When The Cicadas Stop Singing by Zachary Ashford Two Reviews by Jim Mcleod and Dave Watkins It's the end of the world as we know it; some unknown calamity has befallen humanity, and civilisation has broken down. The survivors, what's left of us, are trying to survive by any means possible while trying to evade the attention of a new breed of killer lizard that has a taste for human flesh. Cora, the hero of this story, is holed up in her camp in the heart of the Australian bush; she is surviving by living off the land, using her bushcraft skills to eke out a life of sorts from the unforgiving and relentless danger of the Australian land. She has a relatively good life in her small oasis, but everything changes with the arrival of two strangers; from here on in its turtles all the way down for Cora. When the Cicadas Stop Singing by Zachary Ashford is the latest novella from the author who brought you the thrilling Sole Survivor series about killer koala bears, there is a massive tonal shift from those two classic when animals attack stories. When the Cicadas Stop Singing is a far more serious effort, Ashford swaps out the humour for a strange but compelling mix of melancholy and breathtaking action sequences. Those of you expecting Ashford's combination of over the top, humourous, horror-action will find a very different beast here. Most post-apocalyptic stories are massive affairs, with chapter after chapter of scene-setting and backstory; I'm looking at you King, and your The Stand, (you'll want to lie down after reading When the Cicadas Stop Singing, such is the ferocity of its narrative drive), however, Ashford throws all of this out of the window, there are practically zero backstories, and even less explanation of why the world ended and the source of the killer lizards. Usually, this would be something of a bugbear; I like things to be explained; I need to know why things happen; I don't particularly appreciate being kept in the dark. However, where this lack of answers would generally elicit an angry response, after finishing this novella, I fully understand why Ashford left these details as vague as he did. When the Cicadas Stop Singing isn't a post-apocalyptic story, it is about one woman's fight for survival in a world that doesn't care about her, a world where death is just a heartbeat away. It is a deeply personal story that uses the framework of an action-packed horror-thriller to look at the effects of grief and loss on how a person interacts with the world around them. One of the most overused cliches in reviews is "this was a breakneck-paced story ", it ranks up there with this was unputdownable as a phrase that sets the teeth on the edge of nearly every other reviewer. However, at this risk of sounding like a massive cliche myself, this book was both. From the opening scene right through to the glorious finale, Ashford pumps nitrous into the narrative fuel lines with gleeful abandonment. The action set pieces are described with an incessant ferocity, so much so that you can almost feel the hot, fetid breath of the killer lizard on the back of your neck. You genuinely feel like you are standing just over to the side and witnessing the events first-hand. However, Ashford doesn't allow the action parts of this novella to overshadow the more intimate and personal elements of the story. We aren't given much with regards to the background of Cora, and there is even less given to Darren and Sarah, but that works for this story. What is important isn't so much as who she is. It's why does she do what she does. The main driving force behind Cora is grief; the loss of her son drives her determination to preserve what is left of her way of life. There is a point in the story where she could easily have packed her bags and done a moonlight flight, but her inability to move past her sense of grief prevents her from doing the most logical of things. Hell, even Cora's interactions with Sarah can be placed squarely at the feet of her inability to process the stages of grief fully. Cora almost acts as a mother figure towards Sarah, even though you know, deep down inside, Cora doesn't trust her. Cora could have just dumped Sarah at multiple points during the story and left her to her fate, but she allows her deep mothering instincts to kick in. And it is her relationship to grief that drives her actions at the end of this gripping tale. Does she make the right decision? We will never know (unless there is a second instalment coming, is there Zachary?) if she made the right one, but I loved how the ending of this novella had a wonderful nod to the conclusion of Shane; it certainly had me screaming to myself "Cora, come back!" The duality of purpose between Cora and Darren is another strength of this novella, where Cora is warm and loving, over and above her aversion to being around others, Darren is pure bestial rage, and angry white male, mad at the world for no other reason than he feels he is owed everything for doing nothing in return. He is the perfect example of a toxic male. You can read the dynamics of Cora and Darren's interactions as a metaphor for how society still allows for nasty characters like Darren to thrive. In terms of plot depth, this is a relatively simple story on the surface, the world has gone to pot, and two undesirables crash into the life of one of the last good people left alive and smashed it to pieces. But look a little deeper, and you will find a hidden depth to this tale. One of the blurbs for this story likens it to Mad Max, which I get, but this reads more like a classic western; in fact, all that is missing from it is a mule and Clint Eastwood. When the Cicadas Stop Singing is a captivating novella, brutal, visceral, and unceasing in its narrative drive, but with a tender heart beating at its core, proving that even in our darkest days, our humanity will win out.  Cover design by Ben Baldwin When The Cicadas Stop Singing by Zachary Ashford Review by Dave Watkins Wow, what a ride! It’s difficult not to read this in one sitting as the pace is absolutely frantic. This is going to be a short review: buy this book now. Ashford has created a post-apocalyptic world where humans have been hunted to the point of extinction by a race of humanoid lizards. The opening scene sets the tone for what follows. Our heroine, Cara, is being pursued by one of the lizard people. It’s a great scene and shows us everything we need to know about Cara – tough, resourceful and in fear of losing her humanity. It also establishes the nature of the apocalypse, and all the information we need is given to us in approximately two sentences. Quite an achievement! Other characters are soon introduced, but the novel’s focus is almost exclusively on Cara and her struggles. To say anything more would go into spoiler territory, and I’m not going there. For me, this is an easy book to recommend. It has a well-drawn and realistic main character who is easy to root for, several horrific scenes (one of which had me going ‘Jesus, Zac, really??’), short chapters which really propel the action forward and it is a great fun read. Horrific Tales have another winner on their hands here and I will definitely be reading whatever Ashford comes up with next. Highly recommended. WHEN THE CICADAS STOP SINGING |
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