The Revival: Book II of the Stonemont Series

Enjoyed the book and appreciated that someone knowledgeable read it through and edited it. It detracts from the story when having to edit a book while reading. The story, though ambitious, is interesting and rolls along easily in manner and in detail. Having read a good bit of dystopian fiction, I credit the author with his attention to detail and narrative style: dramatic action but not incredible, depictions of violence but not grotesque or over done as in other works, and strong, traditional values which should still resonate with most of this genre’s audience. Overall, a superior and entertaining reading experience when compared to many (most?) other works in this category. I am looking forward to reading more of this series, as Steven reveals his ideas about how societies might rebuild after the world as we know it comes to a screeching halt.

Fascinating buildup, expanding sets of characters, and series of events. Several twists and turns, with violence constantly threatened, yet surprising amount of intellectual discussion. And then the surprise come on ending. Well done.

Excellent read, with good character development and solid education inserted into the storytelling. I applaud the author for avoiding the practice of introducing major characters simply to kill them off for shock value. I also wonder if the name of Texas Ranger “Declan Moore” and the reference to the Potawatomi are coincidence or “Easter Eggs”. Looking forward to the next volume.

I just love this series. Perfect reading. The characters continue to develop. The banter and conversations are so entertaining, and educational. Comeuppance is handled so well, harsh but just.

I enjoy this genre except there are few good authors in it and usually one must slog through poorly developed stories delivered with terrible grammar and punctuation, and no editing ,but Steven Smith has brought the genre out of the abyss and provided a terrific story, well written, just enough knowledgeable details to paint the scene so vividly that the reader can easily place themselves in the story. He has finally elevated the genre into the realm of Steven King, Lee Childs, and others in that stratosphere. Mr. Smith also clearly portrays the traditional values that define what it means to be an American, the values that we are in the fight of our lives to hold on to as certain global actors have worked tirelessly for over 20 years to erode them, and create a massive centralized socialist government and a society composed of the weak, the psychologically impaired, and a mentality of victimhood. I loved the theme of this book, centered around rebuilding. I daresay many of the readers dream about this and would happily give up Twitter, Walmart, People magazine, and cable TV if they could trade this pile of junk for the concept behind Stonemont! I was very impressed by the Cob building! I have studied it for years and try to make my prepper friends aware of it. I lived in England for years so have seen many Cob cottages that are hundreds of years old and going strong. I can't wait for the next book!

As a fan of this style of reality based fiction, I have read well over 100 books. This series by Smith (this book better than the first), has been a pleasure to read. It is very good and in the company of 299 Days, Going Home series,Holding Their Own, and others. What they share in common, besides societal collapse, is the uplifting nature of Americans coming together, as opposed to constant death, destruction and misery. Some of the narrative my be far-reaching, however, it IS fiction and as such fun to read. There is some good tips throughout the book, which we will put too use.

Just finished the whole series then it gives me hope for mankind

To be honest, I almost didn't finish this book. I got to about the 35% mark, and put it down for about a day before picking it back up. The problems I had with the first book seemed to not only be present in this one, they seemed to be worse. No tension, no distinct character voices, dreadful dialogue filled with soliloquies and preaching ( in my case, to the choir, as I happen to agree with the author's stance 99% of the time). But I have to say, after the first third, the story did get better. It seemed like the author really did try to work on the dialogue in an attempt to make it more natural, more realistic. The tension level never really rose to a point where I was worried about the community, or the main characters, although the development of the community did take some turns I wasn't expecting. But where I think this story suffers is in it's author's love for the ideal that this community and its characters represent, which makes it difficult to throw stones at, and makes it difficult for the reader to fully enjoy. There's no real drama here, and while the author has clearly done his homework on both prepping and tactics, and describes both aspects beautifully, the novels could seriously benefit from a bit more drama and tension, and opposition that is on the same level or greater. Watching threat after threat basically roll over without fighting back or presenting a real challenge is something you can maybe stand for one book, but not for a series.

Steve C Smith has a down to earth, realistic response approach to his writing. The characters are based in teality and believable. The actions taken and responses to scenarios are what have kept me engaged. I had gone off of fiction novels for a while but this author has successfully pulled me into this series of engaging books. More please.