Well what do we have here! Anthony Ryan and a Norse Fantasy!
Not the combination I expected but certainly one I could get on board with!
A Tide of Black Steel is the first book of the “Age of Wrath” series. An epic fantasy trilogy!
I cant say it any better than the blurb so as a reminder, this is what you are in for;
“The land of Ascarlia, a fabled realm of bloodied steel and epic sagas, has been ruled by the Sister Queens for centuries. No one has dared question their rule.
Until now.
Whispers speak of longships of mysterious tattooed warriors, sailing under the banners of a murderous cult of oath-breakers long thought extinct. A tide of black steel that threatens to vanquish all in its path.”
Review
The first thing you should note on this book, is the cover! Goodness me does that hit all the right spots.
Looks fantastic, feels dramatic and will look beautiful on your book shelf.
But I guess you are reading this review to learn about what is inside!
I like to measure my books on a few different focus points.
Characters
There is a lot! I will confess, the sheer volume of new characters overwhelmed me at the start and made this a real slow burn read.
In a similar vain to Malice by John Gwynne it takes the first 50% of the book to really understand the runners and riders.
I struggled to connect with everyone, especially with so many POV’s. The stars of the story for me are Ruhlin and Thera, but I feel others might enjoy Elvine and Felnir more.
I landed on 3/5 for characters.
World building
This is where Anthony Ryan always excels. This is no different. He is phenomenal at pulling you into a series, and making you feel that you are there.
His ability to captivate the scene and everything in the world is brilliant. Norse Fantasy books is a pretty well trodden path in fantasy now and Ryan followed all the rules and gave me everything I expected.
4/5
Writing style
I usually really enjoy multiple POV but this felt sticky at times. Sometimes I didn’t need the POV change and I certainly didn’t need such gaps between returning to the character.
Parts of the story were more interesting than others to me, and when I was pulled out of those moments, it kinda sucked.
3/5
Plot and pacing.
This is a tough measure for this book. Book 1 of a new series is often going to be a slow start, as you are introduced to the world and characters.
For me, it was hard to feel fully engaged until about the halfway point. That said the second half is great and is the reason I will pick up the next book when its out.
3/5
Entertainment value
I think based on the above you can see this wasn’t plain sailing for me. I enjoyed it enough to want to read book to, but it wasn’t edge of the seat stuff.
I know Ryan delivers so I am eagerly anticipating book 2.
3/5
Overall 3 stars.
Leave a Reply