Commune

Commune, Book 1

By: Joshua Gayou

Narrated by: R.C. Bray

Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

For dinosaurs, it was a big rock. For humans: Coronal Mass Ejection (CME).

When the Earth is hit by the greatest CME in recorded history (several times larger than the Carrington Event of 1859), the combined societies of the planet's most developed nations struggle to adapt to a life thrust back into the Dark Ages.

In the United States, the military scrambles to speed the nation's recovery on multiple fronts including putting down riots, establishing relief camps, delivering medical aid, and bringing communication and travel back on line.

Just as a real foothold is established in retaking the skies (utilizing existing commercial aircraft supplemented by military resources and ground control systems), a mysterious virus takes hold of the population, spreading globally over the very flight routes that the survivors fought so hard to rebuild. The communicability and mortality rates are devastating, leaving only small pockets of survivors scattered throughout the countryside.

Commune: Book One is the story of one small group of survivors who must adapt to a primitive, hostile world or die. As they learn the rules of this new era, they must decide how far they're willing to go to continue living, continually asking themselves the same question daily: is survival worth the loss of humanity?

©2017 Joshua Gayou (P)2017 Joshua Gayou

Just wondering why RC Bray is not in the #1 spot

If you would look at all of books I have purchased and the books I returned, you would see that I have purchased more books read by RC Bray then any other narrator and the least number of returns by far and he did not even make your list this year. Most weeks, I read at the very least 3 or more books and usually more. I've always said a good narrator can change a bad store book into a a great one and a bad narrator can take a classic and turn it into trash. And RC Bray is not on your list, wow

Why

Why can’t I just post stars when I don’t have anything to say? Blah blah

Love everything about it!

Absolutely great post-apocalypse story! And its only book 1! Can't wait for the next part!

Found few flaws (IMO)

I tend to read through the low ratings to get a feel of where any story or reading may go south and cause disappointment in my Audible purchase. This book has so few I had to rate high in hopes others would take the opportunity to enjoy this book. Aside for the occasional long winded scene or situation description I found this an excellent story performed as on RC Bray can (he nails it again). From start to finish the story was enjoyable and mentally engaging...I couldn’t “put it down” so to speak. I would find it difficult to believe anyone looking for a good dystopian story would not enjoy this. The character development and storyline were great and I wished I was just starting it for the first time again. Don’t think twice, if you are looking for something that won’t disappoint Commune Book 1 should be on your list. Can’t wait for book 2 (also to be read by RC Bray)!!

A slightly different vibe

The story is well thought out and the characters well developed. It was a little more of a touchy feely vibe that others of this genre but not bad and occasionally the description of the effects of certain rounds departs from reality. It is also amusing that apparently the author is from the Los Angeles area as he has all characters regardless of location or origin refer to all highways and freeways with the leading "the" that is common in LA but nowhere else.

Breath of Apocalyptic Fresh Air

I have been bouncing around series looking for something to dig my teeth into and this series was recommended by a Facebook group for another series R.C. Bray narrates.

I’ll start off by saying that I regret not getting to this sooner and letting it lounge around in the “eventually” category of my Audible library.

The author writes from two character perspectives (three including the epilogue) that are distinct enough to be believable and Bray brings them to life superbly. This definitely has a feel of longer series with the first book really just setting the background or stage for the future novels and does so without having to slog through it. I found myself literally laughing out loud in several places of the book. It has a base-building vibe to it with the scavenging and mentions of a future settlement that I hope continues into the next book. I enjoyed this one enough that I purchased the second before finishing the first. 5/5!

A Solid Post Apacolypse

_Commune_ by Joshua Gayou receives 4 stars from me. While I wasn’t overwhelmed by the text, I found elements to be excellent, and the writing is fine. I feel there is an element of realism here in this post-apocalypse text that I enjoyed.

Why was I not overwhelmed? The plot is engaging but it isn’t as plot driven as it appears. Yes, they are attempting to get from point A to B, and it seems clear that once at B, the novel will end. I actually like this; I like seeing where the novel is going to end as the novel progresses. It helps me feel as if there is a direction. The plot isn’t typical for such novels where there is an thriller kind of element, an exciting element that keeps one in gaged to see what happens.

What does happen is people change. I think the characters are the novel’s strength. How they change, what they do, how they view the new world etc.

Let me address the element of realism I found in the novel. Gayou sets up that two events happened a Corona mass ejection and a plague. The plague follows the corona mass ejection. The world was crippled by the CME, which set up the ease by which a pandemic could happen. This seems real to me. However, this is not the realism I am mean. The characters are trying to survive and get to point B. They are working together and they have to address issues often unaddressed in other PA books: water, food, gas, ammunition, other supplies. In many ways this is a survival novel more than a PA novel. It was the ammunition, however, that I found most realistic. I get bored when PA novels seem to have an endless supply of ammunition. Addtionally, there is discussions through out the novel of what will happen in a few years—gas will go bad, no more products will be produced, etc. The characters are thinking, and this I liked.

A note on the reader. R.C. Bray: This is the second book I’ve listen to read by Bray. My thoughts have not changed. A solid reader, not a wide range of voices, and I’ll add that he interprets the characters well in this novel. I recommend him.

Recommended: yes, I think so.

BRAVO!!! A modern classic of post-apocalyptica.

I'm a huge of post-apocalyptic literature, treasuring the classics like "On the Beach," "Alas Babylon," "Day of the Triffids," "Farnham's Freehold," "The Last Ship," etc. But nothing published in the last 20 years has stirred me with similar fervor until I listened to the audio book version of Joshua Gayou's "Commune." Amazingly, this incredibly-talented new writer artfully dodges the horrific pitfalls that plague most end of the world yarns, refusing to allow his story to degenerate into boring predictability. Gayou's writing is amazing. His storytelling is fresh and dynamic, leading us down paths whose eventual outcomes are difficult to foresee. I heard the author say in an interview that he writes the types of stories he himself would want to read. He is obviously passionate about post-apocalyptic literature, to which this is a fabulous contribution. Regarding the narration, R. C. Bray is beyond superb, bringing extra vitality to an already amazing tale. Bravo to Gayou and Bray for bringing us a modern classic!

slow start but definitely work

it's got a slow start but it goes strong and definitely gets you hooked by the end.

A great start

I only wish the first book had been longer! Vividly written, relatable characters, and an all-too-believable scenario.