I am chronically disappointed by Romantasy. I think it so often feels soulless: rehashed characters, tropes and formulas smashed together without careI am chronically disappointed by Romantasy. I think it so often feels soulless: rehashed characters, tropes and formulas smashed together without care or creativity, just written for maximum marketability and "shadow daddy book boyfriend" comments on spicy booktok. But The Ashen series is exactly what I want Romantasy to be but have struggled to find!
(Minor spoilers for book 1 possible from here on.)
The characters: So unbelievably full and thoroughly realized, with weighty and realistic arcs that form the crux of the story. This book added Saga's POV, and it was a fantastic addition. Winters has written the POVs of sisters and managed to make them feel similar enough that it's noticeable but also distinct in their voices and the way that their circumstances have shaped them. Both are struggling due to the traumatic things that have happened to them, but they are impacted and coping in totally different ways. The depiction of ptsd, addiction, and the uneven road to healing was executed in this book with so much compassion and nuance. Saga's POV also broke up the story and added a pacing kick that book one definitely needed; I was genuinely on the edge of my seat reading.
The story: Ridiculously fun, action-packed, dark without feeling too edgy. Without the structure of the journey that shaped the Road of Bones, Silla's story could have felt stagnant here but never did; instead, the time she spends training, grappling with her past, and discovering new danger in the North feels like absolutely essential character work. The Viking-inspired world is familiar enough that it's easy to slip into, but the author worldbuilds thoroughly without resting on the reader's assumptions to fill gaps. I loved that Kingdom of Claw increased the politicking and pulled back the curtain on just some of the terrible things going on in this Kingdom.
The ROMANCE: I am unwell. Just so, so good. The deep character work makes the connection between characters so sweet, tender, and believable, and the slow burn is excruciating and makes the "spicy" scenes feel so earned once they eventually happen. I am feral for the romance in this book. I was highlighting like crazy.
(Also - as much as I love romance, I will always love angst just a little bit more. And WOW these books deliver the angst.)
Please read this series if you love experiencing true joy and happiness but also immense pain....more
I have a complicated relationship with Romantasy; I love the idea of it, because I love both fantasy Exciting, surprising, and compulsively readable.
I have a complicated relationship with Romantasy; I love the idea of it, because I love both fantasy and romance, but more often than not it seems like I’m disappointed in the execution. Typically either the fantasy elements or the romance elements (or both) feel half-assed. Too often stories are written around tropes rather than original ideas. Some of the most prominent and popular Romantasies are full of ethically concerning subtext. And I also tend to find myself unsatisfied with the prose, the pacing, the characterization, and other technical details.
All that is basically to say I now consider The Road of Bones a standout in the genre.
This novel isn’t reinventing the wheel; many elements feel familiar, from the grim Viking-inspired fantasy world to the cast of characters: a spunky fish-out-of-water style heroine, her hulking, grumpy love interest(s), and the ensemble found family group. Certain elements of this setup would normally be a red flag for me, but I had faith, and, wow, it paid off.
Everything about this book is well executed. While the premise introduced elements I was uncertain about, it moved things along so quickly that I was always happy to roll with it; at 500 pages, this is no quick read, but the page space never feels wasted. This is a super engaging, action-packed story that’s easy to lose yourself in. The relationship growth between various characters also happens at a realistic and satisfying pace because the reader is really given the time to settle in with the crew, making both the romance and found family elements work fantastically by the time they come together.
The romance was the element of this story that I was most on the fence about, and I remained so for most of the book. I hate a macho, grumpy, brooding male love interest so much I’d call it a pet peeve. But without spoiling anything: my fellow haters and skeptics, just trust me on this one. I could not believe some of the developments that occurred over the course of the story - In the end, the romance had me absolutely elated and giggling.
My only knocks against this book are that the middle does drag a bit and certain plot twists feel obvious, which isn’t inherently a bad thing since it means the groundwork is laid well; but the reveals were dragged out just a bit too long before they were confirmed. The writing was tight and relatively polished, particularly considering this is an Indie, which made the world incredibly easy to sink into. I loved the main character’s journey, the fearsome band of warriors and prominent disability rep, and the hostile yet beautiful world full of monsters, magic, and secrets....more
A powerful debut with distinct style and a vividly imagined world. Also a strong contender for fantasy worlds I would least like to be transported intA powerful debut with distinct style and a vividly imagined world. Also a strong contender for fantasy worlds I would least like to be transported into.
The Final Strife takes place in an empire suffering under a brutal totalitarian regime, following three POV characters during a series of trials that will determine the next rulers of the land. To say much more would be to begin spoiling things, but the plot of the novel primarily hinges around the gradual reveal of secrets and the development of the characters. It’s a very slow burn all the way through. I highly recommend the audiobook for this one - the narrator was amazing at bringing the characters to life, and I find it’s easier to get through dense worldbuilding (read: infodumping) that way.
In addition to the major infodump issue, I unfortunately have a bunch of nitpicky problems with this book. Most of them come down on an editor, not the author. The use of commas where semicolons or em dashes should go drove me nuts, and the worldbuilding semi-regularly contradicts itself (how is all vegetation hard-shelled enough to survive the tidewind, which strips skeletons clean, but somehow still soft enough to bite into raw? A character doesn’t know the name of a district that they previously referred to by the name they supposedly don’t know. There’s just a LOT of little things like this.) The POV also sometimes shifts peculiarly from limited into omniscient in a way that I didn't love.
Don’t take all of this to mean I didn’t like the book, because I really did. The complex characters and intricate machinations of empire shine here, and El-Arifi provides a blistering commentary on power, privilege, willful ignorance, and what it takes to build a successful revolution. Heavy topics, including addiction, child abuse, and grief, are also handled deftly. I would highly recommend this to fans of The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri, The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart, and/or The Unbroken by C.L. Clark....more
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