Ashfall

[telophase]

Ashfall, by Mike Mullin. ARC read through NetGalley.

So I've been saying for years that the disaster novel I want to read is the one where the Yellowstone supervolcano blows. When this YA novel about a teenager living through it came across NetGalley, I figured: why not?

Alex is 15 and at home alone when the Yellowstone supervolcano blows, his family visiting relatives 140 miles away. He sets out on a trek to find them, meeting Darla, another teenager, along the way.

Well, hm. This isn't the disaster novel I wanted to read. This is DOOM piled upon DOOM piled upon DOOM with a wee little thread of hope. I'm not arguing that DOOM DOOM DOOM hope isn't realistic in the case of a supervolcano; it's that it turns out that what I really want to read is a classic disaster novel about Yellowstone blowing, with several POVs telling the story, most likely one of them either the President or someone close to him or her and another one probably a near-alcoholic news reporter dealing with the dregs of a troubled marriage, and another one a vulcanologist who's been blowing the alarms for years that everyone thinks is just crying wolf. You know, that sort of disaster novel.*

As a teen, however, I might have been all over Ashfall, with its apocalyptic dystopia and the theme of teens maturing in the face of disaster (and bonus martial arts), but it's not a book that speaks to me now.

If you've got an older teen who's into apocalypses or a younger teen who's into them who can handle some fairly direct violence (it's a apocalypse: people die and people kill, in not-pretty ways), hand them a copy. If you've got issues with responsibly-handled teen sex in a world where teenagers have to be adults, then it may not be the book for you.




* The one that Mother of Storms could have been without the creepy stuff, which luckily I don't remember.

Comments

[selenite.livejournal.com]

I *wish* I could forget the stuff in Mother of Storms. Shudder.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I don't remember much of anything about it, other than a vague feeling of having liked it. Every so often I think "Maybe I should reread it," but then I come across someone complaining about it, and decide that maybe I'll stick with the book in my head, instead of the actual book.

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

Harry Turtledove has a book called Supervolcano coming out that you may (or may not; I have not read it yet) want to look at.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I'll keep an eye out for it, thanks!

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

Supervolcano: Eruption by Harry Turtledove

From the product description:

A supervolcanic eruption in Yellowstone Park sends lava and mud flowing toward populated areas, and clouds of ash drifting across the country. The fallout destroys crops and livestock, clogs machinery, and makes cities uninhabitable. Those who survive find themselves caught in an apocalyptic catastrophe in which humanity has no choice but to rise from the ashes and recreate the world...

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I read it. I thought it was resoundingly mediocre. Not terrible, just meh.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I couldn't tell because it was so not the book I wanted to read. There were bits I liked - responsibly-handled sex, for one thing - and bits I didn't - how the capable young woman went practically catatonic for a while, although I have to say she had reason to, plus DID YOU HAVE TO KILL THE-- Of course you did, there wasn't ENOUGH DOOM DOOM DOOM DOOOOOM.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Agreed on everything. Though I was particularly struck by how quickly people not merely resorted to cannibalism, but were absolutely fine with blatantly and openly and unashamedly being cannibals.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I think you can see why I made that post some time back while reading this book about sudden disasters and whether it was inevitable or not for roving Mad Max-type gangs to all of a sudden be everywhere.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I guess the question is, in real life, does that ever/often/inevitably happen? There have been lots of very extreme disasters in which help was a long time coming. Were there instant cannibal rape gangs after the 2008 typhoon, for instance? Or the earthquake in Gujerat?

I did think that the Nazi-like refugee camp was inspired by Hurricane Katrina. In fact, the very clear inspiration was the only thing that made that not seem completely unlikely. (If the problem is not enough food to go around, why expend so much effort to capture people who you can't feed? Because FEMA sucks.)

[telophase.livejournal.com]

The motivation to round people up because you get funding per head seems reasonable (after Katrina), although I have to wonder why heads dying of starvation doesn't affect the count. And why they shot any animals, instead of just letting the refugees in the camp steal/take them by force and boil 'em up. (I guess so that the enemy would be clear?)