Today’s team review is from Sandra.
Sandra blogs here https://www.firthproof.co.uk/index.php/book-reviews
Sandra has been reading What Was Once Home by BK. Bass.
I’m not normally a fan of post-apocalyptic fiction, especially not when there are aliens involved as well, but when What Once Was Home appeared on the list of Rosie’s Book Review Team, I thought I’d try something outside of my comfort zone, and I’m so glad I did. BK Bass is an excellent storyteller and drew me right into this world where everyday life has changed so completely. The book opens with the prologue, and Jace, now in his sixties, is looking back to Landfall Day when the ‘twigs’ arrived and the world as he knew it ended. Forced to grow up fast in order to survive, Jace becomes someone the others look to for leadership. Initially, the various groups of survivors work together against the common enemy, but eventually a destructive tyrannical force seeks overall control, and they have to fight to hang on to their humanity.
Mostly told from Jace’s point of view, with excerpts from his autobiography at the beginning of each chapter, there are occasional ‘Interludes’ that fill in gaps in the story and help us to understand the bigger picture. Setting What Once Was Home in the rural backwater of Lewisburg in North Carolina emphasises the isolation after the invasion when all communication and transport networks have been destroyed. The outside world no longer exists and survival in the here and now is all that matters.
The characters are well drawn and believable, and the writing makes an alien invasion seem perfectly plausible. The world building is convincing and has a cinematic quality that I could imagine being turned into a film or TV series. This is the first book by BK Bass that I have read, but it won’t be the last – sometimes it’s worth stepping out of your comfort zone.
When his world is suddenly torn apart, one man must learn to survive in What Once Was Home.
Jace Cox’s life is changed when an overwhelming alien force invades the Earth with no warning or provocation. In the years that follow, he must not only fight to survive, but also learn what it means to be a man and a leader. As the situation grows more dire and the weight of loss bears down on Jace, he realizes his greatest challenge isn’t the alien invaders or even his fellow man.
It is holding onto his own humanity despite living in a world gone mad.
Rosie Amber 