The Ashen Tomb

Reece and Folke are best friends, brothers and sister really and enslaved by The Lost Ring, a criminal organization that controls most of The Watch. Folke is a prized possession due to his magical abilities, Reece, however, is not. She is nothing more than a trained murderer both in her eyes and The Lost Ring's and sense she has a tendency to not follow orders her value is significantly less than her bond brothers. Which is why Folke has come up with a plan to win Reece's freedom, it's simply really they will play themselves off as a knight and her squire protecting their Queen while she researches a newly unearthed tomb. They'll plunder whatever riches they can and then Folke and Reece will finally be free. Unfortunately they discover that the "Queen" they've chosen to watch is no more a queen than they are a knight and squire and the tomb they have found is far more deadly that anyone could have ever imagined. Realizing that no one will get what they want without a bit of cooperation Reece, Folke, and Sarea the Not Queen, team up to not just conquer the tomb but to keep the others on this quest from discovering the tombs secrets. Between a Not Queen who'd be perfectly happy killing the bond siblings and being done with it, a tomb protected by ancient and deadly spirits, a camp full of people ready to turn on each other at the drop of a hat Folke and Reece are realizing they may have bit off more than can chew and their only way out of it is to defeat the tomb.

I was looking for this book and didn't even know it! I've been in a bit of reading slump recently, especially when it comes to fantasy novels. I've finished quite a few excellent ones this year and every time I'd go to start another one it simply just wasn't as good as the last one I'd read. I started this on Thursday and probably would have finished it Friday if life had not interfered because it truly was unputdownable. Reece and Serea are excellent characters. They are so very complicated thanks to their differing and yet extremely messed up pasts. Folke I have a feeling is going to make some really stupid decisions that I hope doesn't effect anyone but himself. I truly didn't like him, he comes across as having Reece's best interests at heart but especially at the end its fairly obvious that he *needs* her in a way that she doesn't need him and he's willing to put his needs above hers. And hey maybe he'll redeem himself in the next book but quite honestly I'm not sure I can get past the fact that he never told Reece and of the things he was experiencing, which probably would have helped her and Serea get through the tomb faster and clearly didn't think she could make intelligent decisions for herself.

The entire idea behind The Duel is wonderfully unique and truly heart wrenching. I'm not going go into much of this because I think it'll give too much away if I do but suffice it to say I shed than a few tears over just how truly and uniquely cruel The Duel is.

Grant also came up with a pretty interesting magic system that I didn't necessarily find unique because of how it works but because it actually damages the user. There are a ton of fantasy books that love to reference the whole "Magic comes at a price, dearie." thing but it's usually in a vague sense or years down the road not an immediate response when a wielder chooses to hurt someone with their gift. Plus the whole "Summoner" thing is more like a Necromancer and you can never go wrong with someone wielding the spirits of the dead.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this, while I will admit that I did not once get The Mummy vibes (sorry to the author but I just didn't" it was still an amazing fantasy adventure book with an almost perfect balance between action and dialogue. Not to mention two amazingly badass female leads, and of course god like creatures that are just absolute dicks.

Thank you to the author for the ARC.

I loved this book! The Ashen Tomb is a fast-paced fantasy adventure book with lots of intriguing twists and turns and a bit of romance. The main plot follows three main characters who seek to enter a long-lost tomb, while competing with the best adventurers sent by different countries. This forces them to create an uneasy alliance. The world-building is great, with each faction having their own agenda and other secret powers also at play.

I loved the main characters, they are engaging, each with its own set of fears, desires, and motivations. We get four different PoVs, I feel having this many can be tricky because it can get confusing or make the book feel fragmented, but I think the author did a great job in keeping the voices distinct and they really helped me understand and connect better with the characters. The magic system is solid, we get to see some interesting powers and I liked that each has a different consequence for the caster.

I really like it when fantasy worlds have a mythology that somehow makes its way back into the world. Since so much time has passed and there are only legends and tales, the protagonists slowly uncover these stories and piece them together to get a full picture. I think that the tomb provides an excellent backdrop for this. This mythology, the history, languages and the complex politics, make Avedolon a strong and well fleshed out world.

The Ashen Tomb is a solid debut to the The Duels of Avedolon series, and I can’t wait to read the next books! I think fans of Tamsyn Muir and Leigh Bardugo would really enjoy this book.