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Age of Ash

The Sunday Times bestseller - The Kithamar Trilogy Book 1

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Age of Ash

By: Daniel Abraham
Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
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 ***THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER***
'ATMOSPHERIC AND FASCINATING' Joe Abercrombie
'SPECTACULAR' Django Wexler

From New York Times bestselling and critically acclaimed author Daniel Abraham, co-author of the Expanse, comes a monumental epic fantasy trilogy that unfolds within the walls of a single great city, over the course of one tumultuous year, where every story matters, and the fate of the city is woven from them all.

Kithamar is a centre of trade and wealth, an ancient city with a long, bloody history where countless thousands live and their stories unfold. This is Alys's.

When her brother is murdered, a petty thief from the slums of Longhill sets out to discover who killed him and why. But the more she discovers about him, the more she learns about herself, and the truths she finds are more dangerous than knives.

Swept up in an intrigue as deep as the roots of Kithamar, where the secrets of the lowest born can sometimes topple thrones, the story Alys chooses will have the power to change everything.


Praise for Daniel Abraham:

'EVERYTHING I LOOK FOR IN A FANTASY' George R. R. Martin

'A RICH, SATISFYINGLY COMPLEX EPIC FANTASY' Publishers Weekly

'PREPARE TO BE SHOCKED, STARTLED AND ENTERTAINED' Locus©2022 Daniel Abraham Dark Fantasy Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction

Critic reviews

This outstanding series debut . . . instantly hooks readers with dual mysteries . . Readers will eagerly anticipate the sequel
Age of Ash is a stunningly written, character driven story, centred on thieves, grief, and dark magic. Abraham certainly knows how to enchant his readers and transport them to the city of Kithamar, a place of beauty and of forbidding secrets (FANTASY HIVE on AGE OF ASH)
An atmospheric and fascinating tapestry, woven with skill and patience (Joe Abercrombie, Sunday Times bestselling author of A LITTLE HATRED)
Kithamar is a spectacular creation, a city brought to life by dense, intricate worldbuilding and subtle magic. Fans of Scott Lynch . . . will enjoy this one (Django Wexler, author of ASHES OF THE SUN)
Daniel Abraham builds this world up with all the confident craftsmanship you'd expect from an author of his pedigree . . . So hang on to your cloak and dagger, Kithamar is in the hands of a pro.
The character stories in Age of Ash are phenomenal . . . Abraham is one of the most creative and original authors in the genre . . . I can't wait to learn more about what lurks under the streets of Kithamar (QUILL TO LIVE on AGE OF ASH)
Much like The Expanse, Age of Ash is an incredible exercise in realistic and detailed world building (GEEKLYINC on AGE OF ASH)
It's clear with this first in the Kithamar Trilogy that Abraham is on his way to giving us yet another must-read series (FANTASY LITERATURE on AGE OF ASH)
There's plenty of intrigue and politics, mostly seen through the eyes of people in well over their heads, and Abraham's latest is certainly an intriguing introduction to a series, hinting at plenty of larger events to come (BOOKLIST on AGE OF ASH)
Abraham's prose is beautiful and the early chapters where he is building the city for the reader were a joy to read (GRIMDARK MAGAZINE on AGE OF ASH)
This new work bears the hallmark of a great Abraham work: intricate and dirty schemes enacted by initially sympathetic characters who make self-serving choices that they will eventually come to regret, but often too late to change course (KIRKUS on AGE OF ASH)
Everything I look for in a fantasy (George R.R. Martin on THE DRAGON'S PATH)
Prepare to be shocked, startled, and entertained (Locus on THE DRAGON'S PATH)
All stars
Most relevant
I love the rest of Abraham's work, but this just doesn't work. His characters are usually interesting or likeable, with flaws that make you hate or pity them. Here, the characters just come across as stupid and petty, At no point do I feel as though there is more to know, or that I am looking forward to seeing them succeed or get their comeuppance, I simply can't bring myself to care. The narrative itself has some interesting parts, class, racial, and national conflicts are established, but nothing really seems to happen with them, rather they serve as context for the characters.

All of this is made worse by a narrator who delivers every line as though it were a grand revelation or twist in the narrative. No line is allowed to breathe.

Weak Characters, Poor Narration

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I enjoyed the story, but I found myself confused about which character was doing what, until the third act. I wonder if they could have been given stronger differential accents or even used different narrators, but then their stories interweave so much that would have been tricky too. I think I will look to read the rest of the trilogy in print.

slightly hard to follow

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I try not to judge books based on other works by the author as every title should be able to stand on its own merit, but I found it hard to separate my love of The Expanse series by James S.A. Corey when I was reading Age Of Ash by one half of that writing duo, Daniel Abraham.
Being the first part of a trilogy set in a wholly new fantasy world is always going to come with a lot of hurdles, but having the Kithmar Trilogy be named after the grand city setting is a good indicator that the location is going to be just as important as the characters.

That leads me to what I didn’t like about this book; the characters. I really struggled to care about any of them. I tried, I wanted to, but despite everything I never found them likeable enough to cheer for or despicable enough to root against, they were just there.
Opening salvos often take their time establishing a cast, I didn’t love Locke or Jean immediately in The Gentleman Bastards and it took me nearly half a book to get a feel for Kvothe in The Kingkiller Chronicles. The difference is that by the end of the first book in those series I was completely invested in their journeys. I know their names, I know who they are, despite not having a new entry in either series in the better part of a decade.
The frustrating thing about this is I know for a fact Abraham is capable of not just writing characters I know but ones I absolutely love and did from their very first chapters. I refuse to believe all of that work was done by the other half of his pseudonym, Ty Frank, I have read enough interviews with the pair to know they are equally as responsible for The Expanse’s cast of characters.

It is telling to me that while I couldn’t recall any character names off the top of my head I knew the name of the city of Kithamar without even thinking about it.
It’s a huge cliche that the location is a character unto itself but in this instance I don’t have the vernacular to describe it any better. Kithamar is a vibrant, living city filled with real people who have interesting lives, even if the particular lives we follow I didn’t personally find interesting.
The political and social structure is rich and I really felt like I had a good sense of how the denizens of this cultural hub felt about each other and how a day to day interaction might play out depending on who was involved, where it occurred and at what time of day.

This deep world building was excellent and something I greatly appreciate in fiction, but disconnected from strong character work it left me feeling hollow. I struggled through Age Of Ash after having it high up on my most anticipated for the year.
Normally a disappointment like this would put me off continuing with the trilogy but Daniel Abraham has garnered enough of a good will cache with me that I will read at least the second book. Hopefully with the heavy lifting out of the way I will enjoy it more and it will make this one better retroactively. If not, I will be able to to write it off as simply not for me.

Great world building weak characters

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I may be being mean I’ll never know but I just could not get into this book. For some reason I was just not engaged with it.
I found the pronunciation of certain words by the narrator very odd at times and sometimes I’d become fixated on these.
As I say it might be me I’m getting old.

Just couldn’t get into it

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Huge Expanse fans and big fantasy fan but this missed the mark for me. I never really got into the plot and story but that was possible due to irritating lead characters. I did finish it but it was hard going at the end. Also there seem to be a lot of over vid descriptions and smilies. The whole combination making the lead character a grating over melodramatic angsty annoyance. Maybe my expectations were too high but not going to pick up any sequels any time soon.

High hopes dashed.

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