Age of Ash is the first book in a new trilogy by Daniel Abraham, known for his prior epic sci-fi (he's one half of James S.A. Corey, writer of the Expanse) and fantasy works (i.e. The Long Price Quartet). Abraham's Long Price Quartet is utterly brilliant, a fantasy of manners/epic fantasy that takes place during the span of a lifetime, with fifteen years between each book, dealing with themes of power, responsibility, empire, gender imbalance, and more, and it is one of those series I recommend to everyone (I'm underselling all the themes it touches). The Expanse is of course hugely popular as well, although I think it's a bit more popcorn-ish and thus less interesting, which is why I haven't finished it. Either way, these prior works made the news that Abraham had a new epic fantasy work coming out of huge interest to me.

And Age of Ash is really interesting as an Epic Fantasy that really takes place along the periphery of what would normally be the setting and story of an epic fantasy, focusing instead on minor characters struggling with love, grief, and a lack or loss of purpose. It's a book with two (or three) very strong leads, and will absolutely make you want to yell at the most predominant one for making some horrible decisions, ones it turns on its head near the end in a way that feels very real. It's not quite the Long Price Quartet level, but it's a stand alone exploration of characters among struggling grief-stricken situations that is really worth your time.


-------------------------------------Plot Summary-----------------------------------------------
Alys' mother warned her when she was a child not to follow her brother Darro's footsteps: to go into the slums of Longhill in the ancient city of Kithamar, and turn to crime to get by. But as she grew up she followed him anyway, becoming part of a crew of thieves preying on the more privileged on the streets...while Darro tried to protect her when she screwed up.

Until one day, when Darro is found murdered. Grieving and desperate, Alys tracks Darro's last steps and finds a magical knife and a mysterious amount of gold, but no sign of Darro's murderer. Instead she finds something she never expected - a connection to a richer part of Kithamar, and a woman who claims Darro was helping her to save the city, and that Alys can take her brother's place.

But as Alys begins to help these people and begins to try to keep her brother's memory alive by taking his role, others stop recognizing her as the same person....and soon Alys will have to decide if her actions are worth it, and if she's really honoring her brother in her grief, or if she's just sacrificing herself for a cause she doesn't believe in, for people who might not be worth it.....
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Age of Ash begins with a prologue that dives into the grand history of the city of Kithamar, which belonged to one people before being taken by another (with that first people being a minority now within its walls) and with the story beginning in media res with the death of the city's ruler, its Prince. The typical story with this type of setup would reveal the court politics and epic fantasy plot that would lead up to this event, featuring the three characters singled out in the end of the prologue. But Age of Ash is not the typical story, and only follows one of those three characters (the identities of the other two are never clearly revealed, although I have a pretty good idea of who they are, both are essentially part of their own stories that are generally not relevant to this one), and never really gets into the major epic fantasy stuff going on behind the scenes. The story follows three main characters - Alys, her friend (who has a crush on her) Sammish, and Andomaka, a political power player whose magical religious cult has been marginalized and pushed to the side...and thus even her plot never really gets into the major events that are hinted at going on in the City. And even when we jump to other characters from time to time, we never leave the personal small scale stories of growth, of love, of identity and legacy and grief.

We see that most clearly with Alys and Sammish. Alys is a girl who followed her brother onto the streets, who disdains her seemingly always drunk mother, and who wants to make her brother's memory never go away even after he dies. And so it's easy for her to transform into a person she isn't - a rich woman's tool - in the name of fulfilling what she believes to have been her brother's role as a way to keep him alive in her grief. And in the process Alys becomes a very different person, a worse person unrecognizable to her friends, and kind of loses control in the name of someone she may not have known as well as she realized (something that Abraham hints about early, and then cleverly plays with in the end). For much of the book it makes Alys kind of unlikable, even as she's understandable.

And then there's Sammish, a poor girl also from Longhill who works various odd jobs and helps Alys' crew with thefts to find enough money for food. Sammish has an almost supernatural ability to blend in to any atmosphere such that no one notices her, which makes her the perfect getaway person. And well, she has a crush on Alys the bright, funny and eager thief, and so she helps Alys at first in her quest to find the one who killed Alys' brother. But as Alys changes to try to embrace her brother's legacy in her grief, Sammish starts to mourn the loss of the girl she loved, and starts acting for herself and for the sake of getting back at the ones she believes took that Alys from her, and begins to take actions at great risk to herself for what's right. Sammish winds up grieving in her own way, for the girl she never had a chance with, but unlike Alys she knows what was lost. It makes her essentially the hero of this book, even as she's really the secondary main character.

Even the third major character, Andromaka, deals with these themes. Andromaka is part of a magical cult meant to safeguard the legacy of the city, one whose horrifying ritual (which I won't spoil here, but it very much fits into the theme of grief and legacy) has gone wrong. And so Andromaka is forced to make a choice for that cause, at great cost to herself or else see all she worked for lost for good. Again there isn't much I can say here without spoiling so I wouldn't go any further, but it works very well as a complement to the two main characters.

And like again there is epic fantasy magic here along the way and a plot that takes some very surprising turns. The story here is entirely stand alone, but again there are hints from 1 or 2 characters that more is going on behind the scenes in the places of power, especially with one character who quite clearly knows more than he seems and has an agenda that never comes into play here. And so these magical and epic fantasy confrontations are saved for a future book perhaps....or maybe not knowing Abraham. And yet the book does not feel less for it.

The greatest strength of all of Daniel Abraham's books (including when writing as one half of James S.A. Corey) is the characters. Every series is imbued with rich characters who feel totally real and grow, screw up, and deepen throughout the course of the books. Age of Ash is definitely no exception.

The book follows several different characters in this long, hard year in the city of Kithamar. Our primary protagonists are two young women named Alys and Sammish who know nothing but the city's streets, working in crews pulling off cons and stealing from the more fortunate. One of these pulls goes wrong, naturally, and their story spirals out from there.

What I enjoyed about the structure of this book is how tight the separate threads were at first before unraveling for the book's middle portion. As the characters' lives diverge and a few more POVs are introduced, it's hard to see the bigger picture and how each plot element talks to the others, but then as we progress toward the conclusion, Abraham weaves them all back together in surprising and highly satisfying ways.

One of the best storylines is about the city of Kithamar itself and its line of leaders, which I won't spoil so that you can discover it on your own. It was a bizarre, fascinating development that had me scrambling to figuratively turn the pages of my eARC to see what was going to happen next. Which leads me to my one concern about the series...

Age of Ash tells a full, satisfying story both in terms of its character arcs and the narrative. But as the book's marketing proclaims, the trilogy is going to be telling the story of this single year in the city's history, from different characters' perspectives in each book. I love this idea, but where my concern comes into play is the amount of information we already learned in this volume. We had POVs from what seems to be the most important character in this city's story, and I feel like it would be strange getting POVs from them again in other volumes but with this chunk of the storyline missing, as well as learning chunks that were missing from this volume.

I think this approach works great in a series like Marlon James's Dark Star Trilogy, where part of the actual point of the narrative is learning different people's takes on the events and following several unreliable narrators. Whereas here, the storytelling is much more straightforward, I'm not sure what is gained by retelling the events but from different perspectives, since we seemed to hit all the key players in this one book. If it was told solely from Alys's perspective, then book 2 was Sammish's, etc. it would make sense to me, but as it stands I'm not sure where the story goes from here. Which is another interesting point, because I feel like the ending to this volume--while very satisfying and could pretty much be read on its own--does leave a lot of lingering questions, but I am unsure whether those are actually going to be explored, if the intent with book 2 (and then 3) is to start over again at the beginning of this year.

All that being said, I have a ton of trust in Abraham as a storyteller, so I'm confident there is a great plan in mind and am definitely on board to see what he does with the remainder of the Kithamar trilogy. If it's as gripping as this first book, then we're all in for a treat.

I really badly wanted to like this book. I've never read anything by Abraham before, but the title and description pulled me in. Unfortunately the writing just didn't sit right with me. I found myself rereading sentences often, not fully understanding the point that was being conveyed. I had difficulty following the plot because I kept getting hung up on sentences that sounded "off". I also had a hard time getting into the beginning of this book - it's not unusual to be thrown in without context in this genre, but I felt exceptionally lost for the entire first part of the book. This feeling actually led me to DNF about a third of the way through the second part. If you asked me what this story was about, I honestly couldn't tell you.

Having said that, the premise itself sounds promising. The characters seemed to have potential, and I would have liked to see them fleshed out further so I could get to know them. I think there are likely some people who would really enjoy it, and feel at home in it. Unfortunately I am not one of those people. Sorry!

Actual rating: 4.75

Age of Ash, the first book in a new fantasy trilogy by Daniel Abraham, follows various citizens of the bleak city of Kithamar as they face a year of violence, plague, political machinations, and mystery. This multi-POV story displays poverty and the need for survival in an incredibly realistic way. Though I didn’t always agree with the characters’ actions, I understood their motivations and never doubted that the narrative choices were intentional for the overarching plot of the series. Similar to his work in the Long Price Quartet, Abraham effortlessly weaves the plot of this story with the economic background of the city and meaningful character relationships and interactions. Some of my favorite parts of this book were the conversations between two characters and watching the way they develop.

I loved this book and can’t wait for news of the release of book two. The narrative framing of Age of Ash does leave the reader with unanswered questions by the end of the book, which I think is intentional and didn’t retract from my enjoyment of the story; however, I can see how this choice will bother some readers. With that being said, I have full confidence in Daniel Abraham’s plotting skills and feel like this could be a new favorite series for me.

Many thanks to NetGalley for sending me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

I bounced off of The Expanse and unfortunately I did the same with Abraham's foray into fantasy. This turned out to be a DNF, I hate to say. I think perhaps Abraham is just not for me. Others seem to be enjoying this, though!

I DNF'd this book. Although there were aspects of it appealed to me, and the prose was gorgeous, I was unable to connect to the characters in the way that I would have liked. I hopefully will return to this book at some point in the future, because the prose, especially the lush descriptions that start out the book, really is masterful. If I pick up the book again I will return and update.

The best way I can explain my experience reading would be to use analogies. This is like a complicated recipe full of spices that takes hours to make. But, when you finally taste it, it somehow manages to be bland. I am not saying that this was a bad book, it was just like I was reading this while being underwater. I can see the potential and the effort the author took in crafting the world and story above me, but down below everything was muffled.

I just wasn't engrossed in the story, and I feel like I blacked out while reading because I ended up missing crucial information that left me confused for the entirety of the book. That is partially on me for not paying as much attention as I should have, and partially on the story for just not holding it.

Now, let's get into the details.


Writing:

The text is more on the dense side, with chunky paragraphs and more description than dialogue. I did find that because of that, it took me longer to get through this than usual.

As for the format of the book, there were some things missing. There is a placeholder for a map which is a must-have for an epic fantasy, I would have liked to see it now though but I cannot fault them for that. I am also unsure what the image at the beginning of each chapter is supposed to be, a placeholder?

A complaint I have about the format would be the lack of chapters. This book is divided into three parts and that's it, there are no individual chapters which was a bit odd. I also wasn't the biggest fan of the way the perspectives were divided. I will go more into this in the characters section, but there were a couple of main perspectives, which would shift mid-chapter without warning.

In terms of language, while it was dense, it wasn't hard to digest the actual words. There were some one-liners that didn't really fit and stilted the dialogue though, but my only complaint about the writing was that there were a lot of mentions of whores...a lot. There are also cusses in this if that is something that bothers you.

One note I would like to make is that the ARC was 350 pages, but other copies are 450-550 pages, so either the page counts are wrong, or there is a good amount of content missing.


Plot:

I went into this without re-reading the synopsis, so I had no idea what the book was about. A sign of a well-planned story is being able to follow without knowing what it is about, and this does that to an extent. I was able to pick up on what this story was about, for the most part, but it didn't hit the right stride, and it took a bit to find its footing.

I was confused in the beginning because you don't know the world yet and terms are being thrown at you with no context. It also took its time introducing the characters and the world, longer than I would have liked.

The catalyst for the story is the death of one of the main characters, Alys, brother's death. With a catalyst like that, it is crucial that you form some sort of baseline familial bond to go off of in order for the story to make sense and for the reader to get a good sense of the situation. Because this happens right off the bat, however, that needed bond was not properly established and thus, I didn't feel the emotions the story was trying to convey.

With this being the catalyst as well, I thought the story would focus on Alys trying to figure out what happened to her brother, but that was not a main priority at all really. We also follow the Daris Brotherhood and their agenda, as well as Sammish who is trying her best to fix things. I found that the Daris Brotherhood storyline could have been interesting, but I just didn't care that much for their agenda. The only story I really cared to read about was Sammish's.


World-Building:

This book takes place in Kithimar, a land that was formed after the Hansch invaded the Inlisc. We remain rather stationary throughout the book, staying in Longhill which is the oldest of the 12 districts of Kithimar.

While there was visible effort made to create an expansive world, I wish the cultural aspect was fleshed out a bit more. There is some form of a religion with the mention of priests, gods, and religious factions, but it is not described in detail. The only thing that was noteworthy to me was the amount of detail the author went into when describing funeral practices.

Another part of the culture that was missing was language. Now, it is not required of fantasy authors to create their own language for the worlds they are building, but it does help create authenticity and set it apart from other worlds.

What surprised me the most though, was the lack of a complex magic system. In fact, magic was barely used or explained in this. There were hints here and there, but they weren't as fleshed out as I wanted them to be.


Characters:

With the exception of one, I felt no connection whatsoever to the characters, for several reasons. For one, they were either just not interesting, or were a bit annoying, to follow. Secondly, there were too many names being dropped initially. It dwindled down the further you went along, but a chapter would suddenly start with a new character frequently and it was too much.

As for the main characters, let's start with Alys. I don't think she was meant to be a particularly likeable character, and I know that characters don't have to be likeable for the book to be well written. However, how likeable a character is is crucial for me as my enjoyment of the story hinges on it. If a character is unlikeable, the story has to be phenomenal in order for it to not impact my rating.

That is not the case here, as you can see based on what I have already said. Alys, due to circumstances that I have already gone over, ends up spiralling and making bad choices in her grief. Even though it is made obvious that Alys is lost, I didn't feel like she portrayed the intensity and determination of someone who is desperate to find out who killed her brother. She just felt like a very muted and flat character, and nothing about her pulled me into her story or made me care about her. When she did have development it happened very suddenly and then it would proceed to be turned around again.

I also thought that the way we are introduced to Alys put her in a bad light for me. Since this is the very beginning I wouldn't count this as spoilers so I will go into it. Alys is a thief who goes around with a group of people in order to distract and steal from unsuspecting people. What bothered me about this was the way in which Alys distracted people. In order to catch people off guard and to confuse them, she would grab a woman's chest or a man's crotch. I just don't think it was necessary at all not only to introduce your main character like this but to have this in there in general.

As a very small side note, again not really a spoiler, but Alys fully hit a dog at one point which was where any and all, however minor, sympathy I had for her character went right out the window.

Thankfully though, another main character we follow is Sammish, who I felt was the one good thing I liked about this book. Sammish is pretty much the opposite of Alys as she is very aware and logical. I found that she also had a lot more agency as a character and did far more in this story than Alys did.

Finally, one character I would have liked to see would be Byrn a Sal. The story starts with the death of the prince, a prince who is more or less only mentioned by name. I feel like this character had an important role in the world, and you decided to focus on a couple of young girls and a religious Brotherhood instead.


Concluding Thoughts:

As I said in the introduction, I could see that the author did build a well-crafted world and story, but it was simply just one that did not grab my attention. Sammish was the saving grace for me as I did enjoy her sections of the story the most but, unfortunately, it wasn't enough for me to give this book any higher than a 'meh' rating.

In all honesty, I will probably forget all about this book. However, I would still recommend this because I think that a lot of other people will get way more out of this than I did.

Thank you, NetGalley and Orbit, for giving me the opportunity to review this book in advance.

I wanted to read this one because the Expanse series was so good. I’d never quite gotten around to reading the other two fantasy series he has done. After reading this I put a hold on both book ones at my library to sample both series since it’s obvious I’ve been missing a good author! The setting was fine, if nothing exciting. It was a well sketched out fantasy city and spends much of the time in the slums. The two focus protagonists were both interesting characters and sympathetic with their hard lives. The pacing was great too, there was never a moment when I was bored or the pages seemed to drag. (It’s probably ok that I’ll have a wait in those book ones though, I just counted and I have 37 books in my immediate to read pile that I have on hand. That’s going to take me a while…)

HIGHLIGHTS
~there are a lot of gods
~a magic knife
~a magic candle
~stale bread rolls
~never trust a rich tosser

You expect someone’s come-back to a genre – as Daniel Abraham is returning to Fantasy, after years exploring a far-future galaxy with The Expanse – to be big and loud and flashy. Trumpets, announcing the return of a king. You expect a splash.

Age of Ash is not like that. It is beautifully, perfectly named, because this book is soft and quiet as ashes settling after a conflagration. If you are not careful, if you do not look closely, you might think the flames have died – you might miss the embers gleaming like jewels, like eyes, amidst the cinders. You might not realise that one wrong move – one breath, one careless breeze – could fan those sparks into an inferno that could burn a city to the ground.

This is a quiet book. An intimate book. It runs through your fingers like silk, barely whispering. You have to lean in close to make out the words.

There’s a secret in the city that almost no one knows.

No.

Stop.

Again.

There’s a secret in the city that no one knows – those who think they know it are very, very wrong.

It’s hidden well. Buried deep. There’s no hint or sign of it anywhere, and a secret that leaves no ripples keeps things simple and undramatic. Age of Ash is slow and quiet and introspective – there are no swordfights in the streets, no cinematic heroes, no good vs evil. This is not a war.

But it is about who matters?

This is such a slow-burn novel that I can just about see how some readers might not stick around for the payoff, but Abraham’s prose is just so elegant, his worldbuilding so detailed, his characters so damn human, that I couldn’t put it down. Reading Age of Ash, you feel as though you’re walking Kithamar’s streets alongside Alys and Sammish; this city breathes, and the effect is to turn it into, not so much a place you believe in, as a place you know. Abraham has a gift for that.

It was only distance that made it beautiful.

But Alys and Sammish…oh, darlings. They’re two very different young women, and one of them’s in love with the other, and the other is dragged into a downward spiral by the riptide of grief. Grief is definitely a theme here; its different faces and flavours, and how different people ‘deal’ with it, respond to it. But Age of Ash never quite crosses the line into depressing, although I think it skirts that; both Alys and Sammish live hand-to-mouth, and Abraham doesn’t try to dress up poverty or make it palatable – but he doesn’t make it pitiable, either. He walks that tightrope deftly, managing not to turn their struggles into any kind of saintly martyrdom or turn them into some kind of misery-porn. It’s just life. Bare and unfair, but what can you do except keep putting one foot in front of the other?

And then Alys and Sammish get pulled into the very edges, the shallowest depths, of that central secret, and so much changes and so much doesn’t.

It was like seeing someone in a gilt mask shaped like a wolf, and then removing it to discover they’d been a panther all along.

I don’t know what to say about this book, how to describe it. What I’ve written is so vague it tells you almost nothing, and maybe that’s because, if you wrote out the plot points on paper, there aren’t very many of them. This isn’t an action-heavy book, and it’s not fast-paced. Most of what changes, almost all of it, is what’s inside the characters, not their surroundings, their city. This is a story about the underside of a weaving, the tangled knots and threads that almost no one can see, but that are fundamental to the tapestry. It’s about very, very normal, real people, and balancing the need for bread or a safe place to sleep with thwarting wicked schemes. It’s about drawing the line and saying enough: to those in power, to those who want power, to your friends. It’s about how people, not just cities and the rivers that run through them, can have hidden, unexpected depths in them, and no one can predict what will come out what those depths are tapped.

It’s about fighting back not because of ethics or ideology, but out of stubbornness and spite and fuck you is why. It’s about what the hell fighting even looks like, when you’re powerless and poor and have no idea where to start.

It’s about: how much can one person – one overlooked, sleeping-in-alleys person – make a difference?

A little. A lot. None.

Something about wanting it that badly felt like a crime.

I loved it. If you’re willing to wait for the cinematic showdowns – if you can accept that this is just the opening move, not the endgame – I think you’ll love it too.

This book is getting a lot of hype and great reviews but I didn't see find it to be that great for me. I was expecting to love it but it was really just an ok read. Around about the 50 percent point in this book I sort of lost interest but kept on reading just to see how it ended. I have read Mr. Abraham's books before and liked those so assumed I would enjoy this one as well. I felt indifferent to the characters and the story more or less. I think some will truly enjoy this book, Thanks to the publishers and netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I received this from netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

While the premise of this story is interesting, I unfortunately can't bring myself to finish at 65% through. The writing itself is beautiful, but the characters are very bland to me. I didn't find myself caring about anything that was going on in their struggle. While the concept of the city being this eternal entity seemed interesting I wasn't interested enough to see where it went. It definitely has that first book feel to it, but going forward it needs to work on the characters. I should feel something for the terrible conditions they're in or see Alys be more than one dimensional about the death of her brother. Sammich was the only character I found remotely interesting. I'm grateful for the chance given to read this book early, and I hope the series progresses with the next entry. Unfortunately this just wasn't for me.

I’m quite familiar with Daniel Abraham’s fantasy production, having greatly enjoyed both The Long Price Quartet and The Dagger and the Coin series, and of course I know that under the shared pen name of James S.A. Corey he’s the co-author, together with Ty Franck, of the successful SF series The Expanse, so that when the start of this new fantasy saga was announced I was more than eager to see for myself what it was about.

The city of Kithamar has a long history of power and prosperity, but also of violence and strife: as the novel starts, the uneasy peace between the two ethnic groups living in the city is shaken by the death of the former ruler and the ascendance of his successor - many wonder, given the troubled times, how long he will be able to remain in his place. But Age of Ash is not so much the tale of people in power, but rather of the city’s inhabitants: first we meet Alys, a very proficient member in a band of thieves, one of the most lucrative occupations among Kithamar’s underprivileged. The murder of her brother sends her on a very different path, however: searching for answers first and then for vengeance, Alys finds herself enmeshed with convoluted political maneuvers and the dark, ancient secret behind Kithamar’s rule - a secret that might claim her life. Sammish is another member of the dsmr band, her skill in being inconspicuous a very valuable one for thieving, but a hindrance in her desire to be noticed by Alys on whom she has a crush: when Alys’ focus on vengeance becomes all-encompassing and takes her into the orbit of some shady characters, and once the mysterious Saffa - a woman searching desperately for her kidnapped child - opens Sammish’s eyes on the evil undercurrents of powers in Kithamar, the girl will have to deal with conflicting loyalties and a newfound awareness of the world she’s living in. The third main POV comes from Andomaka, a noblewoman with great aspirations to power and the member of a weird religious cult holding the secret behind the workings of the power handout between rulers: she is strong, ambitious and ruthless, the true representative of the caste that has been governing Kithamar throughout the centuries.

The slow burn of Age of Ash might have proved discouraging if I had not been prepared: previous experience with Daniel Abraham’s novels taught me that he likes to carefully prepare the playing field and that the beginnings of his series require a little patience, which is always rewarded in the end. In this particular case, the “preliminary” work serves to create the image of a living, breathing city in all its colorful detail: shopkeepers and artisans plying their trade in the winding streets and alleys of Kithamar, urchins running underfoot and thieves moving like smoke in crowded areas; the various districts, looking like enclaves where the two ethnicities coexist in a delicate balance, giving way to the mansions of the more affluent citizens and of the nobility - these elements are pictured in such a vivid manner that after a while they feel three-dimensional, to the point that it’s almost possible to hear the sounds and perceive the smells. We are led through the city in its better times, like the harvest, which brings abundance of food and a festive atmosphere, when street revelries offer the chance for celebration and great thieving opportunities in the crowded passages; and we see it in the bitter cold of winter, when food is scarce and ice covers the ground and hangs from the roofs in big icicles, when the poorest have to choose between eating or warming their homes, a time when darkness and gloom prey heavily on everyone’s mind.

While I enjoyed such richness in the world-building, I found myself somewhat distanced from the characters, particularly where Alys is concerned: the single-minded focus on her quest leaves little space for any kind of emotional connection or feeling of sympathy. Even her grief at the loss of her brother shows this kind of hard edge (for want of a better definition) that turns it into something cold and soulless, devoid of any spark of humanity. I ended up feeling greater empathy with Sammish, not least because she exhibits a greater capacity for emotional and psychological growth throughout the story and because what looks like childish infatuation morphs, in the end, into a willingness to help her friend and to do the right thing, not just for Alys but for the city as well. The unassuming girl who can move through crowds unnoticed shows more courage and heart, in the end, than the one who should be the main focus of the story, and this comparison did not help me at all in my reflections on Alys’ character: this is however only the first book in a series so I’m also suspending my judgment while waiting to see how the story progresses and what kind of surprises the author has in store for his readers.

And speaking of the plot itself, there are many unresolved threads here - particularly where Andomaka’s actions and her connection with the religious cult are concerned - that will certainly be further explored in the next books: there is a lot of intrigue, with longtime ramifications, that simply begs to be developed more fully. The complex, creepy layers of Kithamar’s power management and its handling through the generations are barely touched here and I can hardly wait to see how the continuation of the story will deal with them, and with Andomaka’s plans, about which I can’t afford to say more because that way lie some massive spoilers.

The start of this new series is indeed a very promising one, and I can’t shake the feeling that this first installment barely scratched the surface of a story that holds many more surprises in store for me. Time, of course, will tell what they are…

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.


As a big fan of The Expanse series, which is co-authored by Daniel Abraham, I was excited for this new release fantasy solo project of his. The premise sounded very intriguing so when the chance to get an arc came up I jumped on it. It sounded like a murder mystery intertwined with fantasy and that is something I love. In fact the way that was executed in The Justice of Kings was almost perfect. However, what I got with Age of Ash left quite a bit to be desired.

First of all let me say that I don't think this is a bad book or poorly written. I think it has a lot of things that just didn't appeal to my personal taste and maybe one or two strange character choices. To give a little background the book starts with the murder of the brother of one of the two main characters who live the large city, and only setting of the book, Kithamar. Our main characters Alys and Sammish are both from the poor side of the city and survive by doing "pulls" or schemes to steal and commit petty thefts from wealthier marks. When Alys' brother is murdered under mysterious circumstances I was initially pretty hooked because it had the potential to be a murder mystery and revenge story. Instead what we get is a very very slow and lengthy exploration of grief and a tiny tiny bit of that other stuff. The other main character, Alys' friend Sammish, was just not an enjoyable pov to read. Her character seemed extremely one note, and I struggled to see what she brought to the book. Other than stating repeatedly she had unrequited love for another character and being motivated to get mad and do something because the plot required it I thought she was pretty worthless and has practically half the page time. Given that Alys gets the other half and she's not exactly super fun to follow or even that interesting either it was tough for me.

As for the story itself I was told Abraham books start slow, but honestly thus never kicked into gear in my opinion. Some cool concepts were hinted at or introduced, but we didn't really get enough information to get me really invested. Things are kept so mysterious it's hard to get a grasp on what the stakes are or why things are important. We know there are at least a couple factions at play, but what the consequences are for each side is not really explored.

I will however give credit where credit is due. Even if his characters and storytelling in this particular book weren't to my taste there is no doubt that Abraham can write. There were many passages and sentences that I thought were extremely well crafted. Additionally I think its very gutsy to set a fantasy story like this in a single city state without an expansive world and cultures for world building depth. Abraham gets plenty of depth out if Kithamar and it feels very real with a lot of depth with different cultures and norms among its inhabitants. Also he is very adept at introducing us to these things naturally without any info dumps. And finally, despite wanting to know more about the magic and the lore since it was kept at arms length, I will say I thought it was a very cool idea that I hadn't seen in a lot of fantasy books.

My final thoughts here are that this really isn't a book I can say I enjoyed, but I imagine a lot of other fantasy readers will especially those who already are fans of Abraham's solo stuff. I would recommend anyone who is curious about this book to watch Allen's review of it on his The Library of Allenaxndria YouTube channel. He really liked the book, and I agree with a lot of what he says that the story contains. It just clicked with him more. So if you're on the fence it might be a good perspective to hear.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to review this book!
DNF @ 20% I wanted to like this book SO BAD. The world building was excellent. This seemed like it was really setting up to be an epic world. that is dark and almost alive. But man, these characters felt both one dimensional AND unlikeable to me, and there were some parts of the dialogue that felt contrived and over complicated, This one was a miss for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Orbit Books for the eARC!

I expected the beginning of a big, flashy fantasy epic, but this turned out to be a quieter and more introspective kind of fantasy. While the author sets the story events in a big city, the character focus is on the little people and their little lives on its poorer fringes. Sure, there is some political plotting going on with the ruling family, but how much does that matter to the person who is just trying to scrape together enough coins to get a bite to eat and a warm place to sleep, before they have to do it all over again the next day?

Another focus of the story is what grief does to a person, and how hard they try to hold onto the memory of their departed loved ones. Alys's path could have turned out very differently if she didn't have that kind of loss to deal with.

The atmosphere of the story had a constant feeling of time passing and the turning of the seasons, which reminded me a little of the author's Long Price quartet.

The only flaw in this book is that it was nearly a perfect one-book standalone story. I would have been content to leave the characters where they were at the end of the book, but apparently the author didn't feel the same way, since it's the start of a trilogy.

I have requested an early copy of "Age of Ash" motivated in a large part by my love for "The Expanse" series, as well as my personal preference for reading fantasy novels. I had no doubt that I was in for great quality of writing, due to the hours I'd spent immersed in "The Expanse" books, which were co-written by Daniel Abraham.

And, indeed, the writing is spectacular. It's detailed, it's expansive, it's meticulous. It invariably conjures up the images of things, places, and people described in your mind; in fact, even emotions and moods are stunningly brought to life. The setting of the city of Kithamar becomes a character in its own right, the people that populate it are explored in terms of their familial ties, loyalty, friendship -- and grief, which, quite possibly, earns a status of a character in its own right, as it is examined so thoroughly.

"Age of Ash" is great character work. The plot is most definitely character driven. We follow Alys and Sammish, members of a thieving crew, who are thrown in the world of treachery and dark magic when Alys' brother is found murdered. Alys embarks on a journey of revenge, motivated in large part by her overwhelming grief, and blinded by it even to the unwavering love and loyalty of her friend, Sammish.

Where the story failed for me, personally, was the ratio of character contemplation to action. There is <i>some</i> action in the novel, but it's scattered throughout the book in small doses. Perhaps "Age of Ash" is meant to be a "slow burn" introduction to the trilogy, but I would have been more grabbed by the story, if there was more actionable plot in it. I can also hear complaints of Alys' character being off-putting. Sammish is immeasurably more relatable, and I would have welcomed more of the story being told from her point of view.

Age of Ash is the first book in a new fantasy trilogy by Daniel Abraham (one half of the writing duo James SA Corey of the Expanse series). The story of this book (and future installments of the trilogy) is that it'll follow the stories of three residents of the city of Kithamar and the first is Alys's story. Alys is a petty thief who gets in over her head and finds herself running from dangerous people. Her brother being killed throws an additional wrench into the works and she finds herself seeking out the reasons for his death.

While I've read the entirety of the Expanse series, I have not read Daniel Abraham's previous solo fantasy series so I was coming in to this series not really knowing what to expect. There are some great writing duos (specifically thriller writers Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child come to mind) but whose solo works tend to not reach the high bar of their works with a duo. Unfortunately, Age of Ash probably is an example of this as well. Some of the elements that made the Expanse series so compulsively readable were missing and I found myself often looking to see what my percentage of how far along I was and how much was left.

I think one of the biggest problems for me though was the city of Kithamar. Daniel Abraham had me on the premise of a fantasy city where things are constantly happening and we are seeing the city from the eyes of three people in three books. The problem is that the city never quite felt like a character of it's own and for this premise, the city needs to rock. There are a lot of standout cities in fantasy fiction (Camorr in Lies of Locke Lamora, Daruhjistan from the Malazan series, Adrilankha from the Vlad Taltos series) and for Age of Ash to stick the landing of it's premise, Kithamar really needs to be up there with those and it just wasn't. It was rare for me to fill that Kithamar was a real, living city and thus it never quite accomplished the goals I think it set out for itself.

On the positive side, there were some cool things going on. The lore of the world that Abraham was creating was promising and I did find myself interested in some of the secrets and hints of what is to come. I also really did like Alys. She was a great character and I found myself rooting for her.

Ultimately, Age of Ash by Daniel Abraham is an interesting book that tries to do some really interesting and novel things but doesn't quite stick the landing as much as this reader would have liked. I'm always open to the possibility that this book just wasn't for me and I think Age of Ash is probably an example of that. Maybe I put too high of expectations on the book based on its premise. There's probably a lot of people out there who will savor this book just like they savored the Expanse series. It just never quite made it that far for me.

I consider The Long Price Quartet one of the GOAT fantasy series so I was really looking forward to the first entry in this trilogy! Unfortunately this fell short in a lot of ways that I was surprised by. Foremost was Alys and Sammish and their one note personalities, they never seemed to move beyond a single motivation and never developed any interesting dyanmics withr other characters and I found them boring to follow. The intrigue they become embroiled in, while twisty, seemed like it was just pushing pawns around the chessboard and ultimately felt inconsequential in the end. The larger plot involving a magical monarchy also came off underbaked and ultimately uninteresting, probably because what's shared of the magical foundation of the world was pretty limited. Sadly, this book was a disappointment but one that makes me want to reread The Long Price Quartet and his other work again and revel in what this writer can actually achieve.

Age of Ashes is a solid first book in a series. Its a great set up to a larger story, but doesn't leave you hanging with a lot of loose ends. It could almost be read by itself and still feel satisfactory.

The world building is fantastic, imaginative and gritty. The writing is beautiful. Great prose and exquisite detailing without being overly wordy. The two main characters are fleshed out well. Similar POVs but with just enough difference in their journeys. Alys and Sammish are dealing with different types of grief and self finding, and I think grief has a way of holding you distant from those around you. You feel that in this book. You get to know the characters but you don't really feel like you get to know them; like everything happening them is something being told and you don't really FEEL what they feel until the end, when they themselves start to break pass their own grief. Its a really beautiful journey for both Alys and Sammish.

Thank you Netgalley and Orbit for the ARC!

I was given a free copy of Age of Ash by Daniel Abraham (author), Orbit (publisher) and Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. Age of Ash is the first book in Kithamar series.

This review will be spoiler free.

The story takes place primarily in a large city that is just as important as any of the characters in this story. Mr. Abraham presents the city and each of its neighborhoods are different traits or facets of the city’s character. The details provided about the city make it come alive, vivid (in some neighborhoods), grimy (in some other neighborhoods), dank (in another neighborhood), and vibrant. I really enjoyed reading about the city.

Magic is in this story but does not have a large presence. The person who is wielding the magic can do something akin to reincarnation.

Age of Ash has two young women as the main characters and each of them has a point of view in this story. One of the women wants to be act rougher and tougher than she is because she feels she must avenge a personal loss. The other woman just wants to melt into the background and pick up information because she hopes the information will help a mother. The main characters are compelling, fully developed, and engaging. Same could be said for the other characters featured in the story.

I was immersed in the story from start to finish and there was no dead spots or mushy middle. The story always flowed forward and there was no meandering. The ending was very satisfying.

The only quibble that I had with the story was on more than one occasion the point of view switched from one character to another without any scene break. I was reading an electronic ARC, and the book is not in its final form, so this may not be an issue once Age of Ash is published.

I really enjoyed Age of Ash and look forward to reading the rest of the books in this series.

I rate Age of Ash 4 stars.

I would like to thank Mr. Abraham, Orbit, and Netgalley for the free ARC.