Ashfall, by Mike Mullin

Ashfall by Mike Mullin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Beyond being a decently written postapocalyptic YA novel with a strong storyline, I think I most appreciated Ashfall for its portrayal of just how precarious our modern existence is. The planet, relying on the U.S. transportation system, only has about 20 days' supply of grain at any given time (at a homeland security conference I learned that the island of Manhattan only has about 1 days' worth of food -- think about that for a second). In turn, without adequate food and water supplies, society devolves pretty damn quickly, whether you're talking about looters with shotguns or religious nuts with Flavor-Aid. Lucky for our protagonist that he's in the Midwest, where the girls know how to fix machines and build grindstones, even if the corn is buried under a foot of ash. Oh, and Mullin gets bonus points for his portrayal of a refugee camp in which the military officials are baddies, out to protect corporate interests rather than human beings, not a surprise to anyone who's ever heard of Blackwater. Ashfall is the first portion of a trilogy, so we should get a fairly long-term view of this brave, new world.



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