An Inheritance of Ashes by Leah Bobet is a dark, atmospheric fantasy. Hallie and Marthe, the two sisters who own Roadstead Farm, wait for Marthe's husband to return home from the recent war. As the women are about to give up on Tom's return, Heron, a wandering veteran, arrives, and Hallie convinces Marthe to hire him to help get the farm through the winter.Then the Twisted Things arrive. Are they following Heron?
Bobet's language is often beautiful and contains fresh and powerful imagery:
"His color was coming back, sun-brown instead of pale, but he still looked like he'd watched his house burn down and been fed the ashes." What a potent description of shock and misery.
And "There was no light in the smokehouse past the edge of sun creeping around the doorstep, but the knife shimmered like fresh water."
The world building left me curious, but not satisfied. It is a post-apocalyptic world to begin with, great cities and human progress destroyed in the distant past. Then there is the strange and never fully explained war with a "Wicked God," who has been destroyed. Or not. A parallel world from which the twisted things continue to escape, destroying all they come in contact with. This Wicked God, parallel world, twisted things concept didn't feel fully realized to me. More questions than answers.
A distinct and complicated family dynamic is at work involving the sisters. Are they repeating the "war" between their father and their uncle? It has long been a family on the verge of disintegrating, but can Hallie and Marthe resolve the conflicts? Themes of the effects of war on the individuals who fight, of words that linger and poison, and of good intentions that often fail are also intertwined throughout the novel.
The atmospheric details create an eerie, menacing mood, but the pacing is slow. In spite of the potential, I never felt fully a part of this world. I almost loved An Inheritance of Ashes, but not quite. It was a near-miss for me, and yet, many of the scenes linger visually. A book that left me with some vivid images and some questions.
Library book.
Fantasy/YA. 2015. 388 pages.
First I have heard of this. I think I will check it out!
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting, but not one of my favorites, since I couldn't really believe in the world.
DeleteThis does sound interesting...definitely a unique take on dystopian fiction. I might give it a try.
ReplyDeleteI wish I'd liked it better. It was one of those books that didn't quite work for me, even though I could see the potential.
DeleteGreat cover! I still haven't read anything for my OUAT challenge. I'm so behind but you've had some great choices lately so I'll see if my library has any of these.
ReplyDeleteIt is a great cover, isn't it?
DeleteOh, shame! I loved this one so, so much, both for the way the conflict between the sisters was resolved AND for everything we learned about the war and the Wicked God. I loved it that they went through so much and lost so much and it was all by dumb chance, nothing meaningful about it at all ultimately. (When I say "loved," I mean I thought it was a fascinating artistic choice, not of course that I was happy the characters' suffering had been pointless. :p)
ReplyDelete:) I was just thinking about how differently we can see the same book! I'm eager to see what Bobet comes up with next.
DeleteThe world building and the plot sound interesting to me. I might want to check it out when the mood calls for it. :-)
ReplyDelete:) Mood does have so much to do with the way we feel about a book!
DeleteWow, this sounds interesting! At least, the world-building does. I can probably overlook slow pacing if everything else is done right.
ReplyDeleteSee what you think. :) Jenny at Reading the End really liked this one!
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