Amid the Ashes

by Aaron Beaudry

Cian is just a boy as the apocalypse unfolds. While the hostile world slowly turns the dying into the dead and their once bountiful existence fades to history, Cian and his family move on with their humble, isolated lives. There are loves to be found and lost, risks to be taken, ambitions to be chased, and no amount of distant tragedy will keep them from manifesting their vision for the future. Safety and security must be protected at any cost, only to be summarily abandoned as the tides of life inevitably drive them forward.

The new world that emerges from the ashes of what came before is destined to be different, but if Cian and his family can successfully navigate the hardships they face, the hopes they hold for the future promise to be rewarded.

If Stardew Valley or One Hundred Years of Solitude and the climate apocalypse had a love child, it might look something like Amid the Ashes. Slow and meandering in its pacing, Amid the Ashes is an ultimately uplifting read that will appeal to those who find themselves suffering from climate anxiety and conflict exhaustion. More cozy and contemplative than page turner, Amid the Ashes hopes to bring some catharsis to those suffering under the weight of modern life.

440 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 31, 2023

About the author

Aaron Beaudry is an aerospace engineer and author who currently lives and works in Denver, CO. Raised in Rhode Island, he has also spent time in Florida, Connecticut, and Texas. Amid the Ashes is his first published novel. When he's not writing, Aaron enjoys running, weight lifting, rock climbing, hiking, mushroom foraging, and spending time with those he cares about.

Reviews

[Shelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a deeply emotional story. It is a post-apocalypse feel but one that shares a family's memories through time. I felt a lot of emotion reading this story. The characters are well written. They are very easy to relate to. Being in Colorado myself, the Denver touch was a nice gift. I loved the story. I found I couldn't put down.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Etienne Lefebvre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Collapse novels often tread the well-worn path of grim dystopian visions and high-stakes survival tales. Aaron Beaudry’s Amid the Ashes breaks with convention, offering a profoundly human portrayal of life after the collapse of modern industrial civilization. From the very first page, the author offers a candid note to readers, signaling that this is not your typical post-apocalypse novel:

“There may be significant portions of the narrative that feel slow, meandering, or pointless in comparison to most other contemporary speculative fiction, and I believe it is important for readers to understand that this is an intentional artistic decision prior to consuming the work. Amid the Ashes is about finding and creating beauty and meaning in challenging, and often mundane circumstances, and the challenge for readers therefore mirrors the challenges facing the characters.”

This candid acknowledgment invites readers to approach the story with patience and an openness to its deliberate pace. By doing so, Amid the Ashes sets a new standard for collapse fiction, one that doesn’t automatically assume that the end of modernity spells the start of a dystopian apocalypse. Instead, Beaudry presents collapse as a profound shift, painful and challenging, yet filled with opportunities for reinvention and rediscovery.

Set decades after the unraveling of global supply chains and the dissolution of modern institutions, the story follows the life of Cian, a young boy raised on a self-sustaining homestead in the forests outside Portland, Maine. His parents, foreseeing the inevitability of societal collapse, retreated there from the comforts of urban life to prepare for an uncertain future. The novel chronicles Cian’s entire lifespan, from his childhood on the family’s isolated farm to his coming-of-age moments and his eventual role in fostering connections with nearby communities. Through Cian’s eyes, we witness the slow rebuilding of a world no longer defined by mass communication, abundant energy, stable climates, and industrial conveniences.

The novel’s pacing mirrors the rhythms of the world it depicts: slow, deliberate, and deeply rooted in the day-to-day realities of life. Early on, Beaudry explores the family’s struggle with a central paradox: the need to maintain a degree of security through isolation while grappling with the loneliness and stagnation that such isolation can bring. This tension is particularly evident as Cian and his sister Sammie grow older and become increasingly curious about the world beyond their secluded farm, a world their parents spoke of with equal parts caution and nostalgia. A major turning point in their journey occurs when Sammie decides to connect with the nearby village of New Eden, despite the risks. Through this moment, Beaudry underscores survival alone is not enough; true fulfillment requires taking risks to find community, and to have the freedom to exist beyond the safety of our chains.

A further example of the importance Beaudry places on community is the story of Cian’s daughter, who, after years of experimentation, develops a hardy pea plant hybrid capable of thriving in adverse conditions. The success of this crop places great demand on labor, culminating in a harvest season that requires the entire town’s participation. What begins as a practical effort to increase crop yields during challenging times, transforms into something deeply meaningful: the town’s first-ever harvest festival, complete with games and a playful “Lord of the Peas” competition. The festival becomes more than a celebration of agricultural success, it’s a testament to resilience, joy, and the power of creating a shared collective purpose. Beaudry shows that in the absence of the distractions of modernity, people are drawn to what truly matters, fostering unity and connection that contrasts sharply with the purposelessness and divisiveness often found in our convenience-driven industrial world.

Ultimately, Amid the Ashes is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the enduring power and beauty of human relationships in the face of hardship. Aaron Beaudry invites us to reimagine collapse not as an end, but as a transition, one that challenges us to rediscover what truly matters in life. By focusing on themes of connection, purpose, and the beauty found in everyday struggles, the novel offers a deeply hopeful vision for the future, especially in the face of societal collapse.

[Chandler Ziegler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amid the Ashes provides a unique perspective on the dystopian genre, following the lives of one family as they survive a world marred by a climate catastrophe. Beaudry shows great potential as a writer in his debut novel. While the plot can drag a bit at times, the story keeps the reader engaged from the very start through the strength of its characters.

The book combines a pragmatic approach of describing the everyday life and problems facing Cian and his family, while also bringing the reader into the characters' core emotions and desires for a life beyond their daily struggle. It dives deeply into the feelings of its narrator as he juggles trying to survive a harsh, deadly world while also staying connected with the innate human desire to love, to laugh, and to build a better world for generations to come.

That core theme, that humanity can collaboratively build a better future, despite what obstacles may stand in the way, is the bedrock of this work. While some of the prose and the symbolism around this theme becomes a bit on-the-nose at times, overall Aaron Beaudry has crafted quite a nice ode to the strength of the human spirit.

[Erin Reads The World · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting, hopeful look at life after the climate collapse. It's a slow, quiet, plot driven book that feels more realistic than other books in the genre.

I'd recommend this for people with climate anxiety or viewers of the show Alone. If you want to read about a family surviving the unimaginable this one ticks that box. Aaron Beaudry explores human connection, love and the importance of having something to live for.

I received a gift copy of the ebook and am leaving a voluntary review.