of civilization vanished, leaving in their wake a bizarre landscape of wilderness, advanced technology and magic, and leaving Harrison Cody very much alone. After weeks of surviving in solitude, he hears a voice on the radio, beckoning him to cross a thousand miles of terrifyingly random terrain to meet her, and any other survivors, in Chicago. Eager to find any remnants of humanity, he sets forth, joined by an unexpected—and inhuman—companion.
For Dorothy O’Neill, the end of the world means she will never finish ninth grade. On her own, she builds a home in the ruins of a strip mall, relying on her ingenuity and hard work to maintain some semblance of creature comforts. When another survivor arrives, he brings futuristic technology and stories of monsters he has encountered. Armed with this information, she takes a new interest in exploring her world, but she is not prepared for what awaits her, and the new arrival has brought his own set of problems.
On their separate journeys, Harrison and Dorothy begin to piece together what has happened to their world. Their questions have answers to be found in what remains of Chicago, and from the mysterious voice on the radio offering the hope that civilization can be rebuilt.


Not sure that this was pure post-apocalyptic as there was a bit of a blend of magic and sci-fi here, but I loved it. The only reason it didn't get a five was it seemed to have an awful lot of things happening all at once in the beginning and I almost put it down as it seemed more fantasy than post-apocalyptic. The ending was rather abrupt also and I felt like there could have been a bit more here. It seemed as though the author decided to stop and wham you hit a wall and it was done.
Now everything after the beginning and right up until it ended was awesome. The characters, Harrison, Dorothy, and especially the pixie were well fleshed out and I loved their humorous conversations. 
This was one of the few alternating POV books that didn't annoy me. And I've got to say, I really enjoyed the world building here but would have liked a bit more of "why" this happened.
This is listed as a Prelude so I was assuming that Static Mayhem came after this (even though it was published in 2010) but after reading the reviews for Static they sound a lot like the story in Prelude so now I'm not sure if it's rewrite of an old story or what.
Actually found an answer to my question on the Meyhem books HERE if you would like a bit more info on the series.

Edward Aubry is a graduate of Wesleyan University, with a degree in music composition. Improbably, this preceded a career as a teacher of high school mathematics and creative writing.
Over the last few years, he has gradually transitioned from being a teacher who writes novels on the side to a novelist who teaches to support his family. He is also a poet, his sole published work in that form being the sixteen stanza “The History of Mathematics.”
He now lives in rural Pennsylvania with his wife and three spectacular daughters, where he fills his non-teaching hours spinning tales of time-travel, wise-cracking pixies, and an assortment of other impossible things.

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