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nini23 's review for:
Age of Ash
by Daniel Abraham
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really liked the two other series of Daniel Abraham's - The Dagger and Coin and The Long Price Quartet - so was looking forward to his new fantasy series with anticipation. Thanks to Orbit Books and Netgalley for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
To me, Abraham's strength is in his worldbuilding and Age of Ash exhibits that well. The different neighbourhoods that make up the ancient city of Kithamar- Longhill, Green Hill, Newmarket, Riverport, Seepwater, Stonemarket, Riverside etc. are described with care complete with socioeconomic delineations. The alleyways, the extensive temple of the Daris Brotherhood, the grimy river, the butcher, the knife sharpener; all of these are rendered alive in the mind's eye. Having said that, it took awhile before the story sank its addictive claws into me, which occurred around the two thirds mark.
Alys and Sammish are two young girls belonging to a gang that runs 'pulls' in crowds, essentially pickpocketing and petty theft. They live in impoverished Longhill with its own street culture and code of ethics, surviving by their wits. A pull goes wrong and they are pursued by a City Guard, luckily saved by Alys' older brother Darro. Darro's body is later found and Alys attempts to take over his work and lodgings to process her grief. Both Alys and Sammish become entangled in long buried secrets of Kithamar, embroiled in political intrigue and dark magic.
I like how the book pulls no punches when describing the effect of poverty on the Longhill inhabitants. It's intergenerational as shown by Alys' mother Linly as well as a group that grooms generations of orphans and street rats. This is reminiscent of the Gentleman Bastards by Scott Lynch. In this setting, I found some of Alys' capers not quite plausible, such as the time she successfully pulls off a reckless wild bluff when facing ruthless slave smugglers and hardened mercenaries. As always, the characters that captured my interest were the older ones with life experience:- Andomaka, Saffa Rej, Linly, Tregarro and the being that can live infinitely via metempsychosis .
To me, Abraham's strength is in his worldbuilding and Age of Ash exhibits that well. The different neighbourhoods that make up the ancient city of Kithamar- Longhill, Green Hill, Newmarket, Riverport, Seepwater, Stonemarket, Riverside etc. are described with care complete with socioeconomic delineations. The alleyways, the extensive temple of the Daris Brotherhood, the grimy river, the butcher, the knife sharpener; all of these are rendered alive in the mind's eye. Having said that, it took awhile before the story sank its addictive claws into me, which occurred around the two thirds mark.
Alys and Sammish are two young girls belonging to a gang that runs 'pulls' in crowds, essentially pickpocketing and petty theft. They live in impoverished Longhill with its own street culture and code of ethics, surviving by their wits. A pull goes wrong and they are pursued by a City Guard, luckily saved by Alys' older brother Darro. Darro's body is later found and Alys attempts to take over his work and lodgings to process her grief. Both Alys and Sammish become entangled in long buried secrets of Kithamar, embroiled in political intrigue and dark magic.
I like how the book pulls no punches when describing the effect of poverty on the Longhill inhabitants. It's intergenerational as shown by Alys' mother Linly as well as a group that grooms generations of orphans and street rats. This is reminiscent of the Gentleman Bastards by Scott Lynch. In this setting, I found some of Alys' capers not quite plausible, such as the time she successfully pulls off a reckless wild bluff when facing ruthless slave smugglers and hardened mercenaries. As always, the characters that captured my interest were the older ones with life experience:- Andomaka, Saffa Rej, Linly, Tregarro and