The Ash Staff

Ash Staff Trilogy #1

by Paul R. Fisher

Mole is an orphan, one of a small band cared for by the old man Rhawn. The land of Pesten where they live is becoming darker and colder, and with the darkness come other creatures, dragons and wolfmen who ravage the land. When Rhawn dies, Mole becomes a leader before his time, as he and the orphans are entrusted with a dangerous quest: to destroy the sorcerer Ammar and prevent him from sending the world into an everlasting winter.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction, Childrens

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[Geoffrey Roderick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Screw Harry Potter

[Nighteye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book and series. Every book have three parts thet build on each other. They are a fast read, short and intresting stories and with a good development thrue the book-series both of the characters (whom are belivable as are their reactions) and the settings.
The front cover shows bits from the book. The three book-series is intresting and one year apart and have all very various displays of settings and characters around the main characters. Donät know what do to with the ending of the series but great books and to sad they seams to have been forgotten.

a little to fast endings and without climaxes is a bit of a flaw.

[Laiwhdoi · Rating 5 out of 5]

i need someone to tell me how this ends for a project hehe T-T

[Ruby Hollyberry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely a kids' book, but very sweet and clever too. Heavily derivative of both The Hobbit: Or There and Back Again (traveling on foot through mountains infested with gobins, etc.) and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (the evil magician has held their land in winter for some years, etc.). Worth reading if you like stories about groups of by turns fearful and cranky, realistic children going on quests that adults dare not undertake. I definitely want to read the whole trilogy now, as there is some VERY noticeable foreshadowing about what it is going to involve. Anything I finish with the feeling of "Darn, I wish I had the next one!!" is pretty good in my opinion.

Update - after reading the full trilogy, I am unquestionably in favor of these. Excellent classic kids' fantasy. Recommended to fans of Alan Garner, Welwyn Wilton Katz and others. Now I wish there were more than three!

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

About what you'd expect of a book written by a high school senior: a patchwork of engaging ideas, many derivative of fantasy classics like The Lord of the Rings, that meanders like the remains of a medieval lai. The characters are distinct but underdeveloped, and it takes three-quarters of the book for the heroes to stumble upon the novel's plot. Still, once that plot comes into play, the story moves swiftly and with clever purpose and concludes with an appealing hint at more adventures to come.

[Melissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring and predictable. And highly recommended by a friend, unfortunately. I read it for a class in Adolescent Literature. I think I remember it being a little spiritual or mystical as well.

[Maureen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish it never ended!

[Adrian Hunter]

terrible fantasy in the D&D vein, but quite workable for a 12 year old.