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Circuit Breaker
The Survivor's Alliance is expanding, and Willow has been chosen to take a wagon into uncharted territory. The Circuit Company promised her the best crew, supplies and special new wagons, but it all had a very bumpy start. The wagons were late, the crew was unconfirmed, and she started to have serious doubts. Things never go as planned. Their journey took some unexpected twists culminating in the biggest surprise of all. Willow's crew will need to make some life changing decisions.
- GenresScience Fiction
265 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 13, 2021
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About the author
Alice Sabo
51 books63 followersAlice Sabo is the author of character-driven stories in multiple genres. Her characters struggle to make the right choices in difficult and often dangerous situations. Whether seeking lost cultures in an unforgiving galaxy or finding a murderer on the streets of LA, her books have strong world building, multi-layered characters and a satisfying culmination.
You can find all her series and the order in which to read them on her website, along with maps and other extras. www.alicesabo.com
You can find all her series and the order in which to read them on her website, along with maps and other extras. www.alicesabo.com
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 9, 2022
Another comfortable tale from the "Changed World" Universe
Alice Sabo continues her take on what might be mistaken for a new NETFLIX show titled "Little House on the Prairie After the Apocalypse" with the 2nd chapter of the aptly named "Children of a Changed World". And whereas I initially thought that this story missed SO MANY golden opportunities for real action, conflict and potentially worse, I am now thoroughly convinced - and comfortable in accepting - that the author is intentionally taking this series in a much more Young Adult, even Teen readers' direction. There's definitely no cursing, no sex (ok, it's pretty apparent it does go on but we never 'witness' it) and even the very PG-rated scenes of violence or similar actions are muted at best.
Again, the strength of Sabo's fast-flowing stories remains her strong characterizations in this incredible world that I've now been witness to for 7 books! She adds just the right amount of spices if you will to the big melting pot of all the major and most minor characters and, really, you can't help but be interested in them and concerned for them all along the way! Their interactions with each other and also the very much changed world around them (hence the title!) are simply an on-going treat, almost like you're checking in on old friends. And if you aren't looking for Sansbury-esque, testerone-laden military action-adventure, then you may even find yourself pleasantly surprised and increasingly fond of these stories!
I will say though that I found the potential in this book for just a bit more, well, to borrow a good German phrase, 'meat on the bone' a little hard to ignore. There are several sections here where we set the crew up for some real tension - be it from traversing dangerous cliffside roads, fighting off wild dogs or mutant alligators (where the crew had even been swimming in the same water earlier!), entering a less-than-friendly unusual and obviously very protected walled city, not to mention the weird 'cultists' and their resistance to a good dose of justice - but in all cases we barely register these events with more than a nod towards, again, the potential of the situation compared to the actual outcome. One spoiler I can't help but avoid mentioning here is that NONE of this crew is killed or otherwise passes during this SUPPOSEDLY much more dangerous mission!
And sure, there are other bits that I will wonder about for some time. For example, I still can't imagine how having Connor preside over a wedding in that one city was allowed… but we learn nothing about their laws so who knows, I guess it counts anyway? As such, I/you/we have to accept that this is a conscious decision by the author to really pull away from anything that could be considered - for lack of a better term - upsetting. And if you're looking then for any degree of the brutality, hubris, disease and even outright cruelty seen in the original series - no matter how well-handled and thrilling it was in those stories - well, these make no appearance here. Even when "painful reminders" pop up in the form of people being held against their will by local despots, well, that's about as far as we go.
There were also some inconsistencies that I admit already bothered me in the last book, however, this time they seem more pronounced for some reason. For example, for someone that doesn't like being touched, Jane is hugged and gives hugs quite a lot in this chapter! Maybe that implies she's recovering from her traumatic childhood or it's been decided that any degree of haphephobia doesn't work well when that person is the Circuit doctor! There's also a noticeable time disconnect or confusion as "Breaker" proceeds that I really had to just let slide. Again, as an example, we learn it's been around two years since "Willow's Run", but we also have references to YEARS having passed. Maybe we're all just used to basing everything on COVID time now that two years of anything isn't considered all that earth-shattering? But it's nothing to be overly concerned about, as I'm sure these nits that I am picking and collecting to barter later are due to the fact my own tastes have steered pretty sharply away from the whole YA scene. And we have to be honest: it really is the same type of very mild adventure we saw before.
Still, I enjoy Sabo's imagination and this world still reads to me like a trip down memory lane, namely, those little sojourns or even full-fledged hiking trips my father would take me on through the areas where he enjoyed growing up - some of which were just as far from "civilization" (well, let's say the "big city") as some of the locales we see here. As such, I would recommend this latter set - with perhaps a third book in the series coming out later this year - to teens of all ages, even though I'd definitely say the original lead-in 5 would be too strong for the younger audiences! Yep, we're now at a point of recommending "Dystopian and Apocalyptic Primers". What a world!
Alice Sabo continues her take on what might be mistaken for a new NETFLIX show titled "Little House on the Prairie After the Apocalypse" with the 2nd chapter of the aptly named "Children of a Changed World". And whereas I initially thought that this story missed SO MANY golden opportunities for real action, conflict and potentially worse, I am now thoroughly convinced - and comfortable in accepting - that the author is intentionally taking this series in a much more Young Adult, even Teen readers' direction. There's definitely no cursing, no sex (ok, it's pretty apparent it does go on but we never 'witness' it) and even the very PG-rated scenes of violence or similar actions are muted at best.
Again, the strength of Sabo's fast-flowing stories remains her strong characterizations in this incredible world that I've now been witness to for 7 books! She adds just the right amount of spices if you will to the big melting pot of all the major and most minor characters and, really, you can't help but be interested in them and concerned for them all along the way! Their interactions with each other and also the very much changed world around them (hence the title!) are simply an on-going treat, almost like you're checking in on old friends. And if you aren't looking for Sansbury-esque, testerone-laden military action-adventure, then you may even find yourself pleasantly surprised and increasingly fond of these stories!
I will say though that I found the potential in this book for just a bit more, well, to borrow a good German phrase, 'meat on the bone' a little hard to ignore. There are several sections here where we set the crew up for some real tension - be it from traversing dangerous cliffside roads, fighting off wild dogs or mutant alligators (where the crew had even been swimming in the same water earlier!), entering a less-than-friendly unusual and obviously very protected walled city, not to mention the weird 'cultists' and their resistance to a good dose of justice - but in all cases we barely register these events with more than a nod towards, again, the potential of the situation compared to the actual outcome. One spoiler I can't help but avoid mentioning here is that NONE of this crew is killed or otherwise passes during this SUPPOSEDLY much more dangerous mission!
And sure, there are other bits that I will wonder about for some time. For example, I still can't imagine how having Connor preside over a wedding in that one city was allowed… but we learn nothing about their laws so who knows, I guess it counts anyway? As such, I/you/we have to accept that this is a conscious decision by the author to really pull away from anything that could be considered - for lack of a better term - upsetting. And if you're looking then for any degree of the brutality, hubris, disease and even outright cruelty seen in the original series - no matter how well-handled and thrilling it was in those stories - well, these make no appearance here. Even when "painful reminders" pop up in the form of people being held against their will by local despots, well, that's about as far as we go.
There were also some inconsistencies that I admit already bothered me in the last book, however, this time they seem more pronounced for some reason. For example, for someone that doesn't like being touched, Jane is hugged and gives hugs quite a lot in this chapter! Maybe that implies she's recovering from her traumatic childhood or it's been decided that any degree of haphephobia doesn't work well when that person is the Circuit doctor! There's also a noticeable time disconnect or confusion as "Breaker" proceeds that I really had to just let slide. Again, as an example, we learn it's been around two years since "Willow's Run", but we also have references to YEARS having passed. Maybe we're all just used to basing everything on COVID time now that two years of anything isn't considered all that earth-shattering? But it's nothing to be overly concerned about, as I'm sure these nits that I am picking and collecting to barter later are due to the fact my own tastes have steered pretty sharply away from the whole YA scene. And we have to be honest: it really is the same type of very mild adventure we saw before.
Still, I enjoy Sabo's imagination and this world still reads to me like a trip down memory lane, namely, those little sojourns or even full-fledged hiking trips my father would take me on through the areas where he enjoyed growing up - some of which were just as far from "civilization" (well, let's say the "big city") as some of the locales we see here. As such, I would recommend this latter set - with perhaps a third book in the series coming out later this year - to teens of all ages, even though I'd definitely say the original lead-in 5 would be too strong for the younger audiences! Yep, we're now at a point of recommending "Dystopian and Apocalyptic Primers". What a world!
November 5, 2021
If you’ve read the books that precede this one, it will seem like keeping track of a good friend’s family, taking note of their successes and worrying about them when they face dangerous challenges. You will wonder why I didn’t give it five stars. Didn’t I like it as much as I liked the others?
The truth is, for me it was a five-star read. But if you accidentally started with this novel instead of the first one, you’ll probably think it lacks focus. And to some degree, it does. It seems to me like it starts a little before it should and includes too much information and frustration about the problems of rapid expansion when the story should concentrate on the new circuit. If readers find themselves in this space, they should just go back to the beginning and read the books leading up to this one. You’ll be glad you did.
Eagerly awaiting book 3.
The truth is, for me it was a five-star read. But if you accidentally started with this novel instead of the first one, you’ll probably think it lacks focus. And to some degree, it does. It seems to me like it starts a little before it should and includes too much information and frustration about the problems of rapid expansion when the story should concentrate on the new circuit. If readers find themselves in this space, they should just go back to the beginning and read the books leading up to this one. You’ll be glad you did.
Eagerly awaiting book 3.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews