The Red Sky

by Timothy D. Minneci

Alliances have formed, but peace is fragile. Two sides seek to rebuild the United States eleven years after an asteroid nearly wiped out humanity. West of the Mississippi, the New American Alliance ruled by Jasper Reynolds expands daily. In the East, Sandra Nolan guides Manhattan back to democracy while assembling the United Cities Coalition. Will an unknown assassin sabotage her plans? In the free city of Bangor, Tessa and Bishop Dawes attempt to return to a normal existence, but the trauma of the past haunts them both. As they build a new future, the looming standoff threatens a new apocalypse. THE RED SKY is the second book in the Perseverantia series, started in 2020 with THE BLACK SKY.

262 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 11, 2022

About the author

Timothy D. Minneci grew up in the suburbs of Buffalo, New York and has authored several fiction and non-fiction books. He is the co-host of the long-running 1990s music-focused Dig Me Out Podcast. He lives with his family in Columbus, Ohio.

Reviews

[Lauren Stoolfire · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.

The Red Sky (The Perseverantia Trilogy #2) by Timothy D. Minneci is a great follow up to The Black Sky. I'm so glad I've had the opportunity to read the sequel and I can't wait to see what's coming in the final book in the trilogy. I wish I didn't have such a gap in reading times between this book and its predecessor, but it was still easy to jump right back into this post-apocalyptic dystopian sequel even though there are a lot of characters to keep track of. The author kind of eases us back in before dropping us and the characters further into the deep end. I'm glad we got to see more of the wider world, no matter how brutal and depressing it is. I appreciated it very much that we did get to see some bright spots and good people that are trying their best. It might be weird but one of the small things that was a real highlight for me was just seeing Columbus, Ohio pop up. I rarely if ever get to see it in any way in fiction so that was nice. Overall, I highly recommend this series if you love the style of Robert Ludlum or John Carpenter. I hope the third book will come soon because I need to see more of this world.

Thanks again for this opportunity, Mr. Minneci!

[Shannon Miz · Rating 4 out of 5]

After really enjoying the first book in this series, The Black Sky , I was certainly excited to dive back into the world for the second installment! I will fully admit, since it has been a minute (two and a half years, to be precise), I kind of forgot some stuff? But that is on me- in fact, the author did a really great job of reminding the reader of events that happened in the first book, and he did so in a really authentic way that fit in with the story and didn't make it feel info-dumpy. So thanks for that, because I needed it!

This book starts off somewhat peacefully for the characters we know from the first book (and far less peacefully for someone who we're not familiar with, which of course goes to provide proof that the rest of the book will be far less peaceful for everyone else, too), as most of our faves have made it to a safe-ish spot in a very unsafe world.

And make no mistake, the world is even possibly bleaker than it was in the first book- mostly because awful people are still awful. But, it is also a lot more hopeful in spots too, since it is really clear that decent folks do still exist and want humanity to do better. Speaking of the decent folks, I did love the characters who were really trying to do better in this world, and that was quite a lot of them! Even those more villainous in nature had motivations that the reader could understand, which was great character development.

I have two minor qualms in this sequel. The first is that at a few points, I really had a bit of trouble keeping track of all the characters. That might be on me though, so. The other is that there are quite a few smaller errors in the copy. Not enough to like, make it unreadable or anything like that! Just enough that it started to catch my attention.

The book ended in a pretty satisfying way- I don't know if there are plans for a third installment, but it could certainly go either way. It ends in a way that you are content if this is it, but there are also definitely enough threads to expand on for another book- the world is really well constructed, and I think there would always be enough material for more!

Bottom Line: A very solid sequel that thoughtfully expanded on both the world and the characters.

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight

[Siobhan Leahy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author via Voracious Readers Only.


Ok so for disclosure here I have not read the first book a black sky but I don't think this hindered my enjoyment to this book at all.
A military political novel is not my normal go to but it really was a nice change and I enjoyed the writing style and approaches used. This being said there were a few errors within my copy, nothing that a good edit wouldn't remove and that is one of the reasons why this book is a 4 and not a 5-star.

The story does feel like it's setting up for a third and final part of a trilogy. However as yet I can't find any evidence or detail about that, I will be on the lookout and well definitely read book 3 if it does happen (in the meantime book 1 is calling my name)

That being said this book does not suffer from Middle book syndrome and is a great story in it own right.

My one critique, and it's more of a personal nature, is that if we have an asteroid hitting the Earth plummeting us into some sort of dystopian world I want aliens!!!! But again that's probably more of a personal choice. (think the colony TV show)!

[Archna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being a fan of the Perseverantia trilogy, I was eager to read this book when I got the ARC. This book picked up where The Black Sky left off, and started out with a new storyline following a whole set of additional characters. The new characters were a little difficult to follow because of the sheer number of them, but they added a lot to the story and plot line, so they were a great addition. I was curious to see where the different characters were headed, as I thought the first novel wrapped things up pretty well. I was pleasantly surprised with the new plot introduction and the development of the different leaders in the various geographic areas. Without adding any spoilers, I will say that I was not impressed with one of the newer characters in the beginning- they seemed to be a feeble and uninteresting character until the middle of the book when there was a plot twist and they became one of the more notable characters.

As with the last book, this was a very well written story (despite some minor grammatical errors- those are hard to catch!) and a riveting, action-packed glimpse into a post- apocalyptic U.S. I’m looking forward to the next installment, and hoping to see the resurgence of some characters mentioned in the first book to unite the factions into a more cohesive society!

[Owen Howden · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting post-apocalyptic read. Good strong characters and great storyline. A most enjoyable read

[Martin Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review copy from Voracious Readers. EXCELLENT read! A world trying to get on its feet after an apocalypse ... power struggles .. guilt.. redemption... make do and mend survivalism, but no mutants or superpowers. I really enjoyed it, part two of a series, but by no means is part one essential prior reading. But I'll be going to look for it now! Recommend.