After It Happened Omnibus Parts 1-2: Survival / Humanity

After It Happened #1-2

by Devon C. Ford

A bundle of parts 1 and 2 of the After it Happened Series.

Set in the UK in the immediate aftermath of a mysterious illness which swept the country and left millions dead, the series follows the trials facing a reluctant hero, Dan, and the group he forms around him. They must battle the elements, find sufficient supplies and equipment to survive, and protect themselves against the most destructive force on the planet: other people.

Genres: Audiobook, Post Apocalyptic, Science Fiction Fantasy, Fantasy, Survival, Dystopia, Fiction

380 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 17, 2016

About the author

Devon is from the UK, having lived in many places until finally settling in the Midlands. His career in public services started in his teens and has provided a wealth of experiences, both good and some very bad, which form the basis of the book ideas that cause regular insomnia.

He first started reading for fun as an adult, having tried his hardest to avoid anything resembling academia growing up, and at that point the world became a far bigger place. He has been reading, at least one book at a time, ever since.

His debut works, the After It Happened series, (Survival, Humanity, Society) were published in April 2016 followed by Hope (July 2016) and Sanctuary (December 2016). The first part of the series concluded with the release of Rebellion which was published in June 2017.

Storming high into the charts with the first books of the After It Happened series, Devon launched into the top 10 sellers listings in the UK, Australia, Canada and the US, and he made the decision to write full time shortly after the launch of Hope.

Devon’s self-published beginnings caused a stir in the publishing world, and resulted in contracts with Podium Publishing for Audible, narrated by R.C. Bray (The Martian, Expeditionary Force, Arisen), before a publishing deal for kindle and paperbacks with Vulpine Press.

Further works have seen the start of a multi-author series, sci-fi/post-apocalyptic cross genre, futuristic dystopian and alternative history zombie apocalypse. Spin-off books from the After It Happened world have been announced for 2018.

Reviews

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

listened to on youtube

[Elena Alvarez Dosil · Rating 3 out of 5]

My original After It Happened audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

Set in the UK in a near future, a pulmonary disease wipes out most of the population, leaving just a few untouched. Some people start gathering with the plan of starting a new society in which everyone should be a valuable member.

I love post-apocalyptic stories, so I was looking forward to listening to this one; and also, it is narrated by R.C. Bray! The premises were good, and the events are the ones expected in almost every post-apocalyptic book. One of the problems was just that one: the lack of originality. There is nothing that we haven't seen before in other books, movies, or TV shows. This could have perfectly  been part of The Walking Dead. There are no zombies, which counts as a favorable point for me, but there was nothing else that made these books stand out.

I found that there were too many characters in the story. I have read other books with lots of characters, but this one has a never-ending cast. They are all archetypes with absolutely no character development, which prevented me from connecting to them.

The story dragged... a lot. There were some events happening here and there but most of the time the main things that happened were: new people arriving, organizing people, looking for supplies, repeat.

I really wanted to like these series, especially after reading the rave reviews it received, and seeing that there are six books published; but for the life of me, I just didn't get the point.

R.C. Bray is a great narrator, one my favorites, but I don't understand the decision of having an American narrator for a book set in the UK, especially since at some points he needs to imitate certain accents from the UK. Sadly there was not enough consistency among them, and the fact that the main narration was done in American accent (but with British terms), completely broke the rhythm of the story, distracting me from the important things. I also have to say that, although Bray performed really well in books like The Martian, his narration of 'After it Happened' seemed quite monotone, and the only aspects I can really mention as excellent were the characters' interpretations and the audio production.

[RJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dan hadn’t seen a living person in hours. He broke into a police station looking for weapons and supplies. Returning home, he buried his family. Neil, an ex-military gent found him there and they quickly became friends. Dan noticed someone watching them from afar. Liah, a young 12-year-old girl was scared but eventually joined them after almost blowing Dan’s head off with a shotgun. This tale follows along as most other apocalypse/survival novels go. More people were found, a settlement began, find and stock supplies, and efforts to improve defenses started. Once this initial homestead was too small and undefendable, a new location would have to be found. In this case, it was an abandoned prison with additional houses in the immediate area and a farm that supported the prison. With more people and families, supplies, guns, ammunition, and livestock found, the adjacent farms were populated. The prison and surrounding farms became a somewhat thriving community. Dan became the head of security and an all-around leader. They began to look for additional survivors as a priority, especially those with skills. They continued to scrounge for supplies, equipment, guns, and ammunition. Power was a premium; fuel, solar, and hydro near streams. An underground armory was underway. It was a constant fear that raiders would discover them. Improvements to the prison and farms were always a priority. We’ll follow Dan and the rest of the survivors of the settlement as the tale continues.

[Lloyd · Rating 2 out of 5]

A preppers dream and for people they like playing the Sims. Eighty percent of this book has little or no tension and is wasted on town and small scale civilization creation.

This book is boring. The author establishes early hus hero is going to manage each situation. And the survival of the rest of the cast makes it clear this is the best dystopia ever.

The emotional resilience of this cast is also very off the charts. Humanity has been decimated, but we hardly ever hear a whimper and it doesn’t contribute to any tension.

I started to write this review and then found I was writing almost the same review that I wrote long ago for Commune, so I’ll save some words and leave it at that.

No plan to read this author again.

[R.S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A magnificent read/listen by Devon Ford. With most of the world gone, Dan is roaming the countryside looking for companionship. In a mattered of weeks, he sees his party growing. But with growth... comes conflict.

Ford does a tremendous job creating a world where the virus... isn't the biggest threat. I love how he manages to give each faceless character a voice. This can't be easy when you have over a dozen characters. When Leah is talking, I don't need an identifying tag, as Ford has made her that distinct.

For audiobook people, Dan and company have been brought to life by the great R.C. Bray. The tandem of the two, will lead me to grab the next books of the series.

[Susana Silvestre · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a good post-apocalipse novel!
I liked this one, but there are some faults with it:
- Although I really really love R.C. Bray, I don't think he was a good choice for this one, not his fault, but he is American, and this is a British author. I am not an English speaking native but even to me it sounds odd an American saying that someone "felt poorly"....
- The progression of the story itself is way too fast initially. Less than a week after everybody else died, they are already starting a community. No grief for their family members, no disorientation, no nothing, just purpose;
That being said, the character depth is very good and the story is very entertaining.
I'm off to book 3.

[Mike C · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had some much potential but it has real problems.

Every bad guy is called a rapist with absolutely no evidence other than they aren't nice. The end scene of book 1 is just a fantasy the author had and made into a scene as far as I can tell - pretty sure he enjoyed writing it.
How they find guns so easily and quickly in the UK as well is amazing.
Then his political leanings were on show in a strange way with how he wants to put down vegans and "lefties" at any chance for absolutely no reason.

Just avoid, its not even a good story to try and save it.

[Frances · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow this book was a pleasant surprise, it started well and kept me interested throughout, very exciting….. really enjoyed it. ,
Initially I had problems with R.C. Bray (although an utterly brilliant narrator) narrating this book as it takes place in the UK …yes he attempted to do accent’s when different characters were speaking but in between was still his normal voice…So I kept thinking we were in the US. I did eventually get used to it and just enjoyed listening to the book as it was .

This was the omnibus edition containing Survival and Humanity

[Bobby Hernandez · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is entraining, well written, with characters well develop and clear personalities. Unfortunately, this book doesn't bring anything new to the survivalist genre. The story goes through the same tired and over used plot. Person finds themselves alone, find companion, look for new home/shelter, add more companions, create a community, find supplies, and ultimately face the despot that wants to rule, for no good reason.

[Amanda Broadfoot · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite post-apocalyptic reads :)

While the occasional lengthy descriptions of guns weren’t my favorite part, I REALLY enjoyed the way this author believably depicted survivors picking up the pieces after pandemic. Likeable characters populate the story and I look forward to following them into the next book in the series.

[NormaCenva · Rating 4 out of 5]

(0,5 star off for unnecessary Vegan slander in book 1 & then an additional 0,5 star off for an unreasonable critique of the ethical foundation of the Vegan argument for compassion towards the non-human animals in book 2).

I am always on cloud nine when there is a post-apocalyptic set in the UK. And this title did not disappoint! Very sad to see a negative portrayal of Vegans AGAIN (what is it with this genre and the constant negativity towards Veganism?). Audiobook voice work was very enjoyable. I will be moving on to the rest of the series once the audiobook versions will become available.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Birth of a Nation

Very interesting, left me wanting more, maybe the next t book. I really liked the characters, and the story. You need to read it

[Leo Goldin · Rating 4 out of 5]

2 stars go to RC Bray who read the book, not sure if I would finish it if that would be read by somebody else.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Mohamad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent read, took a while for things to come together but was well worth. It gave me the same vibe as Commune and that's not a bad thing, as I also enjoyed Commune.

[Mrs A. J. Turbfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoy is not the right word.

A beautifully written account of life after. Very addictive and extremely fast paced, thoroughly riveting. Won't get much else done til it's fonished.

[Christopher Harden · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good story about post apocalypse. I always felt there wasn't much weight to the characters and there was always a out for them.

[Chris Andrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got to the end of part 2 and was still thinking "When will the Zombies turn up?".

...it's not a zombie story. 😁

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved the civilization building. It reminds of the PC games of that genre. Massive amounts of people die of some unknown virus and the remaining are left to either survive on their own or band together. This tells of the tale of a small group who work to set up a new small society in order to survive. From gathering resources, to managing labor, to the enticements of power; this story magnifies a microcosm of society at large. You'll always have those who want to take advantage of others' work, those overcome with jealousy, and those willing to give themselves for the betterment and defense of all. I definitely look forward to continuing the series.

[Jody Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kinda liked this story, but some of it made zero sense. With his family dying in the first few pages, he simply forgets about them and gets on with his life, joking with his new buddy and carrying on. And the desperate need for guns from the start is bewildering, as there isn’t a threat to warrant the cries for weapons. I did like the characters, but the detailed description of every. Single. Gun. In the book is tiresome.

[Elaine Mayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good series *after* a pandemic; several intriguing characters (Leah); excellent story line; ends in cliffhanger (yuck);