Outlander Chronicles: Phoenix

Outlander Chronicles #1

by C.H. Cobb

Phoenix is a coming-of-age tale set in a post-apocalyptic world, eighty years after a smallpox pandemic has reduced the global population to eight million. After experiencing the tragic deaths of his entire family and community, a young man (Jacen Chester) decides the time has come to replant civilization. He dreams of establishing an organized community (Phoenix) that will restart the arts and sciences, and rediscover the technology of the former world. He meets a mysterious wanderer, an older man who decides to help him accomplish his dream. Together the two gather a small community and set their sights on the empty interior of the continent—the ruins of Denver, Colorado—where they can escape the murderous gangs (Anarchs) that inhabit the east. They must travel 1800 miles, from near the ruin of Philadelphia, before they can begin the project.

Hatred and bitterness within and lethal attacks from without threaten to destroy the Phoenix community. A painful lesson on forgiveness and religious tolerance is required to save Phoenix from itself.

A dystopian novel suffused with hope, Outlander Chronicles: Phoenix is suitable for high-school-age readers and older.

365 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 25, 2011

About the author

C. H. Cobb has a non-stop imagination, identifying with James Thurber’s Walter Mitty. His career as a spinner of tall tales began by regaling his small children with the adventures of Moe, the spider that lived in the bathroom fan.

He now writes military/espionage novels, dystopian fictions, and political thrillers. Kirkus Reviews has compared his writing to that of Tom Clancy and Dale Brown.

His three children are now grown (and are all in some form of the arts, as are their spouses), and he lives with his wife Doris in Ohio where he serves as the counseling pastor of a church.

Reviews

[Daniel Villines · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Short Review...

Imagine if Joseph Goebbels, Propaganda Minister for Nazi Germany, wrote an entertaining story that told of how the Jewish people destroyed the world. In the post-apocalyptic aftermath a group of kind and determined Aryans band together to rebuild Germany in the shadow of the destruction. Along the way, the Aryans suffer hardships and give each other hope. That is the story of Outlander Chronicles: Phoenix.

The Long Review...


There is a lot of good writing in Outlander Chronicles: Phoenix (OCP). C.H. Cobb demonstrates a nice balance between exuberance and restraint that makes his writing credible. I enjoyed the mentorship between the two main characters: wisdom imparted from the old to the young. There are passages with horses that Cobb captures with an obvious sensibility towards these beautiful animals. And the tactics of the armed conflicts were objectively portrayed even though these types of scenes can get far-fetched in the hands of writers.

But There is an issue with OCP that haunted most of the reading experience. In explaining the reasons for the apocalypse, Cobb asserts that a belief in God is essential to preserving our ability to make moral decisions and form moral societies. Should we decide to sideline that belief, we are destined to bring the apocalypse upon us.

The fault in this reasoning is that there have been many moral societies that have existed for centuries and millennia in the 2+ million years of human existence before God. God is simply another codification of moral behavior and a society that believes in their moral code (regardless of its manifestation) will avoid the apocalypse.

Furthermore, societies that embrace God have no guarantee that Cobb’s apocalypse will not be visited upon them. The Roman empire collapsed some 150 years after Constantine the Great embraced Christianity. And an extrapolation of the vulgar immorality that was exhibited throughout the Trump presidency could also serve as an example. Corruption is the true crime against societies that causes their downfall; always has been and always will be.

Cobb’s reasoning also found itself in conflict with the thoughts and behaviors of his characters. These descendants of Cobb’s Godless and immoral society all exhibited moral behavior when naturally appropriate. They exemplified the net-good in humanity, sans God. It’s this net-good that is ultimately responsible for guiding us throughout a predominantly Godless history and delivering the present-day moral societies that exist around the world. The characters themselves represent the biggest contradiction to Cobb’s premise.

But then we hit Chapter 25 and all doubt of the propagandic nature of this novel is swept away. OCP reveals itself to be the telling of the demise of Christian-based American and European culture. To blame are swarms of Muslim immigrants and their foreign beliefs, and their rabbit-like desire for reproduction. American liberals also play a critical part in making America weak. And as an added bonus, the believing reader will now have a reason to justify the inhuman extermination of the Native American population by the Founding Fathers.

This has been a difficult book to review. In many ways, Cobb’s writing is mostly benign, but that’s how threats to the Christian Right, White Nationalists, and the Alt-Right are expressed for their consumption in mixed company. They use subtleties, innuendo, implied meaning, and victimizations all wrapped up in a mainstream statement where one could very nearly conclude that there were "very fine people on both sides." The fact remains, however, that Cobb uses his underlying premise to express distrust, prejudice, and paranoia towards an entire religion, even if only briefly.

We no longer have brown shirts or men in white hoods marching down the street, but what we do have is exactly the contents of this book. Even if the intent was not there, the meaning needs to be pointed out for what it is.

[C.H. Cobb]

[Full Disclosure: I am the author of this book, so my "review" is simply to tell you what the book is about. This also explains why I didn't give it any stars--but had I, I would have given it 4.]

Outlander Chronicles: Phoenix is far more than an adventure story

Imagine what would happen if an extremely contagious and deadly disease (genetically-engineered smallpox) was released in the atmosphere over five major cities in a criminal act of biological warfare? Suppose there was no known cure. What would the world look like eighty years later?

This is the world of Outlander Chronicles: Phoenix. The year is 2120, and the global population has fallen south of eight million souls, a population inadequate for manufacturing, mining, refining, power generation, or even government. The scattered remnants of humanity have divided into two groups: on the one hand, tiny communities trying to scratch out a living using rudimentary agriculture, and on the other, vicious lawless gangs that survive by raiding the communities. Both scavenge abandoned, decaying cities looking for the few material goods that have survived eighty years of rot, neglect and exposure to the elements. The future looks more like the distant past—there’s nothing sci-fi about it.

A young man—Jacen Chester—decides it is time to try to replant civilization. He meets a mysterious stranger, an older man named Hakim. Hakim begins to mentor Jacen, teaching him how to survive in a world of violence and anarchy. The two men could not be more different, however, and they must first learn how to survive their own sharp disagreements.

Outlander Chronicles: Phoenix is much more than a fast-paced action-adventure novel, or coming-of-age story. Amid the gunfire and fighting are serious philosophical discussions about God, faith, forgiveness, the source of morality, secularism and more. The story could be characterized as a “parable of forgiveness disguised as a shoot-em-up.”

The tale does contain heart-stopping violence but no obscenity or skin scenes. Readers ranging in age from early teens to senior citizens have found it to be gripping and hard to put down. The premise of the tale along with the characters, the plot line, the action, and the arguments around the campfire combine to make this novel far more than the average mass-market paperback.

If you’re looking for a great read with a little more meat in it, Outlander Chronicles: Phoenix should be on your list.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dystopian fictions are so extrememly popular and common right now that I made the mistake of lumping Phoenix in with all of the other ones, before having read it.

What this book offers, from the beginning, is what others have a hard time offering. And that is a message of hope.

With two incredibly strong main characters, Phoenix tells a story of a world lost and people who are desperate. Hakim and Jacen are two desperately different individuals, but they manage to come together with a common goal... To bring about a change. To make the world whole again. To not have to rely on scavenging to survive.

However, they run into SEVERAL problems along the way.
From Anarchs--individual groups of people who survive off of stealing and killing others, to rogue groups who are using others to survive, to fighting with--of all things--each other.

Jacen and Hakim, both sincerely kind men, come from two very different backgrounds and histories. Jacen, who just recently had to bury his family due to a sickness, was raised under the moral-understanding of being good to others. His intentions are always pure, although somewhat misguided.

Hakim, however, has a much differnt set of standards. He has a reason for his beliefs. A reason for wanting to be a good person and stand up for what is right.

I don't want to give too much away. Because I feel like maybe some of this revealing of the characters' motivations may take away from how a reader feels when you read it, yourself.

Let me just say, that I was completely enthralled in this story from beginning to end. I found both Hakim and Jacen to be endearing and interesting characters, that made me want to keep reading about them.

Mr. Cobb also does an absolutely fantastic job at keeping the premise realistic. While, our country may not, at this moment, be mostly wiped out due to an epidemic, I feel like this explanation is much more believable than what some authors choose to use as their reason as to why the world is not as we know it.

I feel like instead of making up some contrived story just for the sake of making our characters helpless, we have a remarkable background that just builds up the already, amazing tale of two men striving to make a better world.

There is nothing contrived about this story. I will warn you, however, that although I didn't find the story or its characters preachy, a reader who isn't used to stories with some "religious" beliefs will find those in Phoenix. To me, I feel as if those beliefs just make the story better.

Mr. Cobb has done a wonderful job. I'm looking forward to anything else Mr. Cobb puts out there.

My Rating: 4.5/5

Christy @ Captivated Reading

[Mike Fendrich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full disclosure: I was given this book from the author in exchange for an unbiased review.

As stated elsewhere, Phoenix is a dystopian future novel about a world after a great disaster was released in the form of a small pox virus and the beginning of the attempt to create a new civilization. This is the vehicle used for the author to project his understanding of what makes a good civilization, what is the source of morals and ethics, why is there evil and suffering, the necessity of humility and forgiveness for relationship and community building and other issues. And a nod to confirmation bias, since I largely agreed with him, it made the reading experience better. I could see where an atheist or agnostic would disagree with the author's conclusions and state something like "look at all the great, peaceful, gracious nations non-Christians have sustained". Of course, my answer would be "show me that list again 'cause I ain't seeing it."

Back to the story, two quick points. I found the writing to be very good and compelling although I felt a few of the conversations were a bit contrived and forced. While I really appreciated the absence of "bad" language, I have yet to meet "bad guys" who don't drop "F" bombs every other word. But that didn't detract from the story in any way, in fact, it was refreshing. But that small bump didn't effect the story as I was hooked in the action and flow of the novel, kind of a "hurrying to find out what's going to happen next" feeling. I enjoyed reading this novel and would be very interested in the follow up stories.

I can highly recommend this book especially for middle - high school students whom you want to look beyond the story and think and discuss the main topics of the book.

Thanks to the author for the book and the opportunity to review.

[Wayne Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is the year 2120, some eighty years after a smallpox pandemic, unleashed by Muslims, has reduced the global population to eight million, divided between Townies, who are trying just to survive, and Anarchs, who attack and kill Townies. Jacen Chester, a 23 year old young man, lives in a dying community of Townies near the rusting ruins once known as Exton, PA, outside of Philadelphia. After burying both of his parents, the last of his entire family and community, he decides that the time has come to replant civilization, dreaming of establishing an organized community (Phoenix) that will restart the arts and sciences, and rediscover the technology of the former world. He meets a mysterious wanderer, an older man named Hakim Abdul al Malik, who decides to help him accomplish his dream. Together the two gather a small community and set their sights on the empty interior of the continent in the ruins of Denver, Colorado.

How can the group survive as it faces lethal attacks from without? Will they stay together as they experience hatred and bitterness within? What lessons do they learn about forgiveness and religious tolerance? Author Chris Cobb seeks to incorporate a Biblically faithful worldview into everything that he does, including his writing. Just from a literary standpoint, Phoenix is well written and exciting to read, but I especially appreciate the way in which Cobb embeds Biblical principles in the story line. Jacen is an atheist while Hakim, though an Arab, is a Christ believer. It is Book 1 of the “Outlander Chronicles” and ends with the group near the ruins of Cedar Rapids, IA, with the announcement that “When spring finally arrived, the twenty-four souls of Phoenix would be but 800 miles from their destination. But that’s another tale; maybe someday I’ll tell you about it.” A dystopian novel suffused with hope, the book is suitable for high-school-age readers and older.

[fpk · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have enjoyed some dystopias but in general they are not my go-to kind of book. This book was sent to me by the author in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed parts of this story, particularly the beginning. Jacen, the main character, finds himself alone after "The Great Disaster", a smallpox epidemic. Jacen encounters Hakim, an older, war weary man who helps and counsels Jacen as they embark on a quest to begin a new community. Together they meet various people whom they think will be good additions to their new world.

The start of the book was good, but then it sort of dragged on. I found much of the dialogue unrealistic.

That being said, I do think this kind of story would interest the YA crowd. Young boys in particular.

I'm thankful to the author for his providing the book to me.

[Dani · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5 stars (rounded up for Goodreads ratings)

First, let me preface this review by saying that I'm the daughter of the author, so my review will be a bit more biased than most.

Outlander Chronicles: Phoenix is a thought-provoking book that heavily explores the essence of belief, the philosophical and religious ways in which we view the world and the nature of man. It’s a book about survival, about living, about relationships, about endings, but also about beginnings as a ravaged group of people struggle to found a new civilization from the ashes of a hard, unyielding post-apocalyptic world.

Hakim was perhaps my favorite character in OCP, as he is a enigmatic dichotomy of sorts. He is a man of peace, yet a man capable of great and calculated violence when necessary. He is capable of great compassion and values life, and yet is capable of taking it if the situation warrants it.He is an educated man, schooled in religion, philosophy, strategy and history. He is a wanderer. He is a man of strong conviction and while vocal about his views and beliefs, never forces it upon another.

Though I had some minor issues with the development of Jacen's character, in general, I thought the character development was very well done. I was particularly impressed with the way the author (Dad? Cobb?... This is awkward.) was able to differentiate and individualize the multiple characters in Jacen and Hakim's community. With that many characters it can be difficult to give them uniqueness and voice, but as the book went on I began easily associating the many characters with their own individuality, and that can be very hard to accomplish successfully.

Overall... Dad, well done. I am impressed.

[Gabe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great

I Couldn't put it down. Finally a book by a Christian that is high quality an not geared only toward women. Thumbs up

[Deanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone who has read Harry Potter is familiar with the story of the Phoenix – a mythological bird who dies in an eruption of flames and is reborn from its ashes. The novel, Phoenix, follows the story of a young man who is trying to reestablish society after its self-destruction in the 21st century.

Twenty-three year old Jacen meets up with a mysterious traveler who joins him in his pursuit to establish a new settlement in the American West. During their adventures, Hakim, who is a Christian, asks many questions of Jacen which cause him to question some of his most strongly held beliefs. The first being – why is life precious and why it is a sin to kill someone? Hakim’s questions make me consider my own beliefs. I share Jacen’s self-imposed morals but what is our justification for them. While I didn’t agree with Hakim’s answers (that man is made in the image of God and to kill God is a sin), his comments were thought provoking.

The back cover of the novel informs that the writer is a teaching pastor, and this is evident throughout the book. Hakim is his voice. His take on forgiveness is thought provoking and I learned much from his telling of the story of Jesus. Some readers, however, might find the book a bit too religious for their taste.

In addition, Hakim’s explanations of how the world came to self-destruct weren’t completely plausible for me. Several world-wide epidemics have been experienced in the last 100 years, Spanish flu, SARS, H1N1, AIDS, etc. I cannot believe that the group responsible for the small pox virus in the novel would honestly believe that the virus would not spread outside of America. I also found it hard to believe that birth rates for Christians would fall and for Moslems would rise enough that Islam would become the dominant religion in Europe, and the governments would become Islamic.

Although the book is quite religious, Mr. Cobb is an excellent storyteller. During times of conflict, he slowly builds to a climax with much descriptive language and detail. The personalities of the main two characters are very realistic and many of the people that have much smaller roles in the story have also been well described. Jacen undergoes a personal journey of becoming a wiser man as well as a physical journey. The novel contains the three conflicts of an exciting novel – conflict between men, conflict between man and nature and conflict between man and himself. A enjoyable and thought provoking read.

[ILoveBooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

It must be hard to be one of the only survivors of a small town. Jacen must decide to put all of the hardships that he has already faced behind him and focus on what is to come. He determines to try to rebuild the small town. He runs into other survivors, naturally, and they must work together for one common goal.


The goal is threatened when Jacen and Hakim run into some very large difference of opinion. Large issues are discussed from religion to the handling of violence-how much is too much? How should transgressions be handled, does it matter what type of transgression the person committed? In order to work past these problems, Jacen and Hakim talk it out and leave the reader with a very unusual and philosophical discussion. The discussion is interesting, especially in the context it is provided, but it can be a little too much sometimes. The reader may want to just tell the two to figure it out and fast, rather than discussing the issues to death. However, the book is over-all interesting and an adult readers will likely enjoy the book.