Ashes Books In Order

Publication Order of Ashes Books

The Ashes series is a highly popular book series of mystery, suspense spy & action thriller novels. It is penned by a renowned author from America named William W. Johnstone. This series is comprised of a total of 36 books, which were released between the years 1983 and 2004. Author Johnstone has set the events of this long running series in the time period after a deadly nuclear war takes place between China, Russia, and USA. All of the book mainly focuses on a rebel group’s reluctant leader named General Ben Raines. Author Johnstone began writing this series in the year 1983 and also published its debut novel in the same year. Following the death of author Johnstone, JA Johnstone has been reviving all his popular series. He is expected to revive this series too, but so far he has not started working on any of the novels. Author William Johnstone was the youngest among the 4 children of his parents. His mother used to work as a teacher in a school, while his father used to be a minister in his town. The upbringing of author Johnstone was done in Southern Missouri, where he spent a major part of his early life.

He left school at the age of 15 and attempted to enroll himself in the FFC. However, he was taken in because of being underage. Therefore, he chose to join the carnival, but quit after a little while and then resumed the studies again. Other than being a famous author, Johnstone has also worked as an army officer, radio broadcaster, and a deputy sheriff. It is always believed about him that the 16 years that Johnstone spent while working in radio broadcasting helped him in shaping his passion for writing and storytelling. Many people close to him also believe that he used to take inspiration for writing his stories from the experiences of his own life. One example of this is that Johnstone had the hobby of collecting guns and knives. Therefore, he ended up having an in-depth knowledge of the weapons that wss used in fightings during his time. Also, Johnstone heard many stories about the life experiences of his family by his grandparents. It was not before 1970 that author Johnstone held the pen for writing. However, he was able to take up writing as a full time profession in 1980.
It was in this year that Johnstone’s first book, The Devil’s Kiss, was released. Since then, Johnstone has successfully written and published more than 200 books. Many of them have gone on to become bestsellers. The writing style of Johnstone focused on the adventures in the west more often. He captured this style in many genres including science fiction, suspense, action, horror, etc. Social and political issues form an integral part of Johntone’s books. Such issues are usually weaved around the theme of survival tactically. The writing approach adopted by Johnstone is rather peculiar. In most of his books, he tends to make the story taking back-seat so that he gets the time to give out his political views.

After reading his books, the readers feel like they get transported into the eighties, and this shows the great storytelling skills of Johnstone. In an attempt to try something new Johnstone used the pen name of William Mason for writing a couple of novels. As author Johnstone used to talk about the issues that affected the society, it describes what an excellent and talented writer he was. The debut book of the Ashes series written by William Johnstone is entitled ‘Out of the Ashes’.

It was released by the Pinnacle publication in the year 1996, after its first release in 1983. William has done the setting of this particular book during the post-apocalypse period in America when the Americans were worried and devastated. At the start of the book’s story, it is shown that the situation in America is very horrid as the loved ones and families are getting killed and displaced. Everywhere there are gangsters and thieves on the streets. And against the such a difficult background, General Raines makes his entry into the series. He too seems to be searching the missing members of his family. The ordinary people do not have any idea as to how they should face the aggression and look very scared. They meet at one place and discuss about the solution to this big problem. In the end, they decide to make Ben Raines their leader because he has military background has knowledge about countering the aggression. He encourages the men to come together and form the resistance force, which is the need of the time to help make a better future for the Americans. This new revolutionary army of Ben Raines tackles numerous challenges in its attempt to rebuild the nation. One such challenge comes their way when they are forced to go against the government policies and face its forces. This novel gives the message of determination and hope to its readers. It teaches that a strong will is very important to overcome adverse situations. The book does show political twists, which author Johnstone is very famous for.

All in all, it succeeded in reaching out to vast audiences throughout the globe. Another very encouraging book of this series is called ‘Anarchy in the Ashes’. It was also published by Pinnacle in 1997. The primary characters shown in this story include Sam Hartline and Ben Raines. At the beginning of the story of the book, it is depicted that the fate of the divided America hangs in the balance after the nuclear warfare that resulted in bloody anarchy, pillage, and plague. On one side, there is Ben Raines leading his men of SUSA Rebels, and on the other side, there are the enemies, who cause obstacles in their path of attaining freedom. The chance of America gaining back its strength in a new independent world looks very slim. But, Ben Raines looks very hopeful, even with such slim chances. He holds on to his promise of a democratic government in America till the very end and does not give in to the excessive pressure from the political figures in the government. Later, a ruthless mercenary named Sam Hartline comes into the picture and forms a huge army. He intends to invade the Russian territory and capture the enemies. This poses as a great danger to the plans of Raines’ rebellion. He fears that his rebel force could be decimated because of this action of Sam Hartline and crush the very dream of a new America. So, he begins to work out another plan of preventing Sam Hartline from undertaking such a step. This comes out as another challenge for Ben Raines and he looks all set to face it with all his strength.

One Response to “Ashes”

1. Tom Roukey: 4 years ago

   The following books are not available on Kindle, can they be added? Judgement in the Ashes, Enemy in the Ashes, Escape from the Ashes, From the Ashes America Reborn, and The Last Rebel Survivor.

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