Ashfall | Mike Mullin | Review

Ashfall | Mike Mullin | Review

• Wednesday 27 March 2013

“For the first time ever, I felt ashamed of my species. The volcano had taken our homes, our food, our automobiles, and our airplanes, but it hadn't taken our humanity. No, we'd given that up on our own.” - Mike Mullin, Ashfall

Alex gets to stay home alone for the first time when his family goes to visit his uncle and his family over the weekend. But Alex only gets to enjoy his new found freedom for a couple of hours. With a loud bang his house gets hit by something and Alex barely gets out of his partly collapsed house. Something called a super volcano has erupted in Yellowstone National Park and leaves big parts of the country in a grey, devastating ashfall. In the middle of this chaos Alex decides to go out on the road and look for his family. On his journey through the changed landscape Alex soon learns that in a world in chaos, people change. Some change for the better and some change for the worse. But at least he finds one travel companion that he can trust, Darla, and together they set out on a journey to find safety and Alex's family.

Ashfall by Mike Mullin is a pretty classic apocalyptic novel. Yes, I have to admit that some parts of it remind me of The Road by Cormac McCarthy, but in some ways it’s also completely different. You might have already seen the 5 stars in the end of this review so I’m not going to keep it secret that I truly enjoyed this novel. I think that Ashfall had all the elements that I need to really like (or should I say love?) a book. First of all I enjoyed Mike Mullin's writing style. I wouldn't call it that original or spectacular but it makes the story justice. I also really liked the characters and the character's development through the book. Both Alex and Darla and their relationship feels genuine and believable. And the most important thing for me is that the story kept me captivated and interested through the whole novel. I never lost interest or felt bored with the story-line.

I always enjoy good apocalyptic fiction about survival and the human relations in a world that turns upside down. And even if I'm a hardcore fan of zombie fiction I really liked the fact that the scenario in Ashfall felt quite realistic. That made the story even more interesting and a bit disturbing (in a good way). So I would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys the apocalyptic genre! You won't be disappointed! Ashfall by Mike Mullin easily gets 5/5 stars from me!

This post was written by regular reviewer Niina, get to know her here.