Monday, June 6, 2016

Book Review: Aftermath II- The Struggle for Independence

I was recently sent an early copy of Leann Edmondson's new book "Aftermath: A Struggle for Independence" to review and I was able to get it finished a few days ago. Now that the book is available for sale on Amazon to the masses I thought I would provide my review of the book for your consideration. You can find my review of Leann's first book here: LINK.

Excerpt From The Rear Of The Book:
"We fight for our independence in total. Not just from a government or some other authority. This time, it's for being a free human being."

A world-changing event has taken place and with seventy percent of the world’s population believed to be dead, the first winter after IT happened will prove to be a bigger challenge to survive than the disaster itself. 

Jimmy Walker has banded together with other survivors in what was formerly known as Michigan. After meeting the threats from the local criminal element and avoiding being rounded up by the United Nations, the focus changed to gathering enough resources to survive the coming winter. But the U. N. is not resting. 

Not only will the survivors have to deal with people fleeing the cities, they will have to face all that Mother Nature can throw at them without any modern conveniences. Even if they manage to survive the weather, the lack of things to do leaves a lot of time for getting lost in the magnitude of what has happened to humanity.
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The story picks up where Aftermath left off. Aftermath II delves into the community banding together in their fight for survival.  The engaging style and fast paced story that I enjoyed in the first book continues to engage the reader.  Although it can be read as a standalone since it does a good job of recapping what has happened, I recommend you read Aftermath first.  If you are looking for a book that will keep you turning the pages, pick up Aftermath II.

So what are a few preparedness takeaways from this book that I believe could help anyone on their preparedness journey when thinking toward a collapse type of event:  
  1. Government and governmental agencies are non-existent and no help: So what does that mean? No first responders, no military, no road maintenance, hospitals, power plants, etc. So if you're not self reliant for those things you better get that way soon. So get security in-line, practice alternative medicine, and be prepared for anything. Get an alternative power supply that is not reliant on fuel such as solar, wind or hydro.
  2. Food production is at a local level, if you are not a farmer, hunter, trapper or have a solid knowledge of wild edibles or medicinal plants there is no time like the present to learn. If you don't have a stash of heirloom seeds you may want to stock up now.
  3. Have a bug-out location and several backups and be able to live out of a backpack long-term if needed while on the move.
  4. Outdoor cooking skills are essential, so if you haven't baked on a fire or cooked a full meal while camping you need to get out there and practice that skill now. 
  5. Clothing choices are key! Don't buy cheap clothes, get items that will last and will be good long-term clothing and remember wool is your friend! Also never skimp on boots, if you can't walk you can't survive. 
  6. Bartering will become an essential part of society. Get onto those Facebook trade group pages, go to swap meets and practice your bartering skills. Get your hands on some extra gear, silver, Alcohol, etc. and be prepared to trade goods or your services for things you need.   
  7. As an add on to the previous point develop skills that are valuable now and post-collapse such as blacksmithing, hunting/fishing/trapping, sewing,cooking/food preservation, farming, fermentation/distilling, etc.
  8. Keep your group small and manageable and be sure you can trust everyone in the group with your life, if you cant then there is a good chance it could cost you big in the future.
Other Preparedness Fiction Related Books:
 

Conclusions:
This book makes you think about self reliance and the skill set needed to survive in both a wilderness environment and also a post-collapse type environment. The book made me think of what my kit would be for a long-term self-reliance on the road and I would normally go with my haversack, but needing to carry clothing and bedding for the winter months. Ideally I would use my largest dry bag as a winter cache and be able to travel light with just my haversack and items on my person if I'm assuming more of a nomadic hunter-gather life style. If I settled in a place life would be a lot different but would still need to have all those essentials in a pack for a rapid escape. At any rate, this book makes you think a great deal like the One Second After book did for me originally. 

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