Terre Haute, IN : Tanglewood, c2010.
466 p. ; 22 cm.
The picture at the top of this post should give you pause. Yellowstone Park [shaded in green], the US national treasure of hot springs, geysers, mountains, lakes and wildlife is basically the crater - or caldera [large red boundary] of an incredibly massive supervolcano that last had a major eruption about 640,000 years ago. Ok, 640,000 years ago is a long time, but the problem is that it will erupt again in the future - probably not in our lifetimes (but it could). It is the unlikely, but theoretically possible event of such a nation-shattering (about 2/3 of the US would be significantly damaged) and world-altering volcanic event that starts Mike Mullin's first novel off with a bang.
The novel is set far away (hundreds of miles) from Yellowstone, - in Iowa - but not far enough away to escape the devastating noise, ash and ejecta of the eruption. The event creates a cataclysmic environment through which the hero of the novel - 17 year old Alex - seeks to survive as he heads east toward Illinois where his family is. His ordeal through this landscape - one that brings to mind Cormac McCarthy's The Road - forms the plot of this thrilling novel.
As you might imagine this new, altered world brings out the best and definitely the worst in people and institutions that Alex is exposed to. A bright spot is his joining forces with a remarkable young woman, Darla, whose skills and courage help Alex survive. Not surprisingly the two eventually fall in love, in a rather believable, and touching way.
The novel should appeal to all kinds of readers. There is disaster, survival, action, romance, and some gritty violence and tragedy. I really appreciated how Mullin allows his novel to really delve into the complex ways that individuals and institutions can trend toward good - and definitely toward evil in situations of grave social disruption. I could easily recommend this book. We also recently acquired the sequel - Ashen Winter.
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