What do you think?
Rate this book
Obelisk #2
Ashes
The world has ended.
Along with other scattered survivors, astronaut Cynthia Han and the remainder of ISS Expedition 81 have finally learned what happened to the people they’d left behind, and it’s worse than any of them could have imagined.
But even if life as Cynthia knew it is over, her struggles most certainly are not. Joshua Lamb, granted strange and inhuman abilities even as civilization died around him, directs his zealots to scoop up every pocket of survivors, to offer them the simplest Join or die. The nightmarish Crooked Men still hunt the darkened, hollowed cityscapes. And towering over it all, the mind-breaking obelisks with their unreadable alien message.
At stake are not just the lives of Cynthia and her companions, but the last flickering embers of the human race. To succeed, not only must she learn the true purpose of the obelisks, she must come to understand that the worst of humanity’s instincts and sins were never limited to us alone.
Along with other scattered survivors, astronaut Cynthia Han and the remainder of ISS Expedition 81 have finally learned what happened to the people they’d left behind, and it’s worse than any of them could have imagined.
But even if life as Cynthia knew it is over, her struggles most certainly are not. Joshua Lamb, granted strange and inhuman abilities even as civilization died around him, directs his zealots to scoop up every pocket of survivors, to offer them the simplest Join or die. The nightmarish Crooked Men still hunt the darkened, hollowed cityscapes. And towering over it all, the mind-breaking obelisks with their unreadable alien message.
At stake are not just the lives of Cynthia and her companions, but the last flickering embers of the human race. To succeed, not only must she learn the true purpose of the obelisks, she must come to understand that the worst of humanity’s instincts and sins were never limited to us alone.
- GenresScience Fiction
281 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 26, 2023
1 person is currently reading
19 people want to read
About the author
Ari Marmell
101 books436 followersWhen Ari Marmell has free time left over between feeding cats and posting on social media, he writes a little bit. His work includes novels, short stories, role-playing games, and video games, all of which he enjoyed in lieu of school work when growing up. He’s the author of the Mick Oberon gangland/urban fantasy series, the Widdershins YA fantasy series, and many others, with publishers such as Del Rey, Titan Books, Pyr Books, Wizards of the Coast, and now Omnium Gatherum.
Ari currently resides in Austin, Texas. He lives in a clutter that has a moderate amount of apartment in it, along with George—his wife—and the aforementioned cats, who probably want something.
Ari currently resides in Austin, Texas. He lives in a clutter that has a moderate amount of apartment in it, along with George—his wife—and the aforementioned cats, who probably want something.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 23, 2023
In the previous volume, Obelisks: Dust, the crew of the International Space Station awakened one day to find themselves orbiting a shockingly changed Earth. Making their way back to the surface, they find most of the human species is simply gone, driven to madness and suicide by the mysterious obelisks which have suddenly appeared throughout the landscape. Even to catch a glimpse of one of the obelisks is to risk losing one’s mind, or worse. Only a few people have managed to survive in the wasteland that was once the state of Texas.
Our protagonist, once again, is Flight Engineer Cynthia Han. In the first book, Cynthia struggled simply to survive and help a few others, while fighting through a steadily progressing terminal illness. Now she has found other groups of survivors, including a large (and very well-armed) group which has its own sinister plans for the transformed world. With her own personal clock running out, Cynthia and her friends must solve the mystery of the obelisks, and see if they can secure a future for any human beings at all.
The first volume of this story was pegged as horror, but this second volume ventures into cosmic horror of Lovecraftian scope. Cynthia is a clever and determined woman, but she’s up against a plot billions of years deep that stretches far out into the depths of space. Her story remains difficult and bleak, and it’s not one that promises easy victories.
The first volume was mostly about setting up mysteries and plots, and this volume is mostly about resolving them. The suspense remains at a high level throughout, with reversals and surprises every few scenes. The conclusion is satisfying and wraps up all of the relevant plot threads, although it leaves the door cracked open for a sequel.
The prose style here is very clean. I caught one or two minor copy-editing errors this time, but not enough to pull me out of the narrative. Viewpoint discipline is good; there is a bit more shifting of viewpoint than in the first volume, but it’s all clear and well-marked. There’s a bit more exposition as well, but by and large it’s still embedded in dialogue and character action. Mr. Marmell’s form remains very good.
The story merits one clear content warning, over and above the general bleakness and violence of the plot. A supporting character proves to be in the grip of a pedophilic disorder, an element of his character that was foreshadowed in the first volume, but not made clear until now. His scenes in this volume can be disturbing to read, although – to be clear – they are not sexually explicit. Also, to be fair, the author isn’t using this narrative move simply for shock value; it does play a clear role in the plot.
As with the first volume, I tore through this story in a single sitting, and now I’m interested to see what else Mr. Marmell might be working on in the future. Very highly recommended.
Our protagonist, once again, is Flight Engineer Cynthia Han. In the first book, Cynthia struggled simply to survive and help a few others, while fighting through a steadily progressing terminal illness. Now she has found other groups of survivors, including a large (and very well-armed) group which has its own sinister plans for the transformed world. With her own personal clock running out, Cynthia and her friends must solve the mystery of the obelisks, and see if they can secure a future for any human beings at all.
The first volume of this story was pegged as horror, but this second volume ventures into cosmic horror of Lovecraftian scope. Cynthia is a clever and determined woman, but she’s up against a plot billions of years deep that stretches far out into the depths of space. Her story remains difficult and bleak, and it’s not one that promises easy victories.
The first volume was mostly about setting up mysteries and plots, and this volume is mostly about resolving them. The suspense remains at a high level throughout, with reversals and surprises every few scenes. The conclusion is satisfying and wraps up all of the relevant plot threads, although it leaves the door cracked open for a sequel.
The prose style here is very clean. I caught one or two minor copy-editing errors this time, but not enough to pull me out of the narrative. Viewpoint discipline is good; there is a bit more shifting of viewpoint than in the first volume, but it’s all clear and well-marked. There’s a bit more exposition as well, but by and large it’s still embedded in dialogue and character action. Mr. Marmell’s form remains very good.
The story merits one clear content warning, over and above the general bleakness and violence of the plot. A supporting character proves to be in the grip of a pedophilic disorder, an element of his character that was foreshadowed in the first volume, but not made clear until now. His scenes in this volume can be disturbing to read, although – to be clear – they are not sexually explicit. Also, to be fair, the author isn’t using this narrative move simply for shock value; it does play a clear role in the plot.
As with the first volume, I tore through this story in a single sitting, and now I’m interested to see what else Mr. Marmell might be working on in the future. Very highly recommended.
March 29, 2023
Part 2 and all the better
Ari delivers with the second half of Obelisks! Don't want to give anything away, but this book seems to ask a simple question: who decides what it means to save the world? In the true style of weird fiction/ horror you might not like any of the answers.
Ari delivers with the second half of Obelisks! Don't want to give anything away, but this book seems to ask a simple question: who decides what it means to save the world? In the true style of weird fiction/ horror you might not like any of the answers.
November 3, 2023
A fantastic second story in the series! I really, really liked the explanations provided by the author to questions I had from Dust.
We are introduced to a number of new characters, some good… some bad (or at least questionable). I wasn’t too fond of Ethan’s story arc, but I understood why it was necessary. Same goes for Cynthia.
Just like the first book, I had a hard time putting Ashes down once I started. It’s intense and thrilling, with a lot of action going on. Grab these two scifi thrillers right away!
We are introduced to a number of new characters, some good… some bad (or at least questionable). I wasn’t too fond of Ethan’s story arc, but I understood why it was necessary. Same goes for Cynthia.
Just like the first book, I had a hard time putting Ashes down once I started. It’s intense and thrilling, with a lot of action going on. Grab these two scifi thrillers right away!
July 7, 2024
I did not enjoy this book as much as the first one. I think it was related to the tired storyline of heroine has to outsmart evil cult leader. There were some weird and honestly heinous twists in the plot that set characters up for their demise. I did like the compassionate twist where the alien invaders didn’t want to destroy humanity, just use them for their own purposes. The rogue aliens were scary and added an ominous backdrop. I am going to guess that there is going to be a third book based on some things that were not completely tied up, but I wish that more would have happened instead of dragging out the book with spars between characters and mercilessly cruel deaths to characters that were harmless and not central to the story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 4, 2024
Concept is A+ Characters are bland C tier and then the big reveal of WTF is going on and... of course it is humanity vs god. This very much wants to be a Stephen King novel but is written more like a made for Hallmark channel version. I wanted all out end of the world Eldrich god stuff, got woops we did not calibrate our "bible" for humans.
September 15, 2023
Really good follow-up to the first book. Fast-paced action/adventure with some creepy villains, allies that aren't so great, and aliens. Not all the characters are well developed (one reason the story is so much fun to read), but the central characters have compelling personal stories and faults. Not a lot of hard science to wade through, just a good look at what we humans are--and are not.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews