Memories of Ash (The Sunbolt Chronicles #2)
Intisar Khanani
Cover Designer: Jenny Zemanek
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Release Date: May 30, 2016
Publisher: Purple Monkey Press
Price: US $3.99 (eBook)
In the year since she cast her sunbolt, Hitomi has recovered only a handful of memories. But the truths of the past have a tendency to come calling, and an isolated mountain fastness can offer only so much shelter. When the High Council of Mages summons Brigit Stormwind to stand trial for treason, Hitomi knows her mentor won’t return—not with Arch Mage Blackflame behind the charges.
Armed only with her magic and her wits, Hitomi vows to free her mentor from unjust imprisonment. She must traverse spell-cursed lands and barren deserts, facing powerful ancient enchantments and navigating bitter enmities, as she races to reach the High Council. There, she reunites with old friends, planning a rescue equal parts magic and trickery.
If she succeeds, Hitomi will be hunted the rest of her life. If she fails, she’ll face the ultimate punishment: enslavement to the High Council, her magic slowly drained until she dies.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Apple | Kobo
Review:
I had not read it before and when the review opportunity came of Memories of Ash and to be also offered book 1, I jumped on the chance. The blurb was intriguing enough that there was no chance in hell that I was not going to read those babies. Plus to be honest with you guys, there was really something about the covers that drew me in. Especially the cover for Memories of Ash that is gorgeous and I think the colour palette used is wonderful. We aren’t supposed to judge a book by it’s cover… but sometimes those covers are what at least capture my attention and drive me to investigate further in terms of blurb etc…
So back to Sunbolt, I will have to tell you one word: Outstanding!
Well it deserves an array of praise and to be honest I already told my friends to read it (they are under orders!) In Sunbolt we meet Hitomi who lives on a island called Karolene where an evil Mage Blackflame pretty much is running the show in the background and did I say he is evil? We he is that an more… (wonderful villain to hate btw…)
I don’t want to say too much, but long story short, Hitomi wanting to help a family in danger gets herself caught, sold and pretty much put to death only to escape with a “Breather” Val. If you wanna know what a Breather is, you gotta read the book my friends. Now Val, I liked quite a lot!!! As a Breather, he is meant to be “evil” but he isn’t we go back to the whole book and cover business; Val saves Hitomi and ensures her safety when he leaves her with Mage Stormwind in the mountains to heal!
Memories of Ash pick up from there, well a year after pretty much… and we embark on a new set of rescuing adventures for Hitomi. Now that I am writing this, she reminds me a little of Jack Bauer. She believes in fairness and justice and fights for what is right.
I will give you one spoiler: There is a Phoenix in the story! IKR!!!
I said earlier that Sunbolt was outstanding, well Memories of Ash is even better! it is actually longer; if I am not mistaken on my ipad Sunbolt was about 200 pages which I read really really quickly and Memories is twice as big. Though I still read it in one sitting and forgot all about lunch and even dinner! That ought to tell you something as to how much the book is riveting!
Hitomi is the central character and she is amazing in terms of personality, values, beliefs etc…. She has gone through losses in her childhood and that sad thing is that she is still pretty much a teenager. She is so layered and beautifully written, there is no way to not be on her side from the get go.
There is also a slew of secondary characters some that we have in common in both books like Val, Kenta and the Degath kids that we have in both books and we meet some new ones too in Memories.
I should mention maybe that Blackflame is even more loathsome in book 2 if that is even possible. But I love to hate a good villain, you get no complaints from me.
Really guys, Sunbolt and Memories of Ash are amazing and so so much more, you know I would not be saying that if it wasn’t true. I am now looking forward to Book 3 and I need a name and release date!
I truly hope you all for in love with Hitomi and these wonderfully brilliant books like I did!
Excerpt:
“It needs a meal,” the mage says, voice rasping, “and it won’t be me.” He yanks me off balance. I cry out, jerking away from him and lashing out with my glowstone. I manage to smack him hard across the face, but then his boot comes between my feet. For a sickening moment I teeter on the edge of the stairs.
Get back!
I barely register the words ringing in my mind before the mage shoves me, hard. I swallow a scream, throwing my arms up to shield my head as I fall. I slam down the stairs, bouncing toward the mass of tentacles.
Feet first—get your feet first!
I follow the shouted advice mindlessly, twisting my body as I come to a stop amidst a tangle of three or four great tentacles.
Don’t move.
Someone is talking inside my head, and it’s not me. Somehow, that’s almost worse than lying surrounded by the talons of a nightmare monster. Almost.
Author Bio:
Intisar Khanani grew up a nomad and world traveler. Born in Wisconsin, she has lived in five different states as well as in Jeddah on the coast of the Red Sea. She first remembers seeing snow on a wintry street in Zurich, Switzerland, and vaguely recollects having breakfast with the orangutans at the Singapore Zoo when she was five. She currently resides in Cincinnati, Ohio, with her husband and two young daughters.
Until recently, Intisar wrote grants and developed projects to address community health with the Cincinnati Health Department, which was as close as she could get to saving the world. Now she focuses her time on her two passions: raising her family and writing fantasy. Intisar’s current projects include a companion trilogy to Thorn, following the heroine introduced in her free short story The Bone Knife, and The Sunbolt Chronicles, an epic series following a street thief with a propensity to play hero when people need saving, and her nemesis, a dark mage intent on taking over the Eleven Kingdoms.
Purchase:
(Both Sunbolt (Book 1) and Memories of Ash sale for 99cents until release day!)
Amazon – http://smarturl.it/moa
Apple – http://smarturl.it/moait
Barnes and Noble – http://smarturl.it/moabn
Kobo – https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/memories-of-ash
Purchase book 1 – Sunbolt:
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/memories-of-ash-intisar-khanani/1123485421?ean=2940152899597
Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/memories-of-ash/id1090135023
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/memories-of-ash
Thunderclap:
The author has a Thunderclap campaign set for release day, May 30, and wanted to share the link with you in case you would also like to support it. You can find the campaign here: thunderclap.it/projects/39850-memories-of-ash-release-day
Additional Purchase Links:
Amazon US: http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B01CX5G3OG
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01CX5G3OG
Amazon CA: http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01CX5G3OG
Thanks so much for this wonderful review, Nadine! I am so thrilled that you enjoyed both books so much. Missing lunch and dinner is pretty serious! I think that’s a new achievement for me as an author. 😉 As for Book 3, I’m afraid I don’t have a title or release date yet, but I was looking at my initial foray into writing that draft last night, so it is in the works!
I am so deeply touched by your visit to my little blog Intisar! That means so much to me. The books are wonderfully captivating and missing a meal or 2 for the world you have created is no sacrifice.
Well, I am going to be one of those waiting impatiently for book 3, will it be a trilogy or are you planning for the series to be bigger?
I am so grateful for all the amazing people reading and reviewing my stories! 🙂 As for the number of books… well… I think at this point we’re looking at four. Book 3 will take place in the Burnt Lands, and then Book 4 should be the final show down with Blackflame. The rest of the books will all be full length novels, so I guess we could pretend it was planned and call it a trilogy with a must-read prequel novella? 😛 If only my writing would listen to me!