Ashen Winter
Ashfall Series, #2
Mike Mullin

Tanglewood
October 8, 2012 / ISBN 978-1933718750
Teen / Action & Adventrue / Suspense / Volcanoes / Survival
Amazon

Reviewed by Willie Elliott

Mike Mullins continues his trilogy of the aftermath of a gigantic ash fall that started with Ashfall and continues in the second of the series Ashen Winter and will conclude with the last of the series not yet named.

Ashen Winter picks right up where Ashfall ended and the reader is presented another series of episodic events. Alex and Darla have matured somewhat but that is only expected after what they have been through. Normally, a book that consisted mainly of episodic events would soon begin to lose the interest of the readers but not Ashen Winter. The author has the same skill in luring the reader from one chapter to the next that the soap opera’s producers have.

One reason that readers continue to read event after event has to do with the subject matter. How would we react if a catastrophic event like this happened to us? The author also keeps it realistic. Some unexpected events happen in this portion of the novel.

Another strong point of the novel is the fact that the author keeps the characters believable. Alex, although courageous and willing to risk his life, makes many mistakes in judgment and young readers will appreciate that.

Readers will be glad to know that the final novel of this series is forthcoming and we all look forward to what hopefully will be a turn for the better, but then the author may have another idea in mind. In any case, it will be good reading.

Other reviews by this author

Ashfall