Legacy of Ash – Matthew Ward

Matthew Ward’s The Legacy Trilogy opens with Legacy of Ash, a 240k word behemoth of a novel which sets out Ward’s stall for the series and emphasises the epic in epic fantasy. Fifteen years after a failed Southshire rebellion, the Republic of Tressia is still mired in internecine conflict, its ruling Council divided on how to deal with their troublesome southern subjects. When the looming threat of the neighbouring Hadari Empire becomes too much to ignore, it falls to the Council’s champion Viktor Akadra to rally the Southshires in defence of the Republic, while siblings Josiri and Calenne Trelan – whose mother led the failed rebellion – face difficult choices as they confront both the lasting implications of their mother’s actions, and Viktor’s role in her death.

This is a story about an old darkness left untended and growing once more, in a world where gods are not the infallible beings they might seem, and magic can be a double-edged sword. It’s a story about the increasing desperation of a nation’s rulers who have spent too long squabbling over power and not paid close enough attention to what’s happening beyond their sight, and characters with little love for each other being asked to put aside their differences and stand together in time to face off against their common enemies. As darkness grows and Tressia is beset from all sides, we see battles both large and small, twisted political machinations, and friends and families set at each other’s throats. Questions arise of spirituality, history and tradition, old grudges and wounded pride, as morally grey characters face impossible decisions and have to choose lesser evils.

And these really are morally grey characters. The story’s main antagonist, a fearsome presence on the Tressian Council, goes to terrible lengths in search of power, but even the protagonists are complex characters trapped by circumstance and forced to negotiate their own moral codes in search of survival. While Viktor, Calenne and Josiri provide the core viewpoints, alongside Melanna Saranal – daughter of the Hadari Crown Prince – on the side of the invading Hadari, they’re accompanied by a wide range of supporting characters. Despite getting less page time, the cast of soldiers, politicians, spies, servants and magical beings beautifully complement the main protagonists, together forming a compelling web of friendships, alliances and bitter enemies, and a broad range of perspectives on the ongoing narrative. It’s perhaps a little overwhelming at first, and the dramatis personae certainly proves valuable for the first couple of hundred pages, but after that things settle down and the richness of the characters becomes a key strength of the book.

Legacy of Ash’s other strengths lie in pacing, and world building. Despite its length this is a comfortable read which quickly builds momentum, even early on when it’s not yet clear exactly which direction the story is going in, rotating through multiple narrative strands that weave in and out of each other. Every epic fantasy novel needs at least one grand battle, and here it’s breathless, exciting, full of drama and with a powerful sense of scale (everything you want from a fantasy battle, essentially) – a suitable point that some authors might have chosen to use as their finale. Instead, it takes place barely past the halfway point, and if nothing else quite matches its high-water mark of sheer adrenaline, the plot continues to develop in twists and turns that remain compelling and never feel bogged down by the sheer amount of things happening.

That’s at least in part down to the setting, Aradane, which has a tangible sense of history in its warring kingdoms, its landscapes dotted with ruined shrines and hidden places of ancient power, and its pantheon of not-quite-hands-off gods. There’s magic aplenty in these lands, from the power lurking within certain characters to that which binds and animates powerful war constructs, and it lends everything a subtle sense of mystique that works beautifully. It’s a suitable backdrop to a classic motif of history repeating itself, not so much in the LoTR/Wheel of Time vein but rather in characters unwittingly making the same mistakes as their forebears, some fighting against the pull of the past, and others willfully choosing paths that will see them become the monsters their predecessors tried so hard to destroy.

All told, this is a powerful reminder of why epic fantasy, when done well, can be so enjoyable. There’s no question that it requires a bit of commitment, but it rewards the reader with an expansive tale that makes use of its considerable word count to build a vibrant world and tell a complex, thoughtful and character-led story. It’s also a rare example of an opening book in a trilogy which does genuinely feel like it was written to work as a standalone – it’s hard to imagine anyone finishing this and not wanting to know what happens next, but it all wraps up in such a satisfying manner that any threads left dangling feel like bonuses to explore in future rather than unresolved frustrations. The sequel, Legacy of Steel, has a lot to live up…but on the basis of this book, the Legacy Trilogy promises to be something very special indeed.

See also: my Rapid Fire interview with Matthew Ward talking Legacy of Ash

Also available as an audiobook via Audible

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