When the English Fall - David Williams

I really liked the premise of this novel, When the English Fall. A solar storm has wiped out electricity and mechanical tools and society is struggling to cope and overcome, but none of that really matters at first because the protagonist, Jacob, is an Amish man living near Lancaster, PA. He doesn't rely much on mechanical tools, even on his small farm where he lives with his wife, Hannah, his son, Jacob, and his daughter, Sadie.

Their small farm and Jacob's carpentry business provides them with all the food and materials they need to survive. What they can't really control is what the rest of the world, the world of the "English" is going to do. And since we as humans can be a-holes in times of hardship (you've seen The Walking Dead?), the Amish are vulnerable to people with guns who don't care what they have to do to get scarce resources. 

It's an interesting outsider look at post-apocalypse fiction. I felt mildly dissatisfied with the ending, which left a lot unsaid, and with the lackluster opening, which I had to go back and listen to in order to make sure I hadn't missed anything. But it turns out the author was also not completely thrilled with the opening picked by the publisher in this one. Silly publishers. 

Anyway, this was a great start at a debut novel. Inventive and the writing was solid if just a bit stilted due to the attempt to capture the cadence and language of an Amish speaker. 

3.5/5 Stars