They lost me at the premise. Even a massive solar storm would have very little chance of causing the end of organized society. Distribution Transformers, the ones you see on telephone poles, would not be exploding in a line. They’re just not susceptible to that kind of vulnerability. Very large ones that are susceptible would generally have time to be taken off-line. It would suck, it would be tough, but gangs taking over cities within a week or two is just crap. Don’t get me started on idea that even a massive solar storm would lead to tens or hundreds of millions of people starving. It’s all so bad plot design.
The author could have painted a better scenario .. could have attempted at some realism .. but didn’t. It’s a shame because this could have been a good listen.
The I only got a half dozen chapters in before I couldn’t deal with the “if you don’t follow my instructions, you will probably die” repetition so it’s possible it suddenly gets better. I als know a lot of people love this kind of thing. Just not me.