Review: A Tide of Black Steel by Anthony Ryan
Blurb:
From the international bestselling author Anthony Ryan comes the spectacular first novel in a new epic fantasy trilogy inspired by Norse mythology.
A new age has dawned. An age of blood and steel. An age of wrath.
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.
Thera of the Blackspear, favored servant of the Sister Queens, is ordered to uncover the truth. As Thera sails north, her reviled brother, Felnir, sets out on his own adventure. He hopes to find the Vault of the Altvar – the treasure room of the gods – and win the Sister Queens’ favor at his sister’s expense.
Both siblings – along with a brilliant young scribe and a prisoner with a terrifying, primal power – will play a part in the coming storm.
The Age of Wrath has begun.
Review:
Opening with high magic, high stakes, and a bloody mess, this has a much faster start than other Anthony Ryan books. It was perfectly paced and ended with both suspense and intrigue as to where the story is headed next.
"If you do not, my lord, I assure you I shall take the greatest pleasure in depriving you of various bodily accoutrements until you do, starting with your ever so busy tongue.”
Ryan’s prose continues to be my favorite part of his book. Graceful and flowing even in the most disturbing moments of the book.
This was a multi-PoV in the truest sense, without a singular-character focus. There was no main character, and each character’s storyline contributed about equally to the main plot. Each PoV character was unique and added a different sort of flavor to the larger story. Despite the multi-PoV style, all the PoVs felt connected to the same overarching plot (unlike GoT or SotG where you kind of wonder how some characters fit/relate for half the book). The PoV characters are not all traveling together, but they are all involved in the same plot.
There is light crossover with Covenant of Steel characters—mostly just mentions, a cameo, and some character connections. Same world, some two decades forward, and in the realm of the Sister Queens. However, this can easily be read without having read on its own without having read the CoS books. You won’t need a refresher on CoS unless you’re really keen to get the references early on in the book.
Usually the magic in AR books is a bit more understated and takes a while to make its way into the story, not so here. The book kicks off with the fantasy elements at the forefront and they continue to weave through the story in significant ways to the end. I would say this has a lot more fantasy in it than his other books, while still feeling very grounded.
His meticulous attention to maritime details in the natural prose was particularly delightful. This is definitely viking inspired but truly alternate world with its own feel to it and little of what you’d associate with viking cliches.
The factions, governing bodies/systems, and social hierarchy are more detailed in this book than in other AR books, perhaps because the higher-ups are more involved in the actual plot/story. This made things a bit more interesting on the large scale while not detracting from the character-driven aspects of the story.
