This outstanding series debut [. . .] instantly hooks readers with dual mysteries [. . .] Readers will eagerly anticipate the sequel’ Publishers Weekly If you cut a tree trunk, the light spring wood and dark summer wood are clearly visible in bands around the tree. By counting each dark ring of summer wood you can find out how many growth cycles the tree had; giving you its age. Kithamar is a city of many colors and many schemes. Those who have coin and royalty hire petty thieves and lowlives to perform roles in their stratagems. Alys, a poor girl from Longhill, gets herself involved in the midst of a pull that can shake the entire city. Some lose coin, some lose their lives, and she may even lose herself as she plays as a little wolf for the puppetmaster.

For one night, Kithamar is a city between worlds and between ages. It falls out of its own history, at once the end of something and the beginning of something else.” Gates of Fire (PvP): Two teams clash over possession of the flag. Gain points by flying through gates while holding the flag! Century: Age of Ashes, the multiplayer dragon battle game is now available for free! Customize your dragon, dive into the arena and compete to become a legendary Dragoneer. Burn your enemies and rule the skies! An atmospheric and fascinating tapestry, woven with skill and patience." - Joe Abercrombie, New York Times bestselling author of A Little HatredAnd now, for the Expanse fans who are thinking 'can this be my new thing?': This is very different from the Expanse. You will not have an Amos or an Avasarala here, though there is a character who may recall you of her. It's not only fantasy but the writing and unraveling of the plot are slower-paced and known to you. There is no found family and, obviously, there is no space nor the Rocinante. That being said, this book has plans within plans within plans. If you enjoyed the character exploration and development in the Expanse, the political intrigue, and how one plan could shake everything (and did), you may certainly enjoy this. Is this going to scratch that The Expanse itch? Probably not, but it is still an insanely good book. If an element decays by losing an alpha particle, it will lose 2 protons and 2 neutrons. If an atom decays by losing a beta particle, it loses just one electron. How awful, you want to exclaim. The reader literally knows the ending of the plot before s/he knows that the plot exists! What is worse, after reading the book, one still doesn’t know what would happen had a party other than the one won won. Well, yes and no. We see the glimpses, but the mystery is still there. What we got was as much an introduction as it was a teaser. I will probably regret reading it now instead of waiting for the whole series to binge at will, but there are a few writers who are irresistible, and Daniel Abraham is one of them. So much epic fantasy focuses on the princes of realms. He is present here, kind of, but the book is actually about the most invisible members of Kithamar society. That, too, is not new to fantasy at all—yet Abraham writes it in a way that feels very refreshing. Having read Age of Ash, I feel satiated, like I just had a full and delicious meal. I’m not exactly hungry for the next book, but I would read it just to see where Abraham goes with this world next. 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.

Our tale is set in the illustrious city of Kithamar, a city full of beauty, but with a rich history of blood and war, a city where every person has a story to unfold, a city where a sinister secret has long been kept hidden. It is also a city where two thieves from the slums of Longhill become embroiled in a plot of dark magic and deadly political intrigue. We follow Alys and Sammish, both members of a thieving crew, both skilled in their roles of distraction and going unnoticed. Yet what begins as petty thievery soon turns into so much more. When Alys’s brother Darro is murdered, Alys sets on a journey of discovery and revenge, which leads her down some very treacherous paths. Sammish seeing her beloved Alys suffer and struggle under her grief, tries to help her friend in any way she can, but the more she learns the truth about the murder and the multitude of connections surrounding it, she soon realises she has to try to save more than just her friend. We also get the POVs of some of the "bad guys" which I honestly really enjoyed and thought added an extra layer of dimension to the story. This method, which was first proposed by the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA), relies on a simple formula that uses the tree diameter at breast height (DBH), which is the tree's diameter at a point of 4.5 feet above the ground. How to Calculate the DBH Daniel Abraham’s books have been on my tbr! I have heard great things about The Expanse, The Long Price Quartet and The Dagger and the Coin series, but for some reason, I have never gotten around to reading any of Abraham’s books. I was very excited when OrbitBooks sent a review copy of Age of Ash! This finally gave me an excuse to read some of Abraham’s work. So what did I think? 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.”Age of Ashis an easy book to understand and follow…but once you delve beneath its surface, there’s far more to it than it first appears. Just like Kithamar.

Mind you, I love the way Abraham writes. Regardless of the book’s design (he can do chapters, too!), it is always so difficult for me to stop. And this book is truly written like you'd write about a walk through a foreign city that is alien and unknown but becomes more friendly as you start to recognize the most important landmarks and get used to the funny accent of the locals. Or perhaps it would be more apt to state that the story flows like the river that cuts through the city. The current is not that rapid, but it is relentless; it ebbs and flows. That’s why personally, I didn't mind that all we got were three big chunks. In the grand scheme of things, it made sense. Age of Ashisa tale of grief and love and how struggle can force us into places we’d never expect, told with the precision we’d expect from Daniel Abraham. When you factor in the unique structure of the series and the absolutely jaw-dropping way that the novel’s twists reframe everything, it becomes the kind of story that will follow you around and force you to remember it. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and will be eagerly snapping up the next entry in The Kithamar Trilogyas soon as it drops.

Mythology and symbolism

But the tale is really not about those two. They serve as temporary conduits. The main character is the ”thing that called itself Kithamar,” and so I expect the next book to feature an entirely different set of protagonists (may, I am nothing if not excited!). I highlighted all those people’s names when I was reading the prologue, and when reading, I kept asking: where are you? why are you not having a role here? come out, please! And so I know what to expect. Plus, the epilogue is also telling.