Reprise Review: A Land of Ash / David Daglish

Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Short Story

Approximate word count: 30-35,000

Availability    

Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: YES  Smashwords: NO  Paper: YES

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

Growing up on a Missouri farm, David Dalglish normally writes fantasy. This includes two series, the Shadowdance Triology and the five volume Half-Orc series. For more on Dalglish, visit his web site.

Description:

"The Yellowstone Caldera has erupted once every 600,000 years. We're 40,000 years overdue.”

Although David Dalglish wrote the majority of the stories in this collection, it also includes contributions from David McAfee, Daniel Arenson, John Fitch V, Michael Crane, and Robert Duperre.

Appraisal:

Start with the assumption that the Yellowstone Caldera has erupted. Assume people know what's coming - a large dust cloud traveling west to east that will kill many and throw much of the world into the equivalent of a nuclear winter. Then write a series of short stories about how people will react with contributions from a variety of writers. What a great concept.

Given the assumptions, how would you react? Would you hunker down and wait for the inevitable? Would you flee, hoping to outrun the cloud or at least prolong life as long as possible? Would you maximize the enjoyment of what little time you had left? The widely different characters in these stories cover a broad spectrum of possible reactions, yet with the overriding assumption as the glue A Land of Ash reads more like a novel than a short story anthology. An added bonus is the chance to be introduced to several new authors.

Format/Typo Issues:

I read this prior to starting the blog, however I believe there were very few, if any, issues at that time.

Rating: ***** Five stars