Ash : A Secret History (1999)

The narrative is well constructed - you go from an historical novel to an epic fantastic/fantasy and science-fiction tale, without noticing, which is surprising. Ash's life starts in medieval Burgundy, then grows up to fight battles against many enemies. However, in the course of these battles, she discovers many secrets, which will have repercussions until now, the modern world. Then we learn that golems are real and that Ash carries a secret that could change the face of the world. I liked the first part best, as I like well-rounded historical stories, then I read on and, as the story developped, I was surprised by the cryptic clues and how they all merged to form some fantastic tale. The ending was unexpected, but it doesn't detract from the book as a whole. I enjoyed this big book (it is a door-stopper), it changed quite a bit from my usual readings, and if you fancy strong female characters, this book is for you! ( )

This novel is essentially a vast exercise in Showing Your Research into late fifteenth century western European warfare. The bulk of the very bulky book is comprised of battle scenes (and, worse, waiting-for-battle scenes) laid out with the painstaking detail of a historical reenactor, complete with the oft-repeated names of every individual part of a suit of armor and species of pre-industrial artillery. I'm the type of fantasy reader who's typically bored with the obligatory battle play-by-play scenes and wants to skip ahead, and that was often true in this book, too. But I was less tempted than usual, because I quickly learned to trust that the good parts in between the battles would be very good indeed.

The novel purports to be a translation of the medieval Latin memoirs of Ash, a late fifteenth century mercenary captain who happens to be a woman (and she's certainly one of the more believable woman warriors I've run across). Emails between the fictional translator, Pierce Ratcliff, and his book editor are interspersed throughout the text as, at first, a mildly amusing frame story. He, and we, gradually learn that Ash's world doesn't seem to be our historical Western Europe. Notably, the Romanized Visigoths have retained their tribal identity and rule an empire based in a new city of Carthage in North Africa. Which city happens to be under a curse of eternal darkness. And where they happen to have functional golems. And oh yeah, the religion looks like real-life medieval Catholicism (Arianism for the Visigoths), until it gradually becomes clear that their Christ is rather different from our Christ, and that North Africa had a prophet but not one named Muhammad. The details of this off-kilter alternate history are consistently fascinating. Pierce's emails descend into comic relief as he frantically tries to convince his editor that his "memoir" is indeed a memoir and not fiction or mythology, then become more serious as he begins to find archaelogical support for the text's fantastical claims.

In the translation's "present," the Visigoths are mysteriously hell-bent on conquering the seemingly insignificant duchy of Burgundy. Ash gets mixed up in this as, at first, just a mercenary looking for work. Her luck in battle stems partly from a mysterious advisory voice in her head that she believes is a saint, but which is soon revealed to be a Visigothic "tactical machine" (bizarrely modeled on Roger Bacon's Brazen Head). Her ability to hear the voice isn't a coincidence, of course; she's destined to become a central player in the conflict, gradually discovering the reasons behind the curse of darkness, as well as the importance of Burgundy and the nature of her own heritage. (Pierce eventually talks to some physicists and provides us with an interesting and reasonably-plausible-for-a-fantasy-novel pseudoscientific explanation, as well.)

Stylistically, this "translation" is written "for a modern audience", which means tons of f- and s-words, as well as anachronisms like "okay" (which I found much more jarring than the naughty words). And be forewarned: the level of graphic violence, particularly toward the end of the book, makes many "gritty" fantasy novels look positively G-rated.

A note on format: in the UK, this book was apparently marketed in a single hardback volume as "the longest fantasy novel ever written." In the US it was broken into four paperbacks. I have the paperbacks, and the text doesn't seem to have been altered from the original single volume (the later books jump right into the story with no obvious re-introduction of characters, etc.). A one- to two-page "previously on Ash" cheat sheet is inserted into the beginning of each later novel. Broken into pieces, it becomes clear that _Ash_ is no longer than most fantasy trilogies/quadrilogies, and more coherent/less padded out than many. ( )

Wierd in a good way. Doesn't completely take off, but curious and unusual. A story of an alternative middle ages where women occasionally lead bands of mercenaries. ( )

Outstanding work I'm amazed hasn't garnered more recognition. ( )

Well this is truly great achievement. A staggeringly long work, but one well worth the read. Mary Gentle really brings out the grit and the clamour of late medieval combat (or is it early Renaissance?) The writing is wonderfully readable, no useful thing since there are over 1100 pages of it. The story is multi-layered and hugely entertaining. I did feel that some portions in the last quarter or so (during the siege) needed better editing. But all in all, this is one of the best fantasy novels I've read in a long while (though I suppose there is a strong case for classifying it as SF. Oh well, its still worth reading.) ( )