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  • Year One

  • Chronicles of The One, Book 1
  • By: Nora Roberts
  • Narrated by: Julia Whelan
  • Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (776 ratings)
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Year One cover art

Year One

By: Nora Roberts
Narrated by: Julia Whelan
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Editor reviews

Editors Select, December 2017

Best-selling author Nora Roberts' new postapocalyptic dystopian fantasy novel is a departure from the romance fiction for which she's known (or the suspense of her alter ego, J. D. Robb), but it showcases the masterful storytelling that fans know and love while embracing the kind of world-building called for in this genre. Julia Whelan's nuanced narration captures Roberts' wide swath of characters and their authentic relationships. When the earth succumbs to a new plague, otherworldly powers manifest, and humans traits come in both life-affirming and monstrous ways in the first of a promising series. —Abby, Audible Editor

Summary

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER (December 2017)

A stunning novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts - Year One is an epic of hope and horror, chaos and magick, and a journey that will unite a desperate group of people to fight the battle of their lives...

It began on New Year’s Eve.

The sickness came on suddenly, and spread quickly. The fear spread even faster. Within weeks, everything people counted on began to fail them. The electrical grid sputtered; law and government collapsed - and more than half of the world’s population was decimated.

Where there had been order, there was now chaos. And as the power of science and technology receded, magick rose up in its place. Some of it is good, like the witchcraft worked by Lana Bingham, practicing in the loft apartment she shares with her lover, Max. Some of it is unimaginably evil, and it can lurk anywhere, around a corner, in fetid tunnels beneath the river - or in the ones you know and love the most.

As word spreads that neither the immune nor the gifted are safe from the authorities who patrol the ravaged streets, and with nothing left to count on but each other, Lana and Max make their way out of a wrecked New York City. At the same time, other travelers are heading west too, into a new frontier. Chuck, a tech genius trying to hack his way through a world gone offline. Arlys, a journalist who has lost her audience but uses pen and paper to record the truth. Fred, her young colleague, possessed of burgeoning abilities and an optimism that seems out of place in this bleak landscape. And Rachel and Jonah, a resourceful doctor and a paramedic who fend off despair with their determination to keep a young mother and three infants in their care alive.

In a world of survivors where every stranger encountered could be either a savage or a savior, none of them knows exactly where they are heading, or why. But a purpose awaits them that will shape their lives and the lives of all those who remain.

The end has come. The beginning comes next.

©2017 Nora Roberts (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

What listeners say about Year One

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

The Chick-lit, the Witch and the World's End.

You've got to give Nora Roberts credit here, she has attempted to pull together a novel fusion of chick-lit, modern urban fantasy and an apocalypse. It wasn't really to my taste personally, I found the characters a little over-wrought and some of them come by their magical powers rather too easily. There is plenty of "she realised he was the one" and so on but to be fair it never really dominates or gets too extreme.

There are some good ideas here and some interesting characters which Roberts is suitably ruthless with to make for a credible post-apocalyptic novel.

Julia Whelan does a pretty decent job of the narration too and it looks like Roberts is ready to go steps further with the sequel which at the time of writing is due in December. I don't think that I am going to follow this series but if a fusion of chick-lit, and witches with magical powers set in an end of the world scenario appeals to you then it might be worth a try. I think on the other hand regular readers of fantasy might find frustrations here due to the unexplained magic and romance influences.

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29 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A great listen

A thoroughly good listen. I'm looking for Year 2 as I listen to the last 5 minutes.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Easy, cheesy listening.

Easy to listen to but I found it very cheesy and cringe worthy. The story line (so far) is an unoriginal post apocalyptic landscape meander. I won't be buying the second book to find out if it gets more interesting.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Mr
  • 31-01-18

Unoriginal start and loses it way at the end.

The start is so much a rip 0ff of the Stand. A lot of characters getting together and then seem to drop them without reason (the best character being Fred)'

The ending seemed to set up a sequel but was very unsatisfying.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • jj
  • 28-01-18

Great story

Really enjoyed this book, good fast moving story with likable characters. Looking forward to the next one.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

loved this book

the time flew by so quickly. it's a really good story and the reader enhanced my experience. I had quite a few sleepless nights after I just submerged myself into the story. it has horror, sadness, joy and love in it. some bits are really scary and I found them so disturbing that I would take a break for a day then go back to it. I really enjoyed the characters they were very true to human nature,. there were people who wanted to help each other and people filled with bitterness and hatred and people who were just really cruel for the sake of it! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! it's a book I would read again and again. I have done that with some of Steven kings books and all of John Connelly's and some of Christopher brookmyers books. I think there might be more books to follow just by the way the story ended. I really hope there are more!

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Not up to NR’s usual standard

Very disappointing storyline & character development. Have enjoyed NR’s books in the past and especially the Circle Trilogy & was hoping this would be an apocalypse/fantasy mashup but this book had no life, no depth to the characters or storyline. Will be returning it as would never listen again.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

How did this get into my library?

I saw one other review that was headed 'easy cheesy listening'. I disagree: it was annoying to listen to. It started well enough, but quickly descended into overblown emotions and people discovering they had magical powers (yawn). The premise could have worked if it was darker and grittier, but bar the sex scenes, I thought I was reading something aimed at children.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Brilliant distraction

Some chapters and story timeline were rushed and a bit clumsily laid out in my opinion, with exceptionally cheesy characters and one liners. I sometimes got the feeling the author had come up with a story, made a detailed outline and then sat down and blurted it all out on the pages in front of her, possibly on a tight deadline. However, that didn't prevent me from enjoying it.
This audiobook was exactly what I needed - an easy and enjoyable listen. It's addictive and I was barely able to take my headphones off, and will definitely listen to the rest of this series. If you are like me and just want to be whisked away from the pressures of day-to-day life into a world of post-apocalyptic hopefulness and romance - and can overlook the occasional awkwardness - this audiobook is for you.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Pointless

It just felt like an entirely pointless read - like it was just a very long-winded and self-indulgent introduction to another book. It starts off at a decent pace with events moving quickly as it becomes 'year one' and then.... nothing. It's like the most upper middle class vision of an apocalypse imaginable where lots of posh folks just ponder how to grow vegetables and what to cook for their next meal. The more 'sci-fi' element just feels like an afterthought. Very disappointing.

The audio performance is also disappointing. There is one male voice and one female voice used for a wide cast of characters - alongside an incredibly monotone narrator voice. It makes it hard to give the various characters individual personalities.

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1 person found this helpful