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Ashes  By  cover art

Ashes

By: Ilsa J. Bick
Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
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Publisher's summary

It could happen tomorrow....

An electromagnetic pulse flashes across the sky, destroying every electronic device, wiping out every computerized system, and killing billions. Alex hiked into the woods to say good-bye to her dead parents and her personal demons. Now desperate to find out what happened after the pulse crushes her to the ground, Alex meets up with Tom, a young soldier, and Ellie, a girl whose grandfather was killed by the EMP. For this improvised family and the others who are spared, it's now a question of who can be trusted and who is no longer human.

Author Ilsa J. Bick crafts a terrifying and thrilling novel about a world that could be ours at any moment, where those left standing must learn what it means not just to survive, but to live amidst the devastation.

©2011 Ilsa J. Bick (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"For fans of postapocalyptic and horror fiction, Bick has created a story of equal parts intrigue and gore…Katherine Kellgren narrates the tension-filled action at a lightning pace…The author’s frenetic characterization of Alex is tempered by Kellgren’s ability to draw the listener into each scene." ( Audiofile)
2012 Audie Award Nominee, Female Solo Narration

What listeners say about Ashes

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  • KK
  • 06-27-12

No Thank You

What would have made Ashes better?

A better, less annoying story and less annoying characters.

What was most disappointing about Ilsa J. Bick’s story?

The flow of the story.

How could the performance have been better?

Less screeching and screaming.

What character would you cut from Ashes?

Ellie.

Any additional comments?

Life is too short for bad fiction. In fairness, I will admit that I did not finish this book, but I can just tell that this book is going in a direction that I don't want to follow. After reading some of the reviews (Goodreads and Audible) more in depth, I think it's because people like part of the book but then hated other parts of it so they kind of gave it a "pity" rating. Most dismaying of all, readers seemed to like the first part of the book better than the second part on average. This is a HUGE reason why I stopped reading. I found little to nothing redeeming about the first part and if it only gets worse from here, then god help me.

Audiobook rating: I lay most of the fault with the experience to the story, but this woman's voice was also very grating. Her depiction of Ellie made me want to gouge out my eardrums with a sharp instrument. Especially in the beginning when all Ellie did was scream and whine. Ellie's hysterics eventually leveled out, but not soon enough.

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43 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Unbearable Narrator

Would you try another book from Ilsa J. Bick and/or Katherine Kellgren?

I am only two hours into this book, and I almost can't listen anymore. There is a fine line between drama and melodrama, and Katherine Kellgren crosses it at absolutely every opportunity. I'm astonished she has been nominated for so many Audies. Her shrieking affects me like fingernails on a chalk board, which is a shame because I am particularly intrigued by postapocalyptic fiction. If Kellgren narrates the sequel, I'll have to remember to just get the book from my library.

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41 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Simply Put...

Awful--shockingly, embarrassingly, discouragingly devoid of creativity and talent, and the narrator's histrionic reading was akin to listening to nails scraping across a chalkboard. Disgusted with the rote and threadbare story, and protecting my ears from the whining and screeching of the narrator, I was compelled to keep my finger on the skip-ahead button most of the time. Seeing that a publisher actually saw potential enough to committ to a trilogy, I concluded there must be something here, it would be safe to take a chance...it would be safer to run blindfolded through a zombie infested graveyard at night. Ashes is absolutely one of the worst books I've ever read (or almost read) and THE worst audio I have ever listened to. Miss Kellgren--some heartfelt advice: do not use this for an audition tape.

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36 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Simply Put...

Awful--shockingly, embarrassingly, discouragingly devoid of creativity and talent, and the narrator's histrionic reading was akin to listening to nails scraping across a chalkboard. Disgusted with the rote and threadbare story, and protecting my ears from the whining and screeching of the narrator, I was compelled to keep my finger on the skip-ahead button most of the time. Seeing that a publisher actually saw potential enough to committ to a trilogy, I concluded there must be something here, it would be safe to take a chance...it would be safer to run blindfolded through a zombie infested graveyard at night. Ashes is absolutely one of the worst books I've ever read (or almost read) and THE worst audio I have ever listened to. Miss Kellgren--some heartfelt advice: do not use this for an audition tape.

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29 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Another Readable Story About the End of the World

As has been said before, One Second After this is not. That doesn't have to be a bad thing. Unfortunately, much of the promise of this adventure story is hampered, in my humble opinion, by its characters.

Alex is definitely not one of my favorite protagonists. Like many central players in young adult epics, her decision-making process seems consistently limited by the presence of a male character for whom she may or may not have feelings. Obviously, such entanglements are often involved in choosing one course of action or another, but much of this narrative seems driven solely by how Alex feels about a boy. This is a real shame since, as other reviewers have pointed out, Alex puts herself forward early on as a motivated, clever young woman capable of surviving on her own.

Having just come off Pure, where the bombs that ended the world as we knew it fused people to whatever or whoever they were in contact with at the time of the blast, Ashes's premise of selective effects from exposure to EMP doesn't seem quite as out there. If you liked One Second After, Alas Babylon, The Postman or the like and are expecting a modern YA equivalent though, I'd advise you to pack a few extra doses of suspension of disbelief.

Katherine Kellgren's performance seems to be a rather divisive point among reviews. I can understand why, as she engages in what one hires Katherine Kellgren to do, putting distinctive, colorful voices to each character and playing up the action. This means an eight year old girl sounding annoying, will sound annoying. Events that happen quickly, will be read quickly. This style can be jarring if you're not used to it, but she's developed a fair bit of critical praise for good reason I think. In short, I found nothing wrong with it and found it a reason to keep going on more than one occasion when I'd begun to have second thoughts about the book.

And the thing of it is, I actually got into the story. I wanted to know what happened to the characters, even though I didn't necessarily like any of them very much. And of course, the cliffhanger ending was such a surprise that I really have no choice but to continue; any criticisms aside, the author deserves a heap of praise for the last ten minutes.

So are there better stories out there? Sure! But there are certainly many I'd call worse. If you're into the setting, I'd say go for it.

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27 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Ruined by the narrator

I have not made it even an hour into the book, and I am ready to rip my ears off. I have listened to this narrator before, and she constantly raises her voice to a whiny, ear splitting shrill that absolutely ruins whatever story you were attempting to listen to, no matter what the quality of the writing had been.

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26 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A pretty good zombie novel, high in melodrama

Cons first: this is a YA novel (strike one) about zombies (strike two) with a female protagonist who goes mushy over not one but two hot boys (strike three).

If I'd known all these things beforehand (especially #3), I probably would not have selected this audiobook, so it's a good thing sometimes I get pleasantly surprised.

(Incidentally, I do not hate either YA or zombie novels — quite the contrary — it's just that so much of it is awful and derivative that my expectations tend to be low going in.)

Ashes isn't as good as Mira Grant's "Newsflesh" trilogy, but it's still a pretty good zombie tale with a teenage girl protagonist who is, yes (sigh) what you might inevitably call "feisty," but she actually earns the moniker, being pretty smart and having some good survival skills and common sense.

I just wish she spent more time thinking survival and less time thinking "Does he or doesn't he?"

Alex is in the mountains thinking about killing herself when a massive series of EMPs takes out civilization. She's thinking about killing herself because she has an incurable brain tumor. So this is one of those books where having normally fatal medical conditions turns out to be an advantage when a giant EMP fries everyone else's brain but gives Alex super-smelling. Actually, it fries the brains of teenagers, turning them into the Changed — yup, zombies. Yes, this is one of those books where zombies represent something else (if ya wanna get all lit-crit on a YA zombie novel), in this case, fear of kids on your lawn. Who want to eat you. It's mostly old people left after the pulse, shooting those darn kids.

Alex is one of the rare teens who doesn't Change. She meets up with a young soldier on leave named Tom, who also hasn't Changed, and a little girl named Ellie. The three of them set off on a trek across the wilds, and of course run into both zombies and the usual assortment of human survivors who turn out to be as bad as zombies. Alex is separated from Tom and Ellie, and winds up in a town called Rule full of nice pleasant folks who are kind of like Mormons/Amish but not. Yes, one of those towns. Creepy vibes right from the start, even before Alex begins unraveling the truths behind Rule. Besides Hot Boy #2 there are several Big Reveals, the last of which is left until the last page because of course this is the first book in a trilogy.

Notwithstanding the predictable tropes and several eye-rolling moments, this was a pretty good listen with a few somewhat novel twists. Ilsa Blick's writing was decent, and I enjoyed the story (and found the loose ends aggravating) enough to want to read book two.

3.5 stars, which I will round up because I'm feeling generous and because I actually intend to continue the series, which is becoming less common for me nowadays.

A lot of reviewers have commented on Katherine Kellgren's narration. She seems to be quite polarizing. So yes, she reads the action scenes in a rapid, almost breathless tone of voice, she screams when the characters scream, and since unfortunately one of the characters for the first half of the book is an incredibly bratty nine-year-old, that means you get a lot of whiiiiiining and YELLING and carrying on, because Kellgren reads Ellie's parts just like how a bratty, terrified, angry nine-year-old would sound.

Once I got used to it, it did not bother me. If you are used to audiobooks where the narrators tend to keep a fairly even tone of voice even while reading the loud action sequences and don't pitch their voices to match those of panicky, emotional character, then Kellgren's reading may seem overly dramatic, but she is never unclear and her voice fits the parts she's reading. While I'm not sure I'd choose Katherine Kellgren to read a Jane Austen novel, she seems just fine for a zombie apocalypse.

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23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

good book not so good narrator

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Would recommend book but not audio version.

Any additional comments?

This is my first review, I'm not writing so much to review the book because the book is actually good. This particular narrator is just generally not enjoyable to listen too. She makes the characters sound whiny and stupid. This is the first audiobook I've ever purchased that I have had to buy the paper version instead. So If you haven't listened to it do not waste your credit. Just get it on your kindle or nook, or buy the book outright. I am looking forward to the author's next book, but I will not get it from here.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Engrosing, epic...you'll never want to hit pause!!

Where does Ashes rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is one of the best audiobooks I have listened to on Audible. I haven't been captivated by a story like this since the Hunger Games.

Was there a moment in the book that particular moved you?

There's a point in book when the Ilsa J. Bick makes this statement "that was the last time we laughed", a statement which forshadows so much.

Any additional comments?

Katherine Kellgren is the best, she helps the story come alive.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Superb!

The author is a genius with her use of imagery and setting. I found the storyline very fresh, the characters believable, and the ending a heart-stopper! Ms. Kellgren caught the character's personalities perfectly...especially the eight year-old girl. Does an eight year-old whine and throw temper tantrums? Any parent will tell you that yes she does. Ms. Kellgren got it spot on. I love this book so much I purchased it for my NOOK and have ordered the hard back. Can't wait for the next installment!

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14 people found this helpful