Ashfall Trilogy

The Ashfall Trilogy is a trilogy by Mike Mullin consisting of Ashfall, Ashen Winter, and Sunrise, as well as a novelette called Darla's Story.

Ashfall Synopsis:
Many visitors to Yellowstone National Park don’t realize that the boiling hot springs and spraying geysers are caused by an underlying supervolcano, so large that the caldera can only be seen by plane or satellite. And by some scientific measurements, it could be overdue for an eruption.

For Alex, being left alone for the weekend means having the freedom to play computer games and hang out with his friends without hassle from his mother. Then the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts, plunging his hometown into a nightmare of darkness, ash, and violence. Alex begins a harrowing trek to seach for his family and finds help in Darla, a travel partner he meets along the way. Together they must find the strength and skills to survive and outlast an epic disaster.

Ashen Winter Synopsis:
It’s been over six months since the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano. Alex and Darla have been staying with Alex’s relatives, trying to cope with the new reality of the primitive world so vividly portrayed in Ashfall, the first book in this series. It’s also been six months of waiting for Alex’s parents to return from Iowa. Alex and Darla decide they can wait no longer and must retrace their journey into Iowa to find and bring back Alex’s parents to the tenuous safety of Illinois. But the landscape they cross is even more perilous than before, with life-and-death battles for food and power between the remaining communities. When the unthinkable happens, Alex must find new reserves of strength and determination to survive.

Sunrise Synopsis:
The Yellowstone supervolcano nearly wiped out the human race. Now, almost a year after the eruption, the survivors seem determined to finish the job. Communities wage war on each other, gangs of cannibals roam the countryside, and what little government survived the eruption has collapsed completely. The ham radio has gone silent. Sickness, cold, and starvation are the survivors’ constant companions.

When it becomes apparent that their home is no longer safe and adults are not facing the stark realities, Alex and Darla must create a community that can survive the ongoing disaster, an almost impossible task requiring even more guts and more smarts than ever—and unthinkable sacrifice. If they fail. . . they, their loved ones, and the few remaining survivors will perish.

This epic finale has the heart of Ashfall, the action of Ashen Winter, and a depth all its own, examining questions of responsibility and bravery, civilization and society, illuminated by the story of an unshakable love that transcends a post-apocalyptic world and even life itself.

Darla's Story Synopsis
Darla Edmunds has faced a lot of challenges in her seventeen years: Her dad died in a farming accident when she was fourteen. Her mother retreated into hyper-religiosity, leaving Darla to try to run the family farm almost single-handedly. But those struggles pale in comparison to the one she faces after the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts, plunging the world—and Darla’s small corner of Iowa—into a cataclysmic natural disaster.

DARLA’S STORY is book #0.5 of the ASHFALL trilogy (or should it be called a three-and-a-half-ology?) It’s told from Darla’s perspective, beginning with the eruption and ending when an injured stranger keels over in her barn. If you’re new to the world of ASHFALL, DARLA’S STORY is a great place to start. If you’ve read ASHFALL and loved Darla, this book was written for you. Enjoy!

Ashfall #4 Information
Author Mike Mullin has confirmed that there will be a FOURTH book in the Ashfall trilogy (or three-and-a-half-ology?).

For more information, please visit his website.