Monsters (The Ashes Trilogy) - Softcover

Bick, Ilsa J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1606845446 ISBN 13: 9781606845448

Publisher: Carolrhoda Lab ®, 2014

Synopsis

The Hunger Games mixes with The Walking Dead in this post-apocalyptic YA series that comes to a hair-raising conclusion in Monsters.

The Changed are on the move. The Spared are out of time. The End...is now. When her parents died, Alex thought things couldn't get much worse―until the doctors found the monster in her head. She headed into the wilderness as a good-bye, to leave everything behind. But then the end of the world happened, and Alex took the first step down a treacherous road of betrayal and terror and death. Now, with no hope of rescue―on the brink of starvation in a winter that just won't quit―she discovers a new and horrifying truth. The Change isn't over. The Changed are still evolving. And...they've had help.

With this final volume of The Ashes Trilogy, Ilsa J. Bick delivers a riveting, blockbuster finish, returning readers to a brutal, post-apocalyptic world where no one is safe and hope is in short supply. A world where, from these ashes, the monsters will rise.

About this title

About the Author:

Ilsa J. Bick is a child psychiatrist, as well as a film scholar, surgeon wannabe, former Air Force major, and an award-winning, best-selling author of short stories, e-books, and novels. She has written extensively in the Star Trek, Battletech, Mechwarrior: Dark Age, and Shadowrun universes. Her original stories have been featured in numerous anthologies, magazines and online venues. Ilsa's YA paranormal, Draw the Dark, was also a semifinalist for the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (as Stalag Winter). Ilsa currently lives with her family and other furry creatures in rural Wisconsin and across the street from the local Hebrew cemetery. One thing she loves about the neighbors: They're very quiet and come around for sugar only once in a blue moon.

From School Library Journal:

Gr 10 Up—Bick takes listeners on a post-apocalyptic journey in this final volume in the "Ashes" trilogy. The sheer volume of main and secondary characters and their complex (and often serendipitous) relationships are impressive, but the capriciousness of the point of view makes the story difficult to follow. Also, many of the mysteries from previous books in the trilogy (Ashes, Shadows) remain unresolved. Listeners learn that the Changed are evolving, but little is shared about how and, even less, about why. Despite the weakened story line, Katherine Kellgren offers a gripping performance for listeners, with climactic pacing around every turn during Bick's lengthy action sequences. The audiobook opens with Kellgren's decrescendo as Alex plunges into water, her voice fading to almost a whisper as Alex sinks into a memory, allowing listeners to experience the full gamut of her emotions. Despite Kellgren's outstanding performance, however, this dark dystopian thriller is only recommended if books one and two are popular in your collection.—April Everett, Rowan Public Library, Salisbury, NC

About this edition

• Publisher: Carolrhoda Lab ®
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1606845446
• ISBN 13: 9781606845448
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 688