This book explores the impact of the earth being affected by a solar event which wipes out all electricity. These are real events, one could happen at any time. The story is kept quite contained around one family - Aubrey and her brother Thom and their immediate connections and how they manage. Thom is prepared for this event, Aubrey isn't at all.

I found this book quite slow. The first 30% is about the impending outage.it was a bit heavy otherwise science and acronyms and I struggled to stay focused. In the next 30% the solar event happens and the remainder of the book focuses on Aubrey and Thom. It was difficult at times to keep a sense of the timeline - things didn't seem to have moved on but we know months had passed due to the growing of vegetables. I didn't really like any of the characters in this book. Aubrey is difficult and obstructive seemingly just for the sake of it. Thom is bossy. Scott, the step son is vile, and his dad Rusty is even worse. Celeste seemed to have the potential of being interesting but we never get to know her. The story around Brady I found to be completely unlikely. It's really unclear how this group survived the early months - Aubrey had no food or money - how did they live? Later on we get told but many months have passed before getting to this.

The story considers the way huge events can bring out the best and worst in people.

Overall, this was a shorter read of about 300 pages. It wasn't what I was expecting. There isn't a great deal said about the solar event and impact due to the focus on the small and dysfunctional family, and even then I didn't find the impact to be particularly clear. The focus seemed to be more on the storyline about them which didn't really need a solar event and no electricity. Their lives were a mess before.

Overall, this was an easy enough read (once you get past the science) but the theme of the book gets lost in the story about the family. I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley with no promise of a favourable review.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an unbiased review.
Absolutely loved this book and the background to the story of the world being thrown into darkness certainly set me thinking, what if ?
Coming off the back of the Covid pandemic anything is possible I'd guess.
Strong story with decent characters, well written, a few twists along the way (including one real big one) and kept me hooked from start to finish.
A solid four stars.
Look forward to watching the TV series when it's made.

A really interesting and thought provoking story, the first thing I did was Google the Carrington Event and I was delighted, and a little bit scared, to find out that it was a real thing!
We've all just been through a worldwide pandemic, how would we cope if we were now faced with a Black Sky event?
I love that the author has kept the scale small here, it's about one disjointed and disfunctional family and their experience. There are great characters, especially the ones you'll love to hate and it's just a brilliant snapshot.
Am excited but not surprised to see that this has been picked up by Netflix.

When disaster strikes who will survive? A real page turner with believable characters, a fast paced plot and would make an excellent “disaster “film.

The story grabs you at the beginning with two scientists working out that a cataclysmic solar event is going to take out all electricity within hours for months and months. Then you follow the fates of Thom (a billionaire with a bunker and prepared for disasters), his sister Aubrey, her dodgy ex and her stepson who still lives with her. At first, they worry about filling the freezer and, as time moves on, real danger spreads across the nation. You can tell the author is a screen writer as I can just imagine this book as a film. The writing isn’t literary but the story zips along and you feel a lot of affection for Thom, Aubrey and Scott despite their many flaws. An enjoyable read.

Fast moving thiller - a sun event takes out the electrical networks across the world. It will be a new way of living for as long as it takes to restore the infrastructure. Some people think they are prepared for it. Others will try to ride it out. Everyone has their problems. But as you may imagine some people have other issues to deal with as well. Very cinematic storytelling as you would expect from this renowned screenwriter. Recommended..

Aurora tells the story of a solar flare which causes all the power in the world to go out and looks at how people live in this new world. It's not really concerned with how this effects society as a whole, and the author's note at the end explicitly states that he was interested in how communities deal with issues on a local level, after his own experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

I was interested in a book that explores how individual neighbourhoods and families and tech billionaires and their entourage deal with devastating and life changing events, it wasn't quite effective enough at doing everything it set out to do. Still, it was an enjoyable read, though I was hoping for a little bit more disaster - I think I saw that the author had been a screen-writer on films like Jurassic Park so was expecting something a little bit more dramatic and exciting!

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a dystopic novel - the sun has sent off a mega-corona that will knock out all the earth's electricity supply, probably for months, even years.

So we begin by following some disparate characters - Thom who has been preparing for such an event for decades, and has the money to do it properly; Aubrey who has found herself guardian to her step-son Scott, with her addicted husband Rusty still lurking in the background, and Norman and Perry, who were the first to see what was going to happen, having followed the skies all their lives.

The plot is clever, with twists and turns of people's lives so that the dramatic loss of electricity becomes more of a backdrop. It was interesting to see how people coped, or did not, and how inventive they had to become in the face of this catastrophe.

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Interesting premise. Good story. Style very much with the screenplay in mind, but perhaps not to my reading taste. No doubt the film will be a big hit. I'll certainly be happy to watch it.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy.

Koepps first novel, Cold Storage was a hugely entertaining read so when I heard about Aurora I knew I wanted to read it – a fascinating premise (that could actually occur) and an author who’s writing I’d enjoyed before made for a book I was excited about.

I’m please to say Aurora more than lived up to expectations. This was a fast paced read that took us on a journey looking at how society could function without electricity. We followed several POV through the story – Aubrey who’s living in a run down house in a quiet street as a single parent to her teenage stepson.

Rusty – Aubrey’s deadbeat drug, alcohol and gambling addicted ex who’s only aim is looking out for himself.

Thom – a billionaire who has disaster planned for just this time of apocalypse style event and is confident in his ability to get his family through.

As society as they know it crumbles around them we follow their stories and different ways of coping with their changed worlds. Aubrey was someone I instantly liked, she was a fully formed person the moment we met her, she had her flaws certainly but her heart showed through as well.

I admired Thom’s self confidence and his motivations were generally good, but he often rode straight over what people actually wanted without listening, assuming that his way had to be best. I still felt for him though, yes he could be an asshole but it mostly came from a good place.

The characters made the story but sitting behind them was the event itself – a massive solar flare that shorted out earth electricity – and the faintly terrifying knowledge that this could actually happen. Reading this novel made me think about what I would do in a similar situation – how prepared I would be and how we’d cope.

A well crated novel that I sped through, I’d definitely recommend picking this one up.

I loved Cold Storage with its tongue in cheek frenetic action so was excited to read Aurora. As with CS the characters are well drawn and the action fast and easy to visualise.  This too is a about a disaster but whereas CS was a mad race to prevent same, this takes place during and after the disaster and in the shadow of a world coming out of the pandemic . With a wide cast of characters and a strong message about community and family this is a very satisfying read with plenty of tension and humour and I eagerly anticipate reading what David Koepp writes next.
Thanks to HQ and Netgalley for an advance copy for which I am very happy to provide this unbiased review.

When a solar storm hits the earth, the lights go out across the planet. But this time the blackout won’t be over soon – it could last for years. Aubrey and her stepson now face the biggest challenge of their lives. Unputdownable. a nail-biting thriller that grips to the very last page!

I felt it was a little bit difficult to get into this book. But once I did I found it mostly enjoyable. I'm not sure it was really for me thou. But I'm sure others will love it.

If you like books that feel like a film (and frankly who doesn't) then you need to jump off whatever you are sitting on and acquire a copy of Aurora immediately. Its pitch perfect, full of pace and twists. I loved it. More please.

The Earth is overdue for a solar storm that knocks out its electricity. In Aurora, that storm happens, and the world's lights go out.

I am a fan of Koepp, and I really enjoyed Cold Storage, so I was looking forward to Aurora. It didn't disappoint!

What I found really interesting about the novel was how it focused on one small area of the world, rather than showing the bigger picture. There were good guys, bad guys, and lots of fun.

Many thanks to David Koepp, NetGalley, and HQ for this advanced copy.

I really enjoyed this book. I have enjoyed David Koepp's work for quite a while, and this did not disappoint. Incredibly well written, and I was hooked from the start. Highly recommended