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else, until she didn't know what she was mourning for except all of it. She was overwhelmed by a storm she couldn't see, but felt it beating at her from every direction.” From Hugo award-winning, and New York Times bestsellingco-author of the Expanse, Daniel Abraham, Age of Ashisthe first book in anepic fantasy trilogy that unfolds within the walls of a single great city where every story matters—and the fate of the city is woven from them all. Why did I say that the novel is not character driven? Mainly because you could argue that the two leading characters are boring. If you feel particularly snarky, you can even argue that both have so little to no reason to get involved in the main plot, which is why they frequently ask themselves what and why they are precisely doing.
Grief and the inability to move on are central themes in Age of Ash, largely conveyed through Alys’ struggle to come to grips with her brother’s death. Abraham handles this in a realistic way, exploring these emotions and the effects they can have not only on one person, but everyone around them. While no one really goes into a book thinking, “yes, I shall read this for its thematic depth,” I feel it worth mentioning that the thematic work is stronghere. Being able to move on, to lay the past to rest, is explored not just through Alys but in several other unexpected ways throughout the book. The result is that Age of Ashis a thought-provoking read, perhaps the most thematically consistent book I’ve read since Joe Abercrombie’s The Heroes. Kithamar is a city of many colors and many schemes. Those who have coin and royalty hire petty thieves and lowlives to perform roles in their stratagems. Alys, a poor girl from Longhill, gets herself involved in the midst of a pull that can shake the entire city. Some lose coin, some lose their lives, and she may even lose herself as she plays as a little wolf for the puppetmaster. The plot was also quite good, though I have to say that it meanders for a bit and sometimes it feels like you are just running around with characters. But there are some chapters that are SO GOOD.Radioactive carbon-14 decays to stable nitrogen-14 by releasing a beta particle. The nitrogen atoms are lost to the atmosphere, but the amount of carbon-14 decay can be estimated by measuring the proportion of radioactive carbon-14 to stable carbon-12. As a substance ages, the relative amount of carbon-14 decreases. I'd like to thank Orbit Books, Daniel Abraham, and Netgalley for the chance to read and review an early copy of Age of Ash - y'all made my year! Kithamar is a center of trade and wealth, an ancient city with a long, bloody history where countless thousands live and their stories unfold. If an element decays by losing an alpha particle, it will lose 2 protons and 2 neutrons. If an atom decays by losing a beta particle, it loses just one electron. ages. It falls out of its own history, at once the end of something and the beginning of something else.”
Alys is not the smartest cookie in the jar. She has wit, but it’s based on honed survival skills, not on intelligence (and definitely not on the emotional one!). My favourite was Sammish. What a wonderful character in how she was introduced and how she developed throughout the story. A respite from Alys on her way to being devoured by her obsession. (It was very difficult for me to read, and I have had my share of grief in my life). While Alys’ fixation on her loss is suffocating and consuming her, closes her to everything outside, Sammish works through the thing(s) she does not have and never will, and somehow it makes how more, not less. It was fascinating to follow her. It was also humbling.
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Age of Ashisa tale of grief and love and how struggle can force us into places we’d never expect, told with the precision we’d expect from Daniel Abraham. When you factor in the unique structure of the series and the absolutely jaw-dropping way that the novel’s twists reframe everything, it becomes the kind of story that will follow you around and force you to remember it. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and will be eagerly snapping up the next entry in The Kithamar Trilogyas soon as it drops. So much epic fantasy focuses on the princes of realms. He is present here, kind of, but the book is actually about the most invisible members of Kithamar society. That, too, is not new to fantasy at all—yet Abraham writes it in a way that feels very refreshing. Having read Age of Ash, I feel satiated, like I just had a full and delicious meal. I’m not exactly hungry for the next book, but I would read it just to see where Abraham goes with this world next. What is the most captivating about the book is that while it is not so much character-driven, it definitely is character-dependent. And one of those characters is the city. It is always in the spotlight. We can see and smell its crooks and nooks, its best and worst; the city itself becomes a protagonist that can help you or kill you if you’re careless. It is also incredibly atmospheric.
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