Ashes of Aldyr (The Obscured Throne Trilogy Book 1) by Russell Archey – Review by Lauren Schnoebelen

Ashes of Aldyr by Russell Archey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The time of prosperity and safety is over. Ygiddra and the Others now walk the world for good or for bad. Elves, dwarves, and humans alike must find a path that will lead them to safety or risk their lives trying. Set in a world of monsters, the unknown is a constant reality and horrors can be around every corner. As time passes, the lives of individuals across the land are told and the experiences they encounter are shared with horrific detail. No one knows what will happen to the world of Aldry but the ashes are falling and time continues on.

I had a lot of hope for this book and there were some great moments but overall I couldn’t connect with it the way I wanted to. The style of telling this story through a variety of different lengths of short stories of the slow decline of Aldry into chaos was an interesting choice and clearly works for so readers. For me personally, I had a hard time connecting with characters or even caring at times what was happening because we would then switch time and perspective. Since I couldn’t connect with the characters as well, when we switched locals and time periods, it was really hard to get back into the story. With this type of story telling, I think I would have been able to follow along better with what was happening if there was some type of map since so many different locations are mentioned. Personally, it would help me visualize the spread of Ygiddra and the Others’ power across the land better. I did feel a lot more connected with the characters and found my intrigue in the story greater for the longer stories. The potential was there for me to really enjoy this with all the mythological creatures, the weird plants, and the moments of time and space being ripped open. Overall, not for me but I’m happy I gave it a try since there were moments that I did enjoy and get creeped out by.

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