Age of Ash
The Kithamar trilogy, Book 1
Daniel Abraham
Orbit
Fiction, Fantasy
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: Kithamar: a sprawling city, straddling the Khohen river and encompassing numerous districts and dialects and deities, steeped in centuries of conflicts and subtle magics. The crowning of a new prince should be a day of hope and glory... but Byrn a Sal ruled for but a single ill-omened year. From the moment of his coronation, he was doomed - by conspirators, by secrets, perhaps by the very city he was supposed to rule.
Alys grew up in the slums of Longhill with her brother Darro, part of the tight-knit Inlisc community that has long been second-class citizens on what, many generations ago, used to be their land before the warmongering Hansch arrived. Like many of her kin, she gets by on odd jobs and thieving - until her brother turns up dead in the river, killed by a scheme he never told her about. Alys sets out to find out what he was up to, what job he was pulling without her, and soon finds herself up to her neck - and over her head - in the machinations of the Daris Brotherhood and their plot against the crown.
Sammish has been loyal to Alys since before she can remember, but has never been able to voice her feelings. She just follows, invisible as a shadow, and does whatever she can to help her. But now Alys doesn't seem to need her anymore - and, blinded by grief over her brother, can't see the danger she's flirting with, following Darro's footsteps to the Brotherhood's door. Sammish sets out on her own path, one that proves to be no less dangerous... and which will set her against the young woman she loves.
REVIEW: Many epic fantasies sprawl across their maps, long journeys to exotic lands, encountering dozens of characters, with stakes high as the world itself. Age of Ash takes place entirely within the walls of Kithamar, focusing on a few key players on which the fate of the city crown rests, but feels as rich in history and detail as any epic.
True to what I've read of Abraham so far (in his solo works and as half of "James S. A. Corey"), this is a book written to a long arc and without reliance on flashy battles or breakneck chases. It builds in layers of intrigue and mystery, developing characters and the city, always with enough mystery to keep the reader turning pages. It starts with Byrn's funeral procession through Kithamar, weaving in hints and hooks, then travels back one year to the prince's coronation and how Alys and Sammish begin their unanticipated collision course with some of the deepest, darkest secrets and plots in Kithamar. There is magic at work, here, but it is, for the most part, a subtle thing, especially at first, whispers and shades and hints that become more obvious (and dangerous) as the tale goes. Alys's grief over Darro's murder first drives her to seek vengeance, then compels her to try to become him and finish what he started, keeping him alive the only way she knows how. Sammish, from the outside, sees what Alys is blind to, but by asking questions Alys doesn't want to ask a wedge begins to form between them. Thus, Sammish - the girl who quite literally is never noticed, a talent that lends itself well to thievery - finds herself somewhere altogether different. Both encounter mysteries and even gods (or forces akin to gods), but also must ultimately decide, as they stand amid the swirling forces that could reshape the city, just who they really are and what they really stand for, and what future they really want to see.
This is a story that, though slower paced, contains little to no deadweight, developing its characters and its setting with impressive depth and complexity (though with a very slight over-reliance on a few descriptors; I lost track of how often light was described as "milky" or similar terms, for instance). Occasionally the slowness bogs down into a true meander, and a few threads seemed forgotten or distracting by the end, but it makes up for that through worldbuilding and character development. It earned the extra half-star by being the first book in ages that grabbed me for eighty solid pages the first time I picked it up, and for avoiding the obvious paths and pitfalls it could've so easy fallen into. (And, dang it, I was just in the mood for a nice, rich, slow-burn tale and it delivered.) Though it's the first in a trilogy, it works fairly well as a standalone. I will be looking out for the second installment.
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