The world is continuing to adapt after Yellowstone erupted five years ago. Survivors are beginning to rely on older technology as power outages are becoming more frequent. Food is starting to become a problem and the weather patterns remain unstable. In the midst of all of this, Colin Ferguson's family and friends are continuing to adapt to the new world in which they find themselves living in.

Harry Turtledove takes readers on a journey into a world in which a natural catastrophe has wreaked havoc on all the technology and transportation systems, leaving society in a slow, downward decline. SUPERVOLCANO: THINGS FALL APART is the third book in the series and is best appreciated in the context of the series as a whole. While SUPERVOLCANO: THINGS FALL APART is about the aftereffects of a major natural disaster, the focus is really on the individual characters and how they are coping with their day to day living.

Harry Turtledove does a great job at switching viewpoints, as we follow Colin and his second wife, Kelly, Colin's adult children and their relationships (including one former boyfriend of his daughter), and Colin's ex-wife, Louise. The family is spread from California to Maine, giving readers insight into the status of ordinary people across the United States. SUPERVOLCANO: THINGS FALL APART isn't one of those fast paced disaster tales but is instead a slowly developing tale of the increasingly difficult challenges facing people in the wake of the disaster. I like how we get to know the characters, seeing both the positive and the negative choices made by them. I look forward to seeing what happens next!

Book Summary

An explosion of incalculable magnitude in Yellowstone Park propelled lava and ash across the landscape and into the atmosphere, forever altering the climate of the entire continent. Nothing grows from the tainted soil. Stalled and stilled machines function only as statuary.

People have been scraping by on the excess food and goods produced before the eruption. But supplies are running low. Natural resources are dwindling. And former police officer Colin Ferguson knows that time is running out for his family and for humanity....