A shadow has fallen over the Tressian Republic.
Ruling families – once protectors of justice and democracy – now plot against one another with sharp words and sharper knives. Blinded by ambition, they remain heedless of the threat posed by the invading armies of the Hadari Empire.
Yet as Tressia falls, heroes rise.
Viktor Akadra is the Republic’s champion. A warrior without equal, he hides a secret that would see him burned as a heretic.
Josiri Trelan is Viktor’s sworn enemy. A political prisoner, he dreams of reigniting his mother’s failed rebellion.
And yet Calenne, Josiri’s sister, seeks only to break free of their tarnished legacy; to escape the expectation and prejudice that haunts the Trelan name.
As war spreads across the Republic, these three must set aside their differences in order to save their homeland. However, decades of bad blood are not easily forgotten – victory will demand a darker price than any of them could have imagined.
It feels like a long time since I’ve last read a big, chunky epic fantasy book set in a pseudo-European medieval setting. Which is wild, when you think about it, seeing as these types of books are still so often the most recommended.
But reading Legacy of Ash managed to stir up a little bit of nostalgia in me. It was a similar sort of feeling to that of eating a really good meal that reminds me of your parent’s cooking. The restaurant might use fresher ingredients than you would have found at home — and if you’re honest with yourself, it might even be a little tastier — but there’s enough of a similarity there to tug at these memories without overpowering the joy of a new experience.
I’ll admit, I was a little unsure of the book at first. My stamina for large epic fantasy novels isn’t what it used to be, and it probably didn’t help that I came into this off the back of a book that pushed 1000 pages. This isn’t to say that there’s anything “wrong” with the opening. It’s just that there are quite a large number of point-of-view characters, most of which are cycled through right from the get-go. It took me some time to build up some familiarity with the cast and the wider world, but from there… it was plain sailing.
The story starts with a prologue which, in a break from tradition, isn’t a confusing mix of made up fantasy words that have little bearing on the actual book. Instead, we’re shown the end result of a failed rebellion set 15 years before the events of the story. We follow the revolution’s leader — the Phoenix — as she confronts the death of her cause. In turn, she is confronted by a young knight named Victor Akadra, who is wrapped in writhing shadows of forbidden magic.
Fast forward fifteen years, and Viktor is one of our main characters. There’s also Josiri and Calenne, children of the Phoenix and figurehead rulers of the loathed southern portion of the Tressian Republic. Tensions are still high after the Phoenix rebellion, and so these siblings are confined to their ancestral home. The North loves nothing more than to interfere in the political landscape of the south, but they may have to put their schemes and animosity behind them to deal with the threat of the invading Hadari Empire.
This touches on something that I loved about this book: all of these factions… all of these schemes… we get to see it all. There’s at least one POV character on every side, allowing us to see every conflict from all angles. It scratched an itch that I genuinely don’t think I’ve satisfied since A Song of Ice and Fire. Which sounds like damningly high praise, but in terms of the political maneuverings and machinations it genuinely does have a similar feel — although it’s not as over the top with the violence and sex.
This type of complexity necessitates a slower pace, which some readers might not enjoy, but which I loved. Those throwaway comments in one part of the world which have game-changing implications for characters in another? That is my jam. Inject it straight into my veins.
And then there’s the magic. Oh, there’s the magic. There are assassins that fly through the air in a cloud of clawing and pecking black birds. There are lion-shaped golems built for war. There are gods of sunlight and moonlight. Magical swords and ethereal antlered beings. And then there’s Viktor’s shadow…
And all of this feels understated. All of this seems to fit into the world. Right up until it doesn’t.
Admittedly, there are a couple of major magical events towards the end of the book which, for me, seemed to progress a little too quickly. I wish there had been a little more of a build up for those, but this is just a minor quibble.
Taken as a whole, Legacy of Ash is an incredibly impressive piece of fantasy fiction. It has clear prose, characters that feel real and flawed, and a well-constructed world brimming with imagination. It may seem familiar when viewed from a big-picture perspective, but when you look closer, you can see the originality in the brush-strokes. It’s maybe not a book for those looking for something groundbreaking and unique, but fans of traditional European-inspired epic fantasy should find a whole lot to like here.
I loved it.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. Thanks to Orbit Books for the review copy!
Legacy of Ash releases November 7th, 2019. If you’re reading this review after this date, why not check out the Kindle preview below?
Especially if it allows for multiple viewpoints from all different sides of the key issues, I can happily read a slower-paced epic. The thing that always gets me with epics is the wait between books in a series. Epics tend to take, understandably, a long time to write, and sometimes I struggle to remember all the cast by the time the next book comes out.
This is why I love it when certain books give short summaries of what happened previously in the series!
Yes! Those are very helpful.