The fate of mankind is in the hands of a group of 20-something science nerds in the sequel to Outland, by the Audible #1 best-selling author of the “Bobiverse” series.
The Yellowstone super-eruption has put an end to modern civilization. As cities and countries continue to fall, the colony of Rivendell in the alternate Earth known as Outland looks more and more like the only real hope for humanity. But life in Rivendell isn’t getting any simpler, either. Bill and Kevin continue to discover new worlds; the population continues to rise; winter is approaching; and everyone has their own opinion about how things should be run.
Then, a garbled plea for help from Omaha sends most of the security forces back Earthside to investigate, leaving Monica’s police force understaffed just as a large group of refugees arrive with its own ideas and power structure. With threats from both inside and outside, will the colony even survive until spring?
And we’re back with the sequel to Outland. Our intrepid grad students have managed to basically bring over an entire college campus before disaster struck, as well as a segment of the National Guard, and they are working on building an actual society. Meanwhile, they are still looking for survivors on Earth, dealing with a mystery sociopath, and trying not to get eaten by the local wildlife on Outland. They also manage to discover additional parallel worlds.
If you liked Outland, Earthside is more of the same. I suspect my husband’s review will discuss some criminal trials they conduct- they horrified him with the potential to become despotic kangaroo courts. Ironically, I, the attorney in the family, didn’t really care. It’s a new society, they’re in survival mode, they don’t really have the option of careful rehabilitation or long term incarceration. I just enjoyed that no one had to parse the evidence rules around hearsay statements.
Once again, with Taylor, if you can turn off the realism/cynic part of your brain that is screaming “none of this would happen in this manner!” his books are really enjoyable. I don’t read them for realism. I read them as cozy escapist sci fi about clever people who generally prevail. (Also Taylor is a retired engineer, and he ABSOLUTELY writes engineers as genius super heroes. I find it hilarious, but your mileage may vary.)