Age of Ash: The Sunday Times bestseller - The Kithamar Trilogy Book 1

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Whether it be through epic fantasy, urban fantasy, science fiction, or anything else, it consistently feels as if the man can do no wrong.

Each description, each setting, was written with such beauty and finesse, it vividly conjured the images in my mind. He has an impressive backlist of science fiction and fantasy writing including as one half of the writing team behind the bestselling The Expanse series. By the time I made it to the end of the book, I’d finally realized a couple things, and was able to understand just why I didn’t find this story particularly compelling. Abraham reflects the way grief is never a singular formulaic response; when we lose someone we hold close to us we lose a part of ourselves, and the way our mind copes with the trauma is different for everyone.Age of Ash is the first book in The Kithamar trilogy and follows Alys, who lives in Longhill, Kithamar. In time, she’s pulled into the same vortex as Alys, and how they work together will ultimately determine their fate. It’s really one of the most generic low-magic city fantasies I’ve ever read, from its heroine, a plucky young thief who gets caught up in a job far bigger than she imagined, to its sinister-yet-affable priests who are keeping secrets that underpin the very workings of the city. I might read future books in this series if I spot them in the library, to see if the weaving-in of future stories is as genius as the blurb exclaims, but on its own, this is okay, but a bit forgettable. Instead what we get is a very very slow and lengthy exploration of grief and a tiny tiny bit of that other stuff.

I love fantasy books that are more confined, instead of a gigantic fantasy world, so this one was right of my alley.I am still very interested in continuing with this story because there is potential for it to be even better. They all scheme, and it is all personal: we see grief over losing a loved one shapes one's path; we see someone's idealizing her (unrequited) love interest and grieving with the letting go when that person changes; we see someone losing themselves in a scheme for who is close to their hearts; and we see someone's actions being shaped by their past and her slow realization that she was a pawn, but can no longer be with the right group of friends. The opening to this book reminded me of The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, another fantasy book set in a single city, revolving around a band of thieves.