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The Ash Spear

by G. R. Grove

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations / Mentions
5624459,673 (4.19)2 / 25
“Elidyr Mwynfawr, King of Aeron, was a weak, greedy fool, and like many another such fool, he died of his folly. But because he was a King, in his dying he cost many better men their lives as well, and this was the way of it: for I, Gwernin Kyuarwyd, was there, and saw much of it myself, and the tale that I tell you is true…”In 6th century Wales, the ash spear – pren onn – was a symbol of warfare and of manhood, but it also stood for awen, the poetic inspiration of the bards. As war comes to North Wales, bardic apprentice Gwernin must master all three of its meanings in order to keep himself and his friends alive. From otherworldly dangers to rich rewards in the fire-lit halls of kings, from bloody battle and grueling labor to tender romance, The Ash Spear follows him in the thrilling conclusion of this first trilogy in the Storyteller series.… (more)
  1. 10
    The Summer of the Danes by Ellis Peters (gwernin)
    gwernin: Some of the action in Summer of the Danes takes place in the same areas as The Ash Spear, but 600 years later.
  2. 00
    Her-Bak: The Living Face of Ancient Egypt by Isha Schwaller de Lubicz (elenchus)
    elenchus: For those who liked Gwernin's initiation in the Druidic 'Dark Path', Schwaller de Lubicz provides a two-volume work, fictional / novelistic but very well researched, into the corresponding initiation of a young boy into the Egyptian esoteric tradition. Schwaller de Lubicz has more historical detail and commentary than does Grove, but there is (apparently) far more historical material to work with for Egyptian than Druidic historians. Pyramids are better preserved than ancient Yew and Ash and Oaks, for the most part!… (more)
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» See also 25 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 24 (next | show all)
This review was written for LibraryThing Member Giveaways.
The Ash Spear is the conclusion of a trilogy that centers around Gwernin, a bard-in-training traveling around sixth century Wales and surrounding areas. While the book is part of a trilogy, it is perfectly readable as a stand alone novel. The time period in which it takes place is not long after the time of King Arthur and Druidic influences also still abound. Gwernin accompanies Taliesin, the bard to who is to be his trainer for the duration of their travels. His hope is to complete his bardic training and become a full fledged, respected bard in his own right. When he takes to the road with Taliesin at the beginning of the story, he leaves behind his old master and teacher to whom he is apprenticed, the head bard Talhaearn. He also leaves behind his girl, Rhiannedd, who has just announced that she is pregnant with their child.

Factional fighting between clans has erupted into full fledged warfare as Gwernin and Taliesin take to the road and before long they are literally in the thick of the battle. The research and detail appearing in the book are extensive and the author explains how she used the available resources and scant information available on that timeframe to weave a story as true to the time as is possible. She's done a very good job it seems, as the story flows along quite smoothly and believably. I felt immersed in this tale from the Dark Ages, of which we technically know so little regarding specifics. On a personal level, as a newbie to Dungeons and Dragons, this story has vastly improved my ability to imagine Druidic type characters and their lifestyle and the setting in which they lived by feeding my imagination so thoroughly with so many details.

Gwernin's adventures, besides bloody warfare, include "helping" his friend through a dark passage, a quite risky coming of age ceremony in which a psychedelic drug is drunk inducing an approximately 48 hour state of hallucinations that can easily prove to be fatal. Unfortunately for Gwernin, a young, insolent, obnoxious and unpopular acolyte is also under the tutelage of Taliesin and has taken a distinct dislike to our protagonist; a feeling that is mutual. This young lad and his foolish behavior very nearly end up being the end of Gwernin.

We are treated to realistic scenes of gatherings and festivities in the great halls of the time, and of course, the performances of the highly respected bards, including Gwernin, who hopes to become a full fledged member of their ranks before long. I enjoyed these scenes immensely, including the songs and stories that we are treated to. There is a refrain at the end of every chapter, as a segue into the next; and I liked that, too.

One detraction for me was the frequent gratuitous sexual escapades of Gwernin's which were eventually explained as something he just couldn't help and with which he continued throughout his life, apparently. All this while having a very pregnant girl back in his village who he was planning on settling down with before long, yet "settling down" he explained did not mean becoming monogamous. It was explained that his girl (presumed to be his wife eventually) allowed him this and turned her head the other way. That didn't sit well with me, particularly as it seemed against the grain of what we had come to expect of Gwernin, though while not perfect, of course, did usually seem to come off as better than that would indicate. I think that was an unnecessary dereogatory trait for him and took away somewhat from my enjoyment of an otherwise quite enjoyable tale of this time frame and setting. ( )
  shirfire218 | Oct 6, 2023 |
2010 (my review can be found on the LibraryThing page linked)
http://www.librarything.com/topic/104839#2536910
  dchaikin | Sep 26, 2020 |
This is a well written book about Britain in the time of kings and bards. It is full of knowledge about the bardic life and the many cattle wars fought between minor kings, as well as slavery and farm life. I truly enjoyed reading this book. The only drawback was the last line of every chapter - it definitely took away from the story and really broke the flow. ( )
  carliwi | Sep 23, 2019 |
This review was written for LibraryThing Member Giveaways.
It took a long time for me to get around to finishing this book. I go through feast and famine stages with my reading, and unfortunately I was having a hard time sitting down to finish. I've had to resort to audiobooks because I don't have much time at home, and that was obviously not an option with this book.

This is the third book in a series, and I have not read the others so I'm not sure how this tale fits into the grand scheme, but as a stand alone it still held up. I'm not sure if he is a recurring character but the books main character is Gwernin a Storyteller. He is apprenticed to a renowned bard and is hoping to follow in his footsteps.

He grows a lot in this tale, he fights a little, he starts to find his poetic voice, and in the end he finds out more more about himself and his desires than he thought possible. There are elements of his character that I wasn't fond of, mainly his insatiable appetite for women without knowing more about who he was as a man. I don't know if it's his youth, or a permanent character attribute though I expect it's the latter.

It's an interesting book, and I'm glad I finally was able to curl up and read it. ( )
  whisperingfen | Jan 28, 2012 |
This review was written for LibraryThing Member Giveaways.
Finally got around to reading this book. I was slightly confused as I hadn't read the others, but it was an intriguing storyline with great characters. I'll definitely go back and reread after I've picked up the previous titles. ( )
1 vote mlsmit | Aug 8, 2011 |
Showing 1-5 of 24 (next | show all)
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Epigraph
Pren onn ydyw fy awen gwen.
My ash spear is my holy awen.
-Taliesin
Dedication
To all those gone before.
First words
Elidyr Mwynfawr, King of Aeron, was a weak, greedy fool, and like many another such fool, he died of his folly.
Quotations
I had been lucky in my childhood, though I did not know it at the time; our local prince Brochfael Ysgithrog and his successor Cynan Garwyn were both of them stark men whom their neighbors took good care to leave alone, and until the previous summer I had seen nothing worse than a few cattle raids. But exchanging awkward spear-casts in the summer twilight with the lads of the neighboring cantref while running off a few of their young heifers, or even riding down a band of half-awake Saxon raiders in the gray dawn—as Neirin and I had done in Elmet the summer before—is no more like full-fledged warfare than a brief summer shower is like the winter tempest which drowns wide valleys and lays whole forests low. Now that I am old and have seen the worst of it, I know that warfare is no game, but every young man has to get that lesson for the first time—supposing that he lives long enough to learn it. So it was with me.
Below us, but still out of sight, was the enemy camp, on the far side of a little river. We started down the last slope, Rhun leading, and our horses broke into a trot as we went; then, as we hit the flat, into a canter. I heard Taliesin’s voice somewhere behind me, calling my name; but my blood was up, and I did not stop. There was a yell ahead of us, suddenly cut off, as a sleepy sentry gave his last alarm. Rhun’s full-throated battle cry of “Arfon!” answered him, and then we were all of us shouting. We bust yelling out of the last trees and splashed across a shallow ford, and there ahead of us was the enemy camp, and beyond it the sea. And on that sea, even as I looked, the anchored ships bloomed one by one with red-gold fire.
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“Elidyr Mwynfawr, King of Aeron, was a weak, greedy fool, and like many another such fool, he died of his folly. But because he was a King, in his dying he cost many better men their lives as well, and this was the way of it: for I, Gwernin Kyuarwyd, was there, and saw much of it myself, and the tale that I tell you is true…”In 6th century Wales, the ash spear – pren onn – was a symbol of warfare and of manhood, but it also stood for awen, the poetic inspiration of the bards. As war comes to North Wales, bardic apprentice Gwernin must master all three of its meanings in order to keep himself and his friends alive. From otherworldly dangers to rich rewards in the fire-lit halls of kings, from bloody battle and grueling labor to tender romance, The Ash Spear follows him in the thrilling conclusion of this first trilogy in the Storyteller series.

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“Elidyr Mwynfawr, King of Aeron, was a weak, greedy fool, and like many another such fool, he died of his folly. But because he was a King, in his dying he cost many better men their lives as well, and this was the way of it: for I, Gwernin Kyuarwyd, was there, and saw much of it myself, and the tale that I tell you is true…”
In 6th century Wales, the ash spear – pren onn – was a symbol of warfare and of manhood, but it also stood for awen, the poetic inspiration of the bards. As war comes to North Wales, bardic apprentice Gwernin must master all three of its meanings in order to keep himself and his friends alive. From otherworldly dangers to rich rewards in the fire-lit halls of kings, from bloody battle and grueling labor to tender romance, The Ash Spear follows him in the thrilling conclusion of this first trilogy in the Storyteller series.
(This pre-publication description provided by the author)
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G. R. Grove chatted with LibraryThing members from Oct 8, 2012 to Oct 26, 2012. Read the chat.

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