Review: Ashlords by Scott Reintgen

Ashlords by Scott Reintgen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved this! If you like darker YA fantasy this is the book for you! Scott Reintgen is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. I've loved all of his books to date.

This comes out January 21, 2020.

This follows three points of view, which is not usually my favorite, but Reintgen does a very good job making sure you are able to keep track of what is happening with each character and each of their storylines so you don't get confused. There are plenty of different plotlines happening in this book, but again he does a very good job of making sure things don't get muddled.

While the race is the center of the story, there is so much more to this book. There is political intrigue, mythology, magic, and plenty of corruption. The most unique part of the book is the phoenixes themselves. Each morning the rider must mix together a unique mix of their horses ashes and alchemical powders to give their horse various attributes ranging from strength and endurance to armor and the ability to defy gravity. The riders must also be trained in combat because after the sun goes down their phoenix burns to ashes only to reborn at sunrise the next day. To win the race each competitor must protect their ashes from the other race contestants because they will try to poison any ashes they come across as well as fight any competitor to near death. Only the strongest and most cunning will make it to the finish line. Alliances will be broken by trusted companions, and they will be formed with bitter enemies.

The story follows Imelda aka The Alchemist, skilled in alchemy she is from a poor region and tribe and admitted to the race on scholarship. She is not expected to win, but she is a favored by the working class. She is a bit of a social media sensation and gives the poor hope that they may one day do something more. Knowing that she can't fight her way to the finish line against her competitors, Imelda comes up with a plan of her own to compete in the races.

The we have Pippa, daughter of two former race champions. She has trained her entire life to win the race when it was her turn to compete. She is favored to win, and there is no reason not to. Pippa knows that she can win the race, but she has plans of her own. Nothing works out as planned and she must use all of her training to get out of the race in one piece.

Our last competitor is Adrian aka The Longhand, he is a competitor from an outcast tribe if you will. His people broke off from the Ashlords after a very ugly war many years ago and Adrian winning the race will be the catalyst his people need to take back what they lost all those years ago. He has also been training his entire life for this race, but what he doesn't know is that he is also a pawn in a much larger machine.

I can't wait for the next book. While this didn't end on a cliffhanger and closed off nicely, there are still plenty of unanswered questions and lots of things left to unfold in the next book. I'm anxiously awaiting the next installment! I'll be recommending this book to my fantasy loving friends!

I was provided an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

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