Age of Ash by Daniel Abraham REVIEW

Started: 05/02/22

Finished: 12/02/22

Spoilers: No

Big thank you to Netgalley, Orbit, and Hachette audio for letting me listen to the audiobook ahead of the book's release date. All opinions are my own. Because this was an audio listen, I may spell some of the names wrong. Apologies.

Characters

Packed full of thieves, assassins, and morally grey characters wrestling with their sense of humanity.

Alys is the main character and our guide through this interesting world, and though I enjoyed seeing things from her perspective, she was a little bit of a dull protagonist during the first half of the book. I struggled to find her personality behind her tough girl act. It's this 'strong female' attitude that puts her scarily at risk of feeling like a YA character, and tbh, there were times she didn't feel any different to the countless YA heroines I've read in the past. However, this feeling could well stem from the way the audio narrator, whose primary catalogue seems to be YA fantasy, read the book. Although the narration was by no means bad, the voice may perhaps be better suited to YA. There was definitely a sense of melodrama to the way things were read at times.

There were also times I struggled with Alys. For a long time, didn't like her much, but I enjoyed her characterisation. She reminded me a little of Jinx from Arcane. In her grief and trauma, she's drawn to doing bad things and even talking to her ghosts when she's alone. It made for interesting development. But she's also impulsive and self-centred, and generally not a good person, however she does go a long way in the final third of the novel to redeem herself, and by the end of the book, I found I actually liked her.

I liked Samish, she seemed like a really dedicated friend and generally a decent person, but she was also a total doormat. Alys constantly took her for granted and didn't often treat her how she deserved to be treated. It was like, whenever Alys needed something from Samish, she suddenly remembered they were friends. And tbh, it just kind of made me dislike Alys a little bit.

But much like Alys, she had a lot of growth in about the final third.

Plot

So this is an interesting concept, one I won't go into because of spoilers, but I did enjoy peeling back the layers of this plot as we journey deeper into the dark and sordid past of the city of Kithamar. There was a lot I didn't see coming, and other ideas I've never seen done before, and which felt wholly original to me.

For some reason, whilst listening, my mind kept comparing it to Django Wexler's Ashes of the Sun. Even though they're totally different books, there was a certain familiar feeling to it. Perhaps it's the secrets and conspiracies aspect, or the brother/sister vibes, but I kept associating it with that book.

I really liked the final gambit, the 'pull' as they call it in this world. Alys finally getting the chance to use the advice given to her by her brother at the start of the novel was so satisfying. I love when foreshadowing comes full circle.

For such a bleak and series book, the ending is actually lovely. I wasn't expecting such a nice ending but it really was packed with feel-good feelings that I didn't expect but which were so welcome. It really brought the book together and really made the whole thing worth the read.

Setting

I would say this book's greatest strength is the world-building. Though we rarely venture far beyond Longhill, the slums of the city of Kithamar, what we are told about Longhill is vivid and fully realised. I never had a difficult moment visualising what the world around the characters looked like. Details were regularly given and it all helped create a perfect image in my mind.

It was a very bleak world. There was a near-constant feeling of hopelessness surrounding it. A sense of stifling oppressiveness. Although I loved the world-building, the way it's described, and the way it's portrayed through various perspectives, I wouldn't say I loved the world itself. Purposely so, it never felt like there was anywhere safe. Nowhere for the characters to retreat to, and therefore as a reader, I had nowhere to become attached to, or enjoy returning to. No little home, or hideout to provide both characters and readers some much-needed respite from the bleak world beyond their door.

But despite that, I can't fault the world-building. Expertly done.

Writing Style

As mentioned above, the vivid world-building is only possible due to the wonderful writing. Very masterfully done. Like brush strokes on a piece of art gradually building up the picture bit by bit as the story goes. There is zero exposition and the flow is so incredibly smooth and natural.

The pacing was a little bit of a problem for me. It just felt a little slow to me. By the time I got halfway through, I realised not a lot had actually happened. It progressed at a snail's pace. I was hoping for more of a hook, something so enticing I wouldn't be able to resist reading more but it was stuck in the same gear for the majority of the book. I think the plot just didn't develop quick enough for me. Alys spent a long time searching for her brother's killer, got sidetracked with the knife business, but as I mentioned in other sections of this review, the final third of the book was definitely the best and ultimately made the slow build-up worth the wait.

Final Impression

A very slow start that really doesn't start to gain much momentum until the latter half of the book, but when it does, it really finds its stride. For a good portion of this book, I was feeling it and already made the decision to not continue the series, but as I've said many times already, that ending was brilliant, and really won me over. I'm certainly a lot keener to continue the series after that ending.