{"id":17433,"date":"2021-12-14T20:34:09","date_gmt":"2021-12-14T20:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/?p=17433"},"modified":"2023-01-03T13:25:05","modified_gmt":"2023-01-03T13:25:05","slug":"a-quiet-apocalypse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/archive\/a-quiet-apocalypse\/","title":{"rendered":"[Review] A Quiet Apocalypse"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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A Quiet Apocalypse<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Robert Welbourn reviews A Quiet Apocalypse<\/i> by Dave Jeffery, the first in a series of post-apocalyptic novellas set in a meningitis-ravaged Britain.<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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I\u2019m always in awe of people who write post-apocalyptic fiction. There are two main reasons: firstly, you have to take the world we all know and reimagine it. I often think it\u2019d be easier to start from scratch, writing a world which appears to be Earth post-apocalypse, but is actually an entirely new planet. End-of-the-world novels are (in this sense, and to me at least) more in the realms of fantasy than sci-fi. Sure, there\u2019s always sci-fi involved \u2013 usually in the form of whatever caused the apocalypse \u2013 but once the extinction event is out of the way, what remains is purely in the realms of fantasy. It takes a fantastic amount of imagination to craft a believable world.<\/p>

\"\"Secondly, there are so many post-apocalyptic books, I\u2019m in awe of people who choose to put their unique spin on such a well-known topic. This might come across as a back-handed compliment, but I can assure you I mean it! It takes real bravery to look at books such as Nineteen Eighty-Four<\/em> (George Orwell, 1949), Brave New World<\/em> (Aldous Huxley, 1932), or News From Nowhere<\/em> (William Morris, 1890), and think \u2018I can do that.\u2019 (I\u2019m aware those books are more dystopian\/utopian than post-apocalyptic, but I think the comparison still applies). And I actually need to add a \u2018thirdly\u2019 to this list: it takes real stones to release a post-apocalyptic novel during a real-life global pandemic.<\/p>

These three things have been done by Dave Jeffery, and they\u2019ve been done with aplomb. A Quiet Apocalypse<\/em> takes what you expect from the post-apocalyptic genre and turns it on its head. It keeps you frothing at the mouth for answers, and turning pages until you get them. And the ending! I\u2019m glad I had the second in this series ready to go right away, because as soon as I put the book down I needed to know what was going to happen next.<\/p>

The premise of this book is as original as it\u2019s possible to be when writing 21st century post-apocalyptic fiction. A plague has ravaged the earth \u2013 in this case, it\u2019s meningitis. But it\u2019s a new strain; one that causes death for most people who contract it, and deafness in people who survive it. There are also people who avoid contracting it altogether, and as such retain their hearing.<\/p>

The story follows a man called Chris. As the book opens, he\u2019s a hearing slave for a deaf master. His master lives in an abandoned farm, constantly on edge, trying to avoid roving gangs of people who go by the misleading name \u2018The Samaritans\u2019. What we learn about these people (which isn\u2019t a great deal) only demonstrates the irony of them adopting this name. It\u2019s one of the many amusing little moments in this book; for all its pessimistic and downright depressing content, A Quiet Apocalypse<\/em> manages to contain a sense of dark humour. It\u2019s absolutely necessary to have this occasional mood-lifting, otherwise we as readers would end up as sad and depressed as the characters.<\/p>

Without wanting to spoil the plot, Chris meets a man called Paul (who can also hear) and they set off in search of a potential utopian city. As with most \u2013 if not all \u2013 post-apocalyptic media, there are rumours of a safe haven, where survivors can live freely, where society has been re-established, and where there is law and order. Chris and Paul attempt to find this place, and the book follows them as they do.<\/p>

Though it\u2019s only a novella (I read it in two sittings \u2013 a testament to the book\u2019s small size, but also my need to know what was going to happen next), this book feels as big as any novel. Jeffery\u2019s writing is lovely, almost poetic; he brings his horrific world to life in such a way that you can\u2019t help but admire its beauty. The sentences flow from one to another, and it almost feels like you\u2019re drifting along on a lazy river. You\u2019re taken on a journey that should be harrowing, but it\u2019s presented to you in such a way as to make it almost pleasant.<\/p>

What\u2019s refreshing about this book is that there are no monsters. Literal monsters, that is \u2013 there are metaphorical monsters aplenty. One trope that grates on me in post-apocalyptic media is where the world is ended by creatures such as zombies, or there\u2019s a nuclear apocalypse and some survivors are turned into monsters, and yet we\u2019re led to the conclusion that despite all these monsters, in fact humans are the real monsters. It\u2019s a clich\u00e9, and one that Jeffery avoids. He never posits any monsters of any sort, it\u2019s simply different types of humans squaring off against each other, which in many ways makes it feel much more real \u2013 and much more horrifying.<\/p>

I very much enjoyed A Quiet Apocalypse;<\/em> the action kept me turning pages, and the way information was drip-fed kept me wanting to know more. As I said above, I\u2019m glad this is a series of novellas, rather than a stand-alone. I\u2019m going to start reading the next in the series right away.<\/p>

Click the image below to buy a copy of A Quiet Apocalypse…<\/em><\/p>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRobert Welbourn\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Author | Ideal Angels (2018) \/ @unbound_digital<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Share this article or save to read later<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Photo by Marcus L\u00f6fvenberg<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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More To Explore<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTales From The Crypt (1972)\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t
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Tales From The Crypt 1972 \/ Freddie Francis Where does one start with examining arguably Amicus\u2019 greatest portmanteau film? Well, for me, wiping away the<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tRead More \u00bb\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t20\/09\/2023\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tThe People That Time Forgot (1977)\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t
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The People That Time Forgot 1977 \/ Kevin Connor The success of Amicus\u2019 first two Edgar Rice Burroughs-based fantasy adventures in 1975 and 1976 led<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tRead More \u00bb\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t19\/09\/2023\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tAt The Earth’s Core (1976)\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t
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AT THE EARTH’S CORE 1976 \/ Kevin Connor Amicus\u2019 first foray into the science fiction adventure, The Land That Time Forgot (UK, Kevin Connor, 1974)<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tRead More \u00bb\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Robert Welbourn reviews A Quiet Apocalypse by Dave Jeffery, the first in a series of post-apocalyptic novellas set in a meningitis-ravaged Britain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":17440,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2030],"tags":[1954,651],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/a-quiet-apocalypse-featured.jpeg?fit=716%2C609&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17433"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17433"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17453,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17433\/revisions\/17453"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}