I finished book two last night.
I liked this book more than book one. Of course, I must preface the evaluation with the realization that I am an action junky so book one was a little slow. I understand why book one had to be slow and still liked it. But, the collapse part of book two was far more entertaining.
A good point, PrepperJim. Yes, the action increases in each book. A lot. (You will enjoy looking back at Book One after you read Book Ten!) I thought about releasing Book One and even Book Two in the middle of the series because I like to start things off with action. But, the more I thought about it--and I did for about 2.5 years--the more I kept realizing that things that happen in Book One are necessary to explain what happens in successive books.
This is especially true of Grant's personality; the things that shaped him are really important later on. In fact, some of the things in Book Two and especially Book Three onward are almost unbelievable if you don't understand Grant's personality. Conversely, by fully understanding Grant's personality the things in Book Three and onward make perfect sense. The two best examples of this are Grant building up the community at Pierce Point and leading another group that you'll be reading about in a few books. I truly think that the things that shaped Grant's personality (which are true; they shaped my personality) will make it not only possible but probable that he will successfully build up the community there and lead the other group. You'll see what I'm talking about.
The necessity of understanding the characters' personality is also true of other characters; you need to know them before what they do later makes sense. Take the Team, for example. Knowing that they are "regular guys" who form up and humbly do their thing (and do it well, as we do in real life) makes it much more understandable that they will be the humble team you will see in Book Three and the following books. The chapter about Mrs. Nguyen is a perfect example. You need to know how these guys would treat Mrs. Nguyen to understand--and believe--how they will treat the people out at Pierce Point.
I too, was bothered by Lisa's attitude that it was time to get the hell out. I really think that people would wake up faster than that. If my wife just killed three people protecting the neighborhood, I would know that it was time to go. That it took a crazy woman's attack on the children to convince Lisa was a stretch. But, OK...she finally was convinced.
I struggled with this. Here is where I came down: the real Lisa would react as I depict her. Now, that was true 2.5 years ago when I was forming the story in my mind. My wife was terrible with normalcy bias back then. I honestly think she would have reacted the way she does in the book--that's what makes the story believable because it was true at the time. Now that she knows about the books and that I'm a prepper, she would react better than in the book. In effect, writing a 3,200 page book series was my way of breaking her into the very "radical" idea (in her mind) that we need to prep and would need to bug out.
Another reason why Lisa's normalcy bias is as strong as in the book is that lots of people will react exactly as she does. I think most will. I truly do. Remember: you guys are preppers. You are very active on a prepper forum; you are not exactly "average Americans." When the collapse hits for real, you will be stunned at how some people react. You will be saying, "Wow, that person was such a 'Lisa.'"
Don't forget the effects of extreme stress. Lisa is under tremendous pressure. People react in amazingly different ways under stress.
Yet another reason Lisa has such a strong case of normalacy bias is that it sets the stage for Book Three and beyond. Her normalcy bias and others'--and how they approach the new reality of the collapse--is critical in future books. You need to see it in Book One and Book Two before the future events make any sense.
As far as Nancy goes, I truly believe there are plenty of Nancys out there. I work with them. Seriously, you should meet the real Nancy.
In polite pre-collapse society, the Nancys of the world are smiling and even seemingly sweet people. But they crave power and love to boss people around. Currently, in pre-collapse society, they are bossing people around with interoffice memos. When there are no more memos because no one is still going to their jobs, the Nancys will boss people around with the neighborhood meetings and... much more (as show in Book Three and beyond).
Nancy being that mean was necessary, in my opinion, to wake people the hell up. There are Nancys in your life and they seem nice now. Watch out for the Nancys.
I also think the Nancys, and the government supporting the Nancys, will finally take some action--for Lisa, it was hurting Cole--that finally get people with normalcy bias to snap out of it. We preppers usually think the government will do something like fire on a crowd and that will wake people up. I think the "wake-up" moment needs to be more personal for most people. Seeing a crowd in another part of the country getting shot on TV won't be enough. The sheeple need to see the government do something to
them and their loved ones before they get it.
In a lot of ways, the Nancy-versus-Lisa fight is the clash of two worlds that we will see in the collapse. Nancy is the world of power hungry people who are going wild because there is no one to stop them, which will definitely happen during the collapse. Lisa is the world of normalcy bias, which will also definitely happen. There is a clash--only one of the two versions of the world will survive and the other one will have to change. Normalcy bias changed.
Remember that Nancy is off her meds when she attacks Lisa. Do not underestimate how people on mental meds will totally change when they're off their meds. I wrote the Nancy chapter from her perspective so the impact of her being off her meds is underplayed because she would underplay it.
Another reason Nancy is so awful in Book Two is that you are just getting the first few glimpses of her. She has at least one chapter in every book, giving you a dispatch of what's going on from the perspective of a government-loving resident of Olympia. What she's doing in Book Two is necessary for understanding her in--you guessed it--Book Three and beyond. Wait until you see how Nancy is in Book Ten. It's not exactly what you expect. You'll look back at Book Two and say "Aha!"
I was expecting far more trouble heading to the cabin beyond $10 / gallon gas and a stalled car blocking the road. Pow and the Team had it too easy! ;-)
The relatively smooth sailing on the way out to the cabin was a very conscious choice on my part. In the partial collapse I foresee, there will be lots of expected gun fights that don't materialize. In fact, in some upcoming books there are a couple of gun fights that don't happen and some unexpected ones that do. That's how I see things going during the collapse: getting ready for things that don't happen and reacting to the unexpected.
The $10 a gallon gas was deliberately anti-climatic to readers of pure prepper porn. That price for gas isn't the end of the world (heck, we're almost halfway there now). But that's the point: even when things seem to be totally collapsing in the eyes of preppers who understand what's happening, there are still lots of sheeple who just think it's a temporary blip. Sure, gas is $10 a gallon right now, the sheeple will tell themselves, but the President will send out an executive order to get the price back down. Dumb asses actually believe that. So I think it's realistic that the spike in gas prices at the onset of the collapse will be staggered over time instead of the instant spike we preppers would expect.
Don't forget that gas station owners have normalcy too. They won't be able to believe what's happening and will hesitate to charge $200 a gallon because they'll be worried that things will quickly return to normal and they will have alienated all their customers.
The stalled car on the road is another example of a partial collapse and that
299 Days is not prepper porn with big gun fights at the drop of a hat. I think stalled cars will be much, much more common than gun fights. By a factor of 100 to 1.
Also, and of vital importance, the stalled car shows you the personality of the Team: helping instead of killing. This, like how they treat Mrs. Nguyen, show you how the Team will treat people at Pierce Point... and beyond. In fact, the (real) Team and I have talked about how we handle situations like the stalled car. The consensus was to help and not kill. (But if we see one weapon even remotely pointed at us, the stalled car is swiss cheese a millisecond after Pow yells "Threat!")
You guys keep these observations and questions coming. I love elaborating on things you guys notice.
