Madness of People

Sol Survivors #2

by Shelly Campbell, Megan King

Iris Ecosia’s world has ended more than once. The first time, she was too young to remember. Solar flares wiped out electrical grids and whittled her stiff-collared community into a seller of data and rare books. The second time, Iris’s beloved Uncle Nate used her as a catalyst to thrust her people into a civil war that ousted their greedy CEO David Kahn, but left their town, Painted Bluff, broken and defenseless.

Iris is not about to let her world end a third time. She's a community leader now, and presses to forge an alliance with the starving but well-armed marauders who stalk Painted Bluff's borders.

But she’s not the only one making deals. Robert Lycos, the boy she’s loved for as long as she can remember sees another a partnership with a coal company. Iris is horrified when Robert admits to volunteering as hostage to expediate the deal.

When Kahn escapes imprisonment and makes a deal of his own, everything both young people have built topples. Now the race is on to establish strong alliances before their old CEO gathers enough resources to take his town back and bring Iris’s world crashing down one last time.

Genres: Young Adult

367 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 1, 2024

About the author

At a young age, Shelly Campbell wanted to be an air show pilot or a pirate, possibly a dragon and definitely a writer and artist. She’s piloted a Cessna 172 through spins and stalls, and sailed up the east coast on a tall ship barque—mostly without projectile vomiting. In the end, Shelly found writing stories and drawing dragons to be so much easier on the stomach.
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Shelly's tales are speculative fiction, tending toward literary with dollops of oddity. She enjoys the challenge of exploring new techniques and subject matter, and strives to embed inspiring stories in her writing and art.

Reviews

[Robert W. Easton · Rating 5 out of 5]

In book 2 of the series, everything falls apart. In book 1 there had been plenty of apart-falling, but the authors are so great at always showing their characters there is more to lose, and more, while fostering a connection. You care about the these poor folk as they flounder against hopeless odds.

The story is older YA, I think, not quite adult in theme, but full of complicated motivations and terrible deeds. Elements of horror are nestled around a teen love story.

One of my favorite sections is when the main character Iris is in the dark far underground. The visceral quality of the oppressive darkness drips off the page, and left me hunching lest I hit my head on the low ceiling. There is something poetic in a story set in a solar apocalypse about not finding relief in the dark.

Note: I recieved a copy of this book directly from the author in exchange for an honest review.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was really excellent! I did really enjoy this story! A great storyline with interesting characters & scenario, great pace & good levels of action! I can't recommend this enough! It has everything & more that you want from this sort of adventure!

[Suzy Olear · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book in the Sol Survivors series, and the action continues for Iris and Robert. I received an ARC of this book to leave an honest review. This book was just as fantastic the first. The action never stops and it makes you stay up at night reading, wanting to know what happens next to young Iris. Iris thought things would be ok once her settlement got back to a semblance of normal, but it will never be the same again for her. She finds herself in a strange world forced to work and separated from those she loves and betrayed by people she thought she could trust. This book is absolutely fantastic. I love books that keep you guessing and surprise you on every page. This book is non-stop action, thrills, love, loss, and again finds Iris fighting not only for her life, but the life of her family, all while dealing with ADHD while her life is in constant peril. This book is amazing and I stayed up most of the night reading because I couldn't put it down, wanting to know what came next. Shelly and Megan do a fantastic job on this second installment in this series, and if there are any more books in this series, I look forward to reading them. I highly, highly recommend this book. Please do yourselves a favor and read both books in this series. It's a series you won't want to miss. I cannot put into words how much I enjoyed this book. You'll have to find out yourselves! Highly, highly recommend. This is a series nobody should miss out on.

[Dee Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

🎉Just released to the public yesterday!🎉
📚📕☀️MADNESS OF PEOPLE 📚📖🔥Adventurous, Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic, Gripping YA Series that I COULD NOT put down!!
After solar flares wipe out electrical grids worldwide, a small community survives by selling data recovered from decrepit hard drives and rare books. ADHD main female character that I related to well, with ALL The Adventures and a daring mind you could handle. A lot of chaos and drama. A little love story. A Ton of Adventures. Book 2 was the best!! Complete with twists and turns, anger, all over emotion, rulers who wanna rule, death, rebirth, family, allies and love. A Coal Mine, A Copper Mine. A Train. A Whipping. An Evil Villain or 2 or 4. Haha
I read the prequel, Book 1 and Book 2 of the Sol Survivors series in 2 weeks. Incredible Main Characters and Fast Paced Adventures throughout.
My ARC read was for Book 2 (Madness of People). This series took me away to a distant place for sure, but I feel like there could be some truth in this, well, maybe a lot of truth! Could there be a 3rd Novel coming for this trilogy?… Possibly. 🥰🤩
#BookReview #SolSurvivors #Adventure #Dystopian #BookTok #MomReads #YANovels #kindlepaperwhite #DeeDon0302
Shelly Campbell Author and Art 📚📖

Madness of People (Sol Survivors Book 2) https://a.co/d/4WbeLDT

[Catherine Stein · Rating 4 out of 5]

An action-packed page-turner of a sequel. Just like in book 1, Iris is the key to the book's success. Her voice is strong, her neurodivergence very real, and her emotions heartfelt. She goes through a lot in this book, and the reader goes right along with her for the ride, rooting for her the entire time. As dystopian as her world is, the people are all people as we know them: flawed and messy. The ruling class is greedy and oppressive, while everyone else is just trying to get by. We see good people doing bad things and bad people doing good things. And through it all, Iris is doing her best to do what's right, help the people around her, and find a bit of happiness for herself.
The book does get a bit dark, especially in the middle, and a number of characters go through some pretty awful stuff. So please be cognizant of content warnings if you have triggers.

[Michelle Godard-Richer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Madness of People is an action-packed sequel to the first installment of this series called Knowledge Itself. The story picks up where the first one leaves off with Iris struggling to survive in a post-apocalyptic world where it's a battle for scarce resources and the world is in chaos. Iris and the cast of secondary characters surrounding her are distinctive and well-written, and the plotting in this story is riveting. I highly recommend this book for fans of YA, dystopian, and post-apocalyptic thrillers.