Ashes in Winter

The Rangers of Walden #1

by K.M. Cannon

Surviving the winter will only be half the battle...

At the height of a brutal Canadian Winter, the world as everyone knew it came crashing down, leaving the survivors to deal with the ashes of their fallen nations. In the Northern Ontario city of Sudbury, the Withers and other survivors scramble to pick up the shattered remains of everything they knew while a warlord known only as Colonel Harnet and other raiders press in on all sides.

​In Sudbury, Daniel Wither must protect the Mayor and other survivors in City Hall from direct assault. In the now distant Whitefish, his daughter grapples to pick up the pieces of civilization with the help of Derek Moss. Further west, at a dam cut off from the rest of civilization, Garrett Wither must keep his people from becoming the raiders he had to defend a small town from. The tough as nails Gina Egivand rescues the eldest Wither brother, Russell, from freezing to death on the side of the road before venturing into Sudbury for supplies and food so her people can survive.

320 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 28, 2021

About the author

When not researching or writing, K.M. Cannon exists for sailing with her cat, friends, and family... or for video games and books at her home in Sudbury, Ontario when snow and ice have the boat locked in its slip.

Reviews

[Brenda E. Mcdaniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting book. And very well written. It had very descriptive and detailed action scenes. I think the characters need more development. A good read.

[Melissa Bennett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story for most part. Lot of good action in it and seemed detailed and researched. Through the first half of the book I struggled with so many characters and keeping them all straight in my head. As you go along, more characters are added. It was confusing. I felt this kept me from feeling any attachment to them because I spent most of the time trying to figure out who they were and not what they were about. All in all a good story though. I was quite impressed.

[K.M. Cannon]

I'm the author, and I wrote this book... and the many revisions before the most recent.

I wrote the story for my family to pass the time during the long Canadian winter. At first, it was told out loud as I hadn't written it down but eventually, yes, it grew to be a bit much for me to keep track of. As I've revised and rewritten the story, I've cut down on many of the characters by merging many of them, but those still there are still based on family and friends as they helped make this book series.

I never planned to make it a series, but one person - the one on which I based Marissa Moss - loved it so much that I kept writing them.

Eventually, it became more than that after my Uncle passed away (the character on whom Garrett Wither is based). Now Garrett lives forever in print.

Steve Cannon
(aka Garrett)
July 1954 - March 2017

I only hope that the books bring as much joy to my readers as it has to my family and friends.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I accidentally stumbled on this book in our local library twice. I don't know why the author didn't mention this as part of the description when it's on the back of the print book. This post-apocalyptic read is like Game of Thrones meets Fallout, with each distinct thread narrated consistently by one character if it were by Clive Cussler if Cussler was a new author. It's the author's first book and an improvement from the original. You can almost still feel that rookie touch and would have been part of its charm. I liked the original and saw the potential, so I appreciated the growth in this one but some of that rookie charm is gone. I enjoyed it and have the next book on my "to be read", but I think I'll wait until the library has a copy of it.

[Kazz Mossman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The setting is during one of Canada’s harsh winters, with more than knee-deep snow. It makes a great backdrop for the story. When the oil stops, the electricity packs, and society breaks down.

The family is the Withers, with a good handful of friends. They don’t know what is going on when all communication drops out. Looters soon appear and another army not affiliated with the Canadian official one, who are intent on killing people. Their leader, a man called Hartnet, soon makes his presence known.

A very entertaining story.

[Najla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had the opportunity to read as an advanced reader copy. The author is brilliant and making you feel cold while you read this! The details of the environment are well done. The characters themselves need a little more depth and background. A few too much jargon was used in their dialogue. A few more unique words and nuanced about them would help develop them.