After the Great Storm

by Ann Dombroski

Forty-year-old Alice Kaczmarek has lost so much. She wants a baby, but her husband Daniel is serving a life sentence, accused of orchestrating an accident on Sydney’s new transport system. When T, the subject of medical experimentation, crawls up the front steps of her house, Alice learns of a strange connection between T and Daniel.

In this psychological novel of threat and intrigue, it seems everyone is involved in a scam, even a respected surgeon colleague. After she is followed, and her home invaded, Alice no longer knows who to rely on and must navigate this corrupt, murky world alone. In the process, she draws ever closer to Daniel’s friend, Lowell.

After the Great Storm is a novel imbued with both darkness and light, sadness and joy; its characters refuse to give up on love regardless of the cost. Ultimately it asks an urgent question for our times. When corruption becomes endemic how can we save our own moral code?

‘This truly unusual and haunting novel about trust and moral ambiguity grips you from the first page and leaves you questioning where we are heading. A must-read for anyone who dares to imagine the consequences of our current actions.’
—Donna M Cameron, author of The Rewilding and Beneath the Mother Tree

Genres: Speculative Fiction, Science Fiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published February 2, 2025

About the author

Ann Dombroski was born in Wollongong. She has worked as a teacher of English as a foreign language and as a teacher trainer in Australia and overseas. Her prize-winning short fiction has appeared in literary journals and anthologies. She was the recipient of a Varuna Fellowship and an Australia Council grant. She lives in Sydney’s inner west with her partner and has one son.

Reviews

[Veronica ⭐️]

After the Great Storm is a speculative Fiction novel set in Sydney 2075.
Alice's husband has been jailed over a transport accident that resulted in a lose of lives. Alice is trying to prove her husband's innocence whilst she battles with personal issues over IVF procedures and mounting bills.

With a cast of complex, nuanced characters and themes of human experimentation After the Great Storm is the perfect read for fans of speculative fiction.

Ann Dombroski's beautifully described scenes are easily imagined and the foreboding suspense kept me eagerly turning pages.

Read my full review: https://theburgeoningbookshelf.blogsp...

[Renee]

Took me a whole week. I couldn’t get into it, lots of characters, lots of plot lines and none of them were in depth or engaging. The blurb was different to the book, putting large emphasis on things that happened and resolved within a page. I still don’t know what the story arc was. Each character had 1-2 scenes (like T’s family, the loan shark, the kid with the robot) and I don’t understand their significance. The writing wasn’t poetic (which is my preference) so it was not descriptive enough for me. I made myself finish it because it wasn’t terrible, it was just incredibly bland and disengaging.

*Ratings are personal recommendations to myself to go back to, and I know there will be people who love this type of book, it just wasn’t for me !

[Charlee Webb]

Ooft not the easiest read. I saw another review saying there were too many story lines and they were all superficial - I completely agree with this.
Reading this is trying to follow ADHD thoughts, it jumped all over the place and was super disjointed.
Here is my progressive thoughts and is a summary of the whole book -
Page 19 - A human bat with no context ? And she just pulls it in to the kitchen and then go to work for the day ?
Page 230 - The bat suddenly dies
Page 232 - Granny suddenly dies

[Jane]

I enjoyed it for the most part but turned off by the incredible irritating, selfish MC

[Lorraine]

By: Ann Dombroski
ISBN: 9 781923 023277
Transit Lounge (2025)

“After the Great Storm” is the first full length novel from Ann Dombroski. This near future conspiracy thriller packs a lot in, and will intrigue many readers.

Although I enjoyed and appreciated this novel, I didn’t love it. That’s purely a matter of personal taste; conspiracy thrillers rarely make my “favorites” list. There’s very little wrong with this novel objectively, and many will enjoy it more than I did.

The novel is rife with corruption and conspiracies, with everyone out for themselves, double dealing, and suspicious of others. Everything comes at a price. That’s probably what made the novel less enjoyable for me – in keeping Alice’s world murky and uncertain for her, Dombroski also fails to fully explain some elements of the world and plot. I did not get the sense of resolution I was hoping for.

The novel is atmospheric, with the world well evoked. The setting is kept relatively small, not covering much more than Alice’s immediate world and concerns. It does hint at the wider world, and readers are left with a strong sense of an environment that grew out of our present society and which has changed in believable and foreseeable ways.

Alice is a strong character, although I found her difficult to engage with emotionally. I think this is deliberate, a reflection of the glass wall she perceives between herself and others. Many readers will find it possible to empathise with her, and few will be able to resist being drawn into her dilemmas.

With a plot that’s somewhat murky, it’s Alice’s unshakeable focus on the future she wants – her husband, their baby – which draws the reader on. It is also this element of the novel which offers the greatest resolution.

This is a thoughtful novel, which asks plenty of questions of the reader, and perhaps should have answered one or two more itself. Most will find it absorbing and challenging, and some may find a sense of hope in it. Very few will find it easy to forget.

Recommended to readers who want to be challenged to think about difficult issues, and for those who enjoy conspiracy thrillers.

If you enjoyed this review, please visit www.otherdreamsotherlives.home.blog to read more.

An edited version of this review first appeared on www.beautyandlace.net as part of their bookclub.

[Lisa]

After the Great Storm by Ann Dombroski. That's not to say that the novel is lightweight, because it's a literary thriller that tackles some significant social issues.  But it's speculative fiction rather then sobering history.

The central character Alice has problems that would daunt a less stalwart personality.  The novel is set at some indeterminate time in a future Sydney after the Great Storm.  So her first problem is the one that we are starting to see as climate change wreaks vengeance for our failure to act while there was still time.  With a light touch, the author paints the picture: there are rooftop farms; cycleways for e-bikes which struggle against the wind tunnels between buildings; there is yurt housing with an artificial beach, and a CBD3. And when another storm is brewing, it's an offence not to put up your window shutters and if you're out on the street you'd better hustle into one of the deep underground shelters.

Her most pressing problem is Daniel, locked up in a high security hi-tech prison for his part in a 'slider' accident that killed seven people.  (Sliders are new technology — people movers of some kind.)  Alice thinks he's innocent but lacks resources to challenge the verdict.  She has a good job creating body parts for surgery, but she struggles to manage the house payments.  So while bribes look like a better bet than paying the hefty fees of lawyers, she doesn't have the money for either.

And then there's the urgency of the biological clock. 

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2025/01/28/a...

[Jan Mawdesley]

Author Ann Dombroski transports the reader to the near future world of 2075 where technology and experimental medical procedures are not quite beyond imagination. This a strange world with no houses, just towering apartment blocks and transport is by slider or airpod; a world where the fifth great storm is worse than the ones before.
The story unfolds gradually. Not only is forty-year-old medical engineer, Alice desperate to have a baby and trying to access her stored embryos for IVF, but she’s also anxious to get her ‘wrongly’ incarcerated husband, Daniel out of jail. To add to her challenges a half human/ bat medical experiment creature (T) appears on her doorstep; Alice is destined to care for her until other arrangements can be made. What is the strange connection between Daniel and T?
Who can Alice trust after she was stalked and her home obviously searched? She must draw on her innate problem-solving skills plus ability to make shrewd character assessments to navigate the dangerous territory, in which she finds herself, and its challenging ethical dilemmas. Are Sydney’s transport and health systems governed by blackmail and money?
Although described as a psychological thriller, many readers will judge this fascinating novel to be a sci-fi read.
reviewed by Nan van Dissel for Transit Lounge and Bluewolf Reviews.

[Belinda]

It’s 2075 and Alice’s husband is in jail for a crime she is certain he did not commit. As she tries to get together materials and an argument for a legal appeal, she is also working full time and looking after the care of her grandmother and young brother in law. Amidst this chaos, a mysterious creature turns up at her door looking for sanctuary.

This was an interesting book that covered a lot of different ideas - a future where wild weather affects daily living; where private companies control public services; where the gap between rich and poor is wider and has greater consequences than ever. But, because there were so many different competing themes, none of them got very much focus. For example, we never learned anything about Daniel except that he had a younger brother he doesn’t like. Why should we believe he was innocent? And who were the secret medical group, and why were they doing what they were doing. I feel like there wasn’t enough scaffolding to support the plot.

That said, there was a lot of potential in this book and I look forward to the next release from this author.

[Nikki Taylor]

It’s the year 2075 and it’s a strange world. Think self-cleaning houses, driverless excavators, robot companions for the ill, insane storm events, capsule hotels, xenograft experiments and so much more.

Daniel is serving life in prison after being accused of orchestrating an accident, involving self driver vehicles and Alice his partner refuses to give up on him and believe that he’s guilty. While she is trying to uncover the truth and keep herself afloat, a medical experiment lands on her doorstep, known as T - which brings more unsettling events to Alice’s life, but also has her finding a link between it and her husband.

It was an unusual story and it kept me intrigued and it is loaded with corruption at every corner.

There is so many different aspects to this story, while they were all interesting, they each just didn’t go deep enough and left me with more questions than answers. It did a great job with the character of T and had me feeling such empathy for this creature and it does leave you questioning how far you will go for the one you love and how far you into the darkness you are willing to go to reveal the truth.

[Rebecca Fung]

After the Great Storm has an original premise that grapples with interesting ethical issues. Alice wants a baby by her husband who is serving time in prison. She's convinced his conviction was wrongful but orchestrating Daniel's release is only one of her options. In the meantime, she also meets T, the subject of a medical experiment who has a connection to Daniel.

An important theme in the book is medical ethics. Trust and corruption are others. I enjoyed the world-building and found it an interesting story, the style of which made an unusual world very realistic. T's situation, I felt more strongly about than Alice's and Daniel's. It was an interesting and imaginative world created and real issues in a somewhat unreal setting.

The story is well and plainly written. I felt the dialogue was smooth and realistic. There are plenty of opportunities to get inside Alice's head which is important as all the dilemmas are for her. However for some reason I felt there was a lack of urgency surrounding Alice's dilemmas which would have made the story more compelling.

[Meg]

This literary speculative novel is set in a near future world. We get a strong sense of the feel of this world, without any of the details of how we got here. We get some hints in the background. The story opens during the “Fifth Great Storm”, but we don’t need to know about the other four. There’s new technologies and importantly for our story, new diseases and medical advances.
Alice is a hospital employee, with a lot going on. She is trying to get her husband out of prison, get access to use her stored embryos for IVF, and then some monstrous creature - an “uninvited guest” slouches up to her door.
It's not a plot driven book, but the foreboding sense keeps you turning pages. The writing is dripping with evocative biological terminology. Words like “viscous”, “membranes”, “webbing” and “skin-suit” create a visceral sense of dread.
The magic wore off a little in the second half, as the story lost some of its urgency. But I still highly recommend this to readers who enjoy something beautifully written, that is strange and new.

[Vahida Berberovic]

After the Great Storm is set in a not-too-distant future Sydney where climate change and technological advancement have left their mark on people and their lives but the desires and emotions of the main characters are still the same as ever: Alice wishes for a child and does everything she can to have one. At the same time, she tries to prove the innocence of her incarcerated husband, framed by a large company for a disaster they are responsible for.

All of this is even more complicated when an almost-angel, wings and all, collapses in front of her door. She learns about unethical medical procedures and experiments, corrupt doctors, greedy lawyers. When she is followed and intimidated to step back from her investigations, and she comes across a strange connection between the almost-angel and her husband, Alice doesn’t know any more what and who to believe.

Ann Dombroski strikes a good balance between introspective and genre writing, allowing the reader to accompany Alice in her emotional and investigative journey.

[Nicole West]

I was lucky to receive an Early Bird Read and review book from Good Reading.

This novel is set in 2075, the future where transport is by sliders or airpod (very possible).

Alice is 40 years old, trying to fall pregnant, but her partner is in Gaol over an incident in Sydney with the new transport system.

A half human/half bat medical experiment turns up at her door during a storm one night, which sets off questions and answers or connections. Alice is trying to balance work commitments, getting her partner out of goal, and visits to her grandmother and also her partner's brother.

It is a book of what the future holds, who you can trust. Full of corruption within the medical and transport system by blackmailing or money.

I did enjoy reading, even though it's not a book I'd pick up usually.

[Celina Marscham]

I received this book as part of an early readers review programme and was asked to leave a review

⭐⭐⭐⭐

After The Great Storm by Ann Dombroski


A very futuristic read set in 2075 with loads of AI,robots,self automated gadgets,concrete jungle hardly any greenery in the city,human experimentation,greed,love,lust,power and numerous underlining emotions.

Alice and Daniel the 2 main characters are facing two different realities,Alice is free though Daniel is in prison,the system Alice has to go through to see him is very technolgically advance,airopods for transport,full hand scanning and more.

Alice wants a baby so is trying IVF and at the same time is trying to prove Daniel's innocence of crime while he is in jail.

Alice has an unexpected guest arrive on her doorsteps which sets off many unusual events.

I throughly enjoyed the book

[Jodi]

I received a preview copy for this book in exchange for a review

I stopped reading it. The characters didn't grab me from the start, but more importantly I felt the start didn't give me insight into what year this was, where was this set, to the point where about 17 pages in I had to read the back of the book for the description again. I thought to myself isn't this meant to be a psychological thriller but it was coming across as a sci-fi book, something set in the future/in a different time judging by the T character, the names of some characters, the sliders.

I just felt I couldn't connect to the characters to want to keep reading to find out what it was about because I needed more at the start. I flicked through to some later pages to see if there was anything that gave me some interest of what's to come and it didn't.

[Amanda]

After The Great Storm by Ann Dombroski

Alice is facing quite a few challenges within her life, her partner Daniel in jail, the appearance of an uninvited “guest” turning up on her doorstep and medical dilemmas and issues.

The world that your taken into is one in the future, with advanced technologies, no houses, just towering apartment blocks and a world where each “great storm” is potentially worse than the last.

Alice faces a lot throughout the book & in some parts it had me thinking why is this being told or why didn’t we get more info on that, but ultimately the last few chapters start to come together and everything ultimately starts making sense.

After The Great Storm wouldn’t normally be a book that I would choose for myself, but ultimately I’m glad I read it.

[Susan Howard]

Set in Sydney, 2075, the protagonist Alice finds herself navigating a city impacted by the effects of climate change, technology, medical experimentation and the drive to free her partner Daniel from his futuristic prison.
The author has created a believable future where corruption still operates at all levels, ensuring her journey is challenging and dangerous. The arrival of an unexpected guest further complicates her life. This book is intelligent, humorous, vivid, sophisticated. Highly recommend.

[Ally]

“After the Great Storm” by Ann Dombroski is a moving story about loss, healing, and finding new beginnings. It is set in the near future in a dystopian world. The setting, after a big storm, adds tension and emotion. Using beautiful descriptive language, the author describes the scenes clearly, and the characters feel believable. Rather than fast-paced, the story is thoughtful and reflective. The book handles deep emotional themes such as the incarceration of a loved one, the longing for a child, corruption, climate change, and ethical dilemmas in medicine. An original, heartfelt read.

[Jack]

I read an early review copy of this book and I really enjoyed it. The writing is tight and imaginative and the narrative flows. The characters are strong and original , especially T. Highly recommend this.

[Peter Schwarz]

After the Great Storm is a terrific read. The suspense is built and sustained throughout. Also there is a sharp sense of place (Sydney in the future), familiar and yet not.

[Robyn Eastman]

Buzzard

[Diana]

An intriguing plot, interesting characters, plenty of suspense. A great read.

[Jackie]

Such a great book. The tension kept escalating and was so well managed. The characters were flawed and believable. Future Sydney was very well imagined (depressingly so).

[Un]

Felt quite literary with a few sparse moments of intrigue. Wished everything was a bit more fleshed out, though really appreciated the futuristic world-building of Sydney. Two stars.

[Wendy]

There was some language used in this book but the plot was terrible. It felt like a whole heap of ideas Theon together.

[Margaret Stickland]

Not my kind of read but interesting to think in 50 years time the Sydney we know could change

[Deborah Pike]

This book was elegant, poised and suspenseful. I enjoyed the haunting world and the probing questions it posed. Highly recommended.

[Rani]

This book was so absorbing, imaginative and beautifully written. I was really engaged in the depiction of Sydney in the future, with many familiar scenes including around Camperdown, the CBD and the outer suburbs of the city. The book covered so much ground in terms of the dilemmas and concerns of now/ projected into the future. I also loved the subtle and sometimes impish humour of the main characters. It left me with much food for thought and was also very moving and insightful.

I highly recommend this book.

[Farrells Bookshop]

Australian speculative fiction, set in indeterminate timeframe. A good, pacey drama.

Read by Suzie

[Christine]

The near future world of After the Great Storm is fascinating in its strangeness yet it feels tangible and credible. Alice is very human in her aloneness, and in her conflicted desires. But she is also a medical engineer and draws on cool logic and problem solving abilities (plus some canny character assessment) to guide her through the dilemmas she faces, into some pretty dangerous territory. Also: the character of "T" is one of the most original creations I've come across in fiction!
delete