Steve Caldwell’s Review of Nocturna: Beginning of the End by Heath Stallcup
Synopsis
The twenty first century brought more plagues to mankind than any other time in history. Some were manufactured by man, others were acts of God. Even Mother Nature herself turned against the infestation known as man.
Nearly thirty percent of the population was killed by new virus strains. Racial tensions flared and evolved into two civil wars. Nations were fragmented with numerous ‘no-go’ combat zones controlled by local warlords, most still active to this day.
At a time when mankind should have been reaching for the future, it devolved into a nearly apocalyptic present, pitting neighbor against neighbor and nation against nation until another twenty percent of the world’s population had been extinguished.
Then came the asteroid Wormwood.
And everything changed.
Review
I have been a fan of Heath Stallcup's writing ever since I discovered his Monster Squad urban fantasy series back in 2014. That has continued with several subsequent series, in several genres, and continues to this day, now with the Nocturna series. I am always a huge supporter of my fellow veteran's writing efforts, and in this case, that's doubly so, because that military experience bleeds through on every page, bringing a sense of immersion and realism to a story that's already too close to reality in a lot of respects. So now, lets dig in and I'll explain what I mean.
In a balkanized America, the civil wars have resulted in some of the cities being destroyed, and blocked off due to the political decision makers of the time. Since they wanted to rebel, the government cut them off, and refused to pardon them, so a new breed of Warlords have arisen in cities like Atlanta, where the story takes place. The CDC is now a fortress, with the interior of the city controlled by the various warlord's militias. The military has more high tech equipment, but even they won't venture into the war zones unless it's absolutely necessary. Any convoy of supplies for the outlying areas is bound to be raided, and it's truly feudal in these cities. When Wormwood hits, and the changes to people start occurring, its interesting to see how the federal government and the warlords react, which is to say in a very similar manner overall.
The characters are a definite strength. The soldiers are the usual mixture of people from various backgrounds, and their group interplay really comes across realistically. Lots of gallows humor between the various soldiers, who may tease and pick on each other, but they all have each others backs in a crisis. The way the command and soldiers interact is dead on as well, because quite often, what commanders want is not always based on reality, and soldiers are still expected to find a way to complete the mission. All of the tactical aspects of what the soldiers do are highly realistic as well, as I would expect from a writer who is also a military veteran.
The scientists are a mixed group, some from very different backgrounds, but they all play well off of each other. You can tell there are different agendas in the group, as well as differing levels of respect for some members of the team depending on their backgrounds. The pure research scientists don't hold the regular medical doctors or field researchers in particularly high regard, and vice versa. They are, however, willing to do what it takes to stop what could be a threat to humanity itself. Its interesting to see how this will play out within the group.
The secondary characters all play their parts in the story, with a bit of backstory for them leading their actions. The antagonist is not a single person, but more of an environmental threat, as Wormwood's results spread, threatening the human race in general. I'm interested to see if there is a more centralized figure emerging in later books.
I ended up reading this book in one sitting. It had me that hooked. The combination of entirely too prescient dystopia with the more horror story elements really gels, and the realistic military action is also appealing. I would easily rate this up there with the author's Monster Squad series, which is high praise. I can see this book appealing to many kinds of readers, including fans of dystopian sci-fi, horror and low urban fantasy. It is a definite recommended read.
