A review by azrah786
Age of Ash by Daniel Abraham

3.75

 [This review can also be found on my BLOG]

**I received a proof copy from Orbit Books UK in exchange for an honest review**

CW: violence, blood, murder, death, child death, body horror, grief, abandonment, kidnapping, fire, injury, toxic friendship
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Daniel Abraham has woven together an alluring tale that is but one section of the tapestry that makes up the venerable city of Kithamar - the heart of this all new epic fantasy series.

Part of a trilogy of stories that occur within the same year, this first instalment predominantly accustoms us to the slums of Kithamar and follows two young street thieves from Longhill – Alys, as she stumbles down a path of grief and vengeance in the aftermath of her brother’s death and Sammish, who’s heart is set on helping her friend see through this dark period of her life in any way that she can. However, their lives soon become intertwined with the political machinations of the city and the darker secrets lurking in its shadows.

An ambitious jigsaw puzzle of a book, the opening pages of Age of Ash give us a completed picture that we gradually collect the pieces of as the story progresses to see how everything comes to be and I quite enjoyed this style of narration. Though I will outright say this book is one hell of a slow burner which may not be a lot of people’s cup of tea.

"The world is so much rounder when you have more than just the one life in it."


Along with laying out a string of events that keep you intrigued, Abraham perfectly captures the atmosphere of the setting. With each chapter the prose full on drops you into the streets of the scene, touching on both the rich history that has shaped it into the place that it is and giving you a glimpse of the array of lives that keep it going. Kithamar is very much portrayed as a character itself.

Nevertheless, despite the worldbuilding being remarkably immersive it did start to drag the story out a little too much to the point that I kind of lost track of what made the different areas that we pass through actually stand out – other than which were the poorer areas and which were the richer areas.

"That's not fair."
"Who gives a shit? Who promised you fair? I didn't. Fair is good people get treated good, and bad people get the bad. That sound like anyplace you know? I've never been there."


What I personally found to be the strongest part of the story were the primary character arcs.

Alys isn’t the most likeable of characters and is downright frustrating for the most part however, a sense of empathy towards her situation gradually crept up on me the more I read. I became absorbed by her journey and the theme of grief which was so masterfully explored through her character.

However, Sammish was the character that I found myself rooting for the most. Her storyline surprisingly seemed more immediate to the overarching plot and I loved following how her compassion drove her to both utilise and step up from her predetermined role of “walk away” in order to set things straight.

“Everything stood on everything 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.”


Along with these primary protagonists we also come across and are briefly put into the shoes of a handful of other interesting characters of varying morality, who give us glimpse into other lifestyles within the city. Perspectives that were higher up the social ladder and more directly involved with the politics and magic of the world, the latter of which hardly had enough attention in this first book.

Thus I’m very intrigued to see who is going to be shadowed in the forthcoming books in the series and what further secrets about Kithamar are to be revealed.
Final Rating – 3.75/5 Stars 
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