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A review by pilebythebed
Age of Ash by Daniel Abraham
4.0
Daniel Abraham is probably best known at the moment as one half of sci-fi writing duo James SA Corey (The Expanse). But he did have a writing career long before that on the fantasy side of the speculative fiction ledger. In Age of Ash, first of a promised Kithamar trilogy, Abraham returns to a medieval fantasy setting.
Alys and Sammish are street rats, making their living as part of a pickpocketing crew. But when Aly’s big brother Darro is killed, the two are thrown in to a larger, more dangerous world of city politics and destiny. Alys is determined to follow in her brother’s footsteps and becomes involved with a member of the city nobility who is trying to “restore balance” to the city after the death of the previous prince, a task which becomes both stranger and more clear as the plot progresses. Sammish, devoted to Alys, starts out trying to help her but as Alys pulls away she finds herself on her own, contrary path.
Alys and Sammish are the heart of the book and both go on significant character journeys – Alys discovering what she is and is not capable of in going down her brother’s rabbit hole and Sammish finding her own power and agency. There is no really clear “good” or “bad” here as the two go down different paths but it is always clear that Alys and Sammish are pawns to larger agendas that they do not completely understand and cannot see the edges of. And while they help push various wider plot threads forward it is hard not to think that events would have turned out similarly (possibly with some slight deviations and maybe less destruction) if they had not been involved.
The real star of Age of Ash, though is the city of Kithamar. Abraham understand the city from its highest residences to its lowest hovels, the various suburbs, the racial makeup, and a long, rich history. There is the requisite map at the front of the book but the roads and bridges and byways are so well described throughout that there is little need to refer to it. And while the wider world is alluded to, the action and focus remains on the city, and is likely to for the next two volumes.
Abraham dedicates this book to “the storytellers” and it is clear from Age of Ash that he knows how to spin a great yarn. But this is fairly standard medieval fantasy with more than a hint of magic (or at least sprituality) and does not provide anything new that might entice readers who eschew the tropes of this sub-genre. For the rest though, there is plenty to enjoy and some intriguing threads left hanging for the rest of the series.
Alys and Sammish are street rats, making their living as part of a pickpocketing crew. But when Aly’s big brother Darro is killed, the two are thrown in to a larger, more dangerous world of city politics and destiny. Alys is determined to follow in her brother’s footsteps and becomes involved with a member of the city nobility who is trying to “restore balance” to the city after the death of the previous prince, a task which becomes both stranger and more clear as the plot progresses. Sammish, devoted to Alys, starts out trying to help her but as Alys pulls away she finds herself on her own, contrary path.
Alys and Sammish are the heart of the book and both go on significant character journeys – Alys discovering what she is and is not capable of in going down her brother’s rabbit hole and Sammish finding her own power and agency. There is no really clear “good” or “bad” here as the two go down different paths but it is always clear that Alys and Sammish are pawns to larger agendas that they do not completely understand and cannot see the edges of. And while they help push various wider plot threads forward it is hard not to think that events would have turned out similarly (possibly with some slight deviations and maybe less destruction) if they had not been involved.
The real star of Age of Ash, though is the city of Kithamar. Abraham understand the city from its highest residences to its lowest hovels, the various suburbs, the racial makeup, and a long, rich history. There is the requisite map at the front of the book but the roads and bridges and byways are so well described throughout that there is little need to refer to it. And while the wider world is alluded to, the action and focus remains on the city, and is likely to for the next two volumes.
Abraham dedicates this book to “the storytellers” and it is clear from Age of Ash that he knows how to spin a great yarn. But this is fairly standard medieval fantasy with more than a hint of magic (or at least sprituality) and does not provide anything new that might entice readers who eschew the tropes of this sub-genre. For the rest though, there is plenty to enjoy and some intriguing threads left hanging for the rest of the series.