Adam is able to drive Todd and Lori Peterson, a girl he's been crushing on, home, weaving through streets filled with stalled cars. Adam picks up his younger siblings, twins Rachel and Danny. With their cars not working, people begin walking home and without planes, this means Adam's father, who is a pilot, is stranded in Chicago.
Adam drives Lori to her family's farm where they see that her father's tractor is working as he plows a field. Lori invites Adam's little sister Rachel to ride their horses sometime soon.
Upon arriving home Adam meets his quirky neighbour, Herb Campbell who has only recently moved into their neighbourhood of Eden Mills. Almost seventy, Herb is a retired government employee and is a ham radio operator and all around handyman. He has lent Adam and his father tools as they built the ultra-light plane in the family's garage. Adam has recognized that there is something different about Herb - that he always seems to be studying people. From the very beginning of the crisis Herb begins to reveal the many talents he has for reading people and situations, as well as for planning.
Immediately Herb has Adam drive him to the nearest pool shop where he purchases enormous quantities of chlorine. Herb explains to Adam the rule of survival in emergency situations: a person can go three minutes without air, three days without water and three weeks without food. The chlorine tablets are for water purification, suggesting that Herb believes that this computer blackout will be lasting much longer than three days. That night Adam learns that his mother who is a police captain, has stationed a cop named Brett in their neighbourhood of Eden Mills. Adam also sees Herb standing guard at the top of their street. Herb has learned that while most people are calm, there has been some looting overnight and without computers, most first responders (police and fire) are unable to assist.
Walters plans two more books in the series. Walters has based this series on his own neighbourhood in Mississauga, Ontario but the novels are set in America (as noted by the reference to the "Stars and Stripes" at the local police station). With its exciting cover to draw in readers, The Rule of Three is a great novel for young teen boys and anyone who enjoys adventure novels and the great stories being written by Canadian author, Eric Walters.
Book Details:
The Rule of Three by Eric Walters
Toronto: Razorbill 2014
405 pp.
Upon arriving home Adam meets his quirky neighbour, Herb Campbell who has only recently moved into their neighbourhood of Eden Mills. Almost seventy, Herb is a retired government employee and is a ham radio operator and all around handyman. He has lent Adam and his father tools as they built the ultra-light plane in the family's garage. Adam has recognized that there is something different about Herb - that he always seems to be studying people. From the very beginning of the crisis Herb begins to reveal the many talents he has for reading people and situations, as well as for planning.
Immediately Herb has Adam drive him to the nearest pool shop where he purchases enormous quantities of chlorine. Herb explains to Adam the rule of survival in emergency situations: a person can go three minutes without air, three days without water and three weeks without food. The chlorine tablets are for water purification, suggesting that Herb believes that this computer blackout will be lasting much longer than three days. That night Adam learns that his mother who is a police captain, has stationed a cop named Brett in their neighbourhood of Eden Mills. Adam also sees Herb standing guard at the top of their street. Herb has learned that while most people are calm, there has been some looting overnight and without computers, most first responders (police and fire) are unable to assist.
Things quickly turn ugly in Adam's neighbourhood when the local mini-mall is attacked by a crowd of people desperate for food and water. Adam's mother stops the crowd but it is Herb who organizes the distribution and payment of the supplies. They decide to organize patrols of the Eden Mills using the older noncomputerized vehicles they have found. The patrols include the four police officers, Howie, Brett, Sergeant Evans and Officer O'Malley, organized into two checkpoints and four patrols.
Adam and Herb go out to check on Adam's friend, Lori who lives on a farm. Herb and Adam meet Lori's father, Stan Peterson who tells Herb that people showed up at the farm trying to take food and water. Mr. Peterson wants to remain on the farm so Adam and Todd are left to help guard the property. When people show up that night demanding water, Adam manages to talk the situation down but it's evident that the farm will soon be under attack by people desperate for food and water.
Meanwhile in the suburbs and the surrounding city, assaults, robberies, fires and looting continue. Herb suggests that they increase their patrols and also take a census of Eden Mills to learn what skills are available to them. Adam and his mother also learn that Herb is considering the possibility that they might have to abandon the neighbourhood because they will be unable to defend it and also they will be unable to feed the people living there. But Adam has another idea; use all the available land to grow crops including the large green area underneath the power lines behind the house. Herb considers that this plan will only work if they can get the Petersons to abandon the farm and move into Eden Mills. That turns out to be easier than expected when the farm is attacked by men in a truck. Herb tells Stan Peterson that it is only a matter of time before the farm is overrun and that they are best to leave while they still can.
Adam now realizes he needs to finish his ultralight plane because being airborne means they can learn what is happening around them. When they take to the air, they discover that a nearby police station has been destroyed by what appears to be rocket propelled grenades - an indication that someone somewhere is willing to take on the police for control. This discovery pushes Herb to convince Adam's mother to abandon her station and move the officers into the neighbourhood. With the Peterson's now moved into Eden Mills, Herb, Kate, Adam and the rest of the leaders begin to organize. They reinforce the walls around the neighbourhood, begin preparing for planting, organize a committee of civilians that includes Dr. Morgan, Councilwoman Stevens, Judge Roberts, the fire chief Captain Saunders and an engineer, Mr. Nichols.
But the flights also reveal something more sinister coming their way. When a nearby neighbourhood, Burnham, whom they have befriended, is attacked and almost everyone killed, Herb and Adam set out to discover who has committed this act of aggression. Evidence suggests that a rogue military group with rocket propelled grenades (RPG) and heavy assault weapons attacked the neighbourhood. They took no prisoners and killed everyone they could find. Knowing they will be next, Herb, Adam, Todd, Brett and Kate must do everything in their power to defend their lives and more importantly the values they hold, if the world they want to preserve has any chance of survival. In a life and death battle, they must determine how to confront a group more powerful and better armed.
Discussion
The Rule of Three is the first installment in a dystopian trilogy by well known Canadian author, Eric Walters. Readers are drawn into the novel by the sudden and catastrophic disaster that involves the loss of function of all electrical and electronic devices, meaning modern day life on the entire planet is thrown back from the twenty-first century to the nineteenth century. Separated from his father who is a pilot, Adam must rely on his police office mother and their quirky new neighbour, Herb Campbell as social order and civil authority begins to break down. In this dystopian world, the novel considers what is needed to survive. And it is Herb who seems to have experienced similar events and who guides them.
Adam and Herb go out to check on Adam's friend, Lori who lives on a farm. Herb and Adam meet Lori's father, Stan Peterson who tells Herb that people showed up at the farm trying to take food and water. Mr. Peterson wants to remain on the farm so Adam and Todd are left to help guard the property. When people show up that night demanding water, Adam manages to talk the situation down but it's evident that the farm will soon be under attack by people desperate for food and water.
Meanwhile in the suburbs and the surrounding city, assaults, robberies, fires and looting continue. Herb suggests that they increase their patrols and also take a census of Eden Mills to learn what skills are available to them. Adam and his mother also learn that Herb is considering the possibility that they might have to abandon the neighbourhood because they will be unable to defend it and also they will be unable to feed the people living there. But Adam has another idea; use all the available land to grow crops including the large green area underneath the power lines behind the house. Herb considers that this plan will only work if they can get the Petersons to abandon the farm and move into Eden Mills. That turns out to be easier than expected when the farm is attacked by men in a truck. Herb tells Stan Peterson that it is only a matter of time before the farm is overrun and that they are best to leave while they still can.
Adam now realizes he needs to finish his ultralight plane because being airborne means they can learn what is happening around them. When they take to the air, they discover that a nearby police station has been destroyed by what appears to be rocket propelled grenades - an indication that someone somewhere is willing to take on the police for control. This discovery pushes Herb to convince Adam's mother to abandon her station and move the officers into the neighbourhood. With the Peterson's now moved into Eden Mills, Herb, Kate, Adam and the rest of the leaders begin to organize. They reinforce the walls around the neighbourhood, begin preparing for planting, organize a committee of civilians that includes Dr. Morgan, Councilwoman Stevens, Judge Roberts, the fire chief Captain Saunders and an engineer, Mr. Nichols.
But the flights also reveal something more sinister coming their way. When a nearby neighbourhood, Burnham, whom they have befriended, is attacked and almost everyone killed, Herb and Adam set out to discover who has committed this act of aggression. Evidence suggests that a rogue military group with rocket propelled grenades (RPG) and heavy assault weapons attacked the neighbourhood. They took no prisoners and killed everyone they could find. Knowing they will be next, Herb, Adam, Todd, Brett and Kate must do everything in their power to defend their lives and more importantly the values they hold, if the world they want to preserve has any chance of survival. In a life and death battle, they must determine how to confront a group more powerful and better armed.
Discussion
The Rule of Three is the first installment in a dystopian trilogy by well known Canadian author, Eric Walters. Readers are drawn into the novel by the sudden and catastrophic disaster that involves the loss of function of all electrical and electronic devices, meaning modern day life on the entire planet is thrown back from the twenty-first century to the nineteenth century. Separated from his father who is a pilot, Adam must rely on his police office mother and their quirky new neighbour, Herb Campbell as social order and civil authority begins to break down. In this dystopian world, the novel considers what is needed to survive. And it is Herb who seems to have experienced similar events and who guides them.
The novel takes its title from the idea about what it takes to survive a crisis. Herb tells Adam, " 'Do you know about the rule of three?' he asked. I shook my head. 'It's an expression that has to do with emergency survival situations. you can go without air for three minutes, without water for three days, and without food for three weeks, ' he explained. 'Beyond that, you're dead. In controlled doses, chlorine, the stuff that you put in your pool to kill bacteria and algae and keep the water clear, can make contaminated water fit for drinking.' "
With this rule in mind, Walters builds his story brick by brick, methodically portraying what might have to be done by ordinary civilians when a long-term crisis occurs. This is accomplished through the character of Herb Campbell who appears to have experience in survival when all social structure and civil authority has broken down. Most people live day to day, without reserves of basic items like water, canned food, batteries and candles, matches and windup clocks and radios. But if a disaster struck, many would be at the mercy of those who have or are able to obtain the supplies needed to survive.
Walters realistically demonstrates just how quickly social norms and authority would collapse and how people who normally wouldn't steal and murder, begin to act in their own self-interest, very quickly, when placed under enormous pressure. When Herb and Adam are at the pool store they are accosted by a group of men who want to steal Adam's car. Herb reciprocates their show of force by indicating that he is armed and defusing the situation. Herb explains to Adam that peoples' ethics can change very quickly. "It's simple. The way people act, what they believe is wrong or unethical, changes because of the situation. None of those men woke up today thinking they'd try to steal a beat-up old car from a kid and an old man. Things change, especially when a mob mentality sets in,"
In The Rule of Three, the author describes how Adam's neighbourhood of Eden Mills gradually comes together through the efforts of Adam and his family, Herb, the Peterson's and others. From developing their own food source, to forming a committee of residents to oversee local governance, harvesting rainwater, setting up a security perimeter, organizing people according to their skills, and finding resources they will need in the future, the community begins to pull together to plan for a disaster that appears to be both widespread and long.
Walters also portrays the moral dilemmas and internal conflicts the people of the neighbourhood begin to encounter as they struggle to survive. For example, Howie is devastated to learn that three innocent people who approached their neighbourhood boundary were killed by his team of guards. Devastated, he tries to resign but Herb won't allow him. Howie also tells Herb that they are continually being asked for food and water which they have to refuse, even to women and children. This deeply upsets him. Herb tells Howie, "This neighborhood is a lifeboat in a storm we can't stop. Only so many people can be in our boat, no matter how many swimmers you see bobbing about in the ocean. If you try to pull in too many, you sink. You save nobody, including those who were in the boat. Our priority has to be those who are in the boat, because we can't save all of those who need to be in the boat. Our only exception has been when those on the outside can make our lifeboat stronger and more self-sustaining." It doesn't make Howie feel any better when Herb describes the altercation to the Eden Mills committee as an attack by "three heavily armed men" - a lie.
Another issue is the control of information. Following the incident at the boundary, Herb decides that they will not make what happened known to the rest of the neighborhood while at the same time telling the neighbourhood committee about the importance of communication to prevent the spread of rumours and misinformation. With some of the mothers having started a newspaper using an old mimeograph machine, Adam wonders "It all sounded so good, so freedom-of-the-press-like. I would have been more impressed had I not known how much Herb wanted to make sure only some of the information got out. I couldn't help but think about what wasn't going to be printed about the attack the other night. Information could be controlled and given out to move people in the direction they needed to be moved. On some levels I knew what needed to be done, but part of me wondered how much of that was being done to me as well."
The author also portrays the wider power struggle for resources that begins to develop both locally (in Adam's neighbourhood) and also on a much larger scale when Adam and Herb are faced with taking on the rogue military group who brutally attack and destroy the Olde Burnham area and execute a group of men. In this respect, The Rule of Three is frighteningly realistic.
The author maintains tension in the novel by never revealing the cause of the loss of power and the use of computer technology in the novel. Herb tells Adam that whatever the cause, it must be worldwide because if it were not, other countries would have come either to help or attack them. This leads Adam to realize that whatever Eden Mills is experiencing is likely a reflection of what is happening all over North America and the world.
Against this dystopian backdrop, the author is excellent at developing both the characters and their relationships to one another. The novel is narrated by sixteen-year-old Adam Daley, who matures considerably throughout the story. He starts the story as a sixteen-year-old whose main focus in life is crushing on his classmate Lori Peterson. But very quickly, the events begin to mold Adam into a thoughtful and responsible young man. When Herb is determined that about one hundred fifty of their neighbours should move to the Peterson farm, effectively abandoning the rest of the people to their fate, Adam disagrees comes up with an alternate plan - to grow their own food on the land each home has and to dig their own wells.
The author maintains tension in the novel by never revealing the cause of the loss of power and the use of computer technology in the novel. Herb tells Adam that whatever the cause, it must be worldwide because if it were not, other countries would have come either to help or attack them. This leads Adam to realize that whatever Eden Mills is experiencing is likely a reflection of what is happening all over North America and the world.
Against this dystopian backdrop, the author is excellent at developing both the characters and their relationships to one another. The novel is narrated by sixteen-year-old Adam Daley, who matures considerably throughout the story. He starts the story as a sixteen-year-old whose main focus in life is crushing on his classmate Lori Peterson. But very quickly, the events begin to mold Adam into a thoughtful and responsible young man. When Herb is determined that about one hundred fifty of their neighbours should move to the Peterson farm, effectively abandoning the rest of the people to their fate, Adam disagrees comes up with an alternate plan - to grow their own food on the land each home has and to dig their own wells.
By far the most interesting character in the novel is Herb Campbell. From the beginning Walters establishes Herb as a mysterious person with a cool demeanor that masks some rather interesting talents. He tells Adam, "I've been stationed in countries where there has been virtually no infrastructure or rules. No effective police, spotty communications, virtually no transportation, no running water, no electricity." Everything Herb predicts will happen eventually does happen, leading Adam to conclude that he has experienced this exact situation at least once before. Herb eventually confirms this advising Adam and his mother, "We have to become increasingly more organized as the world become more disorganized. The situation will devolve quickly so we have to evolve more quickly and continue to evolve, not just reacting to what's happening but anticipating it before it happens." This causes Adam to open his eyes and really study Herb, just as Herb studies everyone around him.
But Herb is also a highly conflicted character. He tells Adam that he was both "used" and "almost used up" and that he has done things he isn't proud of and that he hopes Adam will never have to do. Herb proceeds cautiously in everything he does, but acts when he feels it is necessary. It is obvious he is trying to protect Adam from falling into similar situations but also trying to develop in him the skills he will need to survive. In this respect, Herb is a mentor for Adam, guiding him towards what will likely be a leadership role in this new world. Their relationship is a major strength of this novel as the two characters are very different; Herb is the experienced, mature former government "operative", while Adam is young, naïve and trusting.
Herb's experience both as an operative and as an older man are important when they decide to attack the group that destroyed the Olde Burnham neighbourhood. Herb tells Adam that they need to attack because this now more than just survival. "This is about the very survival of a way of life, of the ideals that we believe in. The people we are fighting are destroyers, tearing down any attempts for civilization to reestablish itself. What we are doing today isn't just about us -- it's about so much more. Right is on our side."
As in any crisis situation there is almost always someone whose true nature is revealed. Walters seems to be foreshadowing the character who may be the most dangerous is Brett, the rookie police officer. When Adam has a discussion with Brett about hunting deer, Brett reveals that he likes to hunt using a bow and arrow. He states, "...It's much more personal when you're looking the animal in the eyes.' There was a strange look in his eyes. It wasn't just about hunting..." For Adam, Brett's love of the hunt is disturbing.
Walters plans two more books in the series. Walters has based this series on his own neighbourhood in Mississauga, Ontario but the novels are set in America (as noted by the reference to the "Stars and Stripes" at the local police station). With its exciting cover to draw in readers, The Rule of Three is a great novel for young teen boys and anyone who enjoys adventure novels and the great stories being written by Canadian author, Eric Walters.
Book Details:
The Rule of Three by Eric Walters
Toronto: Razorbill 2014
405 pp.
3 comments:
This is detailed I love it! Great book and great Blog!
Great blog! Very detailed and shows how great that book is! Thumbs up!
it was good but I can't remember if adam's mom dies in it
Post a Comment