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Plague Times Trilogy #3
No Dominion
It is seven years after the first outbreak of "the Sweats" destroyed the world, almost overnight. Two refugees from the death and decay of London, Stevie Flint and Magnus McFall, have both washed up on Orkney. A rural community clinging to survival, the islands are home to a generation of youth who barely remember a time before the pandemic. One of them, Magnus' foster son, Shuggie, is fourteen years old and angry as hell: he and his young friends blame all adults for the loss of the technological and scientific wonders of the past.
When the foster parents of Shug's girlfriend, Misty, are found murdered and the young couple vanishes without a trace, Magnus fears the worst. Refusing to believe they could have committed the crime, and in order to find Shuggie and Misty before something terrible happens to them, Magnus and Stevie set off on a quest into the decaying city of Glasgow - and into the heart of a post-apocalyptic landscape they tried to leave behind when they fled the chaotic streets of London.
When the foster parents of Shug's girlfriend, Misty, are found murdered and the young couple vanishes without a trace, Magnus fears the worst. Refusing to believe they could have committed the crime, and in order to find Shuggie and Misty before something terrible happens to them, Magnus and Stevie set off on a quest into the decaying city of Glasgow - and into the heart of a post-apocalyptic landscape they tried to leave behind when they fled the chaotic streets of London.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published July 13, 2017
14 people are currently reading
339 people want to read
About the author
Louise Welsh
53 books334 followersAfter studying history at Glasgow University, Louise Welsh established a second-hand bookshop, where she worked for many years. Her first novel, The Cutting Room, won several awards, including the 2002 Crime Writers’ Association John Creasey Memorial Dagger, and was jointly awarded the 2002 Saltire Society Scottish First Book of the Year Award. Louise was granted a Robert Louis Stevenson Memorial Award in 2003, a Scotland on Sunday/Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award in 2004, and a Hawthornden Fellowship in 2005.
She is a regular radio broadcaster, has published many short stories, and has contributed articles and reviews to most of the British broadsheets. She has also written for the stage. The Guardian chose her as a 'woman to watch' in 2003.
Her second book, Tamburlaine Must Die, a novelette written around the final three days of the poet Christopher Marlowe's life, was published in 2004. Her third novel, The Bullet Trick (2006), is a present-day murder mystery set in Berlin.
The Cutting Room 2002
Tamburlaine Must Die 2004
The Bullet Trick 2006
Naming The Bones 2010
Prizes and awards
2002 Crime Writers' Association John Creasey Memorial Dagger The Cutting Room
2002 Saltire Society Scottish First Book of the Year Award (joint winner) The Cutting Room
2003 BBC Underground Award (writer category) The Cutting Room
2003 Robert Louis Stevenson Memorial Award
2004 Corine Internationaler Buchpreis: Rolf Heyne Debutpreis (Germany) The Cutting Room
2004 Scotland on Sunday/Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award
2004 Stonewall Book Award (US) (honor in literature)
She is a regular radio broadcaster, has published many short stories, and has contributed articles and reviews to most of the British broadsheets. She has also written for the stage. The Guardian chose her as a 'woman to watch' in 2003.
Her second book, Tamburlaine Must Die, a novelette written around the final three days of the poet Christopher Marlowe's life, was published in 2004. Her third novel, The Bullet Trick (2006), is a present-day murder mystery set in Berlin.
The Cutting Room 2002
Tamburlaine Must Die 2004
The Bullet Trick 2006
Naming The Bones 2010
Prizes and awards
2002 Crime Writers' Association John Creasey Memorial Dagger The Cutting Room
2002 Saltire Society Scottish First Book of the Year Award (joint winner) The Cutting Room
2003 BBC Underground Award (writer category) The Cutting Room
2003 Robert Louis Stevenson Memorial Award
2004 Corine Internationaler Buchpreis: Rolf Heyne Debutpreis (Germany) The Cutting Room
2004 Scotland on Sunday/Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award
2004 Stonewall Book Award (US) (honor in literature)
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
July 1, 2017
I loved the first book of Louise Welsh's Plague Times trilogy (A Lovely Way to Burn, 2014) but felt rather more lukewarm about the second (Death is a Welcome Guest, 2015). So I approached No Dominion with a stronger sense of duty than excitement, only to be met with a brilliant third instalment that wraps the series up perfectly. It seems to combine the strongest elements of its predecessors – the thrilling high-energy plot and imaginative power of Burn, the maturity and character development of Guest – into an enthralling road-trip narrative that ranks as the best literary dystopia I've lost myself in since Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven.
No Dominion is set seven years after the events of the first two books, with both Stevie and Magnus now settled on the mainland of Orkney. Stevie is president of the island; Magnus has returned to his roots as a crofter. Meanwhile, Shuggie, Magnus's adopted son, is fifteen years old and starting to show signs of rebelliousness. It doesn't help that he's infatuated with Willow, a pretty, defiant girl whose adoptive parents are the abrasive Bjarne and jealous Candice. As the portentous prologue warns, The adults did not foresee that there would be a price to pay for keeping the children ignorant.
To cut a long story short, a trio of newcomers go missing along with a gaggle of the island's children, and Stevie and Magnus set off on an odyssey to track the kids down and, hopefully, bring them back. Sometimes it's like Mad Max: Fury Road relocated to Scotland circa 2025; at other points, especially the early scenes on Orkney, it's more like a historical novel set in a small, self-sufficient community. There are hymns to lost technology, scenes of nature reclaiming urban environments, high-octane action sequences, surreal touches and quiet, disturbing moments (I won't forget that scene in the kitchen at the Petrol Brothers' castle anytime soon). Welsh's writing is so smooth and assured, the narrative such an unstoppable powerhouse, that you never think to stop and question anything.
When you've read the other books in a series, it's really difficult to separate yourself from memories of them enough to assess them individually, but I feel pretty sure No Dominion could be read on its own. There are some little things it might be helpful to have existing knowledge of: Magnus's past as a stand-up comedian now seems so incongruous it's a shock to see it mentioned even when you are familiar with his backstory. (In fact, I'm now wondering whether the implausibility of gruff, taciturn Magnus as a comedian was a factor in my indifference towards Death is a Welcome Guest.) On the whole, however, No Dominion is strong enough to stand alone as a self-contained story.
A novel I didn't rate at all has been doing the 'for fans of Station Eleven' rounds this summer, but No Dominion is much more deserving of that comparison. It's a vision of a disastrous and destroyed future, it's an exciting yarn, but it is also deeply human: the relationships between the characters feel like they really matter. I might easily have given up on this trilogy, but I'm so glad I read this book.
I received an advance review copy of No Dominion from the publisher through NetGalley.
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No Dominion is set seven years after the events of the first two books, with both Stevie and Magnus now settled on the mainland of Orkney. Stevie is president of the island; Magnus has returned to his roots as a crofter. Meanwhile, Shuggie, Magnus's adopted son, is fifteen years old and starting to show signs of rebelliousness. It doesn't help that he's infatuated with Willow, a pretty, defiant girl whose adoptive parents are the abrasive Bjarne and jealous Candice. As the portentous prologue warns, The adults did not foresee that there would be a price to pay for keeping the children ignorant.
To cut a long story short, a trio of newcomers go missing along with a gaggle of the island's children, and Stevie and Magnus set off on an odyssey to track the kids down and, hopefully, bring them back. Sometimes it's like Mad Max: Fury Road relocated to Scotland circa 2025; at other points, especially the early scenes on Orkney, it's more like a historical novel set in a small, self-sufficient community. There are hymns to lost technology, scenes of nature reclaiming urban environments, high-octane action sequences, surreal touches and quiet, disturbing moments (I won't forget that scene in the kitchen at the Petrol Brothers' castle anytime soon). Welsh's writing is so smooth and assured, the narrative such an unstoppable powerhouse, that you never think to stop and question anything.
When you've read the other books in a series, it's really difficult to separate yourself from memories of them enough to assess them individually, but I feel pretty sure No Dominion could be read on its own. There are some little things it might be helpful to have existing knowledge of: Magnus's past as a stand-up comedian now seems so incongruous it's a shock to see it mentioned even when you are familiar with his backstory. (In fact, I'm now wondering whether the implausibility of gruff, taciturn Magnus as a comedian was a factor in my indifference towards Death is a Welcome Guest.) On the whole, however, No Dominion is strong enough to stand alone as a self-contained story.
A novel I didn't rate at all has been doing the 'for fans of Station Eleven' rounds this summer, but No Dominion is much more deserving of that comparison. It's a vision of a disastrous and destroyed future, it's an exciting yarn, but it is also deeply human: the relationships between the characters feel like they really matter. I might easily have given up on this trilogy, but I'm so glad I read this book.
I received an advance review copy of No Dominion from the publisher through NetGalley.
TinyLetter | Twitter | Instagram | Tumblr
July 7, 2017
I understand that this is the third part of a trilogy, but I haven’t read either of the first two, so I’ll be viewing it (fairly or unfairly) as a standalone. It works- I didn’t feel like I was missing a load of back story or context, plenty of post-apocalyptic novels start after the collapse of society. I usually prefer ones that do- I find the establishing of a new humanity to be much more fascinating than the flight from danger/disease/violence, whatever shape the apocalypse takes.
No Dominion is set seven years after The Sweats, a pandemic of fever which saw most of (I assume) the world wiped out. The book begins on the Island of Orkney, where survivors have carved out a functioning, democratic society. Enough for there to be freedom, enough food to eat, houses to live in and no Sweats. We begin with an Easter celebration with a drunken stand-off between a native Islander, Magnus, and a bullish thug of a man named Bjarne. They row about their adopted teen kids, who seem to be pairing off in a way that boys and girls have since the beginning of time. Shug, Magnus’ adopted son is a surly, defiant 15 year old, convinced there is more to life than the island. Willow, ward of the bullying Bjarne and his jealous wife Candice is a rebellious, confident young woman that seems to be the cause of a lot of upheaval at home. During the party, trio of newcomers arrive- there is tension, newcomers are rare, but Stevie, the president of the Orkneys arranges for them to be quarantined and to join the community.
In the days that follow, Candice turns up at the President’s office to beg them to take Willow away. She is convinced the teen has cast a spell on her husband and is trying to ensnare him. Stevie is not convinced that is *actually* what’s going on, but keep to keep peace and due to her deep distrust of Bjarne, she offers to relocate Willow. Fifteen, after all, is adult enough to take care of yourself in the post Sweats world. The following day Magnus goes to confront Bjarne about a beating inflicted upon his son. He discovers the dead bodies of Candice, Bjarne and every other animal in their household. Willow is gone. So is Shug. So are a bunch of other teens and a toddler, apparently spirited away in the night by the newcomers, who are also missing.
Stevie, her dog Pistol and Magnus set off on a crusade to Glasgow to locate their missing kids, and hopefully return them to Orkney. The Island’s children have been raised in a reasonably democratic, protective society that gives its citizens freedom- who knows what set ups they have in Glasgow and every remaining village on the way- such naive and trusting kids would not last ten minutes. It never seems to occur to the pair that their teens might not want rescuing.
There were things I liked- I always love exploring emerging power dynamics in ruined worlds, the former nobodies that grab the opportunity presented by an apocalypse to re-cast themselves as villains, tyrants and overlords. The feudal societies they create, the willingness of people to cede power for the chance to feel vaguely normal again. The trade-off of freedom for security. I thought this book handled the various sorts of society that might spring up in a post democratic world, though they were all visited quite briefly and in quite an episodic way. The religious cult, the slaver, the feudal lord-of-the-manner- I would’ve liked more time to explore these, but for our protagonists time is of the essence. Also, if there is a next book, please revisit the band of badass teen girls building the resistance in the Petrol Brothers’ territory. I was so disappointed that they waltzed out of the story so early, they had so much potential.
I liked Magnus and Stevie, they were interesting people, easy to root for. Other than vague recollections of Stevie’s London life of tubes and Tinder and Magnus remembering stand up gigs and motorways, they kept their pasts to themselves. Possibly because long-time readers will know their backstory, possibly because to survivors, the past doesn’t matter much. Such mystery kept me intrigued and maintained a good dynamic between the pair with a good amount of chemistry.
What I didn’t like.
Towards the end of the novel, Magnus and Stevie meet an old man and his child lover, a guitarist of indeterminate gender in an abandoned shopping centre. It really made me double take to see this character literally referred to as “he/she” and “it”. Like, I’m not bothered if No Dominion is not a trying to make (or avoid) a massive statement about gender politics with the inclusion of this guitarist character, but that’s not on. Their role in the novel, as a semi-feral , neglected tunnel dweller turned activist and ‘lover’ of a man old enough to be their grandfather, is intended to demonstrate that abuse and manipulation can be disguised as kindness, not to make a statement about gender in a ruined world. However. An androgynous or genderless character, whatever their part to play in the narrative, deserves better than “he/she” and “it”. How hard is it really to do a singular They? I just felt such narration was completely at odds with the until-that-point voice of the novel and as a reader, it stood out on the page as a NEVER DO THAT and it kind of ruined the whole thing.
It’s definitely not in the same league as Station Eleven or After the Flood, which is what it will probably be compared to, but it holds the attention with its fast pace and is straightforward enough. Perhaps a little too straight forward. I feel like it was a tad episodic, as Stevie and Magnus propel themselves from one hostile situation to another, fighting, tricking and talking themselves into and out of settlements and societies. Personally I found the ending quite unsatisfying- it felt super rushed, a bit of a weak pay off for so much build up and journeying. Plus, there’s a textbook case of Deus ex Machina to finish the whole thing. I realise now that it never surprised me with its plot. There were a few arresting moments or images, but for the most part it brings nothing new to the Post Civilisation genre.
No Dominion is set seven years after The Sweats, a pandemic of fever which saw most of (I assume) the world wiped out. The book begins on the Island of Orkney, where survivors have carved out a functioning, democratic society. Enough for there to be freedom, enough food to eat, houses to live in and no Sweats. We begin with an Easter celebration with a drunken stand-off between a native Islander, Magnus, and a bullish thug of a man named Bjarne. They row about their adopted teen kids, who seem to be pairing off in a way that boys and girls have since the beginning of time. Shug, Magnus’ adopted son is a surly, defiant 15 year old, convinced there is more to life than the island. Willow, ward of the bullying Bjarne and his jealous wife Candice is a rebellious, confident young woman that seems to be the cause of a lot of upheaval at home. During the party, trio of newcomers arrive- there is tension, newcomers are rare, but Stevie, the president of the Orkneys arranges for them to be quarantined and to join the community.
In the days that follow, Candice turns up at the President’s office to beg them to take Willow away. She is convinced the teen has cast a spell on her husband and is trying to ensnare him. Stevie is not convinced that is *actually* what’s going on, but keep to keep peace and due to her deep distrust of Bjarne, she offers to relocate Willow. Fifteen, after all, is adult enough to take care of yourself in the post Sweats world. The following day Magnus goes to confront Bjarne about a beating inflicted upon his son. He discovers the dead bodies of Candice, Bjarne and every other animal in their household. Willow is gone. So is Shug. So are a bunch of other teens and a toddler, apparently spirited away in the night by the newcomers, who are also missing.
Stevie, her dog Pistol and Magnus set off on a crusade to Glasgow to locate their missing kids, and hopefully return them to Orkney. The Island’s children have been raised in a reasonably democratic, protective society that gives its citizens freedom- who knows what set ups they have in Glasgow and every remaining village on the way- such naive and trusting kids would not last ten minutes. It never seems to occur to the pair that their teens might not want rescuing.
There were things I liked- I always love exploring emerging power dynamics in ruined worlds, the former nobodies that grab the opportunity presented by an apocalypse to re-cast themselves as villains, tyrants and overlords. The feudal societies they create, the willingness of people to cede power for the chance to feel vaguely normal again. The trade-off of freedom for security. I thought this book handled the various sorts of society that might spring up in a post democratic world, though they were all visited quite briefly and in quite an episodic way. The religious cult, the slaver, the feudal lord-of-the-manner- I would’ve liked more time to explore these, but for our protagonists time is of the essence. Also, if there is a next book, please revisit the band of badass teen girls building the resistance in the Petrol Brothers’ territory. I was so disappointed that they waltzed out of the story so early, they had so much potential.
I liked Magnus and Stevie, they were interesting people, easy to root for. Other than vague recollections of Stevie’s London life of tubes and Tinder and Magnus remembering stand up gigs and motorways, they kept their pasts to themselves. Possibly because long-time readers will know their backstory, possibly because to survivors, the past doesn’t matter much. Such mystery kept me intrigued and maintained a good dynamic between the pair with a good amount of chemistry.
What I didn’t like.
Towards the end of the novel, Magnus and Stevie meet an old man and his child lover, a guitarist of indeterminate gender in an abandoned shopping centre. It really made me double take to see this character literally referred to as “he/she” and “it”. Like, I’m not bothered if No Dominion is not a trying to make (or avoid) a massive statement about gender politics with the inclusion of this guitarist character, but that’s not on. Their role in the novel, as a semi-feral , neglected tunnel dweller turned activist and ‘lover’ of a man old enough to be their grandfather, is intended to demonstrate that abuse and manipulation can be disguised as kindness, not to make a statement about gender in a ruined world. However. An androgynous or genderless character, whatever their part to play in the narrative, deserves better than “he/she” and “it”. How hard is it really to do a singular They? I just felt such narration was completely at odds with the until-that-point voice of the novel and as a reader, it stood out on the page as a NEVER DO THAT and it kind of ruined the whole thing.
It’s definitely not in the same league as Station Eleven or After the Flood, which is what it will probably be compared to, but it holds the attention with its fast pace and is straightforward enough. Perhaps a little too straight forward. I feel like it was a tad episodic, as Stevie and Magnus propel themselves from one hostile situation to another, fighting, tricking and talking themselves into and out of settlements and societies. Personally I found the ending quite unsatisfying- it felt super rushed, a bit of a weak pay off for so much build up and journeying. Plus, there’s a textbook case of Deus ex Machina to finish the whole thing. I realise now that it never surprised me with its plot. There were a few arresting moments or images, but for the most part it brings nothing new to the Post Civilisation genre.
July 27, 2017
The final part of an intriguing trilogy that is slightly hard to categorise. The trilogy is about the breakdown of civilisation following a virus nicknamed “The Sweats” that has killed off most of the population. The focus is on a few individuals trying to survive and maintain a degree of humanity in a world that is unrecognisable.
A few years on from the last book, some survivors are living on the Orkney Islands and have a sort of community going. They have lost touch with what has happened in the rest of the world and their focus is on making the best of what the Orkneys have to offer and set up a structure. When three strangers turn up, everything changes, there are some killings and some of the young members of the community leave for the mainland. Stevie Flint and Magnus McFall take up the task of fetching them back from……whatever is out there.
This is not the sort of book that those who enjoy violent survivalist stuff, there is violence but also a view of how fragile humanity is, and what people will do to just survive. There are no clear ‘bad guys’ here, it is a changed world with new morals and standards.
I enjoyed it as much as the others and it does kind of give a realistic end to the trilogy. The main two characters are as flawed as anyone and the people they meet have adapted in different ways to those on the Orkneys. That is what makes the books so interesting, at a base level they are about people and how your humanity is hard to keep hold of in a changed world. There is action, there is tension, there is excellent characterisation but at its heart, this is a book about people. A very enjoyable and thought provoking trilogy.
A few years on from the last book, some survivors are living on the Orkney Islands and have a sort of community going. They have lost touch with what has happened in the rest of the world and their focus is on making the best of what the Orkneys have to offer and set up a structure. When three strangers turn up, everything changes, there are some killings and some of the young members of the community leave for the mainland. Stevie Flint and Magnus McFall take up the task of fetching them back from……whatever is out there.
This is not the sort of book that those who enjoy violent survivalist stuff, there is violence but also a view of how fragile humanity is, and what people will do to just survive. There are no clear ‘bad guys’ here, it is a changed world with new morals and standards.
I enjoyed it as much as the others and it does kind of give a realistic end to the trilogy. The main two characters are as flawed as anyone and the people they meet have adapted in different ways to those on the Orkneys. That is what makes the books so interesting, at a base level they are about people and how your humanity is hard to keep hold of in a changed world. There is action, there is tension, there is excellent characterisation but at its heart, this is a book about people. A very enjoyable and thought provoking trilogy.
September 11, 2017
‘And Death shall have no dominion’ Romans 6.9
Louise Welsh laces her novels with Bible references and quotations and in this third novel in the Plague Times trilogy, those who know their Bible may initially accept the title as optimistic, but those who know their author may acknowledge it as ironic.
If you have read the first two novels in this series, you will know that the first centred on a Stevie Flint, a young woman, caught up in the havoc of post-apocalyptic London and the second on a Scottish comedian called Magnus McFall and his attempts to get home to Orkney. The common theme of both books was the horrifying breakdown of society in the wake of the disease known as the Sweats which almost wiped out the human population.
No Dominion concludes the trilogy and brings together both Stevie and Magnus in a new quest. A community of survivors has established on Orkney, but the young people of the islands decide to break for the big lights of Glasgow where there is an attempt at a renascent functioning city. Stevie and Magnus pursue the children through Scotland, coping with the various groups of survivors they meet there. These are mostly sinister, whether feudal or religious in structure, while that in Glasgow proves dangerous to all. Nor have the Sweats entirely abated…
As in the first two, this is a fascinating and imaginative piece of work which I enjoyed reading and found thought-provoking, but as in the first two, I did find the storytelling rather episodic and perhaps rather judgemental when it did not need to be.
Louise Welsh laces her novels with Bible references and quotations and in this third novel in the Plague Times trilogy, those who know their Bible may initially accept the title as optimistic, but those who know their author may acknowledge it as ironic.
If you have read the first two novels in this series, you will know that the first centred on a Stevie Flint, a young woman, caught up in the havoc of post-apocalyptic London and the second on a Scottish comedian called Magnus McFall and his attempts to get home to Orkney. The common theme of both books was the horrifying breakdown of society in the wake of the disease known as the Sweats which almost wiped out the human population.
No Dominion concludes the trilogy and brings together both Stevie and Magnus in a new quest. A community of survivors has established on Orkney, but the young people of the islands decide to break for the big lights of Glasgow where there is an attempt at a renascent functioning city. Stevie and Magnus pursue the children through Scotland, coping with the various groups of survivors they meet there. These are mostly sinister, whether feudal or religious in structure, while that in Glasgow proves dangerous to all. Nor have the Sweats entirely abated…
As in the first two, this is a fascinating and imaginative piece of work which I enjoyed reading and found thought-provoking, but as in the first two, I did find the storytelling rather episodic and perhaps rather judgemental when it did not need to be.
August 29, 2017
No Dominion by Louise Welsh - Very Good
I went to a book launch event at Blackwells for the publication of this book. I was supposed to buy a copy, get it signed and then hand it over to my neighbour to give to me for my birthday (she usually does the honours, but as I was going...). Anyway, having heard Louise read a chapter, I couldn't. I just had to start it.
This is part three of the Plague Times trilogy. It is seven years years since the events in the first two books...since the sweats swept across the globe wiping out the majority of the population.
The main characters from book one - Stevie - and book two - Magnus - have ended up on Orkney. Stevie is the elected President of the Islands and Magnus has returned to the family croft and is farming the land.
It's a hard life for the Islanders, but they are making it work. Orphaned children have been adopted into families and the first of the post-sweats children are being born. Into this haven sail three strangers, except one of them isn't a stranger, it is Belle from the commune Magnus stayed with in book two. He, of course, vouches for her and they are sent to one of the smaller islands for two weeks quarantine.
This is all getting underway when a murder takes place and a number of the Island's children are discovered to be missing...along with the three strangers. Stevie and Magnus are chosen to go after them while the rest prepare to defend the Islands in case this is a diversionary tactic to leave them unprotected.
On the mainland Stevie and Magnus make their way to Glasgow where they suspect the children have gone. The mainland is a wild place with fiefdoms, cults and dictatorships clustered around various castles and old towns. Unsurprisingly, it is not an easy journey! (As an aside, I found myself wondering if Louise had read the Quintilian Dalrymple books by Paul Johnston. Similar fare. Murder in a dystopian Scotland with Edinburgh and Glasgow as wildly different city states surrounded by the 'badlands').
As with the previous books, I raced through. Great page turner. Although some of it was a little predictable (if you've read the other two books or any dystopia) there were enough surprises to keep the right level of interest. * slight spoiler* It certainly fed into my fear of dogs and gave me my usual 'chased by a pack of dogs' nightmare *end of slight spoiler*
Thing is, although this is supposed to be the last of the books, I found the ending a little unsatisfactory. There were too many loose ends that I wanted tying up plus I wasn't happy with how the story finished for our two heroes. I can't say any more here as it would spoil the book, but I do feel that another book wouldn't be out of place. Actually, just one chapter to let us know what happened to some of the characters that were left mid-adventure. I want to know what happened to them.
I went to a book launch event at Blackwells for the publication of this book. I was supposed to buy a copy, get it signed and then hand it over to my neighbour to give to me for my birthday (she usually does the honours, but as I was going...). Anyway, having heard Louise read a chapter, I couldn't. I just had to start it.
This is part three of the Plague Times trilogy. It is seven years years since the events in the first two books...since the sweats swept across the globe wiping out the majority of the population.
The main characters from book one - Stevie - and book two - Magnus - have ended up on Orkney. Stevie is the elected President of the Islands and Magnus has returned to the family croft and is farming the land.
It's a hard life for the Islanders, but they are making it work. Orphaned children have been adopted into families and the first of the post-sweats children are being born. Into this haven sail three strangers, except one of them isn't a stranger, it is Belle from the commune Magnus stayed with in book two. He, of course, vouches for her and they are sent to one of the smaller islands for two weeks quarantine.
This is all getting underway when a murder takes place and a number of the Island's children are discovered to be missing...along with the three strangers. Stevie and Magnus are chosen to go after them while the rest prepare to defend the Islands in case this is a diversionary tactic to leave them unprotected.
On the mainland Stevie and Magnus make their way to Glasgow where they suspect the children have gone. The mainland is a wild place with fiefdoms, cults and dictatorships clustered around various castles and old towns. Unsurprisingly, it is not an easy journey! (As an aside, I found myself wondering if Louise had read the Quintilian Dalrymple books by Paul Johnston. Similar fare. Murder in a dystopian Scotland with Edinburgh and Glasgow as wildly different city states surrounded by the 'badlands').
As with the previous books, I raced through. Great page turner. Although some of it was a little predictable (if you've read the other two books or any dystopia) there were enough surprises to keep the right level of interest. * slight spoiler* It certainly fed into my fear of dogs and gave me my usual 'chased by a pack of dogs' nightmare *end of slight spoiler*
Thing is, although this is supposed to be the last of the books, I found the ending a little unsatisfactory. There were too many loose ends that I wanted tying up plus I wasn't happy with how the story finished for our two heroes. I can't say any more here as it would spoil the book, but I do feel that another book wouldn't be out of place. Actually, just one chapter to let us know what happened to some of the characters that were left mid-adventure. I want to know what happened to them.
September 15, 2019
I read this ages ago and forgot it was still lurking on my currently reading area. This 3rd book in the series was not my fave, but I've been so invested in Stevie and Magnus I really needed to know what happened in the final episode. Now I'm satisfied. I can leave Stevie and Magnus to whatever next befalls them in the still virus ridden world they live in. The Orkney Isles where both of our heroes have washed up is managing ok in the world without electricity, many of the modern trappings of life and a severely decimated population. Stevie is now the mayor of the tiny town, rules have been made to protect the people and life is ticking along.
A boat arrives with a dodgy woman from Magnus's past and other crew members, they are sent to the other side of the island to be quarantined, then mysteriously murders occur and the young people run away with the crew. Magnus and Stevie are on their tail. Then this turns into a race to find the young people which include a baby, trying to catch them and bring them back to safety. Along the way they face danger of all kinds, some of which is downright terrifying.
I love the relationship between Magnus and Stevie, thrown together by circumstances and having to muddle along together. This book is full of hope and love and danger and terror. A fitting conclusion to the series.
A boat arrives with a dodgy woman from Magnus's past and other crew members, they are sent to the other side of the island to be quarantined, then mysteriously murders occur and the young people run away with the crew. Magnus and Stevie are on their tail. Then this turns into a race to find the young people which include a baby, trying to catch them and bring them back to safety. Along the way they face danger of all kinds, some of which is downright terrifying.
I love the relationship between Magnus and Stevie, thrown together by circumstances and having to muddle along together. This book is full of hope and love and danger and terror. A fitting conclusion to the series.
October 14, 2019
I'm currently nearing the end of this book which, I felt, started strongly and then began to fade. I found myself becoming less interested in the characters as the book progressed, and became a bit tired with the grinding "strong women" message, while most of the male characters are flawed at best, or complete brutes, never more than a blink away from rape and pillage. It's a dystopian novel, but there seems to be very little positive going on in terms of friendships, trust and people working together to survive in a hostile environment. It's all suspicion, mistrust, power struggles and simmering violence. I suppose it could be like that in the aftermath of a major disaster - Cormac McCarthy's The Road wasn't exactly a laugh a minute - but society was built through cooperation and people joining together, not raping and killing one another at every chance. Or at least I think it was, eventually, and survivors of an apocalypse would maybe realise this? I chuckled to read that in this novel it's Glasgow that is determined to survive and rebuild, if only to wonder when the first fight between Rangers and Celtic fans would break out?
It was only toward the end of this book that I realised it was the final instalment of a trilogy. Will I read the two books that proceeded it? I'm afraid I doubt it.
It was only toward the end of this book that I realised it was the final instalment of a trilogy. Will I read the two books that proceeded it? I'm afraid I doubt it.
July 30, 2017
I have really enjoyed this series about the impact of a modern day pandemic which has wiped out the majority of the population. The way that the trilogy depicts the outbreak of the virus and the rapid unravelling of society has a nightmarish but chillingly plausible feel to it.
The first book two books in the series were only very loosely connected and focused on different characters: Stevie Flint and Magnus McFall, both of whom ended up on the remote Orkney Islands in northern Scotland. In this final instalment, we pick up their story several years later. They are part of a small community on the Islands, largely isolated from the rest of (what little) society still exists in the UK. Now that the initial crisis is over, they are grappling with the challenges of building a sustainable community and how to move forwards. As a character comments at one point, it’s like the virus wiped out anyone with any useful knowledge about how things worked: doctors, engineers, electricians, plumbers. Ransacked libraries and distant memories are the only available source of information.
Some of the teenagers who have grown up in this environment are unhappy and suspect that things might be better elsewhere. When a small group decides to leave for the mainland, Stevie and Magnus go after them to bring them back. Through their journey we will see different communities that have evolved in different ways. It’s a page turner that unfolds like a movie, but at the same time there are similarities to the brilliant Station Eleven.
The first book two books in the series were only very loosely connected and focused on different characters: Stevie Flint and Magnus McFall, both of whom ended up on the remote Orkney Islands in northern Scotland. In this final instalment, we pick up their story several years later. They are part of a small community on the Islands, largely isolated from the rest of (what little) society still exists in the UK. Now that the initial crisis is over, they are grappling with the challenges of building a sustainable community and how to move forwards. As a character comments at one point, it’s like the virus wiped out anyone with any useful knowledge about how things worked: doctors, engineers, electricians, plumbers. Ransacked libraries and distant memories are the only available source of information.
Some of the teenagers who have grown up in this environment are unhappy and suspect that things might be better elsewhere. When a small group decides to leave for the mainland, Stevie and Magnus go after them to bring them back. Through their journey we will see different communities that have evolved in different ways. It’s a page turner that unfolds like a movie, but at the same time there are similarities to the brilliant Station Eleven.
September 9, 2023
Meh.
This is just... bad writing. The story is alright, if not too quick at times (10 endless chapters of exposition, then wram! Action after action, explosion after revolution... the main heroes are never sleeping or what?)
The characters were pretty flat, I didn't believe in the majority of them. Oh sure, you talked with me for five minutes and I've changed my whole world perspective, I will now save you on my helicopter! Oh, I am a 15th century aristocrat who describes himself as a "funny ass", but I'll let you talk with my new 12 year old fiancee, no problemo!
The descriptions are filled with countless corny comparisons; I'll admit, a few of them made me laugh. Most of them made me shake my head and question my reading choices.
Kudos to the author for at least not marrying Stevie and Magnus together, that's one basic trope you've successfuly avoided. Props to her for all the Scottish and English words that I've learned, that was also rewarding.
Now, the main question: why did we need to read it for the uni?
This is just... bad writing. The story is alright, if not too quick at times (10 endless chapters of exposition, then wram! Action after action, explosion after revolution... the main heroes are never sleeping or what?)
The characters were pretty flat, I didn't believe in the majority of them. Oh sure, you talked with me for five minutes and I've changed my whole world perspective, I will now save you on my helicopter! Oh, I am a 15th century aristocrat who describes himself as a "funny ass", but I'll let you talk with my new 12 year old fiancee, no problemo!
The descriptions are filled with countless corny comparisons; I'll admit, a few of them made me laugh. Most of them made me shake my head and question my reading choices.
Kudos to the author for at least not marrying Stevie and Magnus together, that's one basic trope you've successfuly avoided. Props to her for all the Scottish and English words that I've learned, that was also rewarding.
Now, the main question: why did we need to read it for the uni?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 11, 2017
For those of you who have been waiting for the last book in the “Plague Times” trilogy, this will not come as a disappointment. In the book, it is seven years since a plague killed millions of millions of people, leaving the survivors struggling. The last book “Death is a Welcome Guest” ended with Magnus and his adoptive son, Shug, arriving on Orkney and being greeted by Stevie Flint, the heroine of “A Lovely Way to Burn” – the first book in the series. Seven years later, Shug is a surly teenager, doting on Willow who was found as a child on an Orkney farm hiding under a bed that held her dead parents. Something had gnawed at the parents.
This is a book about survival, about rebuilding a society after a disaster of unimaginable proportions. It is also a book about what people are prepared to do in order to survive, and about how a catastrophe of this kind can unhinge some people. It is a book about how easy it is to destroy the fragile veneer of civilisation, and about what happens afterwards. It is a book about the vulnerability of humankind, and how, despite everything, we will struggle to find a way to live together.
The survivors on Orkney have reverted to subsistence farming, where the need to get in the harvest takes precedence over everything else, and where strangers are viewed with suspicion and fear, because they may be bringing the plague back to the islands. So when an unknown boat sails into the harbour at Stromness, the islanders go into full alert until Magnus vouches for one of the strangers, Belle. Even then, the strangers have to be quarantined to make sure that they are not infected. Then disaster strikes. A baby is kidnapped and the strangers along with some of the Orkney teenagers disappear, including Shug and Willow. Stevie and Magnus set off in pursuit. The rest of the islanders remain behind, both to get the harvest in and because they are fearful that this could be a lure to make them vulnerable to attack.
What follows is a journey through hell, as Stevie and Magnus make their way south to Glasgow in pursuit of the teenagers with the baby. And it is on this journey that we meet people struggling to find different ways to survive. The problem is that it is the people with forceful personalities who take the lead, and causes all sorts of conflicts that I am not going to tell you about because that would spoil the book.
This may all sound very grim, and that is because it is. This is not just a dystopian future, it is a post-apocalyptic future. It is just that the apocalypse is plague, not a nuclear war so there is some chance of rebuilding a viable society. There is some kind of hope.
Louise Welsh is very good at persuading you to continue reading. This book is a page turner. Louise Welsh knows how to write a thriller. She does not hesitate from telling the reader that things can be very nasty indeed, but she also writes characters that you care about that you want to survive, that you want to get through the mess. You want Stevie and Magnus to succeed. You want Willow and Shug to go back to Orkney. You want everything to be for the best in the best of all possible worlds. It is just not going to happen.
The message of the Plague Times Trilogy is that we will survive, we will pull through, but it will not be the best of all possible worlds. It will not be an idyll. It will be very hard, and that it is best that we do not go there. If only our political leaders would read this trilogy …………
This is a book about survival, about rebuilding a society after a disaster of unimaginable proportions. It is also a book about what people are prepared to do in order to survive, and about how a catastrophe of this kind can unhinge some people. It is a book about how easy it is to destroy the fragile veneer of civilisation, and about what happens afterwards. It is a book about the vulnerability of humankind, and how, despite everything, we will struggle to find a way to live together.
The survivors on Orkney have reverted to subsistence farming, where the need to get in the harvest takes precedence over everything else, and where strangers are viewed with suspicion and fear, because they may be bringing the plague back to the islands. So when an unknown boat sails into the harbour at Stromness, the islanders go into full alert until Magnus vouches for one of the strangers, Belle. Even then, the strangers have to be quarantined to make sure that they are not infected. Then disaster strikes. A baby is kidnapped and the strangers along with some of the Orkney teenagers disappear, including Shug and Willow. Stevie and Magnus set off in pursuit. The rest of the islanders remain behind, both to get the harvest in and because they are fearful that this could be a lure to make them vulnerable to attack.
What follows is a journey through hell, as Stevie and Magnus make their way south to Glasgow in pursuit of the teenagers with the baby. And it is on this journey that we meet people struggling to find different ways to survive. The problem is that it is the people with forceful personalities who take the lead, and causes all sorts of conflicts that I am not going to tell you about because that would spoil the book.
This may all sound very grim, and that is because it is. This is not just a dystopian future, it is a post-apocalyptic future. It is just that the apocalypse is plague, not a nuclear war so there is some chance of rebuilding a viable society. There is some kind of hope.
Louise Welsh is very good at persuading you to continue reading. This book is a page turner. Louise Welsh knows how to write a thriller. She does not hesitate from telling the reader that things can be very nasty indeed, but she also writes characters that you care about that you want to survive, that you want to get through the mess. You want Stevie and Magnus to succeed. You want Willow and Shug to go back to Orkney. You want everything to be for the best in the best of all possible worlds. It is just not going to happen.
The message of the Plague Times Trilogy is that we will survive, we will pull through, but it will not be the best of all possible worlds. It will not be an idyll. It will be very hard, and that it is best that we do not go there. If only our political leaders would read this trilogy …………
August 2, 2025
5 ⭐️ Meryl bookclub 2026 ✅
January 21, 2023
This is the last in Welsh’s Plague Times trilogy in which a pandemic known as “the sweats” has ravaged society. Stevie Flint from A Lovely Way to Burn and Magnus McFall from Death is a Welcome Guest have now been on Orkney for seven years. Apart from the cathedral, still used for significant occasions, Kirkwall has been abandoned and burnt to minimise disease risk. The centre of what authority exists lies in Stromness and is run on democratic lines. Stevie is President of the Orkney islands and has no sexual partner. Neither has Magnus but he acts as father to Shug, a boy now an adolescent and one of the seven children on Orkney who survived the sweats and have been fostered out.
We start at an Easter gathering in Stromness in a former hotel, with the odd musical turn and the adults drinking. It has become obvious that Shug is attracted to Willow, another fostered child also reaching adulthood. Her foster father Bjarne is not keen on the idea of the pair having a relationship and when they leave together gets into an argument with Magnus.
The gathering is interrupted, though, by the arrival of a boat in the harbour containing three people, one of whom, Belle, Magnus had met on his way up to Orkney. The newcomers agree to quarantine on Wyre, one of the smaller islands.
Things come to a head and Magnus finds Shug beaten up. Going to confront Bjarne he discovers him and his wife Candice shot dead in their home. The same night several children go missing, Shug, Willow, other girls called Sky and Moon, a boy, Aril, and a two year-old, little Evie. The three strangers are gone too. Stevie and Magnus delegate themselves to follow them into mainland Scotland to retrieve the children.
From there it is the usual post-apocalyptic scenario, meetings with every-person-for-themselves types, religious nutters, travels through various quasi-feudal fiefdoms, Do-Not-Enter-On-Pain-Of-Death signs, all-but-forced labour in the big city, and, for Stevie, the threat of rape from men who don’t know her.
Welsh has shown she can write. Her first novel, The Cutting Room, was an unusual take on the crime genre and her second book, the novella Tamburlaine Must Die, was simply superb, but it’s a pity she has more recently tipped over into thriller territory. She does illustrate, though, that carrying on earlier notions of morality in post-disaster times has its problematic edges. In her Afterword she says that her vision of the world is that most people are fundamentally good. But books with only good people in them are likely to be boring. No Dominion isn’t boring but it doesn’t really add much to post-disaster literature.
We start at an Easter gathering in Stromness in a former hotel, with the odd musical turn and the adults drinking. It has become obvious that Shug is attracted to Willow, another fostered child also reaching adulthood. Her foster father Bjarne is not keen on the idea of the pair having a relationship and when they leave together gets into an argument with Magnus.
The gathering is interrupted, though, by the arrival of a boat in the harbour containing three people, one of whom, Belle, Magnus had met on his way up to Orkney. The newcomers agree to quarantine on Wyre, one of the smaller islands.
Things come to a head and Magnus finds Shug beaten up. Going to confront Bjarne he discovers him and his wife Candice shot dead in their home. The same night several children go missing, Shug, Willow, other girls called Sky and Moon, a boy, Aril, and a two year-old, little Evie. The three strangers are gone too. Stevie and Magnus delegate themselves to follow them into mainland Scotland to retrieve the children.
From there it is the usual post-apocalyptic scenario, meetings with every-person-for-themselves types, religious nutters, travels through various quasi-feudal fiefdoms, Do-Not-Enter-On-Pain-Of-Death signs, all-but-forced labour in the big city, and, for Stevie, the threat of rape from men who don’t know her.
Welsh has shown she can write. Her first novel, The Cutting Room, was an unusual take on the crime genre and her second book, the novella Tamburlaine Must Die, was simply superb, but it’s a pity she has more recently tipped over into thriller territory. She does illustrate, though, that carrying on earlier notions of morality in post-disaster times has its problematic edges. In her Afterword she says that her vision of the world is that most people are fundamentally good. But books with only good people in them are likely to be boring. No Dominion isn’t boring but it doesn’t really add much to post-disaster literature.
February 15, 2023
Bloody brilliant. Heartbreaking and gut wrenching. Addictive. Just so, so good. I have had a bit of a Welsh binge this February and worked my way quickly through her plague times trilogy. She ends with a really good one, but oh how I wish there were more. But of course the best place to end is on a high note.
This one is set in Scotland, 7 years after the first two books. We're back up on the Orkney islands where Magnus hailed from - and he did get back home- and where Stevie ended up and became elected president of the Orkneys. The community is muddling along, children rescued from the devastation of the sweats are now in their teens, and there are even post-sweats children. Then "something" happens, and some of the teens are lured off the islands. Worse they kidnap a toddler, and I found this to be the most gutwrenching of the story lines, just how scared that little girl must have been... and how devastating for the mother. But Welsh, in considering how society would try to rebuild itself, and what would be seen as a commodity, has chilling explanations for all that goes on.
So, Stevie and Magnus set off to rescue the kids, and travel down through Scotland to reach Glasgow where they learn the group was heading. And they see how the rest of the country is faring, areas ruled by jolly-upper class dictators who rule with fear and repression; other towns that have turned to religion in a very Old Testament way. And Glasgow, with its wild packs of rabid dogs and its attempt to rebuild itself with questions over slavery. Life is so precious, and yet it is treated so cheap, and the values of before aren't upheld in quite the same way. Paedophiles can take advantage of the confusion of the next generation of youngsters, people can be treated as slaves, or even goods to be bartered with. Women, unsurprisingly, come off worst, being viewed as precious little more than breeding stock, or gang-rape objects that will be tossed aside and killed after the deed is done. In many cases it looks like humanity died with most of humanity. And yet there is still hope, and decent people (love Stevie - although I have to admit my mental image of her ended up being a young Stevie Nicks kicking arse in her 70s get up *** not at all how Welsh described her, I'll add, my brain just goes down some weird channels***) and love and family bonds drive people to amazing bravery, when you see what Stevie and Magnus go through to try and find the children.
This one is set in Scotland, 7 years after the first two books. We're back up on the Orkney islands where Magnus hailed from - and he did get back home- and where Stevie ended up and became elected president of the Orkneys. The community is muddling along, children rescued from the devastation of the sweats are now in their teens, and there are even post-sweats children. Then "something" happens, and some of the teens are lured off the islands. Worse they kidnap a toddler, and I found this to be the most gutwrenching of the story lines, just how scared that little girl must have been... and how devastating for the mother. But Welsh, in considering how society would try to rebuild itself, and what would be seen as a commodity, has chilling explanations for all that goes on.
So, Stevie and Magnus set off to rescue the kids, and travel down through Scotland to reach Glasgow where they learn the group was heading. And they see how the rest of the country is faring, areas ruled by jolly-upper class dictators who rule with fear and repression; other towns that have turned to religion in a very Old Testament way. And Glasgow, with its wild packs of rabid dogs and its attempt to rebuild itself with questions over slavery. Life is so precious, and yet it is treated so cheap, and the values of before aren't upheld in quite the same way. Paedophiles can take advantage of the confusion of the next generation of youngsters, people can be treated as slaves, or even goods to be bartered with. Women, unsurprisingly, come off worst, being viewed as precious little more than breeding stock, or gang-rape objects that will be tossed aside and killed after the deed is done. In many cases it looks like humanity died with most of humanity. And yet there is still hope, and decent people (love Stevie - although I have to admit my mental image of her ended up being a young Stevie Nicks kicking arse in her 70s get up *** not at all how Welsh described her, I'll add, my brain just goes down some weird channels***) and love and family bonds drive people to amazing bravery, when you see what Stevie and Magnus go through to try and find the children.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 6, 2020
Final book in the 'Plague Times' trilogy, in which Magnus and Stevie team up on a rescue mission to find some kids who probably do not want to be found.
It's seven years after "the sweats" have swept through the world, killing most of the population. Stevie Flint, former journalist turned home-shopping-channel shill whom we met in the first book, is now the Mayor of a small island community in Scotland. Magnus McFall, the second book's rising stand-up comic, lives there with his adopted son Shug. The island stays safe by keeping a watch and strictly quarantining anyone who happens upon them – though visitors are few and far between – but the latest visitors break quarantine and plant visions of a shining future in Glasgow in the heads of the island's teenagers. It's up to Stevie and Magnus to find them when they take off with the visitors.
Perhaps reading about 99% of the world's population being wiped out by a new virus during, oh, a worldwide pandemic was not the best idea.
I liked the way that Welsh tried to show the many variations of what might happen with the total breakdown of society. The children are given far more leeway, abuse doesn't just go away, some people work together and others reinforce each other's racist and misogynist beliefs, and the craziest ideas gain traction when communities are isolated. I also loved that there was no great love story here. Stevie is strong and independent and a romance would, I think, have diluted her story.
There are some compelling action scenes and effective character beats, but the overall theme is bleak and rather depressing. Perhaps not so surprising for a post-apocalyptic novel, but I could have done with a more hopeful ending.
It's seven years after "the sweats" have swept through the world, killing most of the population. Stevie Flint, former journalist turned home-shopping-channel shill whom we met in the first book, is now the Mayor of a small island community in Scotland. Magnus McFall, the second book's rising stand-up comic, lives there with his adopted son Shug. The island stays safe by keeping a watch and strictly quarantining anyone who happens upon them – though visitors are few and far between – but the latest visitors break quarantine and plant visions of a shining future in Glasgow in the heads of the island's teenagers. It's up to Stevie and Magnus to find them when they take off with the visitors.
Perhaps reading about 99% of the world's population being wiped out by a new virus during, oh, a worldwide pandemic was not the best idea.
I liked the way that Welsh tried to show the many variations of what might happen with the total breakdown of society. The children are given far more leeway, abuse doesn't just go away, some people work together and others reinforce each other's racist and misogynist beliefs, and the craziest ideas gain traction when communities are isolated. I also loved that there was no great love story here. Stevie is strong and independent and a romance would, I think, have diluted her story.
There are some compelling action scenes and effective character beats, but the overall theme is bleak and rather depressing. Perhaps not so surprising for a post-apocalyptic novel, but I could have done with a more hopeful ending.
January 7, 2018
First of all, a warning; this is the third in a trilogy - not a good place to start, if you haven't read the other two, since several of the characters also appear in the previous novels. If you want to sample the 'Plague Times' trilogy, much better to begin with 'A lovely Way to Burn' and work your way forward.
So, to those other aficionados of Louise Welsh -I don't think you'll be disappointed in this final instalment. Almost inevitably in post-apocalypse -type series, the first novel has most impact, since it features the disaster which sets the story in motion; so, dramatic by definition. This third novel, then, set on the island of Orkney ,has a quieter beginning. Several reviewers have referred to the New Testament book of Romans, which gives the book its title; however, the other quotation Welsh uses - from Aristotle's 'Politics' - seems to me to point to the key theme of the book, namely, that of how society changes in times of great upheaval. The inhabitants of Orkney, for example, attempt to run a democracy, with elections and a commonly agreed rule of law; Glasgow, by contrast, seems to have become a not-so-benign dictatorship, with a ruling elite and a much less privileged 'worker' class.
After a quiet start, the story motors along a 'quest' type trajectory with satisfying pace, and Welsh's usual descriptive power lends authenticity to the settings. I think for me, the only less than satisfactory section was the ending, which seemed to rely on a not-entirely plausible sequence of events. However, still a very good read from a rarely disappointing writer.
So, to those other aficionados of Louise Welsh -I don't think you'll be disappointed in this final instalment. Almost inevitably in post-apocalypse -type series, the first novel has most impact, since it features the disaster which sets the story in motion; so, dramatic by definition. This third novel, then, set on the island of Orkney ,has a quieter beginning. Several reviewers have referred to the New Testament book of Romans, which gives the book its title; however, the other quotation Welsh uses - from Aristotle's 'Politics' - seems to me to point to the key theme of the book, namely, that of how society changes in times of great upheaval. The inhabitants of Orkney, for example, attempt to run a democracy, with elections and a commonly agreed rule of law; Glasgow, by contrast, seems to have become a not-so-benign dictatorship, with a ruling elite and a much less privileged 'worker' class.
After a quiet start, the story motors along a 'quest' type trajectory with satisfying pace, and Welsh's usual descriptive power lends authenticity to the settings. I think for me, the only less than satisfactory section was the ending, which seemed to rely on a not-entirely plausible sequence of events. However, still a very good read from a rarely disappointing writer.
January 8, 2020
I didn't realise that this is the third book in a trilogy but, it was the only one available to get signed at the Bloody Scotland event. However, even though you don't know the back story it is quite readable as a standalone. The story takes place seven years after an epidemic of 'the sweats' has hit the UK wiping out most of the population. Some of the survivors have set up a community in the Orkneys and are doing quite well with Stevie and Magnus in positions of authority running things. That is until some strangers arrive and children start to disappear along with the newcomers. Stevie and Magnus set off across country trying to trace where their charges and their kidnappers have gone running into some dangerous situations along the way. They find that numerous communities have sprung up across Britain some of which definitely do not welcome interlopers and sadly find some of their missing community have met a sad end. Our two heroes end up in a post apocalyptic London where packs of wild dogs rule the street and power crazed humans rule everything else! However, they manage to rescue at least some of the children with the help of a few folk who take their side and even manage to return to Orkney almost in one piece. I found this a fascinating tale with characters and events so well described by the author that you were able to picture what a country would be like if ever such events overtook a population. Sadly, as we know, these things have actually happened in some countries and we can only hope that, if we ever find ourselves in such a situation, we will also find some heroes to lead us!
April 9, 2025
I just finished the 3rd book in Louise Welsh's plague trilogy. Each of the first two books tells the story of a different character at the time the pandemic (called 'the sweats') hits. The third book, 'No Dominion', is set 7 years later and brings the two characters together. They're now living in Orkney and have established a new and 'safe' society. It's not as safe as it seems however and when the children disappear following a double murder the two characters have to go back to mainland Britain to try to track them down. The mainland is a pretty horrible and scary place. The way the post pandemic world was described really made me think. What would we do if this really happened? How would the survivors deal with it? No internet or phones, petrol a very valuable commodity and if you can get hold of medicines they'll be well out of date. On the other hand you could get yourself a pair of fancy new shoes or new lipstick because there are millions of shops and houses across the county filled with stuff that you can just take. Of course one day it will all be gone though and no-one knows how to make more. One of the sentences that most struck me was someone complaining that all the doctors, electricians and farmers had been killed and all they were left with were accountants, middle managers and sales people. It makes you realise what the really important jobs are. You could read each of the books in the trilogy as a standalone, but I think it's better to read them in order if you can.
August 18, 2017
This is a romping good read which moves at thriller pace, while still having well-rounded, interesting characters, important observations about the present, and some beautiful writing. That said, in literary terms, this trilogy is not Louise Welsh's best work. It feels under-drafted and under-edited. The same imagery is repeated, and two characters get the same forename, even, without that being noted or remarked on by the characters who meet both Joes. That may or may not be realistic, but it feels like Welsh forgot she'd already used that name. Substances gloss people's lips, as one example, just a few times too often and too close together in the text.
It's still one of the best books I've ever read, because Welsh is one of my very favourite authors. She conjures landscapes and cityscapes in a few deft strokes and builds a very believable future world. This last book in the trilogy brings together and rounds off events and characters from the previous two books while having its own compelling thriller plot and whodunnit and race through dystopian Scotland.
Great books set in the future are there to make us re-evaluate the present. This book is never didactic, but at every turn it silently raises questions about humanity, civilisation, decency, capitalism, feudalism and political leaders.
Also, Stevie is a BAMF female lead!
It's still one of the best books I've ever read, because Welsh is one of my very favourite authors. She conjures landscapes and cityscapes in a few deft strokes and builds a very believable future world. This last book in the trilogy brings together and rounds off events and characters from the previous two books while having its own compelling thriller plot and whodunnit and race through dystopian Scotland.
Great books set in the future are there to make us re-evaluate the present. This book is never didactic, but at every turn it silently raises questions about humanity, civilisation, decency, capitalism, feudalism and political leaders.
Also, Stevie is a BAMF female lead!
September 15, 2019
Good conclusion to an enjoyable and unusual apocalypse series. This one is set seven years since the last, with a fairly stable community doing well on Orkney but with little mainland contact. This all changes when outsiders arrive, disrupting the balance and setting two characters on a quest to Glasgow. As in the previous books, this is an adventure set against the background of a devastating pandemic (the sweats). There is more of a hint this time on how the post apocalyptic world could start to develop or regress. Some ideas of the sorts of nastiness that might emerge, or better nature that might counter it. I think Louise Welsh does well here at not painting a black and white picture, with characters often conflicted in their fight for survival and a sense of normality. Foremost this is a story and a series set at the personal level, which I think is a strength, underpinned by the adventures of the lead. There is hope here that human spirit can win though against the odds, and the series never feels as bleak as it might otherwise. I'd say I thought the ending was a little quick..it might have been nice to follow things a little further. In fact, any chance a part four for the trilogy?!
March 3, 2018
Overall, really enjoyed this third book in the Plague Times trilogy, bringing together the main characters from the first two books, Magnus and Stevie, who are now living a fairly settled existence in a community they have established in the Orkneys, hopefully safe from the further predations of The Sweats which has decimated the world's population. But when visitors arrive, known to Magnus from his past, their leader tempts some of the island's teenagers away with promises of the bright lights of the burgeoning new community in Glasgow. One of the missing teenagers is Magnus's adopted son and the group have also taken a toddler from the island so Magnus and Stevie set off in pursuit....
I thought this one was a bit slow for the first 70 or so pages but the story soon picked up and was gripping and fairly unpredictable. This is supposed to be the last in the trilogy although, with the ending of this one, there is still scope for a further novel - 9/10.
I thought this one was a bit slow for the first 70 or so pages but the story soon picked up and was gripping and fairly unpredictable. This is supposed to be the last in the trilogy although, with the ending of this one, there is still scope for a further novel - 9/10.
January 2, 2020
I enjoy post apocalyptic novels and really loved The Cutting Room by Louise Welsh so this trilogy was a no-brainer for me.
A deadly virus 'The Sweats' has plagued man kind and the survivors are trying to make their way in a new world. The novel focuses on a community living on the Orkney Islands where they struggle to find the basics to keep inhabitants alive. The arrival of three strangers on the island upsets the balance of the community and sends two of the inhabitants on a potentially deadly journey.
I really loved the style of this novel which offered more than a standard apocalyptic tale of how the world operates in the aftermath of a disaster. There are indicators of the new order being built but the focus is on the individual characters and the struggles of one small community.
This is the third book in the trilogy and I would highly recommend reading the others first.
A deadly virus 'The Sweats' has plagued man kind and the survivors are trying to make their way in a new world. The novel focuses on a community living on the Orkney Islands where they struggle to find the basics to keep inhabitants alive. The arrival of three strangers on the island upsets the balance of the community and sends two of the inhabitants on a potentially deadly journey.
I really loved the style of this novel which offered more than a standard apocalyptic tale of how the world operates in the aftermath of a disaster. There are indicators of the new order being built but the focus is on the individual characters and the struggles of one small community.
This is the third book in the trilogy and I would highly recommend reading the others first.
August 11, 2017
I think I enjoyed this better than the first book, but not quite as much as the second, it felt a little too much like every post apocalypse cliché had been chucked in for good measure. The idyllic community threatened by outsiders, check, the quest, check, the lord of the manor with his private army, double check, religious nutjobs, check, rapists, slaves, broodmares, check, check, check . . .
Also, it's set 7 years after 'the sweats', the global pandemic that ended the world, but folk are still driving cars, cans, boats, even an unlikely helicopter! I'm sure I read an article (fact checking The Walking Dead) that said petrol degrades quite quickly . . .
The geography too of Glasgow, in the final section felt slightly off, which is odd, as she lives there(as do I!)
Also, it's set 7 years after 'the sweats', the global pandemic that ended the world, but folk are still driving cars, cans, boats, even an unlikely helicopter! I'm sure I read an article (fact checking The Walking Dead) that said petrol degrades quite quickly . . .
The geography too of Glasgow, in the final section felt slightly off, which is odd, as she lives there(as do I!)
April 4, 2024
This is the third book in a trilogy. It features the two main characters from the first two (otherwise essentially unconnected) books, but you won't actually be missing very much if you haven't read them.
This story follows the inhabitants of the Orkney Islands, who are getting on fairly well after the majority of the country has died in The Sweats. There's a moderately sized self-sustaining settlement seven years after the outbreak of the disease. Of course, it doesn't stay that way as this isn't a book about farming.
A good book in its own right, but also a nice end to the trilogy. It's also refreshing to read something fairly realistic that is set in the UK, and not in a typical location.
This story follows the inhabitants of the Orkney Islands, who are getting on fairly well after the majority of the country has died in The Sweats. There's a moderately sized self-sustaining settlement seven years after the outbreak of the disease. Of course, it doesn't stay that way as this isn't a book about farming.
A good book in its own right, but also a nice end to the trilogy. It's also refreshing to read something fairly realistic that is set in the UK, and not in a typical location.
August 26, 2017
You will need to read the first two books in this The Plague Times trilogy to get the most of this final volume.
The focus has moved to seven years beyond the main pandemic and to how offshore islands, in this case the Orkney Isles, may have developed a way forward a little different from the mainland. What happens when that relative idyll is challenged? The writing is easy, gripping but the questions asked about how we build our communal lives, what ultimately matters and how fundamentally vicious humans can become, are huge. Welsh does not flinch from leaving these on the page, unanswered.
The focus has moved to seven years beyond the main pandemic and to how offshore islands, in this case the Orkney Isles, may have developed a way forward a little different from the mainland. What happens when that relative idyll is challenged? The writing is easy, gripping but the questions asked about how we build our communal lives, what ultimately matters and how fundamentally vicious humans can become, are huge. Welsh does not flinch from leaving these on the page, unanswered.
January 29, 2018
Having read the first two books in this trilogy and being under whelmed by them, Dominion took me by surprise. Far and away the best of the series. The storyline grabbed me from the start and kept me enthralled to the last page. Circumstances dictate that the main protagonist, Stevie, has to leave the relative safety of Orkney into a dangerous trip to the mainland. Some of the youngsters have gone missing, on a promise of bright lights in Glasgow. Suffice to say, the promise is not quite as made out. A damned fine thriller.
Ray Smillie
Ray Smillie
May 7, 2018
Starting this book I did not realize this was the third part of a series. I think that this works well as a stand alone as the characters built up over the novel were strongly developed. I really enjoyed how it showed the power dynamic on the island of Orkney and Glasglow and the way that the Sweats had destroyed civilization worldwide. I enjoyed seeing the different tasks that Stevie and Magnus undertook to save the kids and the novel created a good way to keep the reader on edge.
I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
June 10, 2018
I loved all three books in the Plague Times trilogy. I tore through this as soon as it came out. And it doesn't disappoint. If you like dystopian thrillers, you'll enjoy this series.
Full disclosure: Louise Welsh is a former writing instructor of mine, and I consider her a friend, but even before I met her, I loved her writing, and to my mind she's more a literary fiction author than a genre writer. She writes crime, mystery and dystopian thrillers and she does it all very well.
This third novel in the series brings together the two characters that dominate the previous two novels. It's a great tie-up. The action sequences in these novels are riveting, and the pacing is superb. I couldn't put this one down.
Full disclosure: Louise Welsh is a former writing instructor of mine, and I consider her a friend, but even before I met her, I loved her writing, and to my mind she's more a literary fiction author than a genre writer. She writes crime, mystery and dystopian thrillers and she does it all very well.
This third novel in the series brings together the two characters that dominate the previous two novels. It's a great tie-up. The action sequences in these novels are riveting, and the pacing is superb. I couldn't put this one down.
September 19, 2017
A real roller-coaster ride.
A good thriller living in the moment. I read this mostly out of completeness, but I enjoyed it much more than the second part.
My only minor criticism, is that the Orkney sequence is perhaps too long.
Oh & for those looking in, there's enough background to read & enjoy without the knowledge of the other two books.
Good fun!
A good thriller living in the moment. I read this mostly out of completeness, but I enjoyed it much more than the second part.
My only minor criticism, is that the Orkney sequence is perhaps too long.
Oh & for those looking in, there's enough background to read & enjoy without the knowledge of the other two books.
Good fun!
June 25, 2018
While much enjoying the Orcadian location and many of the personal interactions, the whole of it was, for me, a little bit too much of a hurtle from one slightly improbable crisis to another. That said, it could simply have been it was the wrong book for me at this particular time; also it's a while since I read #2
July 30, 2018
This apocalyptic novel is certainly not my usual kind of book but I enjoyed this story of the Orkney islanders trying to live life & restore order after a wordwide pandemic has decimated the population. When a group of teenagers & a baby go missing to the mainland, a unnerving game of cat & mouse ensues...will they make it back?...I won't say but this is a very good read
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