The main character is a teenager who lives in Cedar Falls,
Iowa. Alex’s family wants him to come along on a visit to family in Illinois;
an argument ensues and he convinces his parents to let him stay behind alone
for the weekend. When the volcano erupts his house is crushed by flying debris
and he is trapped. He manages to free
himself and make his way to his neighbors’ home. Eventually, he decides to
strike out alone, travelling over the ash on his father’s old skis, to find his
family in Illinois. He finds a traveling companion, a teenaged girl named Darla,
and Ashfall tells the story of their
journey together.
The science of the eruption seems plausible, but the
timeline struck me as extremely condensed. I can believe rifle-toting farmers
refusing to let other refugees on to their property, but some of the other
conditions seem unlikely in the early days after a disaster. The dissolving of American society into anarchy is not hard
to imagine, but it all seems to happen too quickly. Still, this book is a quick
read with a lot of action, and it will appeal to fans of The Hunger Games,
Divergent, Delirium, and other dystopian series.
No comments:
Post a Comment