Shelter: Tales of the Aftermath by Dave Hutchinson

★★★★★

A darkly compelling dystopian tale of post-apocalyptic England

One hundred years ago, a series of meteors known as The Sisters struck Earth, causing an ecological disaster that led to a century of rain, flooding, hail and blizzards known as the Long Autumn. Tsunamis devastated vast tracts of land, whole cities and towns were erased, and entire populations died of starvation and disease.

As the story begins, society is slowly beginning to emerge from the aftermath. Modern technology, industrialisation and infrastructure are all but gone. In what remains of England, life is hard, lawlessness abounds, travel is difficult, and survivors of the disaster are huddled in isolated areas, fortified farms and small communities, struggling to survive. The weather is improving slightly, and things are beginning to change. People are organising and banding together. Families lead their compounds, each with their loyal bands of farmers and followers. Tensions are sparked and retaliatory attacks soon escalate into full-scale war between factions. Caught up in the erupting violence, a poverty-stricken farmer is ground down by hardship and humiliation to horrifying results.

In Guz (Plymouth), which was spared the worst of the cataclysm, a government-of-sorts has been set up, and is sending scouts and spies to the far corners of England and Wales on recon missions to assess the situation. One of these spies is sent to the east of England to track down a colleague who has gone missing in Thanet. There he discovers a tyrannical warlord ruling his community with an iron fist, treating his fiefdom as a work camp, and plotting an expansion of his authoritarian domain.

The plots strands are skilfully developed and woven together, creating a riveting and realistic post-apocalyptic world which thrills and shocks in equal measure. Reminiscent at times of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies and Cormac McCarthy’s The Road in its powerful depiction of humanity’s heart of darkness, the book also provides the reader with occasional glimmers of hope: small acts of kindness, compassion, regret, and hints of the rebuilding of civilisation amidst the horror. The characters are sufficiently complex and well-drawn to render them believable as people living through a grim and dangerous dark age. Vivid descriptions of the harsh, rain-swept, water-logged landscape lend an unsparing dimension to the novel’s sombre atmosphere.

While it may be too bleak for some, Shelter: Tales of the Aftermath is a gripping read and an excellent first novel in a planned series that leaves the reader wanting more.

Jo-Anne Blanco (as Arwen Evenstar) for Breakaway Reviewers

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review

©Jo-Anne Blanco 2018