As the Ash Fell

As the Ash Fell #1

by A.J. Powers

Life in the frozen wastelands of Texas is anything but easy, but for Clay Whitaker there is always more at stake than mere survival.

It’s been seven years since the ash billowed into the atmosphere, triggering some of the harshest winters in recorded history. Populations are thinning. Food is scarce. Despair overwhelming. With no way to sustain order, societies collapsed, leaving people to fend for themselves.

Clay and his sister Megan have taken a handful of orphaned children into their home—a home soaring sixteen stories into the sky. With roughly six short months a year to gather enough food and supplies to last the long, brutal winter, Clay must spend most of his time away from his family to scavenge, hunt, and barter.

When Clay rescues a young woman named Kelsey from a group of Screamers, his life is catapulted into a new direction, forcing him to make decisions he never thought he would have to make.

Now, with winter rolling in earlier than ever, Clay’s divided attention is putting him, and his family, at risk.

Genres: Post Apocalyptic, Dystopia, Fiction, Young Adult, Apocalyptic

490 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 23, 2015

Reviews

[J.E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am still on the fence about how to feel about this one. On the one hand, there were some problems: POV errors (which is kinda a writer's pet peeve and won't bother the average reader), some plot holes that I had to suspend my disbelief for, a few slow spots.
On the other hand, it was a really enjoyable read, which is what a book is supposed to do. It definitely wasn't at all fast-paced, though it had its moments but it was well written and you could see that the author poured a lot of himself into the manuscript. It contained most of the tried and true "tropes" that make a post-apocalyptic book enjoyable but it was much more character driven which made the sad moments that much more impactful, even if they were expected.
I found myself waking up in the middle of the night, worrying about how Clay was going to take care of his family when (Spoiler) a certain important character was killed. That doesn't happen unless your subconscious in engaged.
The characters were fun, the plot slow with a few really great, engaging moments, the complications were continual and genuinely worrying, and the ending was nicely wrapped up. Overall, it was a great read (and I ate up the details about the firearms. You can tell the author knows what he's talking about.)
The only reason I didn't rate it five stars was because a) I feel like this author has much better in him once he nails down that POV (which is honestly the single biggest problem I run into with Indie authors and the fact that he does as good as he does is testament to his being wide read) b) I feel like he often got sidetracked from the story to "preach". While I, as a conservative Christian, agree with most if not all of his views, and I have great respect for them, there were times that it made the story feel more like a piece of propaganda than a story and I feel like he could have accomplished both an amazing story and a powerful theme much better if he'd used a bit more subtext. I also recognize that I'm probably judging this a bit more harshly than I would others because it was very good, and I think the author has better work in him in the future!
If you enjoy a good, slow-building book with some great adventure, themes of family and responsibility with a great Paragon character, I highly suggest you give it a try. I will be buying more by this author, for sure and I will be keeping a very close eye on his future works.

[*Suzy (ereaderuser)* · Rating 4 out of 5]

All around decent book showing the struggles of a family trying to survive in the aftermath of an apocalyptic event.

There is some action, but the story is more focused on a young father trying to raise his adopted children in a society where evil is commonplace, but kindness can still be found.

[Judith Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think the author is a good writer but is obviously a gun enthusiast and a prepper. Many many paragraphs filled with descriptions of guns, how to use them, how to clean them, all about ammunition. I ended up skipping all that because I am not interested in minute details about guns. Part of his story is that the government banned all assault weapons and forced people to use smart guns and by golly, only the people smart enough to hide their assault weapons were able to survive when civilization as we know it ended. Hmmmm.

[Shida · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much extra detail about guns. I don't caaaaare. Let's get to some action! Slow paced. Just meh.

[Ozsaur · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I read a post-apocalyptic book I expect lots of action. It took a couple of chapters for me to realize that this wasn't going to be action packed, and to gear back my expectations.

This is more of a character study, not just of the main character, Clay, but of the world he lives in. Different types of leadership are contrasted, different ways of coping with the world, different kinds of relationships.

There is also a romance, and a nice father and son type of relationship shown. I liked both well enough, but the romance was just a little too sweet for my tastes. Actually, everything was a little too this or a little too that -- bad guys are too bad, good guys are too good, children are too wonderful and well behaved, and well, Clay is a little too old and mature for the age he's supposed to be.

There were couple of times when the author's voice and attitude came through instead of the character's. There were a couple of preachy moments that made me roll my eyes. I could almost picture Clay (a young man of 20 or so) shaking his cane and yelling at the kids to get off his lawn. Not that that happened in the book, but the attitude was there.

Overall, I liked the book. The pacing was decent, with most of the action occurring from the middle of the book to the end. It was well edited with few spelling or grammar errors. I also liked the clean writing style.

If you're looking for something a little more thoughtful, give this one a try.

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just read McCarthy's 'The Road' instead. Not particularly gripping or compelling. Lots of pacing issues and editing errors. And a lot of unnecessary information about the specifics of guns that doesn't really add much to the story.

[BookLoversLife · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn't sure what to expect from this seeing as I had never heard of it before, but what I got was an enthralling read. Now, it's not an action packed book by any stretch of the imagination, it focuses more on the struggle of surviving, but this is what makes it so enthralling.

Clay, his sister and some orphan children they came across have been surviving, barely, in the frozen wasteland that is Texas. Since the super volcanoes erupted, the ash covers the sky so life is extremely hard. It's up to Clay to go provide for the family with hunting, foraging and scavenging, though he only has a few months every year to do it in, before winter really sets in and it becomes impossible to leave their house. When Clay meets Kelsey Lambert and she introduces him to where she lives, Clay's life is changed forever!!

The best thing about the book, in my opinion anyway, was Clay, his sister and their little family. Clay is such a strong, resourceful and genuinely nice character. He opens his home and his heart to anyone in need and is quick to help. Though he is tough when he needs to be. He goes off for days at a time to find the things to help his family and always looks out for them. I loved his character!!!

In all, this isn't very fast paced, but it has so much character depth and development that the pacing doesn't matter. Enough happens to keep the heart pumping but it's more a rooting for the family type of book. I absolutely devoured this and can not wait for more from these characters and this world!!

Aaron Cleveland was pretty good considering he hasn't narrated that many books. He had a pretty good range of tones and voices for the different characters and had good inflections, I just found his kids voices a little much. I still enjoyed the performance though.

I was voluntarily provided this audiobook for free from the author, narrator, or publisher. This in no way affected nor influenced my thoughts.

[Mysti · Rating 5 out of 5]

AMAZING book! A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

I loved this book! I couldn’t put it down. The character and plot development were spot on and exceeded my expectations! The details had it playing out like a movie in my mind’s eye. I started the book one night intending to read a few chapters before bed and the next time I glanced at the clock it was 3:00 a.m..
I’m sorry to cut this review short but I must purchase and read the next one ASAP!

[Karina Halt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this book, I personally loved it. Have to sy you need a few tissues when you read it...

[Patiscynical · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a bit slow..

An EOTW story of people in Texas trying to survive after the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts.
Clay is a young man trying to keep his extended family alive. It's about seven years since the Yellowstone eruption, and the world resembles an apocalyptic wasteland. Clay and his older sister Megan live in an abandoned building along with ten young orphans they have taken in. Life is very difficult. It's hard to find food, there's roving bands of thieves and killers, and also cannibalistic subhumans called screamers.
With all these interesting situations, you'd think this would be an exciting adventure. You'd be wrong. Somehow, even with all these possibilities, this story just drags. Clay, who is only twenty or so, pushes himself to extremes trying to care for his family. He travels miles by foot scavenging for items to trade for food and medicine. He gets wounded, gets in life or death situations on a regular basis, and it's just yawn-worthy. He rescues a beautiful girl from the cannibals and falls in love. Dull.
And the apocalyptic world they live in, while dangerous, doesn't seem as desperately challenging as I would expect.
Results: this book has all the ingredients for a great story, but it never really came through. I became bored and had to really push myself to continue. It had too much mundane detail, perhaps. It was well written, no glaring mistakes, no graphic scenes of sex or violence.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in a post apocalyptic future in which the sun has been blotted out by volcanic eruption, As the Ash Fell follows the story of Clay Whitaker, a young man struggling to survive and provide for his family in a world with dwindling resources, marauding scavengers and pockets of civilization that may or may not be trust worthy.

The author, AJ Powers, is very successful in his world building and also at developing a set of believable characters that exist there. I found myself completely invested in Clay's story and eager to see it's outcome, so much so that I read the last half in one sitting. For me the theme of this story seems focused on the decisions we make in life, good or bad, and their end results. At one point in the book Clay relates to a boy a story about two wolves, one good and one evil, living inside all of us and how the decisions we make in our everyday lives determine which wolf grows strongest. This small detail in the book resonates with me and surfaces throughout the book as characters struggle through tough choices while trying to keep their humanity. There's an undercurrent of hope and positivity running though out this story that I rarely find in books these days and it made the whole experience more enjoyable.

I highly recommend the book and look forward to reading whatever the author writes next.

[Alaa · Rating 1 out of 5]

The writing (at least for the first part of the book) was okay. Unfortunately, the ideas the writer was trying to put forth were absurd at best .i.e. The protagonist's sister chooses to care for the children rather than protect them, leaving a child of 13 take responsibility for that (and dying in the process might I add), or the part where the lead character kills people freely except the people he monologued about not killing (because it somehow breaks his moral code!?). The story is full of such instances giving the impression that either the writer feels that women are useless outside the "kitchen" or he doesn't really know any women.
The worst part is when he tries to describes a rape victim feels and completely botching it. Making it all about the man trying to comfort her and at the same time making it seem as if she should feel guilty about what has happened. I presume the writer might have wanted to reflect the way rape victims are blamed by some people, but that's not how it came off.
In short, this story is about a conservative protagonist with a saviour comlex who's actions are definitely not in line with his beliefs. Also the writer forgot to add any flaws to "our hero" so he is completely unrelateable and the story feels like a power fantasy.

Started okay ended in as dumpster fire !

[Marshall · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is in reference to the audiobook version. It was terrible. The narrator couldn't do a southern accent if his life depended on it. The ridiculousness kept breaking the immerssion. Poor voice acting and inflection. The story was a bit average in concept and wasn't really standout-ish. There are far better books out there with the same plot that do a better job. 3 stars for the story, but -1 for poor execution in the audiobook version. 2 stars out of 5.

[Pam Shelton-Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent book but could have used a good editor. There were a lot of awkward sentences and some grammar issues. I do like the main character, Clay, and that at a young age he stepped up to protect other kids. There was way too much detail and emphasis on firearms and how to manage them. Contraband assault rifles are not the panacea for a catastrophe that was not the fault of the government. There should have been more description of the impact and science behind a super volcano erupting and the aftermath even years later. The Screamers seemed like a throwaway nuisance rather than a real threat. The ending wrapped up very fast considering how long the build up was to the big confrontation. I will likely read the next one to see what happens and hope for some improvement.

[Teresa · Rating 1 out of 5]

A book filled with one dimensional characters , none of whom are very smart. Obviously christian teachings, prayers etc, and obvious gun enthusiast writing makes a lot of the book tedious. I don’t care about guns, gun shells, filling shells, dyes..tell me once, not every time you use a bullet! ( okay, Im exaggerating)

Girls in this book are useful, only as baby sitters, and domestic help- or rape victims, and the POV of the rape is ludicrous.

Misogynistic writing, and story and Clay is sooooo perfect it sucks. No human can be like that.

No girl can shoot but clay is the Sundance kid!

Gagggggggg

[J.T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! It's a great blend of adventure with post-apocalyptic survival. The characters are really meaningful and you come to really like some of them. There's a strange sense of family and virtue, though not without struggle, depicted in the main character. It is unique and well-done!

Definitely read this!

[Hmr28 · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 maybe? A lot of tell, little show. Parts dragged. I did like the world building it was fairly realistic, particularly the author's knowledge of firearms.

[RANGER · Rating 3 out of 5]

A post-apocalyptic relationship book set in one of the better disaster worlds -
As the Ash Fell is author AJ Powers' first published novel and one that has been slightly revised (improved) since initial publication. I purchased my copy for Amazon Kindle in December 2020 so if you have an earlier version it may differ somewhat. Two disclosures up front:
- I love TEOTWAWKI novels and I love almost every genre of TEOTWAWKI. Especially those with an original take or with exceptional disaster world-building.
- I hate relationship novels, Chick Lit, and any plot line that is driven purely by emotional drama between overwrought characters who are in constant conflict. Triteness in character drama makes a book virtually unreadable to me.
With regard to my first disclosure, AJ Powers' debut novel is one of the best TEOTWAWKI novels I've read in some time. The world building is exceptional (as I would expect from an author who is also a sci-fi video game developer). The environmental disaster of the (very plausible) Cascadia fault line finally exploding and subsequent cursed ashen sky dropping global temperatures to reduce humanity by starvation and a temporary ice age is a great idea. Powers handles this very well and the scavenging lifestyle of the protagonist Clay, who must keep his family of orphaned children and his surviving sister alive in this brutal climate, is very well done.
Clay was a young teenager when the world exploded and the ash plumes choked the skies. He adapted quickly to the new world, training himself in firearms, knife-fighting and other survival skills even as he watched his original family dwindle down to just him and his sister, and then regrow as the two of them began to accumulate and care for various lost children orphaned by the disaster. It's a great scenario and well-rendered by Powers who is a good writer, especially with dialogue and fight scenes.
Now the part that I did not like. The journey and various minor misadventures through the ash-fallen world is fascinating and kept me occupied for lengthy sections of this long (400 or so Kindle pages) novel. But other than that, there is no real plot driving this story other than the conflicts that develop over a woman named Kelsey that Clay rescues ands fall in love with. This is high drama, well-written, and probably attractive to female readers or those who like the soap opera that the Walking Dead became but I can't stand this kind of fiction.
I won't let my personal preferences color this review by giving this less stars than it deserves because again, this is great TEOTWAWKI writing and such personal drama themes are popular with many readers. I just happen to hate it. If you like relationship dramas in the midst of a post-apocalyptic environment, then by all means get this book and enjoy it. It just isn't for me.
AJ Powers writing style is reflective of this kind of drama-romance-conflict-personality clash writing. As a new writer, he probably attended lots of writing workshops run by and populated by earnest females who preach the gospel of third person deep POV and the need to express what a character is FEELING at all times.
This is hogwash but generally lapped up by new writers who don't know better, are desperate to get their creation before the masses, assume these earnest ladies with a 100 self-published romance novels to their credit know what they are doing, and, in many cases, like to read this kind of slop themselves. But do best-selling authors write this way? Read a Stephen King or Cormac McCarthy novel and you know it's simply not true.
Descriptive, atmospheric prose and writing in such a way that the reader needs to activate their brain to draw their own conclusions is much better, in my opinion (and yeah, I am a published writer).
I know AJ Powers must have fallen under this romance writing spell because in many scenes, the POV changes briefly to each character so we get to "feel" how all the people in the relationship conflict are feeling. Again, not my style.
I am not sure if all of AJ Powers novels are like this but as far as those types of novels go, I would say, if you like that stuff, Powers is a good writer and worth looking into. Although this is not a "Christian Novel" most of the good guys act like polite, good-hearted Texas Baptists or Mormons. There is no foul language or sexual situations whatsoever. Which is a plus in my book since the over-use of "F-bombs" to make characters sound tough is ridiculous and sexual content is mostly embarrassingly unnecessary. AJ Powers commits none of those sins, thankfully.
Recommended if you like TEOTWAWKI books, don't mind the relationship drama plot theme, and love a sappy ending.

[NormaCenva · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was highly disappointing. I do not even know where to start. Do you want to tell me that a person in this kind of situation will really raise children as children? Giving them the opportunity to play and such? Are you kidding me! Why not make them learn new skills and allow them the time for graceful transformation for the new world, ensuring their survival? Yes, it is not applicable for smaller children, but from age about 7 or so (depending on the development) children can be trained in new and necessary skills. How exactly will they survive outside of the apartment? As well as not taking your sister on your excursions but choosing to let her be with the children? You have younger children (teenagers) who can take up this task, an you will be safer with a companion who can shield your back! But off course that will be a problem will it, because learning how to scavenge, trade, and protect herself will be "un-womanly"... I give up, and that is only several main points. No female character has any agency or usefulness here, they ever are carers, homemakers, or damsels in distress, its pathetic! I do understand that not every woman or young girl will be able to get used to the new realities and some will be a drain of resources and a waist of space, but come on, not ALL of them. I also want to point out blatant ageism. The main character is young and he can cope with the stress, but a 13 year old in his care is considered a "child"... really?
I do not mind the religious side of the story. When you read stories it is normal to see a bit of preaching here and there interwoven into it. As a Pagan I actually seek out books with Pagan plots all the time! What I do have a problem with is authors Christian faith spilling out into the story and the plot and ruining it's realism.
Writing here is another matter, that did stand out to me, it was in places very weird, shifting perspectives or merging omnipotent with other writing styles. This did distract me. As did the constant telling and lack of showing, as well as telling being stacked up on showing regarding the same subject. Readers can think you know, not everything needs to be double-spilled-out for us.
All in all it was an OK-ish read. I already have the second book so I will read it but do not think that it will get a higher rating, my hopes are low now. But I would like to be surprised, that would be nice indeed!

[Gretchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a post-apocalypse novel (that I read during COVID19 pandemic), and it definitely made me feel better about the world that we might be experiencing something crazy in the world right now, but thankfully, our civilization has not collapsed, etc. In this novel, several volcanoes exploded - including one at Yellowstone - and the resulting ash, etc that is spewed into the atmosphere causes worldwide problems - clouds cover the sky and so crops fail and it gets colder, etc. The book is set 7 years after the eruption and it touches upon how civilization has collapsed and many, many people have died. The ones that are left struggle to survive by scavenging, etc. and trying to avoid the crazy people that are still around. The main character, Clay, is a young man who has grown up in this new world, and he and his sister are trying to survive in this new world and they have "adopted" a bunch of kids that they have come across that no longer have parents. One day, Clay meets and saves a young woman, Kelsey, from a bunch of crazies, and they become friends. But she lives in a small community where she is essentially an indentured servant to the community's leader. And the leader of Kelsey's community does not like that they are friends, and that is when the story really gets going.

I enjoyed this book, and I liked the characters, especially Clay's young sidekick, Charlie. The book kept my attention and I wanted to see what happened to everyone. There are really sad moments as well as happy moments.

I won this copy in one of the Goodreads giveaways.

[Mr. Bohemian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nurse911: It was love at first page with this patient. Set within the post-apocalyptic themed Texas, I found myself emotionally attached to our main character Clay during initial observations as he battled against "the black wolf" and overcame the elements of an ashy-skied southern state. My examination found all the proper elements needed to set up a sufficient survival story: unrelenting enemies, scarcity of resources, and pressures of both mental and physical fatigue to better emphasize that wild west tension most catastrophe novels gravitate towards. The author's unique structure having Clay struggle in a wasteland to support his foster family was a unique spin that I believe was flawlessly executed. The patient was designated a "Select Preferred" recommendation to showcase it's superior level health.

[Russ · Rating 4 out of 5]

As far as apocalyptic survival story goes this was not a bad one, I understand it’s the author’s first book.

The basic premise of the book is an apocalyptic event occurs (never explained in any details), young man raising orphan children, meets girl and overcomes many trials. With the happy ending.

I got the impress that the author’s believes and attitudes have been superimposed on the main character, no matter what the story line contains. Expect lots of references to god and personal responsibility.

Passages in the book come across as a guns manual.

I think my main disappointment in the book was that details of the environment and the people (other than the main character) were never really explored. Like who were these screamers who only come out at night and do unspeakable things.

But over all there are many interesting passages in this book that make it worth a read.

[Josh Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished "As The Ash Fell" and highly recommend it. I really appreciated the fresh angle on the post apocalyptic setting, which in short, is a nuclear winter following super volcanic eruptions around the globe. The prose is very clean and reads like a collaboration between Cormac McCarthy and Louis L'Amour. The story is fraught with tension once it gets moving without ever resorting to gratuity or the Apocalypse Porn (constant pointless profanity, everyone getting raped, masturbatory levels of despair, etc) serves as filler in many End of Days books. I haven't cracked a printed book in 3 or 4 years and I really enjoyed the audiobook as read by Aaron Cleveland. Cleveland's country narration solidly grounds "Ash" in it's Texas setting and I felt like Sam Elliott was reading me a story.

[Sabrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

An astonishingly beautiful story!

After the eruptions, after the end of life as they know it, Clay and his sister, Megan are left with nothing. As they encounter young, surviving children, they begin their own loving family with those who have lost everything. But life is fraught with danger. Danger from other less trustworthy survivors, danger from the Screamers, and danger from the unknown.

When Clay meets a young woman and her daughter, he finds more people to protect. But will they join his family safely? Or will the constraints of the unknown put them all in peril?

A engrossing and intriguing story that outlines the best of humanity....and the worst. Extremely well written and incredibly well done!

[Edina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Clay was annoying as hell, he's inability to do what needed to be done, caused people to die, that makes him stupid, not the better man! All the talk about guns and bullets, who cares? Using guns is dumb anyway when you're trying to stay hidden from the bad guys aka The screamers who are killing people for no reason?! And when things turn from bad to worse our hero sends his girlfriend back to the guy who had no problem with killing kids, yeah, a real hero. And the stupid stunt what Kelsey pulls after that... let's say these two didn't have 2 brain cells to rub together between the two of them.

[Phyllis Van Houten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story for preppers

A very easy read. I was hoping for a little science mixed in with the apocalyptic survival story, but... I did learn quite a bit about several types of firearms! I enjoyed the characters & wanted to find out what happened to them, & so looked forward to reading. Satisfying story lines, steeped in traditional middle American, God-fearing morality lessons (a solid PG rating with a lot of guns). A good book for doomsday preppers! I'd like to see a crackdown on the editing; so many errors take a toll on my concentration.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-written, entertaining novel! Yellowstone and two other supervolcanos have erupted, sending tons of ash into the atmosphere. The world's governments and economies have collapsed. Survivors struggle in a drastically changed world.

Seven years later, food is becoming scarce. Clay hunts, scavenges, and barters to keep himself, his sister Megan, and their family of orphans fed. Life has settled into a new normal; that is, until he meets Kelsey. She is being held hostage by a man on a local ranch. Can Clay save the woman he loves? Can he and his family survive in a brutal world?

[Deedra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well written story.The ash fell about seven years ago and civilization is trying to survive.Some people just want to get along and be left alone.Others make trouble.The characters in this are relatable.There were some gaps in the story that would have been beter filled in.Clay is our hero.Aaron Cleveland did a fine job narrating.“I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.”

[DeandreaBrian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good enjoyable book

Very good book, good pace, characters are pretty solid, albeit a tad cheesy and a little predictable but still good and nothing that takes away from the overall reading.
Would have liked just a bit more background on the leading up, but that's just myself, I'm a background type of reader, might make for a good prequel?😉
Looking forward to book two. A few more Ohio references would be ok as an Ohio resident myself.

[Lynda · Rating 1 out of 5]

An interesting premise with lots of potential. Unfortunately the writing was very uneven, the characters were pretty one dimensional and any try at addtional layering didn’t ring true. The villians change from when you first met him until his personality was revealed was unbelievable.

I will say one thing, the author sure knows his guns, how to care for each kind, what they can do and more than I ever wanted to know about bullets.

Would not recommend to anyone.