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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
I found it exciting, gripping, and riveting. i loved it since the first pages even if it's quite slow at the beginning.
There's an amazing world building and great characters, there's the promises of an excellent series and I can't wait to read the next story.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
There's an amazing world building and great characters, there's the promises of an excellent series and I can't wait to read the next story.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5 stars, but I think closer to a 3 than a 4.
Age of Ash is a bit of a strange one for me, because I usually leave my reviews for a couple of days after finishing the book, and let everything sink in, mull it over for a bit. With this one though, I’ve had plenty of time and although I enjoyed it overall, I find I don’t have an awful lot to say about it!
I think that unless you delve into the themes, or the specific character motivations, that is sometimes the conundrum with reviewing a Daniel Abraham book though.
The character work is good, although I felt some of the more interesting character development was right at the end of the book, so there was little time to enjoy this. The story definitely had its moments, with some of those interesting character developments driving the plot forwards in the latter stages of the book.
The standout theme for me was one of grief, with Alys, our main character, trying to come to terms with the loss of her brother, while also trying to unravel the mystery surrounding his death. This was all well handled and I enjoyed the exploration of loss and the path it set Alys upon.
Some people will tell you that the first book in an Abraham series is a slow burn and you don’t really appreciate so much it until you’ve read the full series. Here, I don’t think that was the case. Although it didn’t read at a blistering pace, Age of Ash was still a pretty quick and riveting read.
Probably the only real negative for me was the lack of clear separation between scenes. A few times, there was a change of scene mid-chapter, right at the top of the page on my Kindle. This really threw me out of my rhythm as I would just carry on reading without pause and then have to backtrack slightly, thinking I’d missed something.
Overall, I’m definitely interested in continuing the Kithamar series, and as long as you don’t need great battles, a massive cast and action-packed pages, Age of Ash comes well recommended.
Age of Ash is a bit of a strange one for me, because I usually leave my reviews for a couple of days after finishing the book, and let everything sink in, mull it over for a bit. With this one though, I’ve had plenty of time and although I enjoyed it overall, I find I don’t have an awful lot to say about it!
I think that unless you delve into the themes, or the specific character motivations, that is sometimes the conundrum with reviewing a Daniel Abraham book though.
The character work is good, although I felt some of the more interesting character development was right at the end of the book, so there was little time to enjoy this. The story definitely had its moments, with some of those interesting character developments driving the plot forwards in the latter stages of the book.
The standout theme for me was one of grief, with Alys, our main character, trying to come to terms with the loss of her brother, while also trying to unravel the mystery surrounding his death. This was all well handled and I enjoyed the exploration of loss and the path it set Alys upon.
Some people will tell you that the first book in an Abraham series is a slow burn and you don’t really appreciate so much it until you’ve read the full series. Here, I don’t think that was the case. Although it didn’t read at a blistering pace, Age of Ash was still a pretty quick and riveting read.
Probably the only real negative for me was the lack of clear separation between scenes. A few times, there was a change of scene mid-chapter, right at the top of the page on my Kindle. This really threw me out of my rhythm as I would just carry on reading without pause and then have to backtrack slightly, thinking I’d missed something.
Overall, I’m definitely interested in continuing the Kithamar series, and as long as you don’t need great battles, a massive cast and action-packed pages, Age of Ash comes well recommended.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Daniel Abraham's Dagger and Coin series is an all time favorite of mine, so Age of Ash was a no-brainer buy. I did enjoy it, just not quite as much as I'd hoped to. I even went back to read The Dragon's Path afterwords to make sure I wasn't giving it more credit than it was due in hindsight. Age of Ash just didn't quite touch the mastery of his other historical fantasy, but my favorite parts of his writing are still very present.
Abraham's character work is impeccable. He's fantastic about communicating the interior quirks and insecurities of characters in the most relatable terms. The unpredictable and irrational moments of Alys's grief and pride are terribly human, as is the codependency and resentment of evolving childhood friendships. Like in Dagger and Coin, where he committed to a character and plot deeply revolving around the intricacies of banking, Alys and Sammit's story is inseparable from the mechanics of theft and subterfuge. They're characters who think in the language of their own world, but not with a habit of over narrating for the reader's sake.
Alys's motivation in the first third wasn't super convincing, and the world building and magic system were much too glossed over for me to really feel attached to or curious about. But by the end I had a protagonist's journey worth caring about, even if it wasn't what I expected initially.
Abraham's character work is impeccable. He's fantastic about communicating the interior quirks and insecurities of characters in the most relatable terms. The unpredictable and irrational moments of Alys's grief and pride are terribly human, as is the codependency and resentment of evolving childhood friendships. Like in Dagger and Coin, where he committed to a character and plot deeply revolving around the intricacies of banking, Alys and Sammit's story is inseparable from the mechanics of theft and subterfuge. They're characters who think in the language of their own world, but not with a habit of over narrating for the reader's sake.
Alys's motivation in the first third wasn't super convincing, and the world building and magic system were much too glossed over for me to really feel attached to or curious about. But by the end I had a protagonist's journey worth caring about, even if it wasn't what I expected initially.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
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I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This review is spoiler-free.
I really enjoyed Age of Ash! It has strong Joe Abercrombie vibes (minus the banter), and the world building was so wonderful. The city of Kithamar is as much a character in this story as any of the people we follow - I feel like I know my way through the streets because it just came to life as I was reading.
The plot slowed down a little in the middle, but picked up and the book came to an exciting and satisfying ending. The one thing that I felt made Age of Ash a good book rather than a great one was my disconnect with the characters. They were well written and had interesting motivations - I can’t tell you why they didn’t quite click with me, but there was something holding me back from loving them.
I’d definitely recommend this one to fans of adult fantasy, especially low fantasy. I’m curious to see what will happen in the next one!
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This review is spoiler-free.
I really enjoyed Age of Ash! It has strong Joe Abercrombie vibes (minus the banter), and the world building was so wonderful. The city of Kithamar is as much a character in this story as any of the people we follow - I feel like I know my way through the streets because it just came to life as I was reading.
The plot slowed down a little in the middle, but picked up and the book came to an exciting and satisfying ending. The one thing that I felt made Age of Ash a good book rather than a great one was my disconnect with the characters. They were well written and had interesting motivations - I can’t tell you why they didn’t quite click with me, but there was something holding me back from loving them.
I’d definitely recommend this one to fans of adult fantasy, especially low fantasy. I’m curious to see what will happen in the next one!
I wanted to really love this book but I couldn't Abraham's new fantasy series revolves around an ancient city with a petty thief as the main character. It has everything I like great world-building, action scenes, and interesting characters. However, this book is the definition of 'Show don't tell" and not in a good way. There are constant paragraphs where Abraham is telling us the story and not showing us and I got bored with it really quickly. I almost gave up until the 2nd half of the book really picked up. This book isn't for everyone but there are some great moments in it. I think I will continue with this series as I am now invested in these characters.