Legacy of Ash – Matthew Ward – Bookrush 16

Blurb:
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 Trelan, Josiri’s sister, seeks only to break free of their tarnished legacy; to escape the expectation and prejudice that haunts the family name.

As war spreads across the Republic, these three must set aside their differences in order to save their home. Yet decades of bad blood are not easily set aside. And victory — if it comes at all — will demand a darker price than any of them could have imagined.

My Thoughts
I was pretty excited when I received this book, it is massive and fantasy which I’m just starting to get properly into, however, I just couldn’t get my head around the number of characters or the magic system until about halfway through.

Honestly, I didn’t think I would finish the book, there were a couple of times when I thought to myself ‘This is too difficult’ but I’m so glad I carried on. I got a grasp on the magic system and started recognising the characters and it’s a really great start to the trilogy.

In this first book we follow a few characters as war erupts. The Hadari people are invading the Tressian Republic and old wounds need to be ignored between the Northwealders and the Southwealders so as to concur the emerging dangers that put both at risk.

However, after the war, a new danger emerges. The darkness is coming, the Tyrant Queen is more than myth and so the Tressian Republic must now get help from the Hadari people to defeat the darkness that threatens the land.

The magic system does take a lot of getting used to, and I found some bits quite hard to imagine because for me there wasn’t enough description of some of the creatures. I also found the language that Ward uses is also quite hard, it’s more of an older English, so some of the sentences took a couple of reads to get used to.

I am really happy that I stuck with the book though and can’t wait to get my hands on the second book.