One Second After (Forstchen Novel)

[Howard1955]

Wondering how many of you have read Forstchen's book, "One Second After".

And what are your thoughts, regarding two things:

(1) The nation's power grid. Seems pretty vulnerable.

(2) How many will be able to survive a winter, and then grow enough food the following year to sustain themselves and their families?

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[Sstrand]

NOT TO WORRY!
Arrangements are/have been made to keep the upper echelons of those who deem it their right to rule well cared for. Hardened bunkers, multiple years supply of food and water, medical people, and in the event of a Hillary win enough young women to keep Bill busy for a good long while. Only we in the "deplorable" classes, the bitter clingers, will be expected to suffer!

Sheldon

 

[Camelfilter]

Read it.

Thought it was reasonably well written, with the basic plot premise pretty plausible, as far as unlikely SHTF scenarios go.

 

[Brutus57]

Every country's power grid is vulnerable. But radical Islamists are more interested in blood vs. starvation of the infidels and they like to instill terror....driving a semi through a chain link fence to take out substations, etc. is not "glorious enough". Doubt you get 72 virgins for that...They want the head lines.

Brutus Out

 

[Pops1911]

I myself have read the book several times. Fascinated by the character developments and interactions. Can see similar things actually happening. However, not everyone in SHTF will act as nobly. My old man awareness tells me for a long time after a SHTF situation it will be everyone for them self. Worse will be a slow unfolding SHTF [frog in gradually heating water] when we all wake up one day and discover everything we have known and cherished is long gone. Not attempting to be a downer. I just keep this in my thoughts. I believe it could directly apply to the last almost 8 years. I can only work to see that the next 4 years have a fighting chance to lift everyone up. A. Deplorable

 

[Pops1911]

I have also managed to read his sequel "One Year After". It was good too but not as "holy bubblegum" as the first one. My take away was if anyone makes it through the first year - life goes on.

 

[PaulB47]

I have a hard time separating the apocalyptic fiction in my head - I read a lot of them. IIRC this was one of the better in the genre.

 

[gaijinsamurai]

Good book. I also recommend the sequel, "One Year After", as well as other SHTF books, both for entertainment and educational purposes. John Wesley Rawles' "Survivors" is also full of useful info.

 

[pdempsey1097]

I thought it was a pretty good read.

Regarding the feasibility of an EMP attack, Tom Brokaw wrote a book called "Lights Out"
https://www.amazon.com/Lights-Out-Cyberattack-Unprepared-Surviving/dp/1101888938

We could harden our grids for a relatively small investment, and the government has known of the threat for decades.

If such an attack were staged, I believe it would be by the Russians, Chinese, North Koreans, or Iranians.

 

[Timbertodd]

I read both books. The first one opened my eyes and got me thinking even though it was fiction. Most folks do not realize just how dependent they are on most everything.

 

[PaulB47]

If such an attack were staged, I believe it would be by the Russians, Chinese, North Koreans, or Iranians.

Don't forget the Washingtonians (DC variety).

 

[Howard1955]

Thanks, fellas. I appreciate your comments.

Seems to me that the folks who would fare best in a "grid-down" scenario are the Amish. They already know how to grow food and live without electricity. As for the rest of us, it looks pretty bleak. Not very many have enough food stockpiled to get through the first winter, and even fewer have the resources and skills necessary to become self-sufficient.

Not saying we should all become Amish. But being able to grow enough food for ourselves would be a good thing. Anybody know anything about aquaponics? I read a little about it - apparently, it's a way to grow veggies and fish in a greenhouse.

I live on a farm just west of Salem, and if the grid were ever to go down we would probably be overrun by people coming out of the surrounding towns, looking for food and water.

 

[Defense Minister]

I've read it, and here's my take: in an EMP strike, we're screwed. Even folks who live off the grid and/or produce much of their own food rely on alternate sources of power and electronic/electrical devices to function. Their abilities will just kick the can down the road in 90% of cases.

We have become a society of leisure, and that will be forever gone. Every second will be spent on staying alive, not enjoying life. No more football games, backyard BBQs, vacations, fine dining, or beer. Those that last beyond the first 2-3 weeks in an area affected by the EMP will end up wishing whoever detonated the weapon had sent a salvo of conventional nukes instead.

If the elite do have extensive underground bunkers with a self-sustaining power supply and other necessities, they will go nuts stuck there without us common deplorables to wait on their every demand. The only true hope of survival will be to live in or near an area that is largely unaffected by the EMP and is able to get by without the larger infrastructure intact.

On a more positive note, reading the book did prompt me to put together a very comprehensive family medical kit which helps me be prepared for more likely scenarios such as a Cascadia Subduction Zone megathrust earthquake.

 

[tc556guy]

I read it on-line, then picked up a used copy at our library book sale for my post apoc literature collection.
It's Ok as far as the genre goes, but I've never understood by people raved about it except that there are still free copies floating around to download.
Yeah it presents an interesting scenario, but then so does most post apoc lit. if you've read any amount of it, it's just one more scenario used as the background for the story
As for the grid, obviously the power grid is vulnerable. Anyone who's been through any of the major power outages over the past 40 years can attest to what happens to the veneer of civilization when everything goes dark