Publisher: Orbit (Audiobook – 24 September 2024)
Series: Age of Wrath – Book One
Length: 19 hours and 20 minutes
My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
After finally getting something up for We Solve Murders, I continue trying to publish long-overdue reviews for some of the better books of 2024, including the highly captivating fantasy novel A Tide of Black Steel by Anthony Ryan.
Veteran fantasy author Anthony Ryan is an author I have been really learning to enjoy in recent years, especially as I fell in love with his epic The Covenant of Steel series. Following a young rogue who takes on the mantle of a warrior, spy, strategist and most importantly a scribe throughout his complicated and danger-filled life, The Covenant of Steel novels were an impressive collection of books loaded with great characters, a compelling chronicle style and some brilliant twists. All three books in the series, including The Pariah (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2021), The Martyr (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2022), and The Traitor (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2023), were instant five-star reads from me, and I had so much fun getting through them. As such, I was very excited to find out about Ryan’s new novel, A Tide of Black Steel, especially as it serves as a sequel to The Covenant of Steel series. The first book in the author’s new Age of Wrath series, A Tide of Black Steel sets up a mighty fantasy tale that I had a brilliant time with.
Plot Synopsis:
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.
A Tide of Black Steel was another outstanding novel by Anthony Ryan that provided readers with a cool and layered fantasy adventure. Cleverly expanding the fantasy universe introduced in The Covenant of Steel books, A Tide of Black Steel brings together several interesting storylines into one exciting read with a very different tone to the author’s previous novels. Powerful, action-packed, and featuring some interesting twists and turns, A Tide of Black Steel gets a full five-star rating from me, and it was one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2024.
I really enjoyed how this cool novel turned out, especially as Ryan introduced an ambitious and powerful new narrative that combines bold, seafaring adventures with some complex world-building to create an outstanding read. Serving as a loosely connected sequel to the author’s The Covenant of Steel books and told through the eyes of four compelling protagonists, the plot of A Tide of Black Steel breaks off into several divergent threads that each have their own charm while also individually exploring a dangerous new enemy threatening the world. These perspective characters include Ruhlin, a young man who is captured for his mysterious magical abilities and must try to escape from dangerous new masters who want to use his gifts in the fighting ring. At the same time, Thera of the Blackspear, an agent of the Sister Queens of Ascarlia, investigates a mysterious series of raids against Ascarlia’s borders, travelling to the most isolated islands of the nation. Finally, Thera’s brother, Felnir, and the young scholar Elvine, are tasked with trying to find an ancient treasure horde and the dark secrets it contains.
Apart from Thera and Felnir’s perspective chapters, which are strongly linked for much of the book, these major storylines are kept mostly separate from each other, allowing for three separate adventures to occur simultaneously. All these arcs were equally interesting and provided some cool alternate perspective and themes to the book, with Ruhlin’s being a dark coming-of-age plot, Thera’s being a brutal series of battles and investigation, while the combined plot of Felnir and Elvine was a great mixture of exploration, redemption and secrets. While I was a little more drawn to Felnir and Elvine’s plotlines at times, primarily because of a couple of secretive supporting characters that hinted at a great connection between this book and The Covenant of Steel series, I honestly had a brilliant time with all the storylines, and they combined nicely into one compelling and cohesive overall plot. All these storylines progress nicely, amping up the stakes and enhancing the adventure until they reach some thrilling conclusions where some big reveals come to pass. While I saw a few of the twists coming, the impact of these arc conclusions was really impressive, and I came away from A Tide of Black Steel wanting more, especially as there was a cool and brutal cliff-hanger that is going to result in dark moments for the series going forward.
Ryan gave it a real classic adventure feel that worked in the context of the plot. The author used a very different writing style here compared to The Covenant of Steel novels, as this latest book was a multi-character epic that lacked the chronicle style of the previous trilogy. While this change in style while remaining the same universe could be potentially jarring, I think it worked quite well, and I enjoyed the complex and entertaining narrative that emerged. Ryan proved adept at splitting the narrative between various protagonists, and the diverging perspective chapters blended well into a large and compelling story, with only occasional crossovers. The reveal of key plot points in one perspective arc was well utilised in some of the other protagonist’s chapters, and I really enjoyed the tight, character-driven narrative that emerged.
As I have mentioned a few times, A Tide of Black Steel and the Age of Wrath series it is a part of are a sequel to Ryan’s The Covenant of Steel series, which the author uses to full effect to makes this novel even more enticing and fun. Set years after the conclusion of The Traitor, A Tide of Black Steel takes place in a new setting, Ascarlia, a neighbouring realm to the lands featured in The Covenant of Steel books and features several characters with interesting connections to figures from the previous trilogy, including that series’ main protagonist. Ryan has a wonderful time diving into this new setting, which has a distinctive Norse/Viking feel compared to the more traditional medieval Europe vibe of the previous novels. This allows for an entirely new focus on naval combat, a boat and island focused culture and Norse-inspired military tactics, which really helps to set A Tide of Black Steel apart. Ryan utilises all these elements to great effect in this new book, and the multiple longship-on-longship battles and clashes at the shield wall were impactful, as well as the well-researched and beautifully written depictions of maritime activity and nautical life. I deeply enjoyed this expansion of Ryan’s universe, and the focus on a whole new realm within this world really opened the story options and allowed new protagonists and threats to shine.
While A Tide of Black Steel stands on its own extremely well, the events of The Covenant of Steel books are routinely referenced, and there are some very interesting connections between it and this new series. As such, I feel that A Tide of Black Steel is a book that fans of Ryan’s previous series are going particularly enjoy, especially as they eagerly await any clues or hints about the open story threads from the end of The Covenant of Steel novels. I know I was constantly curious to see whether some of the characters with more mysterious pasts were going to be revealed as figures we’d previously seen in the other series, and the result of that was pretty good. I also liked how the use Ascarlia in this book finally provided a good follow-up to a key part of the first The Covenant of Steel novel, The Pariah, and I really enjoyed seeing Ryan expand on these events, including bringing back an antagonist from that book and making them a key supporting character here. Despite all these references, those readers interested in checking out A Tide of Black Steel without reading The Covenant of Steel novels first are still guaranteed a good time, especially as Ryan provides all the relevant background and refreshes your mind about details relevant to the plot. Still, for the full emotional attachment and background, I would recommend reading the other trilogy first, especially as they are excellent pieces of fantasy fiction.
I should also take the time to mention the excellent array of characters featured within A Tide of Black Steel, as Ryan introduces four outstanding central protagonists, as well as a great collection of supporting figures. These characters are used to full effect throughout the course of the plot, and you grow attached to several, especially when you learn their background and motivations. Each of the four perspective protagonists set an own excellent tone for their chapters, and I frankly enjoyed seeing all their separate adventures and differing mindsets. Watching all of them overcome adversity, lies and issues from their past was quite impressive, and Ryan sets up some interesting, long-running character arcs that are going to be really interesting to see conclude in the future books. The supporting cast was also quite impressive, and Ryan introduced a range of fantastic characters who were usually exclusive to a particular protagonist. I personally enjoyed seeing a couple of Ascarlian-related characters previously featured in The Pariah return here, include Margnus Gruinskard, whose deadly duel in his previous appearance directly led to much of the carnage in the previous trilogy. A couple of mysterious prisoners who find themselves tied to two of the protagonists also added a great deal of interest to the plot, and it was fascinating to see how they connected into the larger plot of the overall series, as well as their personal connection to a key character of this book. I deeply enjoyed this fantastic cast, and their complex storylines added so much to the overall plot of A Tide of Black Steel.
While I was lucky enough to receive a copy of the A Tide of Black Steel paperback, I ended up listening to the audiobook version instead, primarily because I previously had such a great time with The Covenant of Steel audiobooks. This proved to be an outstanding choice, especially as the audiobook version really helped to showcase the extended scope of Ryan’s fantasy world, while also enhancing the cool action sequences. I personally really appreciated that they brought back narrator Steven Brand for A Tide of Black Steel, especially after he did such an awesome job voicing The Covenant of Steel audiobooks. Brand really gets Ryan’s writing style, and he once again perfectly voiced all the key elements of the plot through his narration. His take on the large cast of characters was particularly impressive, and each of the compelling figures featured in the plot was perfectly portrayed, with their complex personalities on full display. I absolutely sped through A Tide of Black Steel’s nearly 20 hour long run time thanks to both the great story and the excellent narration, and this ended up being a particularly amazing audiobook that I deeply enjoyed. A highly recommended listen and one of the best ways to experience Ryan’s cool new series.
Overall, A Tide of Black Steel was an outstanding fantasy novel, and one I really should have written something about earlier. Cleverly expanding Ryan’s previously utilised fantasy world to create a compelling Norse-inspired fantasy adventure loaded with twists and hidden secrets, A Tide of Black Steel was a very worthy follow-up to The Covenant of Steel books and takes the reader on a very wild ride. Exciting, intense and featuring some impressive characters, A Tide of Black Steel was extremely good, and there is a reason it was one of my favourite books from last year. I cannot wait to see how Ryan continues the Age of Wrath series this year, and the upcoming sequel, Born of an Iron Storm, already sounds particularly awesome.
The Unseen Library 