Ashes

Ashes Trilogy, Book 1

By: Ilsa J. Bick

Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren

Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins

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

Love it

What made the experience of listening to Ashes the most enjoyable?

I forgot I was reading. It was like listening to a movie in my head!

What other book might you compare Ashes to and why?

Can't say I have a comparison.

Which scene was your favorite?

The river

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

YES!!

Any additional comments?

Hurry up with the rest of the trilogy PLEASE!!!!!

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.

Loved it!!

Loved it from the start...girl with a terminal illness goes camping on a "farewell" trip. World gets hit by EPM wave, surrvivors start to find each other, have to fight off the badly changed people, heroine is changed by the wave. Dogs flock to her...(ok a few times I had to turn the volume down on some of the "voices") but I liked it and am looking forward to the sequels.

Violent, disgusting gore.

This is supposed to be for young adults. All I can tell you is that after a lifetime of dealing with the muck, blood, pus and goo of society, I don't need my nightmares added to by a book supposedly for young teenagers. I understand that some folks are just fine with gore, and I don't mind it quite so much in the flesh. Perhaps the pictures are more vivid on audio.

The first third of this book contains a LOT of egregious and disgusting gore. Be warned.

I was first drawn to the book by the subject matter. Apocalypse via EMP is always interesting. The cause, reasoning and final outcome of the EMP is left without exposition. The gore and violence lingered on lovingly.

I missed, don't ask me how, that there were Zombies in this, and sorry, but I am sick to the back teeth of Zombies and Vampires. Authors, GET OFF THE TREADMILL and write something else. Readers, buy something else, or the writers will continue!

Whole lot of reviews mention Katherine Kellgren's excitable and perhaps shouty delivery. I prefer audiobooks where the reader is completely invisible. Kellgren is no dope and has done plenty of work with Audible. As an amateur reader, I know that she read the book and made a choice to pump up the volume and allow the voice to add drama to the text.

Some listeners like that form of delivery. I'm not sure it works with YA, which is already drenched with pace. I'm not about to knock it, because I know how hard it can be to get this kind of thing just right for everyone. It didn't work for me, the voice was shrill at times and I could have done without that. Bottom line, the story wasn't good enough to support the reading.

The book, too violent for me. Too much wandering about while it told its story. The opening was fresh and very interesting, by the end I was frustrated with all the jumping about, re-threading, and the cliff hanging waiting to be hung. Not so great story telling of a great idea.

Will I read the following instalments? Dunno, unlikely.


brendan

Wonderful Story

If you could sum up Ashes in three words, what would they be?

Dark, Deep and Realistic.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Ashes?

Actually the end when she finds out what the secret of the town is.

Have you listened to any of Katherine Kellgren’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

first one.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes a definate page turner. Unfortunately I couldn't had to break it up.

Any additional comments?

This was a page turner well if there were any pages to turn. HAHA Loved it!

Good story, overly dramatic narrator

What did you like best about Ashes? What did you like least?

The story was interesting and kept me listening despite the narrator.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Ashes?

The cliff hanger ending!

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Overly dramatic.

Do you think Ashes needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Yes, to resolve the ending

Has some good and bad

I rated this story 3 stars because it has a lot to like and dislike about it. I’ll start off with the negatives because I always like to end on a positive note. The characters are hot and cold, Tom is great, Ellie is annoying (even for an 8 year-old) and Alex while fine seems to also go from one extreme to the other in her thinking. The plot can seem to drag at points. No action, no real character development just there. Finally it ends without any real resolution so if you want to find out what happens you need to keep going in the story.

Now for the good! I love the whole premise and story. It’s well written with interesting scenarios (even if they’re a bit predictable at some points) which can really draw you in. The ending (see what I mean about liking and disliking) although it ends with no resolution give you this giant wow moment that left me say “I can’t believe you’re ending it there”. So while I’m not running to grab the next in the series it’s definitely on the lists of things to read in the future.

The narration was pretty good. She did a great job differentiating the characters and adding depth, but she doesn’t really do a great job with the male voices sounding like actual men.

Annoying narration, but a good hook.

I initially thought the story was trite -- teen reading. The main character seemed to view the situations and other characters through the eyes of a teen and was somewhat one dimensional. The narrator sounded like a crusty old-style New Englander, which didn't seem to fit with the main character or any characters at all, except for Aunt Hannah, I guess. It just seemed clunky. Not a typical apocalypse book, either. You get to explore what happens with the main character, and she's not a fast study!
BUT I wanted to know what happened next! The story twists and turns in ways that are unique and unpredictable. I am so waiting for the next book to come out.
If you're looking for highbrow literature, keep moving on. If you're looking for something that is scary and has a hook that will grab you, you've got it.

Very hard to keep at same volume and way overly dr

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

no

How could the performance have been better?

Katherine Kellgren is overly dramatic and the sound tech really should have leveled the sound out a little more. She constantly goes from yelling to whispering and it is hard on the ears

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Yes

Ashes to ashes!!!

Started out pretty good, but the story truly turned to ashes. Listened to the has quarter of the book again to see if I missed anything, but still was the same. Ashes it was.