Mike Mullin
Author of Ashfall
About the Author
Image credit: Photo by Larry Endicott
Series
Works by Mike Mullin
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Mullin, Michael James
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Places of residence
- Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
- Education
- Indiana University
- Short biography
- Mike Mullin first discovered he could make money writing in sixth grade. His teacher, Mrs. Brannon, occasionally paid students for using unusual words. Mike’s first sale as a writer earned 10 cents for one word: tenacious.
Since then, Mike has always been involved with literature. One of his early jobs was shelving books at Central Library in Indianapolis. Later, he paid his way through graduate school in part by serving as a reference assistant for Indiana University's library. Mike has worked in his mother’s business, Kids Ink Children’s Bookstore, for more than twenty years, serving at various times as a store manager, buyer, school and library salesperson, and marketing consultant.
Mike wrote his first novel in elementary school—Captain Poopy’s Sewer Adventures. He’s been writing more or less non-stop ever since, but fortunately for his readers, Ashfall will be his first published novel.
Mike holds a black belt in Songahm Taekwondo. He lives in Indianapolis with his wife and her three cats.
Members
Reviews
Possible spoilers for book 1 in the series: 16-year old Alex and Darla have been living with Alex’s uncle and his family (and Alex’s sister) for a while now, after he found them after the volcano left the MidWest covered in ash and in seemingly perpetual winter. But, where are Alex’s parents? Despite the dangers, Alex insists on heading out to find his parents, and Darla won’t let him go alone. And it is dangerous with people out there hunting other people (to eat, to sell…).
I really liked this. It got going quickly, and kept up the pace throughout. I liked the two new characters, Alyssa and Ben.… (more)
I really liked this. It got going quickly, and kept up the pace throughout. I liked the two new characters, Alyssa and Ben.… (more)
When the Yellowstone Super volcano exploded, the world as Alex knew it died. Society broke down and he witnessed that first hand as he trekked from Iowa to Illinois in search of his family. With the help of Darla, who saved his life on numerous occasions, he made it to his uncle's house, only to discover that his mother and father had left to look for him!! Talk about frustrating!
Originally Alex thought the best thing to do was stay put, but when a bandit turns up with a gun that his father was carrying, he knows he's got to go help. So Darla and Alex set off into danger once again....
My Thoughts:
This book definitely captures the same type of feeling that [b:Ashfall|9644151|Ashfall (Ashfall, #1)|Mike Mullin|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1301592315s/9644151.jpg|14531613] had. It's a very intense go, go, go, action-ey type book. It's still really interesting to read how society would break down after a huge Earth-changing disaster. And it's really sad. My heart broke time and time again at all the evil that this disaster brings out of people... and it smiled at all the little moments of humanity that shone through.
So did I like this book as much as the first one? No. Definitely not. This book had a lot more frustrating moments in it. Moments where I felt the characters were uselessly risking their lives. Alex especially was constantly making risky decisions. Darla even mentioned killing him herself before someone else did, and I couldn't help but feeling like she read my mind. He just kept risking their lives so frivolously that I wouldn't have blamed her if she did. In the face of a disaster, you really can't afford to stop and help every single person who needs it. If you do, you're going to wind up dead one of those times.
When the parents do show up in this book, I was not feeling them. The mom was trying to baby Alex who clearly has been through so much that he is definitely not a kid anymore. She annoyed me. The other thing was the priorities! Alex's priority was supposed to be to find his parents. Going away from that priority was how he ended up losing Darla. Then he finds the parents, only to find that their priority is to help a bunch of refugees in a camp rather than to reunite their family. Ummm hello??? But I did like that they didn't end up being the same people Alex remembered from before the disaster. It is a theme of this series- hard times makes people do things they never thought that they would do.... little by little it becomes easier, until they don't even recognize themselves anymore.
Not to spoil anything here, but Darla isn't in the book as much this time and I desperately missed her!! She's the brain of the Alex/Darla operation. When she's around I feel like they will be safe because she knows what she's doing. Alex is too impulsive and frankly just doesn't have as many survival skills as she does. So basically I spent most of this book on edge and annoyed at Alex's ineptness.
So it seems like I just did a lot of complaining, and I really didn't mean to. This series is excellent so far. When I was reading these books, surviving chaos was all I could think about. I literally was looking at my cupboards calculating how long that food would last me and wondering how long it would be before looters would be trying to break down my door. I honestly cannot wait to see what happens in Sunrise. It's killing me to know how everyone is going to live in this crazy crazy world. Oh yeah and if Yellowstone ever blows, I hope I'm just killed instantly because I've come to the realization that I won't cut it in a world of cannibals. No thanks!!
Quote that summed up the book for me: "The disaster had warped the landscape of our minds- perhaps even more than it had altered the physical landscape."
OVERALL: An intense follow-up to Ashfall. Darla and Alex are back and are now on a mission to bring his parents back to his uncle's farm... except nothing goes as planned in this volcanic world that you can't plan for. I loved reading this book, but realized that I don't like Alex near as much unless Darla is around!! If you haven't read Ashfall, you really should do it!! It's a hell of a ride!
My Blog:
… (more)
Originally Alex thought the best thing to do was stay put, but when a bandit turns up with a gun that his father was carrying, he knows he's got to go help. So Darla and Alex set off into danger once again....
My Thoughts:
This book definitely captures the same type of feeling that [b:Ashfall|9644151|Ashfall (Ashfall, #1)|Mike Mullin|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1301592315s/9644151.jpg|14531613] had. It's a very intense go, go, go, action-ey type book. It's still really interesting to read how society would break down after a huge Earth-changing disaster. And it's really sad. My heart broke time and time again at all the evil that this disaster brings out of people... and it smiled at all the little moments of humanity that shone through.
So did I like this book as much as the first one? No. Definitely not. This book had a lot more frustrating moments in it. Moments where I felt the characters were uselessly risking their lives. Alex especially was constantly making risky decisions. Darla even mentioned killing him herself before someone else did, and I couldn't help but feeling like she read my mind. He just kept risking their lives so frivolously that I wouldn't have blamed her if she did. In the face of a disaster, you really can't afford to stop and help every single person who needs it. If you do, you're going to wind up dead one of those times.
When the parents do show up in this book, I was not feeling them. The mom was trying to baby Alex who clearly has been through so much that he is definitely not a kid anymore. She annoyed me. The other thing was the priorities! Alex's priority was supposed to be to find his parents. Going away from that priority was how he ended up losing Darla. Then he finds the parents, only to find that their priority is to help a bunch of refugees in a camp rather than to reunite their family. Ummm hello??? But I did like that they didn't end up being the same people Alex remembered from before the disaster. It is a theme of this series- hard times makes people do things they never thought that they would do.... little by little it becomes easier, until they don't even recognize themselves anymore.
Not to spoil anything here, but Darla isn't in the book as much this time and I desperately missed her!! She's the brain of the Alex/Darla operation. When she's around I feel like they will be safe because she knows what she's doing. Alex is too impulsive and frankly just doesn't have as many survival skills as she does. So basically I spent most of this book on edge and annoyed at Alex's ineptness.
So it seems like I just did a lot of complaining, and I really didn't mean to. This series is excellent so far. When I was reading these books, surviving chaos was all I could think about. I literally was looking at my cupboards calculating how long that food would last me and wondering how long it would be before looters would be trying to break down my door. I honestly cannot wait to see what happens in Sunrise. It's killing me to know how everyone is going to live in this crazy crazy world. Oh yeah and if Yellowstone ever blows, I hope I'm just killed instantly because I've come to the realization that I won't cut it in a world of cannibals. No thanks!!
Quote that summed up the book for me: "The disaster had warped the landscape of our minds- perhaps even more than it had altered the physical landscape."
OVERALL: An intense follow-up to Ashfall. Darla and Alex are back and are now on a mission to bring his parents back to his uncle's farm... except nothing goes as planned in this volcanic world that you can't plan for. I loved reading this book, but realized that I don't like Alex near as much unless Darla is around!! If you haven't read Ashfall, you really should do it!! It's a hell of a ride!
My Blog:
… (more)
Alex thinks staying home alone for the weekend while his parents and sister go to visit relatives is going to be relaxing. That all goes to shit when something slams into his house and puts his world into chaos. Alex soon learns that the Yellowstone supervolcano has erupted, and even 900 miles away in Iowa, there is a storm of ash and thunderous explosions. Soon Alex finds himself in an all-out mission to find his family... even if he has to die trying. He sets off across a dangerous landscape on a pair of skis, determined to walk 140 miles to Warren, Illinois. Along the way terrifying things happen to him, but his determination never falters. Then he meets Darla who saves his life on more than one occasion and becomes a travel partner and someone he trusts completely. Can they really survive in this post super-volcanic world where society has broken down??
My Thoughts:
This was a powerful, intense, and super realistic apocalyptic novel. It had me on the edge of my seat wondering with every turn of the page how Alex and everyone else would possibly survive this catastrophe and what else would be thrown their way. There was so much action in this book with one event after another occurring, that I was very tense the entire time reading it. It was one of those books that I felt the need to finish super-fast so I could stop having nightmares about it. Maybe it's because this event could potentially happen that made it so real for me. or maybe it was the writing, or the characters, but it had me unable to put it down at times. It's like a car-wreck you can't stop looking at even though you are deeply disturbed by it.
Alex turns out to be a very resourceful kid. When the book starts out he seems to be just your average sullen teenager. But on the road he figure things out quickly. Darla was very Magyver-y and so also resourceful in her own ways. I liked that she was smart and also physically strong, but also clearly attractive as well since Alex became so smitten. I don't think I've ever read a book where the female love interest was mechanically smart, able to lift and carry a man at dead weight, and still be the love interest. She protected Alex just as much if not more than he protected her. You go girl!!!
There were parts of this book that highly disturbed me. I don't think I'll ever forget (even though I would like to) what happened to little Katie's family or the incident at Darla's farm. So disturbing and scary. Even though I seriously loved this book, I came to realize why I don't usually read books in this genre that often. They freaking scare me and make me think I'm going to die. Hello!! If Yellowstone blows, I'm definitely gonna die. There is no way I can skin animals and fight off scary psychos that want to take my food. I'm dead. So yeah these type of books just get me to thinking way too much about how fragile society and life in general is. I don't want to ever live in a world where people are driven to desperation.
I think this quote sums it up pretty well:
"For the first time ever, I felt ashamed of my species. The volcano had taken our homes, our food, our automobiles, and our airplanes, but it hadn't taken our humanity. No, we'd given that up on our own."
Overall: INTENSE!! An awesome, terrifying look at one boy's journey through an apocalyptic world. I love that this was set in modern times (not 100 years in the future) and that there were no zombies or monsters (so it was realistic). I recommend for anyone who likes reading end-of-the-world scenario books because this one rocked! I am definitely down to read Ashen Winter.
My Blog:
… (more)
My Thoughts:
This was a powerful, intense, and super realistic apocalyptic novel. It had me on the edge of my seat wondering with every turn of the page how Alex and everyone else would possibly survive this catastrophe and what else would be thrown their way. There was so much action in this book with one event after another occurring, that I was very tense the entire time reading it. It was one of those books that I felt the need to finish super-fast so I could stop having nightmares about it. Maybe it's because this event could potentially happen that made it so real for me. or maybe it was the writing, or the characters, but it had me unable to put it down at times. It's like a car-wreck you can't stop looking at even though you are deeply disturbed by it.
Alex turns out to be a very resourceful kid. When the book starts out he seems to be just your average sullen teenager. But on the road he figure things out quickly. Darla was very Magyver-y and so also resourceful in her own ways. I liked that she was smart and also physically strong, but also clearly attractive as well since Alex became so smitten. I don't think I've ever read a book where the female love interest was mechanically smart, able to lift and carry a man at dead weight, and still be the love interest. She protected Alex just as much if not more than he protected her. You go girl!!!
There were parts of this book that highly disturbed me. I don't think I'll ever forget (even though I would like to) what happened to little Katie's family or the incident at Darla's farm. So disturbing and scary. Even though I seriously loved this book, I came to realize why I don't usually read books in this genre that often. They freaking scare me and make me think I'm going to die. Hello!! If Yellowstone blows, I'm definitely gonna die. There is no way I can skin animals and fight off scary psychos that want to take my food. I'm dead. So yeah these type of books just get me to thinking way too much about how fragile society and life in general is. I don't want to ever live in a world where people are driven to desperation.
I think this quote sums it up pretty well:
"For the first time ever, I felt ashamed of my species. The volcano had taken our homes, our food, our automobiles, and our airplanes, but it hadn't taken our humanity. No, we'd given that up on our own."
Overall: INTENSE!! An awesome, terrifying look at one boy's journey through an apocalyptic world. I love that this was set in modern times (not 100 years in the future) and that there were no zombies or monsters (so it was realistic). I recommend for anyone who likes reading end-of-the-world scenario books because this one rocked! I am definitely down to read Ashen Winter.
My Blog:
… (more)
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Michelle_PPDB | 144 other reviews | Mar 18, 2023 |
Michelle_PPDB | 144 other reviews | Mar 18, 2023 | Lists
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- 10
- Members
- 2,022
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- Rating
- 3.9
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- 243
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