A Secret History: The Book of Ash, #1

A Secret History, the first of the four "Books of Ash", is difficult to categorize. While the book itself is stamped "Fantasy" on the spine, all the topics above apply at one time or another. And that, perhaps, is why several of the reviewers got annoyed with this book, because it refuses to stick to one category and stay there. This is not a failure on the book's part, but a success; this work is a tour de force.The tale starts off as a translation of a 15th century manuscript, with notes from the (purported) author to his editor, and then we are absorbed into the story of Ash, Renaissance Battle Babe (well, mercenary company leader). Mary Gentle has done her homework on this period, and you will experience almost everything to make it real by dwelling on the discomforts. You will march through muck, mud, and mire, don and doff heavy armor more times than you will care to, while overhearing political calculations in where the next mercenary contract should come from. And the more you take in, the more twists are in store.The breezy correspondence between the translator, Pierce Ratcliff, and his editor, Anna Longman, at first seems jarring compared to the long, complex, and thorough descriptions and adventures of Ash and her company. But do follow them, because they hint from the beginning that this book is not a mere swords without sorcery tale. The editor mentions that she studied Ash in college, yet we know Ash is fictional. And then all of Pierce's source materials either disappear or get reclassified as fiction. Not only do we wonder what will happen to Ash, trying to own land to keep a mercenary company in a land where women cannot own land; we wonder where Pierce's book will ever see the light of day. And why would his sources... change?There are enough similarities to the Late Middle Ages to seem familiar, but here and there some differences catch you up. Europe is Christian, but the worship is different. There are temples to Mithras. There are Visigoths still around... and they're in Carthage, and not the Carthage sacked by Rome.At the end of this book, the mostly-solid reality of life in 1486 is starting to unravel, and this will be further explained (and complicated) in the next book. History becomes fantasy, which becomes alternate history, and on to the science fictional parts. Do stay with it, for it is indeed worth the trip. My only complaint is that the book so pulled me into Ash's world and wouldn't let me out because there are very few stopping places!Note: This work is not a "series" in the true sense, because Gentle conceived and wrote it as one novel. In the US it was published and released as four books, but in the UK, where she lives, it was published as one tremendous novel.

This book or series of books was very thought provoking. After I finished it I immediately reread it because I felt that in my first reading I had missed a lot of the details that became important later. What also made this a definite repeat read is the complex layers upon layers of events and the genre transcending plot. This is not just a fantasy novel, nor it is completely science fiction, there is history and alternate history, loads of military history, a bit of time travel, and a gutsy heroine that stands out amid the blood and gore. This book is broken into four part in the US the are, A Secret History, Carthage Ascendent, The Wild Machine, and Lost Burgundy. The first book had a particularity beautiful cover with a mesmerizing female warrior in silvery armor that reflected a landscape. The books are presented as the work of a scholar that decided to do a book on the history of Ash, a fifteenth century female mercenary. Using a series of e-mails the scholar communicates with his publisher about the bizarre things that are happening. The manuscripts he based the book on either mysteriously disappear or just as mysteriously get reclassified from history to romantic fiction. He continues to write his book but amid questions about the authenticity of his work. Then suddenly archaeologist discover a ruin of "Carthage" in the sea off Africa in an area that has always been barren. This Carthage shows signs that it existed until just five centuries ago contradicting the historical fact that Carthage was destoryed by Rome over two thousand years ago. But it is exactly where the Ash manuscripts say it is.So who is this Ash? We meet her at the age of eight as she kills two men who rapes her. This earns her the attention of the captain of the mercenary band she is with. As she grows up in mercenary camp the reader starts to realized that the world she lives in is not quite the one we know from history. The people worship the green Christ, and the city of Carthage is still a power base in Africa. After an encounter with a lion in the forest, Ash believes she is blessed by it. As evidence she hears a voice that tells her military strategies that helps her win battles. Before she even turns twenty, Ash was already commanding her own mercenary army.Suddenly Carthage launches an all out assault on Europe and quickly conquers most of Europe. Ash realizes that her voice is really that of a machine in Carthage that seems to be behind the attack. And riding at the head of the invading army is a women that looks exactly like Ash, and she hears voices too.Strangely the machine insists that Burgundy Must Die. Why Burgundy? What is the machine's Agenda? Who is Ash, really?These questions and the questions of the reappearing artifacts in modern Africa are answered in the subsequent books. The plot is too complex to explain in a review but it is very intricate and at times confusing. The author has a degree in War Studies and she uses her k

This book is really the first quarter of a complete novel. Be sure to pick up parts 2, 3, and 4 for a complete story. You won't regret it.Ash skillfully intertwines the story of Ash in 1476-77 with the modern story of a man researching Ash's life and writing a book about her. Other readers complain about the email portions of the novel, but don't listen to them. The "modern story" is as important as the historical story, each one supporting the other. Mary Gentle manages, in her historical story, to create a world that is dirty, ugly, realistic, and extremely fascinating. Here, there's no off-stage indoor plumbing or laundry facilities. People live rugged, and often short, lives. Battles are messy and bloody, with little heroic action, only a desire to survive. And out of all of this, comes an absorbing story.Skip that "Wheel of Neverending Boredom" stuff and read Ash instead.

Wow! I have not read a captivating book like this in a long time. Great characters, an original plot (mercenaries in the 15th Century), written in an original way, as a researcher, the text interspersed with letters and emails. I ordered the second one when I was only a quarter finished. It grabs you right from the first page. As one of the other reviewers said, "Gritty", it is. If you like gritty fantasy (?) with deep characters buy it, you will not regret it. If you are sick of fantasy with the main character being a Prince/Princess etc.. then this is for you.