I loved the voice of this novella right away. It mostly follows Vasha, the aging leader of a cooperative post-apocalyptic community as she navigates a single day, from 8am to 12am, from the little worries of a random day to the big worry when a troop of raiders threatens to destroy the community. Though the story was short, Newton manages to convey how different the world is compared to our time and the complex relationships between characters. Everyone was well rounded and complex, the plot moved along, and I was thoroughly invested in what was going to happen. Though the message is about how cooperation will be the salvation of the human race, The Future Second By Second didn't paint a rosy, fluffy picture. There are still difficulties within the community and without and difficult personalities. It was refreshing to read a realistic, hopeful take on the post-apocalyptic trend.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this fun novella!

I love a good novella so when I saw this one, I was excited to give it a go. I loved the post apocalyptic setting and I am interested to see how that is explored more in the sequels. I also really enjoyed the highlight of community and leadership throughout this. The pacing made this read extremely quickly, with short chapters and a well contained timeline structure that pushed the story along.

I do wish we got more information about the apocalyptic event that led to this new society, I am hoping we get more of that in book 2. The characters had a lot of potential, I just think I need more time with them in different circumstances to get a feel for them!

It started very well, we get to see how well organized the colony is, we meet the protagonist and then the raiders come, I just couldn't get my mind around the fact that the colony seems to be very organized and has been for many years and now they just give in to the raiders like nothing, I think they talked about it for like 5 minutes and she decided to leave control to them like it wasn't her life's work. It took me out of the book and couldn't get back to it, I just didn't believe it anymore and it turned boring.

There is an interesting hook, the raiders arrive but instead of combat in this post-apocalyptic world there is another option. It does steer a bit much into cliche taking so many small ingredients and putting them in together. It's well written and enjoyable enough but predictable and really just goes where you expect it to go.

In an apocalyptic world, a band of raiders threatens a town as they prepare the final harvest for winter. Rather than hunker down for an interminable siege or prepare for a bloody fight, the town's mayor offers the band a fair challenge - their leader should show their leadership in action and guide the town for the remainder of the day. The villagers & raiders together will then vote on which leader they prefer to follow, and be done with it.

This novella illustrates between barbarism and civility - that pooling resources for the greater good is more beneficial for stability than a winner-takes-all mentality. As the day progresses, both parties learn about each other and see their point of view.

I found it interesting (and realistic) that the most "barbaric" character is actually one from the village - a man who rules his tiny domain with an iron fist and harsh word to even those he loves.

While this story is pointing at an interesting dichotomy, it did not go far enough to delve into how the raiders understood their actions. How their worldview brought them to this point, and their reversal is the most important to investigate. Making all them secretly not like their circumstances is a cop out.

I'd also argue that the villagers (esp. the mayor) did not do anything to convince them that civility was a better approach - that only by the raider's own failures, the raiders changed their minds. Also, the only comeuppance is determined by a vote, with no actual ramifications to the ones who hurt those around them. That's not satisfying.

Don't look to this story for a lesson of how to face & understand & turn this raider mentality, but instead see it as placation that of course you, yes you, are correct about the world. Now go get comfy.

Three words. I am obsessed. Phenomenal writing that instantly hooked me. Really awesome character development. Another thing that the author did well was show the dimensions to characters. Not everyone is all good or all bad. This is definite must read and I’m excited to read the other books in the series.

An interesting, thought provoking dystopian short story. It was written so well and despite its length gripped me and kept me reading, and wanting more. There was so much action packed into so few pages. It’s set over a couple of hours and it made the story fast moving and quick to read. It was interesting to see the two groups trying to understand each other — and it seemed like there was an underlying message of our differences within societies, and how if we work together and try to understand people’s point of view, the world would be a better place for it.

Despite its fast pace, and maybe I missed the point, but I struggled to care about what was happening. I was tad bored but equally I wanted to know how it would end. I didn’t feel connected to most of the characters and couldn’t relate to or make myself care about how they ended up. I loved Ahmed, though — there was something about him I loved and wanted to find out more about him.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and author, for a chance to read and review this book!

It was the book cover that initially drew my attention to this book, first of all the bright colours and then on closer inspection, the clock face with the bright orangey-red flowers in front of it. It’s only when you have read the book that you realise the relevance of the cover to the story. This book cover would certainly encourage me to click on it online or pick it up in a bookstore to learn more about it by reading the blurb. I do enjoy the genres of Sci-Fi & Fantasy genres with some mystery & thriller elements thrown in and recently discovered that I really enjoy reading books that are also categorised as literary fiction. As this book has all that together I was looking forward to a great read.

The main characters live together in what was once a decent sized warehouse in the “before.” Without going into much detail, as I do not want to give away very much with this being only novella length. The world has gone through an event that means there is no electricity, in fact, living is pretty primitive and is a rather back to basics way of life. This area where the main characters are based is called Osto. The leader of Osto is a woman called Vasha who walks with a cane due to being born with a club foot. Vasha inherited the job of leader from her father and she has led the people of Osto ever since. Vasha does not look like a “typical leader” to those who do not really know her. It is that very mistake that the leader, Drake of the gang of raiders known as the “Men of Esteben” makes. When his men gather to take what they want from Osto as they have done in other areas, Vasha and her people initially hid in the old fortified warehouse. When it becomes apparent neither side is willing to back down, Vasha offers Drake and the Men of Esteben a deal. Drake may rule Osto for the next 15 hours, at the end of this time there will be a vote to see who the people of Osto want to be their leader. Everyone in Osto and all the Men of Esteben will be able to cast a vote. Drake laughs and thinks that he can easily lead the people of Osto as he leads his band of rough, tough men. Drake feels confident that he will do a much better job than this old disabled women in front of him. Drake soon realises that leading Osto is not as easy as he thought it would be, in fact, its much more difficult than leading his men. The people of Osto each have their own strengths and skills which are put to good use in relevant jobs. Drake is used to his men doing whatever he says, when the people of Osto try to explain to him that they have their own skills/jobs Drake demands that they just do as they are told or they will suffer the consequences.

One of my favourite characters was of course Vasha, who turned out to be a very wise woman, though she certainly takes a risk allowing Drake to lead her people. In fact, there are a few occasions during his leadership that she seriously regrets her offer. Another resident of Osto I became quickly attached to was Ben who worked in the kitchen, making food for the people of Osto to eat in between their working.

Although Drake is the leader of the raiders known as the cruel, unyielding Men of Esteben who take what they want and kill anyone who stands in their way, I honestly did end up sort of warming to him. I seriously wanted to grab him and roughly shake him or knock some sense into him whilst he was ruling Osto.

The novella is really well written, it felt like it was really fast paced as there is always either some action or drama going on. Despite the people living in a world without electricity and “old world” modern comforts, there are still the frictions from before, with certain families having their feuds and arguments between them. The reasoning behind the title is revealed whilst reading the book. Each chapter has a time, ie the first chapter is labelled at 8am, and the last chapter heading is 12am. Basically the chapters being like this fits really well with the concept of Drake being trialled as a leader of Osto for 15 hours.

My immediate thoughts upon finishing the novella were that I had truly enjoyed it, and was disappointed it had ended. I wished it had been longer. So, it is fair to say I am genuinely looking forward to reading more of The Shelter Trilogy.

Summing up I feel I should point out that this is a novella length book, so is quite short. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and am looking forward to reading the other two parts of The Shelter Trilogy. I am wondering whether to wait and hope all three novellas will be combined into one book or not. This book has great characters you easily become attached to, even some of the “bad” guys! It also has a well developed plot and clever world building. I honestly loved it and would seriously like to read a lot more about this world, the setting of Osto and its characters.

This book was slow to start but a quick read as it's quite a short story. I found this to be 'ok', it wasn't particularly captivating or exciting for me, although there was one surprise near the end. It gave me the impression that it could have been taken from the middle of a lengthier book if that makes sense - there wasn't much world building regarding what apocalyptic event had happened so I was left feeling pretty underwhelmed, which is a shame as it has so much potential. It is the first in a trilogy though so perhaps that will be explored more in the books to come.

*Thank you to @netgalley and the publishers @ for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review*

I read this collection of dystopin short stories really quickly. they were well written with great stories and well developed characters. What I loved most is that even the most awful of places the spirit and voice fo community shone through. A really great collection.