“Pop said that in the days before the smoke they used to tell the seasons by the numbers on the calendar or they rhythm of the birds and the trees and the other things that grew and died in their own time. I struggled, imagining the outdoors could be anything but chaos and violence. There were only two seasons now. Maybe three, if you cared enough to argue. There were seasons of smoke, seasons of rain, and seasons of death. Truthfully though, death was always there.“
Amid the Ashes is an uplifting post-apocalyptic novel that hopes to provide some measure of comfort for individuals suffering from climate anxiety. It’s drawn comparisons to the Little House on the Prairie series for its focus on family life on humanity’s frontier, as well as The Martian for its pragmatic treatment of the technologies and lifestyles that are necessary to sustain life in a post-industrial society.
Chiefly, Amid the Ashes attempts to offer an alternate option for readers who find themselves exhausted with post-apocalyptic hellscapes that focus their plots around human cruelty and brutalist survival. The story offers a chance to explore that same environment, but with a fundamentally different assumption about human nature underpinning it. Solidly #hopecore, the novel is ultimately a story that explores the many different forms of love and how practicing that love can help sustain us amid otherwise hopeless circumstances.
Amid the Ashes is currently available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover through Amazon, with wider release expected later this year. It is also available via Kindle Unlimited.
If you’ve read and enjoyed Amid the Ashes, please consider leaving a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or your preferred social channels, and don’t be afraid to tag the author (@abeaudryauthor) in your review. As an early career writer, sharing your feedback is crucial for helping this novel to reach the people it was written for.
Featured Amazon Review:
Collapse novels often tread the well-worn path of grim dystopian visions and high-stakes survival tales. Aaron Beaudry’s Amid the Ashes breaks with convention, offering a profoundly human portrayal of life after the collapse of modern industrial civilization. From the very first page, the author offers a candid note to readers, signaling that this is not your typical post-apocalypse novel:
“There may be significant portions of the narrative that feel slow, meandering, or pointless in comparison to most other contemporary speculative fiction, and I believe it is important for readers to understand that this is an intentional artistic decision prior to consuming the work. Amid the Ashes is about finding and creating beauty and meaning in challenging, and often mundane circumstances, and the challenge for readers therefore mirrors the challenges facing the characters.”
This candid acknowledgment invites readers to approach the story with patience and an openness to its deliberate pace. By doing so, Amid the Ashes sets a new standard for collapse fiction, one that doesn’t automatically assume that the end of modernity spells the start of a dystopian apocalypse. Instead, Beaudry presents collapse as a profound shift, painful and challenging, yet filled with opportunities for reinvention and rediscovery.
Set decades after the unraveling of global supply chains and the dissolution of modern institutions, the story follows the life of Cian, a young boy raised on a self-sustaining homestead in the forests outside Portland, Maine. His parents, foreseeing the inevitability of societal collapse, retreated there from the comforts of urban life to prepare for an uncertain future. The novel chronicles Cian’s entire lifespan, from his childhood on the family’s isolated farm to his coming-of-age moments and his eventual role in fostering connections with nearby communities. Through Cian’s eyes, we witness the slow rebuilding of a world no longer defined by mass communication, abundant energy, stable climates, and industrial conveniences.
The novel’s pacing mirrors the rhythms of the world it depicts: slow, deliberate, and deeply rooted in the day-to-day realities of life. Early on, Beaudry explores the family’s struggle with a central paradox: the need to maintain a degree of security through isolation while grappling with the loneliness and stagnation that such isolation can bring. This tension is particularly evident as Cian and his sister Sammie grow older and become increasingly curious about the world beyond their secluded farm, a world their parents spoke of with equal parts caution and nostalgia. A major turning point in their journey occurs when Sammie decides to connect with the nearby village of New Eden, despite the risks. Through this moment, Beaudry underscores survival alone is not enough; true fulfillment requires taking risks to find community, and to have the freedom to exist beyond the safety of our chains.
A further example of the importance Beaudry places on community is the story of Cian’s daughter, who, after years of experimentation, develops a hardy pea plant hybrid capable of thriving in adverse conditions. The success of this crop places great demand on labor, culminating in a harvest season that requires the entire town’s participation. What begins as a practical effort to increase crop yields during challenging times, transforms into something deeply meaningful: the town’s first-ever harvest festival, complete with games and a playful “Lord of the Peas” competition. The festival becomes more than a celebration of agricultural success, it’s a testament to resilience, joy, and the power of creating a shared collective purpose. Beaudry shows that in the absence of the distractions of modernity, people are drawn to what truly matters, fostering unity and connection that contrasts sharply with the purposelessness and divisiveness often found in our convenience-driven industrial world.
Ultimately, Amid the Ashes is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the enduring power and beauty of human relationships in the face of hardship. Aaron Beaudry invites us to reimagine collapse not as an end, but as a transition, one that challenges us to rediscover what truly matters in life. By focusing on themes of connection, purpose, and the beauty found in everyday struggles, the novel offers a deeply hopeful vision for the future, especially in the face of societal collapse.