Mullin has subtly developed his characters between novels.
Alex is no longer a weakling who relies on Darla for everything. He is strong
and self-assured, with a maturity beyond his years. Darla remains a role model,
intelligent and practical. Their relationship has progressed and become a
partnership similar to a marriage. The new characters are equally fascinating:
Alyssa was held captive by a gang of flensers (cannibals) and her brother Ben
is autistic, brilliant when it comes to anything military-related, but
challenged by being touched and social interactions. I wanted to learn more
about all the characters and appreciated the research that went into making
them realistic.
While Mullin’s research was extensive, at times the
descriptions of their tasks dragged on. For example, Mullin expounded for
several pages about how the characters moved a heavy propane tank to another
location. This helped emphasize the difficulty of everything they had to do, but
it did not add to the story. Ashen Winter
could have been a hundred pages shorter if repeat arguments and menial chores
were not retold in such specific detail. On the other hand, this writing style
pays off during the many action scenes, which Mullin does not feel the need to
rush. Readers can rest assured that there will always be another chase scene,
firefight, or gruesome discovery ahead.
The cover of Ashen Winter is perfect: it's dramatic, depicts a vital scene from the novel, and also resembles tendons and muscles when seen in miniature. With Ashfall, I felt
the ending wrapped up fairly neatly and did not feel the urgency to read the
sequel. This makes me laugh now, for as soon as I saw Ashen Winter was available, I snatched it up. Now I realize that
Mullin is content with tying up one adventure while gently setting the stage
for the next. I will be able to sleep easily until the third book in the series
is released, but I will also be jumping to read it as soon as it is published.
I really liked the supporting characters too! Despite being so deeply afraid of my volcano...
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