Ashfall #3 Sunrise

Presenting Ashfall #3 Sunrise by Mike Mullin.

Here is the summary of the book:

The Yellowstone supervolcano nearly wiped out the human race. Now, almost a year after the eruption, the survivors seem determined to finish the job. Communities wage war on each other, gangs of cannibals roam the countryside, and what little government survived the eruption has collapsed completely. The ham radio has gone silent. Sickness, cold, and starvation are the survivors' constant companions.

When it becomes apparent that their home is no longer safe and adults are not facing the stark realities, Alex and Darla must create a community that can survive the ongoing disaster, an almost impossible task requiring even more guts and more smarts than ever — and unthinkable sacrifice. If they fail . . . they, their loved ones, and the few remaining survivors will perish.

This epic finale has the heart of Ashfall, the action of Ashen Winter, and a depth all its own, examining questions of responsibility and bravery, civilization and society, illuminated by the story of an unshakable love that transcends a post-apocalyptic world and even life itself.

Another series that ends this year. Mike Mullin's Ashfall series began with the hauntingly realistic post-apocalyptic dystopia of a world in the after shades of the Yellowstone super volcanic eruptions and the ashen skies and harsher life that follows as our protagonists Alex and Darla fight to keep each other and their loved ones safe.

But out of all three books of the series, Ashfall, Ashen Winter and Sunrise, I must confess the first book is my favorite and manages to make a big impact even more than the following books did. I'm not saying that I didn't like Sunrise, I did but it didn't feel as effective as the first one. There was a certain lack of direction to the plot as the characters do almost the same thing every time making it suffer the lack of momentum. Also the abrupt ending of the chapters just when something was happening felt a bit jarring to say the least.

Alex and Darla still hold a special place in my heart. Darla more than Alex, since it was her brains that helps them survive, the building of the new community, the use of wind turbine, the greenhouses, bikezilla's of course and the ingenious generation of electricity.Alex while still very much the confident leader, felt lost here and seriously his mom was so annoying throughout. Still if post-apocalyptic stories interest you, then by all means give this series a try, I wager you won't be disappointed.

"Sunrise gives a decisive finale to the Ashfall series"

Genre :      Young Adult, Post-Apocalyptic, Romance, Dystopia

Publisher: Tanglewood Press

Release Date: 15th April, 2014

My Copy: publisher and netgalley

Rate:              3/5 (Liked It)

Books in the series (review links):
              #1 Ashfall 
              #2 Ashen Winter

Buy:           Amazon | Book Depository 

Ashfall #2 Ashen Winter

Things are taking a turn for the worst in this post apocalyptic world....another well written book. Presenting Ashfall #2 Ashen Winter by Mike Mullin.

Here is the summary of the book:

It’s been over six months since the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano. Alex and Darla have been staying with Alex’s relatives, trying to cope with the new reality of the primitive world so vividly portrayed in Ashfall, the first book in this series. It’s also been six months of waiting for Alex’s parents to return from Iowa. Alex and Darla decide they can wait no longer and must retrace their journey into Iowa to find and bring back Alex’s parents to the tenuous safety of Illinois. But the landscape they cross is even more perilous than before, with life-and-death battles for food and power between the remaining communities. When the unthinkable happens, Alex must find new reserves of strength and determination to survive.

Set in the post volcanic eruption world, things are much worse now than they were in book 1. After this bitter Ashfall comes an even bitter winter. A frost bitten winter. A winter that we at present have to encounter. This deadly winter is what we find our characters Alex, Darla and their family and the other resident of the world in. And the worst is yet to come.

Beginning roughly half a year after the events in Ashfall. Alex and Darla are still at his Uncle Paul's farm and this Ashen Winter is not an easy way of life. But this all goes downhill when bandits attack and Uncle Paul informs them that one shotgun that they carried belonged to his father. So without much further ado they set out in search of his parents but trekking after bandit in that frost bitten winter in search of his parents is definitely not easy.... If only things were easy....

An obviously amazing follow up to Ashfall. Ashen Winter takes the danger level up another few notches. Just when you think that Alex and Darla are now safe in with at his Uncle's farm. A plethora of obstacles get thrown at Alex and Darla much more dangerous than the first. Just as action packed as the first.... the author definitely does not disappoint.

There is one thing that I appreciate about Alex and that is determination and stubborn persona. He never  once abandons his quest even if there is no hope of it coming to fruition. He is one character who is really above all else. Its his loyalty, faithfulness and determination that gives him strength and a pleasure to read about. Darla on the other hand was someone I never liked not even in the first book. A hardened girl of this dystopic world. There are also a great many new character introduced in this book who help these two and even heighten their problems too. But Ashfall series on the whole in a great focus on how human nature deteorates in worse conditions .... when surviving by any means (both good and bad) becomes much more important to them.

As far as it is considered I loved it. The dystopic world. The survival instinct. The waning humanity. The obvious hardship on Alex and Darla's part in their determination to find his parents. The obstacles and the dangers. 

I had one heck of a time reading this. Mike Mullin's penmanship is an amazing an ever. Sometimes too graphic making me skip a few of those scenes. A gripping plot. I loathe to think what horrors will be spewed on is in the next one.

"Mike Mullin produces another worthy of recognition - An excellent view into the minds of the people and changes one goes through, be it for the better or for the worst when their survival is on the line"

Genre :      Young Adult, Dystopia, Post Apocalyptic


Publisher: Tanglewood Press


My Copy:  Publisher and Netgalley


Rate:              5/5 (It was Amazing)

Ashfall #1 Ashfall

Presenting Ashfall #1 Ashfall by Mike Mullin.

Here is the summary of the book:

Under the bubbling hot springs and geysers of Yellowstone National Park is a supervolcano. Most people don't know it's there. The caldera is so large that it can only be seen from a plane or satellite. It just could be overdue for an eruption, which would change the landscape and climate of our planet. Ashfall is the story of Alex, a teenage boy left alone for the weekend while his parents visit relatives. When the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts unexpectedly, Alex is determined to reach his parents. He must travel over a hundred miles in a landscape transformed by a foot of ash and the destruction of every modern convenience that he has ever known, and through a new world in which disaster has brought out both the best and worst in people desperate for food, water, and warmth. With a combination of nonstop action, a little romance, and very real science, this is a story that is difficult to stop reading and even more difficult to forget.

Ashfall is definitely different from the ones I have read before. Its contemporary, its sci-fi and its very much post apocalyptic. A very big and massive volcanic explosion and its definitely not pretty. The volcano under the yellow stone park exploded with massive consequences....destroying everything in its wake, spewing ashes far and wide and destroying life. It is in this ashfall that our protagonist Alex sets out to find his family.....skiing all th away to Warren, Illinois. This is one journey that Alex will never forget, meeting friends and foes alike, fighting for survival and for what is right, walking miles into the ashfall....a soul jarring experience. Maybe its true that it is our experiences that make us who we are not how and where we are born.

Ashfall is definitely a wonder.... an easy and an engrossing read. Mike Mullin cleverly weaves the story of a scared and alone teenager as he braves the volcanic ash in search for his family and the geographic  setting of the eruption and the post eruption proverbial ashfall. Alex is the typical American teenager whose life takes on a new turn with the resulting disaster and he chooses to brave it in search for his family. Mike Mullin paces the story nicely giving us and the characters a chance to breathe and the situation to play out on its own. I'm definitely attacking the netgalley a-arc of the second book as soon as possible.

"Drastic and scaringly adventurous, Ashfall gives us a haunting glimpse of a psot volcanic eruption world and its so not pretty"

Genre :      Young Adult, Dystopia, Post Apocalyptic


Publisher: Tanglewood Press


My Copy: Publisher


Rate:              5/5 (It was Amazing)