Very good ending to the series ( )

Third book in the Ashfall trilogy. Nine months after a super volcano ruins the U.S., Alex and Darla are trying to create a sustainable life for themselves and their extended family, but the bad guys are making that hard by raids. Local strife and town politics push Alex to establish his own community, completely self sufficient and defensible. Mullin continues to mature as a writer, delving deeper into his characters, even within a continuing action-packed story of adversity. I liked this series and recommend it to others. ( )

Sunrise was at least not as painful as Ashen Winter. It revolves around Alex and Darla setting up their own settlement, making it sustainable and defending it against the many local threats. It’s completely unbelievable that dumbfuck Alex from Ashen Winter, whose skull appears to be filled with scampering white mice, is a natural leader and smarter than the adults around him, but we’re expected to accept that so off we go again. (To be fair, a couple of the adults ARE really stupid. They have to be, to make Alex look good. It doesn’t mean I’m buying “everyone looks up to Alex” though.)

While we’re talking about adults, Alex’s mother actually features in Sunrise, and let’s just say that it’s still unclear why he risked his life for two books to be reunited with her.

Look, I clearly can’t recommend these books. The writing is sufficient but bland (several chapters end with sentences that I think are intended to be heartfelt but only make me cringe and think of r/iamfourteenandthisisdeep), the characters are soulless lumps to be moved around in service of the plot, the plot is powered by stupid juice, and the setting is the only halfway interesting thing about it.

Having said that, there’s nothing super objectionable about them either. Go forth and read at your own risk. ( )

Good

I really liked how this series ended. Hope nothing like what happened in the book happens but I liked the series. ( )

Fantastic ending to a great series! I love how the author goes into such great detail on the how-to's of surviving a volcanic ash winter. If I ever find myself in that situation I'm going to have to put to test some of the ingenious contraptions Darla & Uncle Paul rigged. : )



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