SM Book Club: Tales of the Chernyi

DeLorme® Atlas & Gazetteer Paper Maps
$20 per State

Benchmark Maps - same idea, fewer maps available, price comparable to the DeLorme.

No matter the product, maps age and in some cases, very badly. I recommend folks renew their map set at least every five years, more often if in an area that is growing rapidly.

The Delorme scales have changed over time - and State to State
MapTools Product -- Map Rulers - DeLorme Set of 15 Map Rulers
sells a set of rulers that make using the maps a bit more informative... The page at link has a chart showing the scales (1 to 50K etc)

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Thems the ones!

 

On the other hand, the bikes were there and available, in the future? May not have a shot. Walking is always possible, but riding a bike is much faster, can easily go off-road on single track, easy to conceal and so on.

A van with no gas is worth....what?

 

Curious - where does Chernyi come from? I did some searches and a few people showed up, but I didn't see any connection.

 

Each of the books in the series is 'pretty much' stand alone, but reading book 1, First Strike lays it all out. For Book 5 to make real sense, you should have read Book 4 - this one - as new characters were introduced.

I really wanted to avoid re-hashing the beginning as I did for the 1st 3 books in the series.

Chernyi - black or dark in Russian. An unknown force from - yes, Outer Space, strikes the earth and moon. Chaos ensues. Stories follow.

I'll likely wind up repackaging books 1 and 2 together and 4 and 5 together at some point this year. Or even go as far as making a trilogy edition with 1, 2, 3 put together and 4 & 5 together.

dek

 

Actually, I'm going to read "First Strike" when I'm done with "Tales". I bought it a while back when I was chain reading another series and forgot I had it.

 

I think everyone is going to like the next story.
Octavia Adairia Munroe Stone - A clever woman. A strong willed woman. And a woman that discovers some surprising talents as she struggles to keep her children and home safe in uncertain times. Battling the chaos and the assumed loss of her husband, Octavia quickly discovers that a large family is a true treasure in interesting times.

This veers from the didactic style of the first two stories and into some new territory....

BTW - no snide comments about the Army Engineers....

 

Sounds like I will like the next up because a woman with children is my world. I will start it hopefully tonight.

 

Btw, these stories show progression from the First Strike of the Chernyi, Steve Stone.
Then another first strike story (Jim Meade)
This next one (Octavia) is another opening days of a new world - then the later stories look at life a few years after...

 

No comments?

 

The third book is about the importance of family and community, but with the added qualification that while you take care of others and vice-versa that you still need to be able to take care of yourself. There is also an undercurrent of how the modern distractions of daily life interfere with looking inward and finding out more about our true nature.

 

sorry i've not had much time to read and i had a devil of a time getting my reader to work

needless to say, im behind

 

Sorry @DKR I had a busy weekend, am running behind but you know I will have comments in a day or so.

I have a really hard time getting the download correct. Took me a few hours and a few tries. FYI- the stories are a quick read but occasionally I found myself scrolling back to check something out. I did do the mental- what I would grab, what I thought was needed. I think you will really enjoy the stories.

 

The Octavia story explores more than one theme, several obvious, some, not so much. It is also written in a such a way that I can revisit the character set for a book of their own.

Let's look at the farm. Octavia followed a 5 year plan of improvement, with the help of her extended family. The items she tackled were, in order:

Year one, the house. Gutted, foam insulated and rebuilt with the help of her extended family, the new wiring and plumbing made the home cozy and fully self-contained

Year two, had been a new well, spring house and solar panels.

Year three, the complete rebuild of the barn. Year Three, also saw the dock and fence around the outfit go up.

Year Four, the family helped erect the annex and put in the graveled parking lot.

"Year Five," she said aloud, "you have your dream home, a thriving business, a beautiful workshop and an absent husband."

What would you have done differently?

 

Actually that was a pretty impressive five year plan and list of accomplishments considering they were running a business at the same location. While she was looking at a certain amount of independence (fiscal, electricity) she wasn't planning for SHTF. With 20-20 hindsight - water access and storage, garden areas, and seed cache. Farm animals would of course be a bonus, but with their business run out of the same location not sure how well the city folk would handle barnyard smells. Ideally some diesel storage and perhaps a fore thought to securing the place.

 

Water access - new well. Didn't touch on storage - good point.
Later in the story you see she has 5 acres laying fallow in clover and a mass of compost to work in the soil. In addition to her herb garden by the house. The house is surrounded by a high fence that her brother later man-trap. Daddy has a still - err, alternate energy / green energy production....Octavia has both a rear time tiller and an Iron Horse small tractor. Both right sized for a small farm....


Iron Horse 2wheel walk behind tractor

 

Octavia is Steve's wife. I picked that up quick. Funny he was think divorce or separated, not 100% but those were in his thoughts. She seems to be steady in her vows but just wishes he would join the family.

I have not read it all but you asked Any comments?
Yes, it made me homesick. The sense of community that she had. It was an immediate pulling together. She had family around and in times of trouble, family almost always stands together. I really think that is what is lacking in our society. It seems we are raised now to graduate from high school, go off to college and continue on-ward. In this society it is a good thing to spread ones wings and go out and seek your fortune but because of this, we have lost close knit families and the sense of community is not as strong. Yes, I know it is still alive in areas, towns etc but it is one thing that I think is being lost as time goes on.

So Octavia's story so far has made me miss my family. If I was near my family, I would not have to put as much work and expense into preparing for whatever is thrown my way. Octavia is blessed and IMO had her husband not made it safely home, she would have been fine.

PS- I did not read your post above because I was afraid it would contain spoilers.

 

Well, an extended family makes it all possible.

Did you note where Dad traded around chickens just in case? His reason?

And he got the boys a pup to raise as a proper dog?

Or that ALL the sisters were trained in use of the pistol, semiautomatic, Cal 45 ACP?

Octavia is not a woman to trifle with....and live.

 

Dad seemed to figure out that thinks could get bad for longer then a week or two. That is what I assume. But the skills they were given reads like they were raise to be self-reliant.

 

Indeed. Did anyone spot any Easter Eggs in the story?