≡ Download Free It Began With Ashes Wroge Elements Book 1 eBook D E M Emrys

It Began With Ashes Wroge Elements Book 1 eBook D E M Emrys

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It Began With Ashes Wroge Elements Book 1 eBook D E M Emrys

I do not often read fantasy written in an Iron Age setting, but I've been following this emerging writer for quite some time, so I gave it a shot. And you know what? I enjoyed it.

It Began With Ashes is Emrys' novel debut. He succeeds in where most fantasies fail by avoiding passages of exposition in favor of action and character development. And when I mean action, I mean lots of action. At lest fifty percent of the book has the characters fighting for their lives, and there are a lot of characters.

The book opens up with Astartes, the 12 year old son of the Tax Collector Nicholas. Then it introduces Kale, the twelve year old son of Draven and Morganna Reinhardt, ex-mercenaries and also characters that get their own time in the sun. While the two boys and the sword wielding married couple are the ones who lend the reader their eyes, there is a whole cast to support each of them. There is Deule and Damian, two more 12 year old boys. McGowan, Draven's employer. Ivebian, Draven's friend and skull-crusher cohort. Not to mention a handful of red shirts that shall not be mentioned for spoiler sakes.

For a short novel, I couldn't help but think, "This is a lot of people, but who's the main character?" That's one of the weak points of this novel. I want to say it's Astartes and Kale over any of the adults because they undergo the greatest character development and ask the heavy questions like, "Why is all this blood and killing not affecting anyone else?" If that is the case, this novel is less about the veteran soldiers and more about the children trying to cope with death dumping its bowels all over them through the adults' sword work.

Emrys' world building is effective without slapping the read upside the head with a history text. Most of it is conveyed through character interaction with the world and their thoughts. It's based in an environment much like Roman occupied England with Viking's beating down on the heads of the poor villagers while their occupiers tax them to death. The names are easy to pronounce, especially if you've played Skyrim. Emrys has a glossary at the end of the book, but it really isn't needed unless you're into that kind of thing. His writing is clear and straight forward enough that the context tells the reader everything.

His pacing is good. It gallops along at a steady speed with only a few pot holes. The village raid foes on a bit too long and the book ends to soon. Yes, way too soon. While It Began With Ashes does have a plot from the beginning that is achieved by the end (Get to the Mercenary Guild.) and follows the story rule of rising action, climax, and falling action; it felt like it needed more. The ending is like the horse smashed into a garbage truck going 60 in the opposite direction. It could have been longer and I wouldn't have cared.

So why 4 stars?

It's a well structured story with an easily understood but complex world. The characters are distinct with their own problems and thoughts that develop over time. And he can write.

Looking forward to the sequel.


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It Began With Ashes Wroge Elements Book 1 eBook D E M Emrys Reviews

I recently read D.E.M. Emrys' From Man to Man and liked it very much, because it was a good fantasy story, so it was nice to read It Began with Ashes.

It Began with Ashes is the first part of the Wroge Elements fantasy series. It's a much larger and more complex fantasy story than From Man to Man, which was an introduction to the Wroge Elements series. It Began with Ashes can be categorized as heroic and realistic epic fantasy.

I liked It Began with Ashes very much. It's difficult not to like it, because the happenings are interesting and easy to understand, and the author writes well about difficult themes and pays attention to the theme of acceptance. There are some minor flaws in it, because e.g. certain things could have been explained more thoroughly, but on the whole it's an excellent read and offers great escapism for fantasy readers who are looking for an enjoyable and fast-paced story to read.

Here's a bit of information about the world The events take place in the world of Wroge, which is a fictional fantasy world that reminded me a bit of Britain under Roman rule. Because of the wars, Arneutons rule Wroge. They conquered and colonized Wroge, and the different clans have to live in servitude to them. Bits and pieces of the world are revealed to the reader as the story begins to unfold. I think that more things will be revealed in the sequels, because there are probably several things that haven't been revealed yet.

From Man to Man was a story about Draven, but It Began with Ashes follows the adventures and lives of Draven and Nicolas and their families. Draven, Morganna, Nicolas, Kale and Astartes are well portrayed characters that become more interesting as the story moves forward.

The beginning of It Began with Ashes is instantly addictive and exciting. The story begins with Astartes travelling on the road with his father, Nicolas, towards Hearth. Astartes doesn't see anybody, but he's sure that they're being followed. They're collecting taxes from Keltir clans. He manages to see a glimpse of a figure who has horns... Because this is only the beginning, there's much more to come, but I won't reveal here what happens to the characters.

D.E.M. Emrys keeps the pace brisk and moves the story fast forward, but doesn't hurry too much. He lets readers get to know the characters by writing about them, their lives and their backgrounds as the story progresses. I liked it very much that he wrote about certain happenings through the eyes of Astartes and Kale, because they were young characters and differed from the older characters. Reading about them was interesting.

Draven is an especially interesting character, because he's been a mercenary, but has given up his former life for the sake of his wife (Morganna) and son (Kale). Draven cares for his wife and son, but life isn't always as easy as it should be and he has to make difficult decisions times are tough and working for the Guild would be more profitable than his current job and he would be able to feed his family. I think it's good that the author has created this kind of a realistic character, because it's interesting to read about his life and problems.

I think it's good to mention that there's a glossary at the end of this book. It's nice that the author has included a glossary, because it may be useful to readers.

Everybody who likes this story will be interested in knowing that there will be a sequel. According to the end of the book it will be called A Stirring of Dead Embers.

In my opinion D.E.M. Emrys has a talent for storytelling, because he writes entertainingly about the happenings. When I read this story, I thought to myself that the author loves writing and clearly intends to write an entertaining fantasy series for adults (the author seems to have lots of potential and that's a good thing). I definitely want to read what he writes next, because I enjoyed this story.

Good and entertaining fantasy for adults!
I really liked this book. Emrys writes great characters that you can't help connecting with and rooting for. The story is full of unexpected twists and turns. It Began With Ashes introduced us to a wonderful new world and I can't wait to go back for more.
I do not often read fantasy written in an Iron Age setting, but I've been following this emerging writer for quite some time, so I gave it a shot. And you know what? I enjoyed it.

It Began With Ashes is Emrys' novel debut. He succeeds in where most fantasies fail by avoiding passages of exposition in favor of action and character development. And when I mean action, I mean lots of action. At lest fifty percent of the book has the characters fighting for their lives, and there are a lot of characters.

The book opens up with Astartes, the 12 year old son of the Tax Collector Nicholas. Then it introduces Kale, the twelve year old son of Draven and Morganna Reinhardt, ex-mercenaries and also characters that get their own time in the sun. While the two boys and the sword wielding married couple are the ones who lend the reader their eyes, there is a whole cast to support each of them. There is Deule and Damian, two more 12 year old boys. McGowan, Draven's employer. Ivebian, Draven's friend and skull-crusher cohort. Not to mention a handful of red shirts that shall not be mentioned for spoiler sakes.

For a short novel, I couldn't help but think, "This is a lot of people, but who's the main character?" That's one of the weak points of this novel. I want to say it's Astartes and Kale over any of the adults because they undergo the greatest character development and ask the heavy questions like, "Why is all this blood and killing not affecting anyone else?" If that is the case, this novel is less about the veteran soldiers and more about the children trying to cope with death dumping its bowels all over them through the adults' sword work.

Emrys' world building is effective without slapping the read upside the head with a history text. Most of it is conveyed through character interaction with the world and their thoughts. It's based in an environment much like Roman occupied England with Viking's beating down on the heads of the poor villagers while their occupiers tax them to death. The names are easy to pronounce, especially if you've played Skyrim. Emrys has a glossary at the end of the book, but it really isn't needed unless you're into that kind of thing. His writing is clear and straight forward enough that the context tells the reader everything.

His pacing is good. It gallops along at a steady speed with only a few pot holes. The village raid foes on a bit too long and the book ends to soon. Yes, way too soon. While It Began With Ashes does have a plot from the beginning that is achieved by the end (Get to the Mercenary Guild.) and follows the story rule of rising action, climax, and falling action; it felt like it needed more. The ending is like the horse smashed into a garbage truck going 60 in the opposite direction. It could have been longer and I wouldn't have cared.

So why 4 stars?

It's a well structured story with an easily understood but complex world. The characters are distinct with their own problems and thoughts that develop over time. And he can write.

Looking forward to the sequel.