Book Tunes (27)

Book Tunes is a new meme that will be held on Fridays and the point is to share the book your reading and a song you think represents it. 

Want to join in?:

• Write up a post
• Tell me the book you are reading, the song you picked and why
• Link up by leaving the URL to your posts in the comments

Ashfall by Mike Mullin

Under the bubbling hot springs and geysers of Yellowstone National Park is a supervolcano. Most people don't know it's there. The caldera is so large that it can only be seen from a plane or satellite. It just could be overdue for an eruption, which would change the landscape and climate of our planet.

Ashfall is the story of Alex, a teenage boy left alone for the weekend while his parents visit relatives. When the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts unexpectedly, Alex is determined to reach his parents. He must travel over a hundred miles in a landscape transformed by a foot of ash and the destruction of every modern convenience that he has ever known, and through a new world in which disaster has brought out both the best and worst in people desperate for food, water, and warmth. With a combination of nonstop action, a little romance, and very real science, this is a story that is difficult to stop reading and even more difficult to forget.

The Tune: Beyond the Sun by Shinedown

The Lyrics:
Speak to me
So I can understand your tongue
You seem rather fragile
It's been said
It's cold beyond the sun
Have you ever been there?

Communicating thoughts of ways
To never have to speak again
Let me be the fire in your head

Bring what's yours, I'll take what's mine
And meet you on the other side
We'll leave a sign so anyone can find us
A better place, a sweeter time
We won't need any wings to fly
A place beyond the sun

Look for me
The way you would if you were blind
Don't be so resistant
I've been known
To travel much too fast
Is that you in the distance?

Communicating thoughts of ways
To never have to speak again
Let me be the fire in your head

Bring what's yours, I'll take what's mine
And meet you on the other side
We'll leave a sign so anyone can find us
A better place, a sweeter time
We won't need any wings to fly
A place beyond the sun

Communicating thoughts of ways
To never have to speak again
Let me be the fire in your head

Bring what's yours, I'll take what's mine
And meet you on the other side
We'll leave a sign so anyone can find us
A better place, a sweeter time
We won't need any wings to fly
A place beyond the sun 

I chose this song for Ashfall because it really fits what Alex is searching for. He has no delusions that it will be a better place once he gets to his family but he does believe that things will get better if they are together. The whole idea of "bringing what's yours" and "taking what mine" fits with this new post-apocalyptic world that has emerged after the ashfall. 

As a duel meaning, it works a bit for Darla and Alex's relationship. Because of the harsh conditions, they are both fragile and need to lean on each other. And now, they are both searching for something better than what they've been handed.