Obelisks: Ashes by Ari Marmell

Overall Rating: ***** (5 stars)

Obelisks: Ashes is the second volume of a duology, set after the world falls into a very unusual apocalypse.

In the previous volume, Obelisks: Dust, the crew of the International Space Station awakened one day to find themselves orbiting a shockingly changed Earth. Making their way back to the surface, they find most of the human species is simply gone, driven to madness and suicide by the mysterious obelisks which have suddenly appeared throughout the landscape. Even to catch a glimpse of one of the obelisks is to risk losing one’s mind, or worse. Only a few people have managed to survive in the wasteland that was once the state of Texas.

Our protagonist, once again, is Flight Engineer Cynthia Han. In the first book, Cynthia struggled simply to survive and help a few others, while fighting through a steadily progressing terminal illness. Now she has found other groups of survivors, including a large (and very well-armed) group which has its own sinister plans for the transformed world. With her own personal clock running out, Cynthia and her friends must solve the mystery of the obelisks, and see if they can secure a future for any human beings at all.

The first volume of this story was pegged as horror, but this second volume ventures into cosmic horror of Lovecraftian scope. Cynthia is a clever and determined woman, but she’s up against a plot billions of years deep that stretches far out into the depths of space. Her story remains difficult and bleak, and it’s not one that promises easy victories.

The first volume was mostly about setting up mysteries and plots, and this volume is mostly about resolving them. The suspense remains at a high level throughout, with reversals and surprises every few scenes. The conclusion is satisfying and wraps up all of the relevant plot threads, although it leaves the door cracked open for a sequel.

The prose style here is very clean. I caught one or two minor copy-editing errors this time, but not enough to pull me out of the narrative. Viewpoint discipline is good; there is a bit more shifting of viewpoint than in the first volume, but it’s all clear and well-marked. There’s a bit more exposition as well, but by and large it’s still embedded in dialogue and character action. Mr. Marmell’s form remains very good.

The story merits one clear content warning, over and above the general bleakness and violence of the plot. A supporting character proves to be in the grip of a pedophilic disorder, an element of his character that was foreshadowed in the first volume, but not made clear until now. His scenes in this volume can be disturbing to read, although – to be clear – they are not sexually explicit. Also, to be fair, the author isn’t using this narrative move simply for shock value; it does play a clear role in the plot.

As with the first volume, I tore through this story in a single sitting, and now I’m interested to see what else Mr. Marmell might be working on in the future. Very highly recommended.