Hadrian Boone lives in a world vastly different from the
one in which he grew up, a world that has been changed by a
nuclear catastrophe. Sheltered from the worst of the
fallout, he and a group of men become founders of a colony
they call Carthage. Survival in the beginning was hard,
but they managed to live off the land and in time develop
simple technologies. They are still far from
self-sufficient and still plagued with problems.
Unfortunately,
their society looks down on things that remind them of the
past, so the adults and the children have no common
ground. Censorship, child suicides, and even crime run
rampant. They exile those who are sick and dying. Will
they ever have a thriving community?
Hadrian haunted by the past has long sought solace at the
bottom of a bottle. He is quite outspoken in his views,
and rather often finds himself in a jail cell. However,
when Jonah, a good friend and fellow founder, is found
murdered, Hadrian along with a female officer are tasked by
the governor with finding the murderer. The hope of
Carthage rested mainly on Jonah's inventions, and Hadrian
needs to figure out the reason behind his death. He
follows a convoluted path through the dark side of
Carthage, into the exile camp, and even further beyond
their known land. Their path yields some answers but also
uncovers more questions. He never imagined the depth of
the duplicity and corruption that threatens his colony and
the people who inhabit it. Will he be able to convince
anyone of the destruction that is coming their way? Will
he make sure that Jonah's death is avenged?
Eliot Pattison writes a marvelous thought provoking end of
the world novel. He has created a believable dystopian
world where society is still separated by class, governing
officials look little beyond what they want to accomplish,
and criminal organizations still find a foothold to worm
their way in. Hadrian cannot forget the past and cannot
live as if there was nothing that came before. He
understands that there are lessons to be learned, and
Jonah's murder is an eye opener that cannot be ignored.
His journey leads him into the midst of so much more than
he ever imagined. Mr. Pattison weaves an exceptional
mystery with so many twists and turns, you begin to wonder
if the maze will ever end. ASHES OF THE EARTH is a smart
daring read with characters that grab hold of you. I was
immediately entranced with the characters, their plight,
and their yearning for a better life. This book gives you
a lot to think about, and Mr. Pattison has written a
winner.
Thirty years after global holocaust, the colony of
Carthage still struggles to build its new world. While
steam engines and other early industrial technology have
empowered its economy, the fragile society is undermined
by secret crimes, rifts between generations, government
censorship, and a legacy of casting out those who suffer
from radiation sickness.
Embittered survivor Hadrian Boone—once a revered colony
founder—has been hounded by despair and the ghosts of his
past into a life of drunkenness and frequent imprisonment
for challenging the governor’s tyranny. But when a gentle
old man, the colony’s leading scientist, is murdered,
Hadrian glimpses chilling secrets behind the killing that
could destroy the colony. Realizing that he may be the
only one able to expose the truth, Hadrian begins a
desperate quest through the underbelly of the colony into
the wrenching camps of the outcasts, escorted by a young
policewoman who struggles to cope with the physical and
emotional remnants of the prior world. Ultimately
Hadrian’s journey becomes one of self-discovery, and to
find justice his greatest challenge is navigating the
tortuous path of the human spirit in a world that has been
forever fractured.
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