Review: Ashlords by Scott Reintgen

Hey all, Dani here.

Greetings and happy Saturday, everyone! I hope you are all having a wonderful day. Currently I am in the middle of playing Pathfinder with some of my geek friends, so that’s fun. And after our session I think we’re going to IKEA to pick up some shelving units and maybe even a desk so I can set up my writing corner in our bedroom. So…after I get the writing area set up, I’ll definitely show you guys around.

Anyway, today I have another review from my recent NetGalley reads, so that’s good. I just need to log in to my account and upload my blog reviews up there to improve my review ratio a little bit. I definitely have a goal to improve my ratio because I slacked a little bit over the past couple years.

Okay, let’s just jump into the review.

Book Details

Format: e-book

Pages: 368

Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: January 21, 2020

ISBN: 0593119177 (ISBN13: 9780593119174)

Summary

Red Rising meets The Scorpio Races in this epic fantasy following three phoenix horse riders–skilled at alchemy–who must compete at The Races–the modern spectacle that has replaced warfare within their empire.

Every year since the Ashlords were gifted phoenix horses by their gods, they’ve raced them. First into battle, then on great hunts, and finally for the pure sport of seeing who rode the fastest. Centuries of blood and fire carved their competition into a more modern spectacle: The Races.

Over the course of a multi-day event, elite riders from clashing cultures vie to be crowned champion. But the modern version of the sport requires more than good riding. Competitors must be skilled at creating and controlling phoenix horses made of ash and alchemy, which are summoned back to life each sunrise with uniquely crafted powers to cover impossible distances and challenges before bursting into flames at sunset. But good alchemy only matters if a rider knows how to defend their phoenix horse at night. Murder is outlawed, but breaking bones and poisoning ashes? That’s all legal and encouraged.

In this year’s Races, eleven riders will compete, but three of them have more to lose than the rest–a champion’s daughter, a scholarship entrant, and a revolutionary’s son. Who will attain their own dream of glory? Or will they all flame out in defeat?

My Thoughts

Rating: 4 stars

First off, the alchemy aspects of the phoenix horses in this book were fantastic. I can admit to definitely being a geek on this, and just being fascinated by the alchemical component combinations to bring forth each kind of phoenix horses. That was absolutely my favorite thing, and I probably could have sat through alchemy lectures of several pages in length, just because.

Oh, and also, can I say that I loved that this book had alchemical sciences but then also had decently high technological aspects as well. I mean, one of the characters is akin to a YouTuber of our world, doing videos about alchemical combinations and raising/creating various phoenix horses.

Also, two of the main perspectives I enjoyed more than the third, mostly because of the writing style at first, but also just because of the particular character’s arrogant aloofness. Honestly, it made me want to skim through her first chapter because I did not like her from the very beginning. This character is the champion’s daughter mentioned in the summary.

I completely admit the scholarship entrant of the summary is my favorite of the three, though the revolutionary’s son is pretty cool too. The scholarship entrant is the one who did the “YouTube” videos I mentioned before.

Oh, and the races themselves were interesting and definitely had their perils and hazards and dangers.

For the most part I read this book pretty quickly, though I don’t know for sure if I can say that I will pick up the sequel. Right now I’m still not entirely sure if I will pick up more Scott Reintgen books in the future. I liked this book but I didn’t like it to the point of really wanting to read more. So, I guess if Reintgen has another book that sounds interesting to me I’ll give him another try, and I don’t know, maybe by next year when the sequel to this book comes out, I’ll want to read more, probably specifically for the alchemy things.

Where to Get a Copy

You can grab your own copy of this book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-million, Book Depository, or your local independent bookstore through IndieBound.

You can also check with your local library.