An epic fantasy perfect for fans of the Scorpio Races and Red Rising. Phoenix horses made out of alchemy and ash competing in a deadly race. Eleven racers and three with more to lose but with glory to be gained, how could they not risk it all?

I think young adult fiction is really slowly dropping out of my system. I still enjoy the fast paced nature of it but I'm getting truly pissed off by the characters all the time.

I sadly was not able to finish this book.
It had absolutely nothing to do with the book itself.
But I had a very hard time reading for a bit do to health reasons. And was not able to fully appreciate this one as I should have
From ehat I did read I enjoyed.
And hope to eventually be able to pick this one bavk up at a later date

Every year since the Ashlords were gifted phoenix horses by their gods, they've raced them. First into battle, then on great hunts, and finally for the pure sport of seeing who rode the fastest. Centuries of blood and fire carved their competition into a more modern spectacle: The Races.

The book is so amazingly written. you have Ashlords, Dividians and Longhands each got into this races one way or another. Pippa - has trained all her life for this. Coming from a family of champions there was no doubt she will be on the races; Adrian - He's brought to the races because of Daddy who has a bigger plan than just his son winning the races - he is planning a war and wants everyone to remember the Longhands! And Imelda - She was brought to the races thanks to Pippa who used her as a shield to take the attention of the paparazzi from her not so nice pictorial. While Imelda has been dreaming for this moment all her life, now facing it, makes her doubt herself she will win or even get alive from the races.

Ashlords is a beautifully created world by the writer of Nyxia Triad. In the Ashlord Empire horses are magic and the yearly race can bring fortune to those less fortunate. Imelda is known as “The Alchemist for her magnificent creations and but also the lowest cast of society. Adrian is being trained for rebellion, and Pippa is the favorite, rich, beautiful but a hard work with a warm heart. There is some cruelty to the aspects of the horses because of the way the magic works. But there is plenty of human violence in this The Scorpio Races type story.
I really enjoyed it and want to read the sequel.

I have elected not to read and review this book due to time constraints. Thank you for the opportunity.

I enjoyed this book although it's not quite what I was expecting. I'm not a fan of how it ended and sets up for the next book. But I must say this one definitely strikes the imagination and I really liked the world that was created.

It was a bit of a rough start and it took me a bit to take get into it. Some of the modern dialogue was throwing me off, but I eventually got sucked in. It's not as great as Scorpio Races but it held it's own. I would recommend it for it's originality and spunk.

Scott is a fantastic author! This was the first of his books I’ve read and it was great! Such a unique idea for a story!

This was a great story with a very promising and interesting premise. I really enjoyed the multiple POVs and I was really rooting for each one. I would recommend to anyone looking for fast paced, high action, YA fantasy.

I wanted to like this book so much because of the claim ""Red Rising" meets "The Scorpio Races"" ! However, that's a VERY ambitious claim to make and it fell short for me. It was a great premise, these good world building, but the story did not deliver. Unfortunately I could not really connect with the characters and lost interest really quick.

Hate multiple POVs but it makes up for it with the horses, I wish there were more good horse books like this coming out! Characters were well done, even if you hate a few, overall well done.

4.5 stars

Thank you to the publisher for a free review copy.

Discovering Scott Reintgen has been such a delight. His books have been some of my favorites over the years. I have not been disappointed by his books yet! Ashlords was described as "Red Rising meets The Scorpio Races," and I cannot express how accurate that was. While it may not be as deadly as Red Rising, I can see the comparisons.

But with comparisons such as Red Rising and Scorpio Races, there was some reluctance on my part. The concept sounded exactly like Scorpio Races, but it completely stood on its own. The phoenix horses were such a great concept, and I loved seeing them in action.

Our three riders stood out on their own, but I can't help if Pippa was my ultimate favorite. Her story kept me most invested. I found myself wanting her chapters the most. But Adrian and Imelda were strong riders as well. Imelda's chapters confused me for a bit, but she was still well written.

If you love Hunger Games, Scorpio Races, or Red Rising, then pick this one up. It is fast-paced, well-written, and a thrilling ride. No pun intended.

Welcome to the auto-buy list Scott Reintgen.

I don't like horse books. I was just never one of those little girls. But this book sounded so interesting and was fantasy so I figured I'd give it a shot. The horses are fricken cool and the race was brutal and deadly and I loved it all!


I also just realized book 2 is out so i really need to get that.

The Races has taken over for actual war, 11 of the greatest Phoenix riders racing- sometimes to the death- to be the winner and get the prestige and attention associated with it. But something else is brewing under the surface of this Race, the start of a rebellion that has the possibility to change the system- hopefully for the better.

The story was narrated by three very different characters. We have Adrian, the unwanted Longhand who is a great competitor against everybody's desires, strong and brutal and competent- and only participating to further his own ideals. I will say I liked him and found him compelling, but it was a little off putting to have an older teen boy calling his father "Daddy" (this is a personal hang-up, I am fully aware, but I thought it was creepy). Our second competitor/narrator was underdog Imelda, a poor Dividian under Ashlord control whose social media video's of her horse skills gave her a scholarship spot in the competition. I liked Imelda's spunk and her determination, totally underwhelmed by the pomp and celebration but trying her hardest to keep up with the wealthy well trained competitors. And that brings me to the last narrator Pippa, the spoiled Ashlord legacy who is expected to win the race beforehand. I find it most interesting that Pippa was narrated in 2nd person, everything described as "you do this and you feel this" and I liked her the least, finding it very hard to relate to her and I wonder if it was due to the perspective change- or just the fact she was entitled and kind of a jerk.

Ashlords was brutal, fast paced, surprising and exciting- and it had magic. I had no idea what would happen next or even who I wanted to root for since nobody was completely irredeemable and motivations were easy to understand. I will say that I felt bad for the phoenix horses (yep, a completely fictional creature made for one use) and all the death and torture they appeared to go through for people's entertainment. This is the first book in a series (duology I think...) so don't expect all the answers here or a conclusion since a rebellion is underway.

This is a book that promises Phoenix horses, it even has one on the cover, yet barely delivers on that promise. It had more politics than Phoenix horses and that was incredibly disappointing, especially because it never made me care about the politics nor the characters. Disappointingly mediocre.

Great story and loved the romance. Loved the cast of characters and how the story came to be. Great story and I would read this author again.

Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for providing me a copy of the e-Arc. I am very grateful! This one was very memorable for me and will definitely read more from this author in the future!

Scott Reintgen did it again and I am on the edge of my seat, itching to find out what happens next. Ashlords is like the dream book for anyone who couldn't decide between asking for a horse or a chemistry set....you get both. The character development is superb, they all have their own reasons for racing and desire to win and honestly it is so hard to pick one and root for the entire time. Told from multiple POVs, I found myself rooting for whoever just happened to be telling the story.

Where to begin? First off let me say that I really wanted to like this book. Although I have not read Red Rising or The Scorpio Races, I will say this book reminded me of a cross between The Hunger Games and the movie/real life story of Hidalgo. The synopsis grabbed me from the beginning; phoenix horses, gods, alchemy, a great race, I mean it sounds so action packed and exciting. To top it off you already get an idea that there will be three main characters; a champion’s daughter, a scholarship entrant and a revolutionary’s son. Those descriptions alone had me interested, what revolution are they referring to, why are there scholarship participants and how big of a deal is it to be a champion’s daughter?

That being said, I started this book on July 17th and it took me till September 4th to finish it. Not because the story was too long, or I was too busy (I finished at least 10 other books in this time frame) but because this book just could not hold my interest at all.

When we start in the beginning and meet Imelda (scholarship participant) I was intrigued by her and her abilities despite it being made that she comes from a lower background. Her determination and intelligence made me like her right away and I could see myself rooting for her right off the bat.

Next we met Adrian who is the revolutionary’s son. The fact that Adrian is portrayed as this smart, strong and big guy but refers to his father as “daddy” was a huge turn off. It gave me creepy vibes every time I saw it written and I was constantly questioning what kind of relationship that had that that was the preferred term.

The last character we meet is Pippa who is the daughter of two previous champions and who annoyingly and for some unknown reason is described in a second person POV. She is the only one that this happens with and it was completely unnecessary and did nothing to help with the book. I found myself wanting to like her, but the POV just drove me mad the whole time.

The races don’t even start until half way through the book and seeing as how the back of the book hypes up this huge race, I was so disappointed that the race was completed by the end of the book. It just felt like a lot of hype and then a massive let down. I knew going into this book that it was a part of a duology so I expected the race to continue into the next. Yes, there is a cliffhanger to lead you into the next story, but I find myself not very interested into seeing where it leads. It does seem like I’m the odd man out in these reviews, and maybe this story just wasn’t for me.

I received a review copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

As many of you may know, two of my all time favorite books is The Scorpio Races and Red Rising. So when Ashlords has those two books as the comps? I was wary to say the least! However, I can safely attest that Ashlords was a whole lot of fun and I greatly enjoyed it!

That being said, I don't think the comparisons are completely accurate so take that with a grain of salt! The only way it's similar to The Scorpio Races in my opinion is that there's a race. I more felt the Red Rising vibes (a group of people wanting to rise up and rebel against their oppressors) but most of all, I was reminded of the Hunger Games! This race is televised and the interviews with the contestants definitely gave me major Hunger Games vibes. Anyway, just wanted to get that out there so if you're like me and you saw those comparisons you know what to expect.

The true star of this book are the phoenixes! They are fascinating in this book! I can't stress how cool I found them to be. It's so unique. The whole process of the ashes and components and how they're put together in order to have an entirely different phoenix reborn is so, so cool! As a horse lover, this was right in my wheelhouse. I absolutely loved it! The race portion of the book was so much fun. It took awhile before we got there but it was awesome. It had me on the edge of my seat!

There are three main POVs and all of them are interesting characters giving us a different perspective of the societal hierarchy in the country. Rebellion is brewing from two separate groups to rise up against the Ashlords and the groundwork for what will happen is just getting started. I can't wait to see what direction things will go in because each of these characters are well developed and multi layered so I'm already invested in their journeys. One of the POVs is in second person which did throw me off at the beginning because it was a little jarring. I rarely read anything in second person. However, after the first few chapters in that POV, I did get used to it and it seemed more natural.

In short...

If you are interested in a fast paced high stakes story with the most interesting take on phoenixes, this is for you! Magic, political machinations and more abound: I can't wait for the sequel!