Name: Legacy of Ash
ISBN: 9780356513379

Matthew Ward

"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."--Goodreads.com.

Book One of the Legacy Trilogy

Legacy of Ash

'A hugely entertaining debut' John Gwynne 'Epic fantasy as it should be; big, bold and very addictive' Starburst 'A great romp in a brilliantly realised setting . . . I have lost sleep, forgotten food and made this the thing I pick up every moment I can get' SFFWorld A shadow has fallen over the Tressian Republic. Ruling families plot against one another with sharp words and sharper knives, heedless of the threat posed by the invading armies of the Hadari Empire. The Republic faces its darkest hour. Yet as Tressia falls, heroes rise. Game of Thrones meets the Last Kingdom in Matthew Ward's Legacy of Ash - an unmissable epic fantasy debut of vicious intrigue, ancient magic and the eternal clash of empires. 'Incredible action scenes' Fantasy Hive 'Magnificent and epic' Grimdark magazine 'Rivals Brandon Sanderson's Words of Radiance. It's really good' Engadget The Legacy Trilogy Legacy of Ash Legacy of Steel (November '20) Legacy Book Three (August '21)

Adeline

Such an amazing book, gorgeous writing, great world building, incredible complex characters, I can’t wait for the next one especially considering THAT ENDING OMG.

Not just in scale but in plot threads and character work. The pacing was consistent, I never felt it slow down too much. The plot took a lot of twists and turns that I never saw coming. I gasped so many times! 

But the characters were the best part! They all had depth. Every. Single. Character! The female characters especially were immaculate!

I just.. I... I have no words other than if you're a fan of epic fantasy, READ THIS BOOK!! It has everything you could want! An expansive world, lovable characters with flaws and growth, magic, politics, war, mythical creatures, romance, meddling gods, assassins; all of it! Check it out if you like any of these things, and I hope you love it as much as I did!

Emily B

5 STARS:

That... was.... epic.

Not just in scale but in plot threads and character work. The pacing was consistent, I never felt it slow down too much. The plot took a lot of twists and turns that I never saw coming. I gasped so many times! 

But the characters were the best part! They all had depth. Every. Single. Character! The female characters especially were immaculate!

I just.. I... I have no words other than if you're a fan of epic fantasy, READ THIS BOOK!! It has everything you could want! An expansive world, lovable characters with flaws and growth, magic, politics, war, mythical creatures, romance, meddling gods, assassins; all of it! Check it out if you like any of these things, and I hope you love it as much as I did!

Cherie Dykstra

Loved how large the world / cast is in this book and i feel like we haven't met all yet. 

Cori McCarthy

This book took me awhile, but it was so worth it! This is such an epic read full of magic, mystery, amazing cast of characters, and such a beautiful world. I cannot say enough good things about this book, and I highly suggest to anyone and everyone to read this book! If I had to compare this book to another, I would definitely say “Kingdom of Ash” by Sarah J Maas. They both had epic final battle scenes, characters struggling to survive, and just amazing scenes crafted by these authors. It is such an amazing book, and a lengthy one at that. One conclusion I have is I cannot wait to get my hands on the next book. I will be counting down the days! 

Final Rating: 5 Stars

Kaylee Z

I was so excited for this book. I love a good, deep, epic fantasy with well-thought out politics and characters from every spectrum. Unfortunately, Legacy of Ash was too bogged down by everything it tried to be.

The idea was there and I could see what Ward wanted to do but there was just too much. Too many POVs, too many sub-plots, too little progression, and characters that I really didn’t care about. There were even times when Ward just left key characters out of the story for huge stretches of time which made me think he forgot about them or just didn’t know what to do with them. 

I can usually get on board with a number of issues if I have at least one character that I am eager to see the POV of or get to learn more about and I was grateful that I had that with Viktor Akadra. He was easily the most interesting character of them all for me (although some of the side POVs peaked my interest at times). His character made me push through the annoying Trelans and random sub-plots in hopes of getting to the meat of the story. 

The further I got with this book though, the more frustrated I became. There is a particular plot point that happens which totally changes Viktor’s character and sets him in a totally different direction than what was being set up. There is even a decision that was made that seemed so out of left field and not in line with his character that I don’t think I can push through the next book in this trilogy. I can appreciate that characters can grow and change and I love that, but with Viktor’s character… it just felt like a choice made at random. There was no lead up, no moment of acknowledgment. One moment he is trying to be one thing and the next he decides to follow the lead of someone else and basically just shrugs. 

Maybe the series will get better and have more direction as it progresses but I feel like Ward wanted to do far too much in this one. I may finish this trilogy eventually but, even thinking about it now, I don’t really care about any of the characters at this point. It was okay but a bit rough to get through for a lot of the time.

Legacy of Ash Book One of the Legacy Trilogy

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