Customer Reviews

Ash : A Secret History

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book was great! I read the entire 1000 (or so) page volume in several days. It is reminiscent of the popular The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon, but, dare I say it, better.

It's a very realistic, gritty military fantasy set in medieval France. Ash, a girl, grows up as an orphan in a mercenary camp. At one point, she discovers a voice in her head that gives her tactical advice during battles. With the help of the voice, she grows into a brilliant mercenary leader .

The story is like alternate history/fantasy/hint of scifi. Historical fantasy shows a hint to alternate history when Carthage invades Europe. And the brilliant general leader of the Carthagian forces happens to look exactly like Ash and also respond to a voice in her head. What is the voice? Is it hallucination, a demon, or a computer?

Great adventure, thrilling battles, mysteries, and discoveries. The main character is a vibrant strong woman, very realistically portrayed. I wish there had been more romance. Ash is in an arranged marriage with a man she's really attracted to, on a base physical level, who has nothing but distaste for her. But, since this is not a trashy romance novel, she dismisses her lust for him for what it is, has no trouble beating him up or sticking to her grand plans of conquest and adventure. I loved it. I do wish that there was more sex though. After all, once the battle is won, the warrior herione must get her reward in the arms of a handsome boy, right?

I had been waiting to read this book for a long time. Now, after about 1000 pages, I'm partly disappointed. In my opinion, Ash is a great story (as other reviewers have already pointed out), and a perfect example of what non stereotypical fantasy should be. However, the book has two great flaws, which I have found quite annoying. The first of them is the book structure, and the contemporary framework which - through the emails exchanged by a researcher (who, in the fiction, is translating the manuscripts about Ash) and his agent - surrounds the main story. First of all, the idea that the text is the translation of medieval manuscripts is not credible. The authour could have portrayed it as a fiction work based upon ancient sources, but to portray it as an academic work... Sometimes, especially in the early sections of the book, the emails are also quite repetitive and boring (but fortunately, the contemporary sections are particularly short!).
The second problem is the ending of the book. Without revealing too much to prospective readers, I must say that most of the story is very realistic and often crude, while its ending suddenly comes to contradict everything (in terms of both philosophy and content).
However, I still recommend the book: not only for the idea behind the story and the superb storytelling, but also for the characters, which are very well depicted, and make the reader wish to know more about them and their lives.
Moreover, in a time of precooked books, it is funny to read a novel without understanding which label could describe it. At first, one has the impression of reading an historical novel; a little later, discrepancies start to be unveiled and Ash becomes an alternate history novel; in its second half, hovever, it seems to turn definitely towards fantasy, and in the last section, it could be described as an hard science fiction work.
Hard to believe? Try it!

This is an alternate history tale full of attractive ideas, images, violence and well defined characters.
It was originally published as one mammoth book in the UK; the present book is that version. In USA (and the rest of Europe) divided into four tomes. A wise option IMHO.

A very well documented background reveals Ms. Gentle's researches both in medieval history and warfare.

The entire late middle age world is reconstructed accurately; its reality is overwhelming. The mercenary way of life, camping, battles, cities and courts are vividly described.

The tale starts firmly gripped in actual medieval facts and rapidly evolves into a great alternate history scenario.

The story is presented as a contemporary new translation of medieval manuscripts, with the addendum of new revolutionary documents recently discovered by a historian.
This is shown as a series of emails exchanged by the translator and his editor.


Ash is a very young & capable mercenary leader with eight hundred warriors under her command. At the beginning she is at German Emperor Frederick's service against Burgundy's Duke.
Soon the emergence a mysterious visigothic invasion changes the whole background and launches the story into an alternate universe.

Golems and strange unnatural occurrences spice the tale, nevertheless highly realistic description of day to day life mingle seamlessly.

As the story develops the fantastic and sci-fi elements catch wind and grow up.


Characters are well fleshed, each with its own vital problems to solve and interact: fortune-soldiers, nobles, surgeons, priests and serfs. Interesting issues about ethic, gender, love, politics & warfare are presented to the reader in a shocking cavalcade.

This book is strictly for adult readers due to its violent scenes and language; it will be fully enjoyed by alt-his lovers, fantasy fans & sci-fi buffs.

Reviewed by Max Yofre.

If you're looking for a gripping story with a ferociously strong heroine...
If you get a little tingly and wistful during History Channel programs on weapons and warfare of the middle ages;
If you love fantasy and sci-fi and would love to read an epic adventure on a par with Tolkien, but admittedly a tad darker in the narrative;
read this book.

This is an award-winning book (won the Sidewise award in 2000) that has consistently earned critical acclaim over the years. The use of "swashbuckling" above in the review makes you think of Disney and pirates. This is far, far from Disney. It is at times grim and dark, and in its 1000+ pages has on two occasions visited images of the atrocities of war so unspeakable that I sort of wish I didn't have the images in my head now. But the book is worth it. The story and the characters and the writing are worth it. This isn't like Bernard Cornwell - the violence is part of the story, not simply gratuitous. Ms. Gentle is a master swordsman herself and has a master's degree in War Studies. It shows in the writing. I'm already getting a little panicky wondering what I'll read next that won't be like cheap table wine after a fine claret, or Lone Star after Guinness.

Middle ages novels with fantasy content you've already seen, but this is different. You'd think you're reading about oru world and history, but...what's this "Green Jesus"? And what Carthage has to do with it? You'll discover all in this rich and strange novel, full of intriguing lore, battles and a curiously twisted history...viewed through the eyes of a fascinating character, the female warrior and heroine Ash. An unique marvel to read!

Review for "Ash" (in toto) as printed in UK, while in US, separate four novels.

So, if you are an admirer of Mary Gentle's work and have read the 'Golden Witchbreed' duology, then you may have an idea about the realism, the pathos, the depth of this author's creations.
This is no different but on an entirely different scale.
It is a well seamed story, presenting the case of 'another' history of the world, that existed and may still exist side by side with our current. And I believe the inspiration for this is drawn from those legends, fables, heroes in our past for which we have no definitive evidence but are all there. However, the author uses Schrodinger's cat and the moment of live/dead scenario to create another medieval earth. As expansive as it may sound, the novel has the poignancy of minute details, full of the smell, the feel, the grit of war, the brutality, the violence which is all too human. And the consequences of choices we make..... again all too real and human.
Ash, herself, is a delight. To know her better, you would need to read this.

As with any science fiction and fantasy or quasi-fictional novel, one needs to suspend judgment and see if one can go for a length, that journey and this one is a hell-bent-for-leather chase across our world.

Ms Gentle literally makes you weep for the bitter anguish of Golden Witchbreed saga but here in Ash, at least, there is some reprieve, some consolation to be have.

I have always believed that there is not only one history. Every country produces
books to be used in the educational system from their own national perspective. Every historian
seems to have a hidden challenge to either support the official line or refute it or to prove
that he knows better or can analyse better than the competition.

Alternate history authors sometimes appear as those historians who have chosen money over academics,
or those writers who have a block and have difficulty in coming up with interesting new ideas.

Mary gentle's ASH is not a product of such a person.
I realized, as i was reading the whole book that i was ready to accept her alternate history as mine.
For me, after maybe 8 years or so after reading it for the first time, Ash is very much a part of all the events and characters of my own view and vision of history, just as Darius, Marco Polo, The War of the Roses, Black Adder, Aristotle, Perseus, King Arthur, Gilgamesh, Arsene Lupin and Dr. Hackenbush are.

There is some very good straight forward coverage of the characters and the story line in other excellent reviews. So i will just sum it up with: There are events, weapons, warfare tactics and strategy, historic characters all attached to a not so mundane today by a life line of electronic messages. I caught some differences with 15th century history as i remembered it (sic), very early in the book, and then i was caught. To me it was like a John Dixon Carr mystery with clues not so apparent. i am ashamed to admit that at some point i suspected Ms. Gentle's knowledge of the times.

The modern characters think that the present times are dull, and only a few realize how mistaken they are, just as in real life. So, if you think life is dull, try to start your own altenative histories by dangling a fishing line to the past. Who knows what the catch of the day will be?

I wanted to write this review to thank Mary Gentle and the publishers for making me an intellectually richer person and for allowing me to be quite satisfied, and in fact happy each time i develop my own frequently modified alternate histories.

I just wish that there was also some humor, a little bit of comic relief. After all, all history, official, alternate, legal, illegal, whatever lack humor. Unfortunately historians write about misery but not laughter and the reader is not expected to laugh at great people and great events.

and you have no idea how much it irks me not to finish a book.

I disagree with the reviewer who thought that "Ash" compared favorably with the "Deed of Paksenarrion" --- the Paks books are straight fantasy with a surprisingly authentic military component, while "Ash" falls closer to alternate military history. Elizabeth Moon, though, never sacrificed the story, or the reader's patience, for the sake of displaying her arcane military knowledge. Frankly, I don't think even hard-core SCA armor nuts could read all 1000+ pages with any pleasure. I do not exaggerate: entire chapters are devoted to single days in the life of the main character, and as interesting as I thought she was for the first 300 pages, she pretty much says, and does, and thinks the same things every day. There are a fair number of secondary characters, none of whom is developed enough to balance Gentle's obsession with the minutia of Ash. There is a larger story, about the feuding kingdoms of 15th century Europe, and an alternate-history twist, about mystical computing machines that may or may not be what they appear, and an even broader contextual story, about a 21st century historian pursuing the Ash legends and discovering that the fabric of history seems to be shifting. These are all amazing concepts, and I really wanted to like this book. But I am so bogged down in the fifth consideration of whether Ash's armor is giving her a rash that I finally have to acknowledge that I'm avoiding picking this book up again. I will never finish it.

"Ash: A Secret History" was originally issued in four separate volumes. Maybe, if I had read it broken into smaller parts, interspersed with reading other things, the repetition of detail and the glacial pace of the plot wouldn't have kept me from finishing the series. But I don't think I would have enjoyed it any more. I see that Gentle has written another multi-volume series set in the same alternate-history milieu, although with a hermaphrodite main character instead of a female mercenary commander main character. I'm pretty sure I won't be reading that one, either.