Publication Date: December 9, 2012
Fades the Light by Ron Foster takes place ten years after a solar geomagnetic storm killed most of the humans, young people are leaving the lake shelter run by an aging David and his band of brothers that are worried about the future. With decisions to be made, what will these men who don’t feel comfortable returning to the spare society do?
My first thought when reading this novel is that my brother would love it. My brother is an avid deer hunter and a live-off-of-the-land kind of guy. Partnered with the story are deer hunting tips and instructions for making powdered eggs. My biggest surprise as someone who, years ago, was forced to eat powdered eggs was that they are actually made from real eggs. You’d never know from the dehydrated taste. They’re also surprisingly easy to make if you have the time and the power to run an oven and blender.
Fades the Light is the final book in the Prepper saga and my sense is that it would have been beneficial to read the first novels. I assume that included are the building of society. In Fades the Light we have a society on the brink. The characters are well built and relatable. David has clearly been planning for the living-off-of-the-land eventuality his whole life. The society has a trading system and David has a stockpile of coins. There is a good sense of the characters in this novel but more of their history would have been fun to read … not essential to the story … but fun. FEMA plays a heavy role in this novel and I would have liked the backstory on what happened after and how the government agencies were re-established, but again, those details were not essential to the enjoyment of the story.
Fades the Light contains product placement and e-how articles which, in a weird way, were kind of fun too. Certainly, the “commercials” broke up the narrative in a way that was logical and helped the story to progress — kind of like “This is what I have and how I planned which is why I have it.” Foster makes a compelling argument in this novel for planning for an event that may or not happen someday. It’s all about being prepared.
If you’re looking for new catchy Southern sayings, this novel is for you. If, like my brother, you’re a rough-and-tumble guy who likes to rely on himself and you are looking for tips on how to extract urine from a deer, pick this one up. You won’t be disappointed.
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