Year One

Written by Nora Roberts, Year One (2017) is a dystopian fantasy thriller that follows an ensemble cast of survivors who struggle to endure after a devastating pandemic known as the Doom wipes out 80% the world’s population. Blending elements of fantasy with a survival narrative, the novel explores the themes of The Interplay Between Prophecy and Free Will, Found Family as a Survival Mechanism, and Resilience in the Face of Grief and Instability. As ordinary people discover magical gifts, forge new communities, and confront rising threats of violence and zealotry, the novel also examines contemporary anxieties about global catastrophe, the fragility of social systems, and the persistence of hope in the face of collapse.

Roberts is a New York Times best-selling author who has written over 200 novels in various genres and subgenres, including romance, fantasy, and romantic suspense. She also writes futuristic thrillers under the pseudonym J. D. Robb.

This guide refers to the 2017 St. Martin’s Press e-book edition.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of graphic violence, illness, death, animal death, death by suicide, suicidal ideation, rape, substance use, and cursing.

Language Note: This guide adopts the alternative spelling “magick” that is used throughout the source text.

Plot Summary

Year One opens on New Year’s Eve in Scotland as Ross MacLeod visits his ancestral home. When he goes hunting, he inadvertently spills blood inside a sacred stone circle, accidentally cracking a ward between light and dark and sparking the mystical plague that will become known as “the Doom.” He flies home to New York already carrying this contagion, a disease that kills swiftly, mutates unpredictably, and spreads rapidly. Although it kills many, it also spares some humans entirely and awakens magickal gifts in others, creating a new subcategory of people who will later become known as “the Uncanny.” Ross dies in days, and the contagion tears across borders and institutions, causing governments to fall as riots and raids replace order. Meanwhile, rumors spread about people who can heal with a touch, move objects with their thoughts, or even sprout wings.

In Brooklyn, paramedic Jonah Vorhies, whose magickal gift lets him foresee death, sinks into despair and nearly ends his life. However, when he encounters a pregnant woman in labor (Kathleen “Katie” MacLeod Parsoni, the daughter of Ross), Jonah recalls his purpose in life. With the help of an emergency-room doctor named Rachel Hopman, he delivers Katie’s twins, Duncan and Antonia.

Across the river, a witch named Lana Bingham and her partner, Max Fallon, realize that their “dabbling” in witchcraft has become real magickal power. As New York descends into violence, they flee the city through wreckage and gunfire, picking up a kind drifter named Eddie Clawson and his puppy, Joe, and heading for the remote house of Max’s brother Eric Fallon.

Meanwhile, in Midtown, journalist Arlys Reid keeps broadcasting while the world collapses around her. Her intern, a woman named Fred, admits to being a faerie, and she explains the world of mythical creatures such as faeries, witches, sorcerers, and elves—all of which have been created by the Doom. One of Arlys’s sources, a hacker named Chuck, reveals the harsh truth that billions are dead of the plague and that several presidents have fallen in succession. He also reveals that the military is searching for the immune and the Uncanny alike. Arlys initially hides this information to protect the station and herself, but when a drunken former anchor hijacks the news station and kills himself on the air, Arlys tells the full truth that Chuck revealed to her. She then destroys her workstation and escapes with Fred through the underground transit tunnels, meeting Chuck in Hoboken, New Jersey.

The three separate narratives will eventually converge, but in the meantime, the various groups’ individual struggles are revealed piece by piece. Jonah, Rachel, Katie, the twins, and an orphaned newborn (whom they name Hannah) leave New York by boat and ambulance. Arlys and Fred fight through tunnels patrolled by Raiders and a hunting sorcerer and then link up with Chuck and his Humvee. Meanwhile, Lana and Max learn that their powers can be used to attack others, stall police cars, and lower bridges. A road ambush leaves Eddie severely wounded, and Lana uses her powers to stop his bleeding.

Lana, Max, and Eddie reach Eric’s remote refuge and meet a small circle of Eric’s college friends: Shaun, Kim, Poe, and Allegra. The house has heat and food, and it also sits near another stone ring, which has been tainted with dark power. Lana and Max cleanse it with a ritual, and their efforts prove that their light magick can break dark magick.

As time goes on, Allegra and Eric begin hoarding supplies and struggle to get along with others in the group. Lana discovers that she is pregnant and tells a joyful Max. For a brief stretch, they ration, train, and try to plan a move south, but the group’s fragile solidarity is broken when signs of a dark sacrifice and ritual appear in the woods. Tainted by dark magick, Allegra and Eric reveal that they are the culprits and viciously attack the others in the group, hurling black fire and promising to kill Lana’s unborn child, whom they cryptically call “The One.” Shaun dies while saving Kim from Allegra. Max detonates a propane truck to cover their escape, believing that he has killed Eric in the blast. The surviving members of the group limp into a nearby village, where a wary teen named Flynn says that he has been waiting for the child whom Lana carries.

In Virginia, Arlys brings her group to a town that they rename New Hope. The community grows quickly from a dozen to 206, and they all work together to create gardens, farms, and even a school. When Max’s larger convoy arrives with children, livestock, and new skills, New Hope’s population swells past 300. As the town grows, conflicts arise, and some townspeople are openly violent against Uncanny residents. A council forms, consisting of Rachel, Jonah, Arlys, Chuck, Carla (a former deputy), and eventually Max and Lana. They draft simple laws based on harming none and then add measures for fair enforcement and plan to train young Uncanny. Max helps to bring the power station online, and as the lights flicker on, the town’s inhabitants feel a moment of relief.

However, a preacher named Jeremiah White soon rallies a vengeful group of “Purity Warriors” to cleanse the world of the Uncanny. On July 4, New Hope hosts their first celebration as a community only to suffer an attack by the Purity Warriors, who drive in with guns, flanked by Eric and Allegra. The Purity Warriors attack the townspeople while Eric and Allegra focus on Max and Lana, wanting to kill their unborn child. Max sacrifices his life to shield Lana and the baby. As he dies in her arms, Lana’s grief explodes into raw magickal power that flattens the attackers.

Lana flees, disappearing into back roads and woods and living fearfully on apples and small game as prophetic dreams nudge her onward. When Purity Warriors pass close by, she hides and eavesdrops, learning that they plant to destroy both her and New Hope. Weeks later, half-starved and near collapse, she reaches a working farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where Simon Swift, a former Army captain, offers her shelter. He does not shy away from her magickal power or her grief, and as time goes on, she does the cooking while he harvests food. Together, they prepare for the birth of Lana’s child. On one occasion, Purity Warriors try to attack them, but they hold out against the assault, and Lana’s identity remains hidden. On a stormy night in September, Lana delivers a daughter and names her Fallon. The child quiets only when Simon cradles her, as if she already knows him.

As the first year since the Doom’s beginning turns, a mysterious rider named Mallick arrives, honors “The One,” and lays out a prediction. He claims that Fallon will be safe for 13 years; then, she must train with him for two years to prepare for her destiny. Hearing this, Simon vows that no one will take Fallon without their consent. Lana slides her wedding ring to her right hand, keeping faith with Max even as she chooses to commit to the family that she now has. She asks that Fallon take Simon’s last name, Swift. As Lana and Simon confirm their feelings for each other, Fallon shows her approval by lighting a candle with her power.