A Tide of Black Steel (Age of Wrath, #1) by Anthony Ryan Series: Age of Wrath #1
Published by Orbit on September 24, 2024
Pages: 560
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From the international bestselling author Anthony Ryan comes the spectacular first novel in a new epic new fantasy trilogy inspired by Norse mythology. A new age has dawned. An age of blood and steel. An age of wrath. The land of Ascarlia, a fabled realm of bloodied steel and epic sagas, has been ruled by the Sister Queens for centuries. No one has dared question their rule. Until now.
Whispers speak of longships of mysterious tattooed warriors, sailing under the banners of a murderous cult of oath-breakers long thought extinct. A tide of black steel that threatens to vanquish all in its path.
Thera of the Blackspear, favoured servant of the Sister Queens, is ordered to uncover the truth. As Thera sails north, her reviled brother, Felnir, sets out on his own adventure. He hopes to find the Vault of the Altvar – the treasure room of the gods – and win the Sister Queens’ favour at his sister’s expense.
Both siblings – along with a brilliant young scribe and a prisoner with a terrifying, primal power – will play a part in the coming storm.
The Age of Wrath has begun.
Full disclosure here, this is my very first time reading any of Anthony Ryan’s books, despite many of them haunting my TBR for years. Naturally, when I read the blurb for A Tide of Black Steel, I decided to ignore all of those books already on my TBR and to read this one instead. I was utterly intrigued by the idea of a Nordic world with Sister Queens alone, but throw in a quest for the lost treasure room of the gods, and well, the other books never stood a chance.
“A spark cannot birth a fire without kindling.”
A Tide of Black Steel has a phenomenal cast of characters, which has a little something for everyone. Thera of the Blackspear is a badass servant of one of the sister queens, Sister Iron, and doesn’t hold back on or off the battlefield. I not only loved her unabashed abrasiveness, but also her care for the people under her command. One of those people is Lynnea, a mute woman with the mysterious ability to communicate with animals, and telepathically with Thera. I thought it was genius that we don’t get to read from Lynnea’s perspective, as it keeps her and her abilities mysterious. I really loved watching Thera and Lynnea’s mutual respect and relationship unfold.
On the other side of the spectrum, Thera has a tumultuous relationship with one of her brothers, Felnir, who is sent on his own mission (some would say a wild goose chase) by the Sister Queens, with the added benefit of knowing if he succeeds, his reputation will be restored. Filling out the rest of the main cast is Ruhlin, a man with (what I’m assuming are some sort of berserker) powers, and Elvine, a scholar, who ends up being blackmailed into Sister Lore’s service. As a fellow book nerd myself, I instantly related to Elvine.
Sometimes in a book like this with such a large cast of characters, I inevitably grow to dislike and dread reading from the perspective of one or more of the characters. This was not the case for me in A Tide of Black Steel where all of the characters are complex with intriguing backstories and have very interesting motivations for their decisions. I was invested in all of them, even if I was less interested in one, that of Ruhlin’s perspective. Though I cared about the character, I didn’t really enjoy reading from his perspective not only because his situation was so bleak, but also because it was a lot of the same abuse each time it switched back to him. And with very little options available to him, I found it discouraging, which honestly meant the novel was doing a good job.
“We live on in the tales told of us. To tell his tale, you have to be alive. Now shift your arse, my love.”
I was really pleased that A Tide of Black Steel wasn’t obsessed with the Nordic inspired idea of dying in battle for glory. I know this was a real thing, but sometimes in novels in this type of setting, it’s as if characters don’t live at all because they’re so obsessed with dying. Though there are these kinds of elements at play here, I was relieved that characters still felt fear of dying, practiced common sense, and retained the will to live instead of always seeking death as the number one solution. I think the novel does a really good job balancing these beliefs with its characters’ actions.
Though I haven’t read any of the author’s works to make comparisons, I was a little surprised by how much this novel reads like historical fiction with some fantasy elements. Though it takes place in a fictional world, other than Ruhlin and Lynnea, none of the characters are really actively exhibiting any fantastical abilities or interacting with any in the world at large (at least not until the end of the book.) I feel that some readers might be a little disappointed that there aren’t more fantasy elements at play at all times throughout the novel. But I am personally grateful that A Tide of Black Steel took its time establishing the world and its lore because it made everything fantastical that did happen feel that much more plausible.
That being said, I did sometimes wonder if any mysteries would ever be revealed in the first book of the series at all because the wait felt interminable at times. This is definitely a slower burn of a book and those looking for tons of action or magic may not find it to their liking. For me, the wait definitely paid off with the explosive ending.
I know I’ll be reading the next book in the series. And I think that now that the set up is complete in A Tide of Black Steel (and it’s clear that there are much larger forces at play than just warring enemy nations looking to take over the world), the next book in the series will be free to focus on these very interesting fantasy elements. With all of the characters spread out on different sides of the impending war, I’m really anxious to see where everything goes.
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I haven’t read this author yet, although I have had some chances. Robin has read and reviewed several of his books though.
Anne – Books of My Heart
This was my first time reading any of his books too! ☺️