Magical Pandemics are the Scariest Pandemics

Year One by Nora Roberts
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was stuck in the drug store for an hour and this looked like the best bet to keep me entertained.

It was.

Nora Roberts has written more books than most people have read, but there's no sign of rushed work or unedited prose. This is a well written book, in all senses. I was leaning 4 stars most of the way--meaning I was liking it, it's a good book, fun, worth reading, but not *awesome*--but the last chapters sealed it for me. Even though this is apparently meant as a series, it has excellent closure for the reader, something that really matters to me.

I didn't mean to start reading a book about a pandemic just before a pandemic (I read just a chunk a day, by habit, spreading it out over a few weeks) but it didn't turn out bad. Theirs, most people died; ours, most people are fine; theirs, some folks develop magical abilities; ours, no sign of magic yet...

Turns out, there is some romance in here, as you might expect from a romance writer. But the action adventure apocalypse fantasy elements are most central to the story. The romance is well done, satisfying and appropriate to character, yada yada, but of course it is. And I like what it brings to the novel. But dude, this is a fantasy. And a good one.

It's rather an ensemble cast. Lots of interesting characters. Some strut upon the stage for a short time and are gone, but they're all given something interesting to do, some hook, some quirk, something memorable. I'd like to learn how to do that.

So--good author writes good book. No big surprise. Like your favorite band putting out a new album, and you find you enjoy it. It's all good.

Recommended.

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