Mike Mullin. ASHFALL

This apocalyptic book brought to mind another one of my absolute favorites, LIFE AS WE KNEW IT. I read it about four years ago, but I will always remember the atmosphere that Pfeffer brought to that book. It was so real. Mullin is equally talented in creating an atmosphere and characters that will stick with me long after today.

Fifteen-year-old Alex was so excited to get to stay home alone while his parents and sister went to visit their uncles farm in Warren, IL. Lately he and his mom had been fighting constantly and the idea of vacationing with them on a farm was to much to bear. He would regret that decision.

The rumbling began three hours later while he played World of Warcraft. It sounded like an earthquake. Then his house fell right on top of him and caught on fire. After climbing his way out, he meets up with some neighbors who take him in for the night. They deal with with strange occurrences all night: noises so loud they have to wear headphones, no electricity, no water. Then the ashfall begins. The sky is dark and the air begins to cool. They are able to figure out what happened from snippets on the battery powered radio. The supervolcano beneath Yellowstone has erupted.

After several incidents of violence and panic, Alex decides to go find his parents in Warren. Traveling is dangerous and difficult. People along the way are distraught and desperate. There is no way to know what's going on in other areas. The sky is dark with ash cover. The roads are thick with ash, making it slow to walk. Alex was creative enough to grab his dad's cross country skis to help him travel.  No vehicles can travel across the ash. After grabbing what food and water he can fit in his backpack, Alex sets out to reach his family. He will do whatever it takes to be able to have the luxury of fighting with his mom once more.

While reading LIFE AS WE KNEW IT, I felt compelled to check our pantry for can foods. While nearing the end of this book, I felt the need to go outside and feel the sunshine and warmth. I looked up at the sun  to revel in the lack of ash in the air. Mullin created such a realistic world that my mind had a hard time leaving it behind. The gripping suspense and action-packed plot kept me reading way past my bedtime. You will be tempted to read it all in one sitting. But then you'll be sad it's over. Fortunately, I found out that there is a sequel due out next year! I'm so glad! I'm anxious to see what's happening with Alex in the next book.

For more on Mike Mullin go here for his website.
This book is due out in October. Put it on your "to read" list. You won't regret it!

Susan Beth Pfeffer. THIS WORLD WE LIVE IN

This is a sequel that brings the characters from LIFE AS WE KNEW IT and THE DEAD & THE GONE together. It continues the story of the catastrophic events after the moon was knocked closer into orbit around the earth. It's been a year since the event, and Miranda and her family have settled into a routine of sorts. Miranda and her brothers scavenge the houses around them for whatever they can use. Food it still delivered weekly, although still only enough for two small meals a day. There really isn't much left of the town they live in. There are virtually no people left. 

Then Miranda is surprised by her father, his wife, their baby daughter and three strangers. (One of the strangers is Alex from DEAD & the GONE). Miranda has mixed emotions. It was difficult enough with the four of them alone, but with six more people, how will they manage? On the other hand, she's also thrilled to see her father again. Plus, the baby brings hope of survival. However, just when things are beginning to look up, another tragedy strikes the town, which calls for some heavy decision-making about their future.

I loved the first two novels in this world, so I was thrilled that the author decided to write another. I was eager to see how Miranda and her family continued on after such devastating events. Not to mention, the inclusion of Alex was awesome!

This was action packed, suspenseful and sad. The author does such a wonderful job of creating the mood for this "end of the world" type atmosphere. In all three books, I was so enthralled. And frankly, I'm still not satisfied with the ending. I don't mean this in a negative way at all. I'm just not ready to give these characters up! I still want more. I want to go to more places with the characters to see how the rest of the world is handling everything. Is that asking too much?

If you haven't read the other two, you really must. 

Here are my reviews of the other two:

LIFE AS WE KNEW IT review

More about the author, check out her blog: http://susanbethpfeffer.blogspot.com/

She's got some great stuff on there about all the novels. (pre-writing notes, interviews, etc)



THE DEAD AND THE GONE review

Michael Grant. GONE

I cannot believe I haven't heard about this book earlier. Well, I'm glad I stumbled across it. It is fantastic!
It begins with one seemingly normal day in social studies class. The teacher is talking about the Civil War, the students are listening. Then the teacher suddenly vanishes No flashing light or funny noise - he just disappears. After some investigating, the kids realize that all the adults are gone. In fact, anyone over fifteen is gone.
People begin to look to Sam for leadership. After all, he did save a bus full of children when the bus driver had a heart attack. Sam begins to make decisions to try to keep the kids from panicking. Sam, Astrid, the girl they call the genius, and his best friend Quinn all begin trying to figure things out. They make temporary plans, hoping this will all end soon.
Then a week or so later, Caine and a group of kids come into town from Coates. Coates is type of school for smart delinquents. Caine begins by charming everyone into making him "mayor." Of course, Sam and Astrid realize that he's trouble, but go along with Caine. Otherwise they would fall victim to his team of bullies who sit by ready and willing to enforce all of Caine's new rules.
We also met Lana, who was in the passenger seat of a truck when her grandfather vanishes. The truck crashes and she is badly hurt. After days of suffering, she's able to mysteriously save herself only to be attacked my coyotes. Fortunately some unusual creatures save her.
When it looks like things can't get any worse (no phones, no Internet, no doctors, no TV, no way to leave the area to get help) ...they do get worse. Animals are mutating. People are developing unimaginable powers, which some decide to use for evil.
I won't give too much away, because I had so much fun discovering all of the many twists and turns in this book, and I wouldn't want to deprive you of that fun. It's suspenseful. I couldn't put it down. It literally kept me up at night all last week! It has action, some mystery, some science, fantasy and a little love. (It really does cross many genres).
I haven't even mentioned how well written it is. The author did such a wonderful job with creating mood and tone. One of the most disturbing scenes is when the kids were walking through the houses to find any missing children. That deep feeling of loneliness and dread the kids were feeling hit me like a ton of bricks. And that is only one scene. There are many more unforgettable moments in this book.
It will leave you very curious for more. Lucky for us there is a sequel, and the series is planned to be 6 books.
Here is more about the author. He's married to KA Applegate, the author of the Animorphs and Everworld books.

Book 2 - which is on my "to read" pile

Susan Beth Pfeffer. THE DEAD AND THE GONE

I got my lucky hands on an advance copy of the companion novel to LIFE AS WE KNEW IT* by Susan Beth Pfeffer, called THE DEAD AND THE GONE (due out in June). When I first heard about the book, I thought it was a sequel, and I was anxious to see what happened to Miranda and her family after the disaster. Then I learned that this is actually a companion novel, and I came to realize that this was a much more interesting direction to go in (which is why the author decided to write this story, I’m sure). We get to go back to the same events in the first story, but see them in a completely different city, with different people. In this novel, we get to see how these events affect New York City. Now that I think about it, I was curious how this disaster would play out in other areas in the world while I was reading the first book. So, it seems natural that the author would explore this from another point of view, and I am glad she did.

We join Alex Morales on the day of the asteroid hitting the moon. He’s working at the pizza parlor. He doesn’t even realize what’s happened for a while, since it was a cloudy night. Then when his uncle shows up later that night at his house to take them all to his grocery shop to gather up all the food, he begins to see how bad things are. Alex’s mom has been called to work at the hospital. His father is away in Puerto Rico. His brother is away in the Marines. Alex, who is only seventeen, is left to take care of his two younger sisters. Since it’s on the coast, New York is affected by the flooding from the tsunamis. Whole boroughs of New York are being evacuated. People who can leave are leaving the city for safer places. The city slowly declines to feeling half-dead. Alex isn’t sure if he should leave the city, since he’s hoping his mom and dad will return.

This was just a gripping as the first novel. Ms. Pfeffer evoked the same eerie mood just as brilliantly as in the first book. I was glad to visit this world again, even as depressing as it was. It was intriguing to see how different people handle this type of tragedy. Alex was carrying a tremendous weight on his shoulders, and I was amazed that he could continually find the strength to go on. It makes you wonder how you would handle it yourself. The drama was heart wrenching and completely realistic. And yet somehow, the book ends with hope. I’m still thinking about how haunting the first book was, so now I’ll have two versions of the story to haunt me!

*My review of the first book is here

By the way, sometimes the cover on the Advance Reading Copy is different from when the final copy is published. I really, really hope they keep the cover on this one. I love it. It portrays the mood of the book so well. And isn't it just beautiful!

Ms. Pfeffer's written a ton of other books. Check it out here: http://www.iblist.com/author8156.htm

More about her at her blog: http://susanbethpfeffer.blogspot.com/

Susan Beth Pfeffer. LIFE AS WE KNEW IT

I had heard so much about this book that I hoped it would measure up. It surely did.
Miranda, her family, and everyone else on her entire street are out one night watching a meteor that is on a collision course with the moon. It’s an astrological event that people wanted to see up close. Miranda isn’t that interested, but all her teachers have assigned homework about it, so she’s out watching with everyone else. The world gasps as the meteor hits so hard that it pushes the moon much closer to the earth. At first, people aren’t sure what this means. Then in the following days, tsunamis devastate both coasts of the US, as well as places around the world. Entire cities of people have died. Suddenly Miranda’s mom pulls her out of school to go buy all of the groceries in the store. They start stockpiling, because the future is unknown. Volcanoes all over are erupting because of the new gravitational pull from the moon. The sky becomes grey with ash. Schools close. People leave town. This is Miranda’s diary of the events going on. The atmosphere is grim and eerily realistic. It makes you nervous like after watching DEEP IMPACT or some other disaster film.
It also makes you appreciate running water, electricity, and above, all food. It also took me back to the atmosphere in Houston when we had evacuate during Hurricane Rita. People were freaking out on the highways and at gas stations. Yikes! Definitely a must read. No wonder there was so much talk about this book.

WOW! Check out the cover for the companion novel (out in June 08)




It's called THE DEAD AND THE GONE

How awesome is that cover?




More about Ms. Pfeffer. She's written quite a lot of books: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/p/susan-beth-pfeffer/


And her blog is here: http://susanbethpfeffer.blogspot.com/