Need a quick refresher, a synopsis of who’s who and what’s going on? Well, you won’t get much in SHADOWS. For story-telling purposes–plot, pacing and all that–I decided against a detailed recap. SHADOWS pretty much picks up where ASHES left off and is a bigger and broader book, with a LOT going on, new characters to meet, new mysteries to unravel.
But I also realize it’s been a while for some of you, so if you DO need a memory-jog, read on. If you haven’t read ASHES, shame on you. But don’t despair; you’ve got time before SHADOWS hits shelves 9/25/12.
In any event, BEWARE: major spoilers ahead. Really, if you’ve not read ASHES, don’t go any further. Not only will you ruin the perfectly good time you might have had—because no synopsis can do justice to a novel—you will miss a lot of vital information that I can’t include.
Just saying.
The Zap: On what starts out to be a perfectly nice Saturday in October, a wave of e-bombs sends electromagnetic pulses sweeping through the sky. No one knows who did this, or why. In some ways, that’s not important. All that matters are the effects.
In an instant, the vast majority of the world’s adult population dies; power and communications grids are destroyed, and sophisticated electronics, crippled. (So that spiffy new iPad? It’s a brick.) Along the East and West Coasts, the detonation of low-altitude nukes above nuclear waste storage facilities, as well as other facilities going critical because backup generators do not kick in, spews fallout into the atmosphere, turning the moon green and the sunrises bloody. Everyone who might be able to fix anything is also history. In a flash, civilization collapses into a hellish, pre-industrial black hole.
Those still alive—the very young and the very old—must find a way to battle new enemies, not only fellow survivors organized into raiding parties and rigidly-ordered societies (like Rule, a very small, very insular village) but the Changed: teenagers you really don’t want to meet in a dark alley. Dogs are like canaries in a mine when it comes to the Changed: acutely sensitive and able to alert people to the Changed’s presence. There is also some suggestion that dogs know who is likely to Change or actively Changing.
A very few people have changed in a different way, developing super-senses that some are not afraid to use to their advantage. Still others are Spared, teenagers and young adults who should be dead but aren’t. No one knows why the Spared have survived, and without sophisticated computers, laboratories, or scientists, there’s really no way to find out. All kids are suddenly valuable commodities; the few Spared are also viewed with suspicion because no one is quite sure if the Change is over.
Many other, much older individuals with advanced Alzheimer’s or other senile dementias are suddenly Awakened, returning to their previous level of function.
Who’s Who:
Alex Adair: living with her aunt in Illinois after her mom, an ER doc, and dad, a cop, died in a helicopter crash three years ago. Suckier still, Alex carries a monster in her head: an inoperable brain tumor that’s stolen her sense of smell and many of her memories, especially those of her parents. After two years of failed chemotherapy, radiation, and experimental regimens, Alex has decided to call the shots for a change. As the novel opens, Alex has run off on what might well be a one-way backpacking trek through the Waucamaw Wilderness in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. She intends to honor her parents’ last wishes and scatter their ashes from Mirror Point on Lake Superior. As it happens, she’s also got her dad’s service Glock, just in case she opts out of a return. After the Zap, Alex gets her sense of smell back in spades: a super-sense that also allows her to intuit emotions and, on one occasion, get a glimmer of what’s going on inside the mind of a wolf. Which is pretty funky. Much more to the point and like the dogs, she is able to detect the bloated roadkill stink of the Changed. Oh, and all of a sudden, every dog is her new best friend.
Ellie Cranford: sullen, uncooperative, a trifle whiny, a kid Alex has to keep herself from slapping silly. What can you say? The kid’s eight. Her dad’s KIA in Iraq; her mother split years back; and Ellie’s now being cared for by her grandfather, Jack, who might have the patience of a saint, but cut the kid a break. She hates camping, and it’s not like she hasn’t got good reason to be a little pissy anyway. Initially rescued by Alex and then Tom, Ellie is kidnapped by some very nasty adults who see her as a meal ticket.
Mina: Ellie’s dog, a Belgian Malinois, and formerly her dad’s MWD (military working dog). Mina also has the patience of a saint and packs a mean bite. The nasty adults take her, too.
Tom Eden: a young soldier and explosive ordinance specialist on leave from Afghanistan; a competent guy who complements Alex in a lot of ways. After Alex fends off a pack of wild dogs, Tom saves both Ellie and Alex by shooting his buddy, Jim, who’s gone through a major lifestyle change. Steady and calm, someone to whom Alex is instantly attracted, Tom also has a few secrets of his own. The biggest is just why he’s in the Waucamaw to begin with. Once they leave the (relative) safety of the Waucamaw—we’re talking wild dogs, booby traps, and kids who’ve suddenly decided that people make excellent Happy Meals—Tom is shot while trying to prevent the nasty adults from stealing Ellie.
Chris Prentiss: formerly from another town, Chris is the grandson of the Reverend Yeager and Rule’s de facto second-in-command. Dark and reserved, a bit of a brooder, Chris has an uncanny ability to find Spared, especially up north around Oren and its nearby Amish community. He falls for Alex in a big way. Despite her initial determination to escape from Rule, Alex eventually reciprocates.
Peter Ernst: Rule’s overall commander, although he takes his marching orders from the Council of Five, representatives from Rule’s founding families, who run the village. At 24, Peter is the oldest Spared and fiercely protective of Chris. Peter has a thing going with Sarah, one of Alex’s housemates.
Sarah, Tori, and Lena: Alex’s housemates and all refugees to whom Rule’s offered sanctuary. Of the three, Sarah’s a tad bossy; good-natured Tori alternately crushes on Greg (another Spared and part of Chris’s squad) and Chris and still makes a mean apple crisp. Taciturn, irreverent, and originally from that Amish community near Oren, Lena’s a girl with ‘tude. Having manipulated Peter, Lena once tried to escape only to be caught in the Zone, a no-man’s land buffer zone through which those who are Banned (i.e., kicked out of Rule for various and sundry offenses) must travel in order to leave Rule’s sphere of influence.
Reverend Yeager: a descendant of one of Rule’s original founding five families and filthy rich from having run a very profitable mining company, Yeager heads the Council of Five (the other members are Ernst, Stiemke, Prigge, Born). Before the Zap, Yeager was quietly dementing away in the Alzheimer’s wing of Rule’s hospice. After the Zap, Yeager was Awakened. Like Alex, he possesses a super-sense and can determine emotions and truthfulness through touch.
Jess: a tough cookie with a penchant for spouting Bible verses, Jess seems to have her own agenda when it comes to who should be making the decisions for Rule. She’s hot for Chris to stand up to his grandfather. For a variety of reasons—all of them very good—Chris is reluctant. Jess makes no secret of encouraging Chris and Alex to become, well, a little closer.
Matt Kincaid: scruffy, pragmatic, sharper than a tack, Kincaid is Rule’s only doctor. He is also an Awakened, though he has no super-sense. He is the only one who knows about Alex’s brain tumor as well as her super-sense of smell. Kincaid has suggested that the monster might be dead, dormant, or organizing into something entirely different.
Events Leading Up to the End:
After Tom is shot, he and Alex make it to a deserted convenience station. While there, Alex battles three brain-zapped teenagers and very nearly ends up as an appetizer. Already weak from his gunshot wound, which is also badly infected, Tom is even more seriously hurt when a brain-zapped kid takes a chunk of his neck. Although Alex treats him as best she can, they both know that he’ll die if she doesn’t go on alone to Rule and return with help. Before she leaves, they have a nice moment and Tom, who’s come close to admitting the truth about why he came north to begin with, promises to tell her everything once they’re reunited.
Alex makes it to Rule, acquiring an orphaned puppy on the way and having a close encounter with a wolf pack, but is nearly lynched by a mob of terrified adults who see kids her age as potential threats. Chris and his dog, Jet, rescue her. She convinces Chris and Peter to leave the relative safety of Rule and go back for Tom. When they arrive, however, Tom has vanished.
It is now the beginning of November. While on her way to meet the Council of Five, Alex picks up a scent she’s smelled before: one of the men, Harlan, who kidnapped Ellie (and stole the fanny pack with the ashes of Alex’s parents, a letter from her mother, and a Bible). Harlan confesses and says that he last saw Ellie and Mina weeks before and south of Rule. Harlan is Banned. Alex gets her parents’ ashes back, but the Bible and her mother’s letter are gone. Sensibly pointing out that they don’t have the manpower to mount a search and that Ellie could be anywhere at this point (or dead), Chris and Peter refuse to go after the little girl.
With nowhere else to go, the winter digging in, Ellie gone, and no idea if Tom is still alive, Alex really has no choice but to stay. This turns out to be moot since Rule has no intention of allowing the Spared to leave; indeed, the inhabitants of the village—extremely fundamentalist and maybe an offshoot of the Amish near Oren—are encouraged to see rescuing the Spared as a sort of holy grail. Furthermore, this is a very traditional society organized along gender-specific tasks.
Still, not everything is rotten. She’s apprenticed to Kincaid as an assistant and doctor-in-training. Banking on the day when she’ll be able to escape, she squirrels away odds and ends. Yet the months slip by and life develops a mind-numbing routine that begins to wear Alex down in a kind of acceptance. What Alex doesn’t count on is a growing friendship with and affection for Chris. Chris makes many overtures she rejects, but she does grow fond of him.
The holidays pass and then it’s January. Even though previous foraging expeditions have been successful, Rule’s beginning to run low on supplies. Forced to go ever further, Chris and Peter leave for Wisconsin. The morning they’re due to head out, Alex is unexpectedly shaken when she glimpses Chris and Lena in some sort of impassioned argument. (Alex’s mood doesn’t improve when Lena throws her arms around Chris.) Alex isn’t prepared for how hurt and jealous she feels. Frustrated because he’s made a promise to help Lena in some way, Chris can’t explain what they were arguing about. But he can kiss Alex, and boy, is it a doozy. Alex admits that she’s been afraid to let herself like him because that means she’s choosing to stay in Rule for the long term and giving up on Tom and Ellie. Chris leaves on his foraging expedition, and Alex seems content to wait for his return.
BUT:
After several weeks, one splinter of Chris’s party—including Greg, who’s happily returning Tori’s major crush—returns with a gravely-ill boy they say Chris found near Oren. This is strange since it means that Chris broke off from the main party to go north instead of sticking with Peter and his men, who went west. In the course of taking care of the boy, Alex finds something of hers: a whistle her father gave her long ago and which she gave to Ellie. Unfortunately, the boy dies without regaining consciousness.
Yet, putting together bits and pieces she’s heard and learned over the months, Alex figures out that while Chris and the others might be gathering supplies, they’re also taking Spared wherever they can find them and, quite possibly—very probably—by force. In other words, they’re stealing kids.
Appalled by this and also galvanized by the discovery of her whistle, Alex makes the impulsive decision to hijack Kincaid’s horse and leave Rule by way of the Zone which is close to Jess’s house. She is stopped, however, by none other than Jess, who Alex now realizes is an Awakened with a super-sense of her own (hearing).
As it turns out, however, Jess has been waiting for Alex to make this decision and helps her escape. Jess’s rationale is, however, a little suspect. She doesn’t care so much about Alex; what Jess wants is for Chris to wake up to what Rule’s doing and mount a challenge to his grandfather. Chris has to want this badly enough, however, and Alex is the tool Jess will use to force Chris’s hand.
As Alex is escorted by Jess and her allies to the Zone, Chris suddenly gallops out of the woods. He’s returned early, and in the nick of time. Frantic to stop Alex from passing into the Zone—screaming that she doesn’t know what she’s doing—Chris is forcibly stopped by Jess’s men and then clubbed unconscious by Jess. Although Alex tries to help Chris, Jess forces her out at gunpoint.
Once away from Rule and many miles into the Zone, Alex comes upon a shocking tableau: a sort of processional way marked by the flayed corpses of wolves dangling from trees; piles of clothing and jewelry; bones; and a pyramid of human heads, all in various stages of decomposition, which suggests this has been going on for a while. One frozen head she recognizes: Harlan, the man who stole Ellie and was Banned months before.
And she is discovered by a pack of five Changed: all in winter gear (although two wear wolf skins and cowls); all armed; all looking very well-fed.
It is then that Alex realizes the truth.
Rule isn’t fighting the Changed.
Rule is feeding them.
No worries.
Arts are hard all over.
Okay I can honestly say you are amazing 🙂 So before I get stuck into shadows I need to know how long it will be until book three? …I don’t think I can wait to long…
🙂 Thanks! Fear not: MONSTERS hits U.S. shelves on September 10.
Aw, heck yes! Monsters is coming out 5 days before my birthday! I know what I’m getting…
I’ve reread Shadows and Ashes too many times. XD, bedtime? What’s that? [Flashlights defeat ANYTHING] And somehow, I finished in less than 3 hours. Zealous much? They’re some of my favorite books ever! I love your writing style and plot and metaphors and characters… [<-Blind worship]
And now, you are the author of the day! *awesome-sounding horn* My awesome mommeh decided that summer's assignments consist of looking up awesome and famous authors once-a-day, so I instantly thought, ok, what about Ilsa? [doesn't even use full name] :3 And I then proceeded to devour your blog like an army of locusts on an unfortunate crop.
You are quite an inspiration, too! I'm planning on becoming an
masochistauthor. [No, really!] You’ve probably totally had an effect on my writing style, a bit. [WTH does that even mean???] [Californian roots speaking]Hopefully, my writing and concrete poetry which goes with it are as good as my family say it is. ^///^ I somewhat doubt it, though. You have a bit of advice, perhaps, for aspiring writers such as myself? ‘Course, I don’t wanna take too much time out of your already hectic schedule. [Hurrah, something we have in common!]
I have to say, you’re up there with Brian Jacques and Derek Landy and Jonathan Stroud [skipping some others due to HUGE READING LIST ZOMG GEMMEH WHAT HAVE YOU NOT READ] and perhaps above some other, popular authors, with the writers who have influenced me greatly. :3 [Why are you repeating so many things, past me? :/] My librarians love you, too, in fact I believe you met one of them once.
Oh, yeah! I’m planning on drawing pictures of ALL DA CHARACTERS. Alex, Ellie, Tom, Chris, Jess, etc… [Even Mina, though I suck badly at dogs!] I might e-mail them to you when I finish ’em! It’ll be interesting to say the least, considering my style’s halfway between normal american comic and manga…[And maybe some concrete poetry to go with it.]
But now I’m rambling, as I do whenever I comment…[ramble ramble forevah]
–This message brought to you by a self-proclaimed moron. [Who enjoys adding footnotes]
P.S.– This will be perfect for reading a non-garbled synopsis [WHY CAN I NOT BE COMPETENT AT EXPLAINING THE BOOKS I LOVE] to my mom!
P.P.S.– [Will the coding work? Find out when Gemmie posts her fan-girl comment, next time!]
I just finished ASHES literally 5 minutes ago and I hurried to this site to make sure there is a second and I am SO RELIEVED there is! I hope my local library has it or I might go into a wild frenzy. I could not put down ASHES, this book was amazing. <3
Heh. Guess you liked the book, huh? 😉
Yeah, I know that ending drives people crazy. One person wanted to throw her Kindle across the room, she was so upset.
S’okay: a little mayhem, a little angst, a little chaos. My job is done 😉
Honestly, glad you liked the book. Enjoy SHADOWS and MONSTERS; just bear in mind that they’re bigger, broader books: more characters and more storylines going on.
Have fun! 😀
This recap is what everyone should do! Thanks for doing this, it’s so helpful! 🙂
You are quite welcome! My pleasure 🙂
Hey Ilsa! It’s Christi again from South Africa. I’ve baught and read both Ashes and Shadows! They are amazing!!! I can’t wait to see Monsters on Exclusive books shelves like when i saw Ashes and Shadows there. I’m hanging by a thread as i’m waiting for Monsters to show it’s face, hahaha. Hope you are doing well
Hey, Christi! Thank you! I am so glad you’re excited! Quercus will be releasing the book on September 26, so I presume you’ll be seeing it shortly thereafter (if not before). Go bother your local bookstore and make sure they have it on hand. 😉
And enjoy!
LOL Thanks I will!!! Thanks again for everything Ilsa! Hope to chat again soon. Good luck with all other books you will most likely write and may your immagination blossom like spring buds. Best wishes for you.
🙂 Thanks. I’m actually in the beginning throes of the sequel to a new book coming in February, 2014–and then I have a TON of other books begging to be written.
Omg!
I Absolutely Love Your Book Ashes With Alex, Tom, and Ellie!
Its Genius. Its So Chilling And Very Interesting. Started Reding A Week Ago And I Cant Put It Down.Almost Done With It ! 🙂
Thanks So MUCH!
Omg!
I Absolutely Love Your Book Ashes With Alex, Tom, and Ellie!
Its Genius. Its So Chilling And Very Interesting. Started Reding A Week Ago And I Cant Put It Down.Almost Done With It ! 🙂
Thanks So MUCH.
I’m so glad you’re enjoying yourself! You are quite welcome 🙂
I love this book; It really catches the reader and hooks them to read more. The only question I have is why does Jess want Chris to challenge his grandfather. In all its a really good book that should be turned into a movie.
Boy, I hear you about a movie; where ARE all those directors and producers who oughta be knocking down my door, anyway? 😉
As for the answer to your question . . . read on! Your answer to this–and more–comes in the series 🙂
Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting this recap! I couldn’t remember where things left off, or who was who – I’ll enjoy Shadows and Monster so much more, now. 🙂
Heh. You’re quite welcome.
I read ashes so many years ago, and never assumed there wa a second book, thinking that it was such a bad cliffhanger- I literally used to tear my hair out wondering what happened to Alex etc- then in summer I saw shadows on the shelf in a bookshop and thought ‘the cover reminds me of ashes’… ‘Oh wait, it’s the sequel I didn’t realise there was’.
I started reading shadows this morning, but some of the names and plot lines had gone from my head so thanks for this summary, it saved me reading Ashes AGAIN and having to wait to read shadows
Heh. Yeah, I broke all kinds of rules with that cliffhanger 😉 Glad you found this summary. Enjoy! 🙂
Someone pointed me towards this post as I was in the midst of Shadows and it had been a while since I had read the awesome Ashes. This was brilliant…just what I needed! And Monsters awaits me as soon as I’ve finished..no waiting. Hurray! Thank you!
Oh and I’ve just requested your new one from Netgalley. Fingers crossed! xxxx <<<me crossing fingers.
And toes! 😉 Don’t forget that I’ve also got other books out there, too, to tide you over 😉
Excellent! You’re welcome 🙂
LOVING Shadows. The story gets richer and thats what you need from a second book! And the crossing fingers worked as I now have White Space which looks like an awesome concept. Can’t wait to read it. Thank you!
Terrific! Enjoy 🙂
Ok so is there a sequel to this cause I am very much in love with it and the author till i found out the worse ………………………………………
Glad to hear it, and there is: SHADOWS. The final volume, MONSTERS, just came out in September. Enjoy!
Wow. I cannot believe how intense this book was. When I decided to read it I had originally thought the book was about her getting lost in the wilderness. I was like oh cool a survival book. I have never had an interest in apocalyptic thrillers so I was completely befuddled when I got to the 2nd chapter. The ” zap” was my first inkling that this wasn’t a wilderness survival book. I was somewhat appalled by your vivid detail to the obscenities that Alex witnessed. I continued reading up to the point where Ellie and Alex witness the two teenagers eating the old woman. It was so disgustingly vivid I almost threw up… IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!! I could not stop reading after that point. My own emotions were intertwined with the events of the book. Such as when Ellie knocked the glock into the river I subconsciously gasped and was like noooo! I also had the sudden urge to reach inside the book and smack Ellie senseless. Good thing I couldn’t. I was so immersed in the book I could not stop reading it. When I got in my car to go home from school I just sat in the parking lot and read until the superintendent told me to leave. I. Even tried reading while I was driving (Don’t do it) I have finished ashes and I will be checking out shadows tomorrow. I have to hand it to you, I have never read a book that was so obscene that it was impossible to stop. In my opinion a movie would not do this trilogy justice because it could not capture the intense emotions that fill this book. If this was however made into a movie i would be physically incapable of not seeing it. This book is a work of art. Thank you Bick.
Well, thanks! I’m so glad you liked it and flattered that it grabbed you! (And, boy, don’t I wish someone would make a movie of it, you know?) I hope you enjoy the rest of the trilogy, too. Just remember: things get worse ;-).
That’s the beauty of the book. Things always get worse before they get better (Hopefully ._.) I have just started Shadows and am half way through. I have a feeling that Alex, Ellie, and Tom will never reunite, but if that were to happen then of course a great tragedy must occur to balance the euphoria from the reunion. The constant morose feeling with this series is what allows the slightly good events to take such a drastic affect on the reader. I my self have remained rather melancholy during my time reading this series. You are full of surprises Mrs. Bick, I have yet to accurately predict any event with this series and that is why I must tell you I am rather amazed by your insight into the human psyche. You know exactly what we as readers will expect so therefore, you know exactly how to devastate us with unforeseen tragedy or on rare occasion, a glimmering moment of joy so that we may slightly forget the danger around the characters only to be reminded by the unforeseen tragedy. You have undoubtedly blew every other author I have read out of the water. You are an incredible writer.
*blush*
it had me on edge the whole time I read it
Glad you liked it 🙂
Just wanted to say that I bought these books for my niece for Xmas. Before I wrapped them I flicked through Ashes, thought it wouldn’t hurt to read the first paragraph which turned into the first page then the first chapter… Ended up reading the entire book in about 4 days which is amazing seeing as I have a two year old son (don’t worry, he still got fed and his nappy changed on time! 😀 ) My own copy of Shadows has just arrived yesterday and I spent most of the night reading it! I always have a book on the go but it’s been a long time since I have liked an authors writing style so much it has inspired me to look up more of their work. Will deffo be buying Drowning Instincts and White Space and whatever else you have in the pipeline 🙂 take care x x
Why, thank you. I’m so glad you enjoyed the book. Yours is the kind of email I love getting because I know what it’s like to be pleasantly surprised that way. I love it when I ambush people 🙂 and, yes, thank you for reassuring me about your son. Wouldn’t want to be responsible for something untoward. 😉
Hey Ilsa! It’s Christi again from South-Africa. I just like to say that i finally got Monsters here last year in the end of November. And I would LOVE to say, that … IT. WAS. AWSOME!!! I’m definitely going to read more of the other books that you wrote as well! Even my mom is reading the books! Though it’s not really her genre. Please keep up the brilliant work! I hope you will stay successful!
Your books even gave me the inspiration to start drawing some of the scenes or characters! Like all the changed rushing towards Finn, or Alex screaming to kill him. But i really want to draw one where Alex is sitting beneath some trees looking out to vallies and paths that the mountain formed, or even her sitting with Chris on the cart on the way to the hispital. That could be so cool!
Thanks for inspiring me as well!
Lots of best wishes, Christi
You are welcome, Christi! Just blows me away that the books have inspired you so! Do let me see what you come up with 🙂
Hahahaha sure! I have my own account on Deviantart.com where I post all my art. Username CrystalLeo if you’re ever interested to see what i have so far. I think that, after I’m done with some of the ‘orders’ i have, I’ll start drawing those immages. Hahahahaha I’m gonna have so much fun!
Terrific. Enjoy 🙂
Hey! I loved this book, but I had borrowed it from the local library, and they didn’t have Shadows(It was out). I was so angry I couldn’t buy the books, but my mam finally said she’d get me the money for Shadows and Monsters, as well as as many of your books as I can possibly get my paws on XD
Here’s hoping you enjoy 🙂
I REALLY love this trioligy! I would recomend it anyone searching for a good read! I am in the middle of Shadows right now, and there is so much suspense! I really like how you change it from one main charector to another, so I know what happened to them. Your a GREAT author.
😀
Thank you, Paige. After a hard day of writing, your was a really wonderful message to receive. Enjoy the rest of the trilogy. 🙂
Loved Ashes, glad I don’t have to wait to read the other 2 books. You Rock!
Thanks! 🙂 Glad you’re enjoying!
I don’t really understand the book, I’m confused. Could you give me a quick overall summary?
Hey there, I’m sorry, but I’m not sure why you’re confused. The book is fairly straightforward, and the summary I give picks up about halfway in the book and takes you to the end. So, if you’ve read the book from the beginning you should be able to follow this. On the other hand, if you tried to get an overall feel for this book from the summary, then, yes, I can see why you be confused because you’re missing the first half of the book. But, as I said, this is a fairly straightforward book. So, if you’ve really read the book, you shouldn’t have a problem with this. Is there a particular plot point that you think you’re forgetting?
We got a list of 6 books to choose from and we had to pick our top 2 so I thought this one seemed the best. After I started to read this I was confused on rather Alex was a boy or a girl, but later in the story it made much more sense. I like how Alex is very protective though especially when the wild dog pack was chasing them!! I