I have a criticism of the Going Home series (Spoilers)

[Survivalist]

Hello everyone. I have to admit, I joined this forum so that I could talk about the Going Home Series and point out a major gripe that I've had with the series overall. But BEFORE I GET TO THAT I just want to say that I am a BIG fan of the series. I am not here to talk crap about it from a negative perspective. I listened to every book, I bought all of them, I am a supporter of A. American and have given him over 10 Audible Credits.

Now, with that said, I have a HUGE gripe with the way these books were written. And here it is. (Spoiler warning, obviously).

Morgan NEVER wants for ANYTHING in the entirety of these books!

It drove me absolutely bonkers how Morgan managed to float through these books with almost no real hardships (at least not for any length of time).

Even from the moment the first book began, Morgan gets started walking home and he immediately finds a kindly old couple that make him a big breakfast of (I think) biscuits and gravy. Morgan immediately acts like this is the best thing ever because he's been roughing it for so long. Never mind that he's had plenty of food, and still has plenty of MREs on his person since he just, the day before, started on his journey home.

If he needs help, he finds it almost instantly. If he needs companions, he finds ones that he can totally trust just sitting on the side of the road.

His favorite drink is iced tea, so the moment he gets home his wife makes him some. As soon as he's worried he'll run out, he gets to go to a military base that gives him as much as he wants of it for free so he can't run out.

If he's starting to want vegetables, he finds a kindly old couple that has more than they can eat in this hardcore EMP apocalypse so they give him a bunch for free, and he sets up a deal with them to get more.

If he wants honey, he has a friend in town who owns a bee farm and will trade him a bunch of honey for silver dimes (What use silver dimes and bullion is for people in the apocalypse and are starving is a whole other discussion I'd be glad to have with anyone).

If he needs meat, he magically finds a cow farm that has somehow been untouched and incommunicado an entire year into the apocalypse despite the fact that he and his family had to move out into the middle of nowhere to avoid all the raiders and bandits, and STILL had tons of trouble while they were out there.

In a world where people are killing each other for food, Morgan is eating Barbecue pork and sipping sweet tea. When he's not doing that, he's sitting on a cow farm near a lake with his family without a care in the world. Stuffing himself full of cheeseburgers, in a literal paradise while most people can't make their day-to-day needs.

His family is safe when he gets back home and is never in danger despite one of his daughters being hurt in an explosion. The book makes a huge deal out of this. His daughter might never be the same, the book says. She will probably never be right again. Until she is, the very next book when he realizes she's healed completely and it back to her normal self. Yay.

His biggest complaint the entire series is that the AC is out. This is his MAJOR hardship through all of the books that is actually consistent and not immediately solved for him, until the final book where the power comes on and he gets his AC and a hot shower, just to make sure that Morgan literally has everything he could possibly ever want.

It just drove me absolutely bonkers how AMAZING this series could have been if it had just EARNED those moments when he got fed, or got something luxurious. But it's never earned. Morgan is the luckiest guy in the entire apocalypse. He lucks into EVERYTHING he could ever want.

With all that said, I'd like to reiterate. I like these books. I bought around ten of them, I listened to every second of them even when they made me want to pull my hair out (If I had to listen to Morgan slap his wife's ass, or tell the Colonel Sanders joke, or inform one more person they're going to eat STEAKKKKKK!!!!! I was going to delete the damn books) but I just need to know if anyone else other than me felt this way.

Ready for your criticism. Thanks for reading this .

[olfart]

Not being a wiseacre (for a change), that's sorta what being PREPARED is all about. That, and he's actively seeking the things he needs so he can help others, not sitting on his butt wishing someone would give him something. As for stumbling over folks who give him nice stuff, the more active you are trying to help other folks, the more you'll stumble over.

[Survivalist]

I totally understand this. Yes, he was prepared. Yes, that's the whole point of it. And more power to him. Morgan deserved to survive. But it seems like every single thing that could have gone his way, DID. He was not only prepared, he was unreasonably lucky and basically blew through the apocalypse in style without any real challenges. I just feel like the story would have had more gravitas in those situations where he got a boon if he would have had some hardships beforehand.

[kickstand]

I am not saying that your point isn't well taken, but haven't you ever met or known of someone who is just "lucky"? Whether through preparation, active participation and hard work on their part, or a seemingly unnatural "lucky streak", things just seem to go their way. Usually what others see as "lucky" is usually a culmination of all of the above. (Without turning this into a political thread, look at our current POTUS. Any political replies may be moved to Politics or deleted.)
I guess that's why it's entertaining. And I would have to add that seeing his daughter shot, as well as being shot himself (twice!) and his friends, should qualify as a hardship. In my OPINION, ol' AA just doesn't dwell on those issues, and tries to acknowledge them and move on. That's why it's called "entertainment".
Although I do see your point, the reason why I don't care for books like One Second After and Hope is that they are just too damn depressing for me. I much prefer AA's style. But again, that is MY opinion, feel free to disagree.

[Survivalist]

Your points are all valid, Kickstand. Just from a writing standpoint I would have loved to have enjoyed those moments of peace and prosperity for Morgan more than I did. I just didn't feel like it was earned, but to each their own.

I agree with you. I like the books, and when things get too depressing it is a turn off for me. But you'll never know how happy I was when Morgan dealt with Pat and her family in the second book. How liberating that was for me as a reader. Because any other book would have wallowed in the problem of having these people who are obviously going to plot and scheme against you, and would have let them go so they could go plot and scheme.

But AA just had Morgan deal with the problem like a man. That was the moment where I fell in love with the series, honestly.

[apache235]

Morgan may have skated a bit but there was plenty of hurt to go around, Thad, jess and Danny just to name a few. Yes there was good, there was also a fair amount of evil. I do, however, see your point. Mine was that he was always eating an MRE on the way home, like several cases worth and those things are HEAVY, where did they all come from? All in all though a good read and a good series.

[0utlaw]

I always wondered how his solar system survived the EMP, nothing else did around it did.

[Capnmcd]

This is a work of fiction. AA has the ability to give Morgan what he needs when he needs it.
I believe AA is a glass half full kind of guy. It shows through in his writing style.

It's entertainment, damn good entertainment!!

[Survivalist]

I always wondered how his solar system survived the EMP, nothing else did around it did.

There was also his neighbor who had a totally working HAM radio system that survived as well. Never any mention of how that made it. And then they burned it to the ground when the neighbor died because I guess they knew they wouldn't need it.

[kickstand]

Hey now, don't go picking on the one-legged ham operator!

[redman2006]

A couple of things I see. First, as I understand it, if the solar system was all disconnected, and I think it was, there may not have been enough of an antenna effect to damage it.

As to the ham station, again, if not connected to an antenna or ground during the event, they may survive according to my tiny bit of understanding. According to a court of guys locally, it is good practice to disconnect the radios when not in use. They said most people don't, but it is a good practice. Does it say specifically they burned the ham equipment?

I agree Morgan came through a lot unscathed, but you can't tell a story if the person telling it is dead.

Personally, I liked Deep Winter, but his family had the same sort of luck. An ex CIA trained agent running a landscapd business and being prepared with all of what he had? One Second After, another wonderful book, but the main character had similar, if not more realistic, luck to survive.

It is all a story line, entertainment.

[kickstand]

Like Redman, I really enjoyed the Deep Winter series, however, I enjoyed the first book far more than the rest of them. I forget what the name of the zombie-mind-control food additive was called, but that's kind of how I see High Fructose Corn Syrup. You REALLY have to work at it to get away from that stuff.

[Survivalist]

Does it say specifically they burned the ham equipment?

Well, they burn the guy's trailer and never mention his HAM equipment ever again. So I'm assuming so....

I agree Morgan came through a lot unscathed, but you can't tell a story if the person telling it is dead.

There's a difference between coming through unscathed and Morgan probably eating better AFTER the apocalypse than he ever did before it. Seriously the guy probably gained 20 pounds by the time the tenth book was done with as many feasts and BBQs he attended.

[IronWarriors3/354]

I can see the OP's point of view Morgan is one of the luckiest prepared guys in the Apocalypse, but then again isn't that what makes him an awesome character. Not to mention he has Sarge around to take care of his ass :-p

[chris0013]

There was also his neighbor who had a totally working HAM radio system that survived as well. Never any mention of how that made it. And then they burned it to the ground when the neighbor died because I guess they knew they wouldn't need it.

This was something that jumped out at me. It makes no sense to let a functioning HAM radio get burned up just because you don't need it 'now'. It could have stored, used as trade, something.

I also think that Morgan seems to be coming up with most of the solutions. I would have liked to see other people come up with solutions....like refreshing the batteries.