Review: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED POST-APOCALYPTIC FICTION
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 27, 2012
I am one of those who prefer to wait until all of the episodes in the season have been written and read them all at once. I really liked Season One of Yesterday's Gone, Episodes 1 - 6 written by Sean Platt and David Wright, two fairly new self-published authors who have what it takes to (hopefully soon) get on today's best sellers lists. I also need to put an ALERT in here: if you are one who is easily offended by bad language and descriptions of both mens' and womens' body parts not acceptable in most social circles, these might not be books you'll feel comfortable with. To be honest, I am one who does not normally like such language. But I am SO glad I did not let my own hangups stop me from reading this excellent series. However, I want to put it out there because these are not books for those who mostly stick to Danielle Steele or Nora Roberts. No judgment intended, everybody has their own preference in reading material.Yesterday's Gone is written in episodic style, sort of like watching a television series. Since I read the stories as seasons, it was more in book form for me. What makes this series so addicting, is that the stories follow through. They never leave one hanging or wondering what happened to so and so. Sean and David writing together manage to keep each character true to life, from inception to the end. ***SPOILER ALERT*** I will be mentioning minor specifics from this point, without giving away any of the thrilling, brilliant reasons they are happening. I would like to talk about certain characters most important to the entire storyline. Main characters are Boricio, a psycopathic killer, (major character with genuinely surprising twists); Will, an older fellow who experiences psychic dreams of events that happened in the past and events yet to unfold; Desmond, a strong, but kind man who becomes a group leader of sorts; Mary, a strong, protective woman who has, from Season One, been a main player in events as they unfold; Mary's daughter Paola; Ed, who in Season One was a bit of a conspiracy theorist, but in Season Two we learn that his paranoid ramblings may or may not have been so paranoid; Brent, husband of Mary, father of Paola who lost them to a brief affair and is partnered with Ed on the road to finding them; John, who is NOT John (but becomes a major part of the unfolding story behind the apocalyptic events); a cultish group known as "The Sanctuary," comprised of The Prophet, the brilliantly evil Brother Rei, and many followers including the sweet but abused young girl, Rebecca; a few other characters who have had a few chapters dedicated to them including Charlie, Adam and Callie, but have yet, as of the end of Season Two, played an important role in what we know by now is a quite spectacular happening; and a young boy named Luca, a major player who is very strangely portrayed in Season One, but comes into his most important part in Season Two. I am so invested in each of these characters at this point, I want to slow down my reading and savor Season Three because I know, without a shadow of a doubt, I am going to miss them all when this series is finally over. And I can count on two hands how many times that has happened to me.Season Two gives us a much clearer picture of what caused the apocalyptic event. We learn of two shady operations, one known as Black Island somewhere off of Long Island, New York, and the other known as Black Mountain, somewhere in the southern part of the United States. The action begins to unfold in Season One with monsters from your worst nightmares attacking and killing (and voraciously eating) any and all humans at will. We learn much more about these monsters in Season Two. Without giving away any plot spoilers in Season Two, we learn a lot about what happened to the world on October 15th at 2:05 a.m. through the stories of each of these characters. We also learn some horrifying things about the monsters (as if they could get more horrifying than portrayed in Season One).I am a fussy reader. I cannot read authors' works that do not adhere to simple decent sentence structure, keeping their, there, and they're and words like these in correct context, keeping dialogue true to each character (and there are a lot of characters in Yesterday's Gone to keep straight!). As changes occur in the story, the authors keep the writing, dialogue, sentence structure, and character growth at what is, IMHO, a high level of accuracy. I despise run-on sentences (exceptions being when one is reviewing a story :), I find them distracting and amateurish. I applaud Sean and David for staying on top of these small but extremely important fine points of literature. I am highly aware, even when the excitement of the story can overwhelm my critical eye, of small deviations in a character's actions, and thought and speech patterns. These two new authors' attention to even the smallest detail have earned them the right to be on my must-read list.So, great characters, stories, excitement, writing, and letting out JUST enough of the "why" and "how" to keep the story rolling and keep us wanting more. I am at the beginning Season Three and it already starts with a bang. The more I read, the more I see brilliance at the other end of the authors' pens. I wanted to give this four and a half stars because, since five is the best there is, I wanted to leave some wiggle room. However, Season Two, with heart-stopping action, excellent character and story development, is honest to goodness five star writing. I look forward to reading Fornevermore and Whitespace and it looks like a few other stories written by Mr. Platt and Mr. Wright. If you like well-written, exciting paranormal/sci-fi/fantasy type stories, Yesterday's Gone is a unique treat. I highly recommend this series. I'd give them 10 stars if available!