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CLANG!: A Phoenix Forge Novel
Magic swords gotta come from somewhere.
Fennix Ashborn, Fen to her friends, runs Phoenix Forge, where she makes legendary blades and enchanted armor that adventurers seem to believe appear from thin air. Someone had to forge them. That someone is an opinionated seventy-five-year-old dwarven master smith with a winged cat named Menace. Working beside her is her best friend Cal, an elven enchanter who not only makes the tea but likes to spill it. Found family accumulates around her forge whether she plans it or not.
The forge isn't the only fire that is demanding Fen's attention: mages who think enchantment matters more than the metal; temple committees designing weapons by bureaucracy; a paladin who wants a warlord's greatsword but has never drawn blood.
She's snarky, brutally honest and secretly the kindest person in the room. Takes on apprentices nobody else would, sees people others don't.
When a war cleric arrives needing armor to survive an ice dragon and six smiths have already said no, she takes the job.
She calls her forge the Dragon. Her name means phoenix. When her hammer meets the forge's rising ashes, the impossible happens.
The first book in the Phoenix Forge series. Cozy fantasy with teeth. For readers of Terry Pratchett and Becky Chambers.
Fennix Ashborn, Fen to her friends, runs Phoenix Forge, where she makes legendary blades and enchanted armor that adventurers seem to believe appear from thin air. Someone had to forge them. That someone is an opinionated seventy-five-year-old dwarven master smith with a winged cat named Menace. Working beside her is her best friend Cal, an elven enchanter who not only makes the tea but likes to spill it. Found family accumulates around her forge whether she plans it or not.
The forge isn't the only fire that is demanding Fen's attention: mages who think enchantment matters more than the metal; temple committees designing weapons by bureaucracy; a paladin who wants a warlord's greatsword but has never drawn blood.
She's snarky, brutally honest and secretly the kindest person in the room. Takes on apprentices nobody else would, sees people others don't.
When a war cleric arrives needing armor to survive an ice dragon and six smiths have already said no, she takes the job.
She calls her forge the Dragon. Her name means phoenix. When her hammer meets the forge's rising ashes, the impossible happens.
The first book in the Phoenix Forge series. Cozy fantasy with teeth. For readers of Terry Pratchett and Becky Chambers.
382 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 2, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 3, 2026
I just finished reading CLANG! and it's still something I'm thinking about, which is the sign of a really good book to me.
What Ember Ashworth has built here isn't just a fantasy novel - it's a story about what it means to make things, to build a life, to choose who you let in. At its center is Fen, a dwarf master smith who is one of the most fully realized characters I've encountered in any genre. She doesn't monologue about her feelings or explain her past in convenient flashbacks. You learn who she is the way you learn who real people are: through what she does when she's tired, what she reaches for when she's hurt, who she lets stay when they show up at her door. By the end I felt like I'd known her for years.
The same goes for every character in this book - including, fascinatingly, the forge itself. The Dragon (as it's known) is treated as a genuine character with its own personality, moods, and relationships, and somehow Ashworth makes this feel completely natural rather than contrived. Cal, Fen's long-time partner and enchanter, is another standout: witty, layered, and the source of some of the best lines in the book. The found family that slowly accumulates around Phoenix Forge is the most emotionally honest one I've read in a long time.
I also want to call out the world-building, which is doing something quietly remarkable. The magic systems, the guild politics, the way different communities have built different things out of the same hardship - all of it feels lived-in rather than constructed. Nothing exists just to be cool. Everything has weight and consequence.
And the forge work. The actual smithing. I know almost nothing about metalworking, and I was completely gripped by every scene at the anvil. Ashworth writes craft the way other writers write action - with tension and stakes and the feeling that something real is being decided.
The narrative arc in the book is satisfying - this is a complete story - but like any good storyteller, Ember has left several open threads that feel like they'll lead to other interesting stories. Book two is already queued up for this fall, so I'm excited not to have to wait too long to see how this world keeps getting more and more interesting.
I highly recommend this book. I'll be buying several copies to give to friends of mine who are looking for something new and refreshing. Somehow I think they will do the same for others too.
What Ember Ashworth has built here isn't just a fantasy novel - it's a story about what it means to make things, to build a life, to choose who you let in. At its center is Fen, a dwarf master smith who is one of the most fully realized characters I've encountered in any genre. She doesn't monologue about her feelings or explain her past in convenient flashbacks. You learn who she is the way you learn who real people are: through what she does when she's tired, what she reaches for when she's hurt, who she lets stay when they show up at her door. By the end I felt like I'd known her for years.
The same goes for every character in this book - including, fascinatingly, the forge itself. The Dragon (as it's known) is treated as a genuine character with its own personality, moods, and relationships, and somehow Ashworth makes this feel completely natural rather than contrived. Cal, Fen's long-time partner and enchanter, is another standout: witty, layered, and the source of some of the best lines in the book. The found family that slowly accumulates around Phoenix Forge is the most emotionally honest one I've read in a long time.
I also want to call out the world-building, which is doing something quietly remarkable. The magic systems, the guild politics, the way different communities have built different things out of the same hardship - all of it feels lived-in rather than constructed. Nothing exists just to be cool. Everything has weight and consequence.
And the forge work. The actual smithing. I know almost nothing about metalworking, and I was completely gripped by every scene at the anvil. Ashworth writes craft the way other writers write action - with tension and stakes and the feeling that something real is being decided.
The narrative arc in the book is satisfying - this is a complete story - but like any good storyteller, Ember has left several open threads that feel like they'll lead to other interesting stories. Book two is already queued up for this fall, so I'm excited not to have to wait too long to see how this world keeps getting more and more interesting.
I highly recommend this book. I'll be buying several copies to give to friends of mine who are looking for something new and refreshing. Somehow I think they will do the same for others too.
June 29, 2026
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I really enjoyed this book. It was full of found family and witty discussions. It also contained wonderful commentary on the value of individuals and the harshness of society at times. The characters were enjoyable, and the world was vibrant and thriving. I can't wait to see where this goes.
I really enjoyed this book. It was full of found family and witty discussions. It also contained wonderful commentary on the value of individuals and the harshness of society at times. The characters were enjoyable, and the world was vibrant and thriving. I can't wait to see where this goes.
July 24, 2026
Review: This was surprisingly good. I was not going to read this based on the description, "Cozy Fantasy" as it drives a romance spike in my brain noggin.
There is a flying anthropomorphic cat and wittle Goblin orphan because of course there has to be and an Elf with a chubby for Fen. What exactly their relationship is, I have no clue. There is clearly no banging going on and she has some elemental ghost dragon for a forge where she seems to find emotional comfort.
Expressed emotion is by means of gruff dismissals layered upon overt giving. Teaching life lessons is as direct with caring intent dismissed and cloaked as common sense. While the self-deprecation reaches new heights the fkin cat is always there screaching, chirping, clawing, flying, biting....
The character development is where this novel shines. If this is the authors first novel using a nome de plume, then well done. I will get the next in this series in hopes that the cat is run over by an ore cart.
4.7/5
There is a flying anthropomorphic cat and wittle Goblin orphan because of course there has to be and an Elf with a chubby for Fen. What exactly their relationship is, I have no clue. There is clearly no banging going on and she has some elemental ghost dragon for a forge where she seems to find emotional comfort.
Expressed emotion is by means of gruff dismissals layered upon overt giving. Teaching life lessons is as direct with caring intent dismissed and cloaked as common sense. While the self-deprecation reaches new heights the fkin cat is always there screaching, chirping, clawing, flying, biting....
The character development is where this novel shines. If this is the authors first novel using a nome de plume, then well done. I will get the next in this series in hopes that the cat is run over by an ore cart.
4.7/5
Read
July 1, 2026Great read, with lots of mystery. It’s written as if the reader is watching a play that slowly unfolds. It raises lots of questions about making the right decisions and forging your own path. Menace is a force in itself. I can’t wait for the next part.
June 7, 2026
I read an ARC of this and I couldn’t stop reading!
Very funny but also tugged on all the emotional heart strings
Reminds me of TJ Klune’s House in the Cerulean Sea and Travis Baldree’s Legends and Lattes 💚
Seriously loved it!
Very funny but also tugged on all the emotional heart strings
Reminds me of TJ Klune’s House in the Cerulean Sea and Travis Baldree’s Legends and Lattes 💚
Seriously loved it!
August 23, 2026
Clang, by Ember Ashworth, is the kind of high fantasy I want to read on a Sunday afternoon under a blanket with a cup of chai. It's cosy fantasy done well: warm, hopeful, and impeccably human, even when the err … humans in question are actually a dwarven master metal smith, an elven enchanter, and an endearing cat with wings named Menace.
At its heart, this is a story about a family being built one stray at a time. Characters keep finding their way to Phoenix Forge, whether by accident or invitation feeling lost, disillusioned, or scared, and each arrival adds another thread to a found-family tapestry that Ashworth weaves with patience and care. The execution feels fresh, because danger is always present, first quiet then building, stakes creeping in like Verginia Creeper on a brick building.
That's what struck me most: the danger in Clang is ever-present but subtle. Ashworth is smart about letting the action happen mostly to side characters, off-page from Fen's perspective, so we never quite settle into safety. I kept bracing for the other shoe to drop, waiting for the threat to meet Fen head-on. It never quite does. And somehow that restraint becomes the point. Instead of a climactic collision, the book gives us the cost of protection instead, and that cost is where the real stakes live.
Cal carries that cost almost entirely alone. Keeping danger from the forge's doorstep means secrets, vigilance, and a burden he shoulders without asking anyone to share it. Fen, meanwhile, is protected but also kept in the dark, and that's its own quiet vulnerability. The tension isn't “will the monster get through the gate" so much as "what happens to trust and power between two people when one of them is shielding the other? And what happens if that shield ever cracks?" It's a different flavor of high stakes: emotional and relational rather than a body count. I've read plenty of fantasy where the violence tips into gratuitous, so I appreciated a book willing to let the tension sit in relationships instead of escalating for its own sake.
What makes it all work is how character-driven the whole novel is. Every person who passes through Phoenix Forge feels fully realized, and I fell in love with each of them in equal measure. I particularly loved Menace, whose sharp, funny presence. Who doesn’t love a sarcastic cat? Ashworth is clearly having fun, and that joy is contagious.
Clang isn't interested in delivering a traditional fantasy gut-punch, and it's better for it. If you love intelligent, funny, character-first fantasy with just enough of an edge to keep you turning pages, this one belongs on your shelf.
At its heart, this is a story about a family being built one stray at a time. Characters keep finding their way to Phoenix Forge, whether by accident or invitation feeling lost, disillusioned, or scared, and each arrival adds another thread to a found-family tapestry that Ashworth weaves with patience and care. The execution feels fresh, because danger is always present, first quiet then building, stakes creeping in like Verginia Creeper on a brick building.
That's what struck me most: the danger in Clang is ever-present but subtle. Ashworth is smart about letting the action happen mostly to side characters, off-page from Fen's perspective, so we never quite settle into safety. I kept bracing for the other shoe to drop, waiting for the threat to meet Fen head-on. It never quite does. And somehow that restraint becomes the point. Instead of a climactic collision, the book gives us the cost of protection instead, and that cost is where the real stakes live.
Cal carries that cost almost entirely alone. Keeping danger from the forge's doorstep means secrets, vigilance, and a burden he shoulders without asking anyone to share it. Fen, meanwhile, is protected but also kept in the dark, and that's its own quiet vulnerability. The tension isn't “will the monster get through the gate" so much as "what happens to trust and power between two people when one of them is shielding the other? And what happens if that shield ever cracks?" It's a different flavor of high stakes: emotional and relational rather than a body count. I've read plenty of fantasy where the violence tips into gratuitous, so I appreciated a book willing to let the tension sit in relationships instead of escalating for its own sake.
What makes it all work is how character-driven the whole novel is. Every person who passes through Phoenix Forge feels fully realized, and I fell in love with each of them in equal measure. I particularly loved Menace, whose sharp, funny presence. Who doesn’t love a sarcastic cat? Ashworth is clearly having fun, and that joy is contagious.
Clang isn't interested in delivering a traditional fantasy gut-punch, and it's better for it. If you love intelligent, funny, character-first fantasy with just enough of an edge to keep you turning pages, this one belongs on your shelf.
July 26, 2026
"Three centuries of mornings, and the ones he remembered were all hers. The first time she’d laughed at his tea… The morning she’d told him she’d solved the shield problem in her sleep, reached for tongs, and fallen off the bed, and they’d both laughed until the tea had gone cold."
I would like to thank BookSirens for an e-ARC in exchange of an honest review.
Beautifully crafted but lacks consistency.
Cover Art and the start: The cover art by Eilenne Huang is awesome. I can literally feel The Dragon in the cover art even though it is dominated by Fen, our MC, the dwarf. The book starts with introducing each and every visitor to the forge which makes the story telling style an intriguing one. Moreover, I loved the way most of the novel is written just in the form of conversations and less action. Whenever Cal or Fen narrates one of their older stories, it's fun to listen. There was one regarding an enchanted teapot where I laughed out loud. Moreover, I enjoyed the way the author had explained various tools for smithing.
And then there is Menace - a cat with wings. It was absolutely amusing to see Menace doing Menace things with various characters and objects. I loved the introduction -
However, the last 30% of the book was a struggle for me. I felt that the banter between Fen and Cal kept losing its charm due to the repetitiveness and similar patterns. Although I enjoyed the Elric's (another interesting character) arc in 2nd half of the book, rest of the things were difficult for me.
Overall, a cute little cozy fantasy book in which the people drink good quality tea and not piss-tasting ale.
I would like to thank BookSirens for an e-ARC in exchange of an honest review.
Beautifully crafted but lacks consistency.
Cover Art and the start: The cover art by Eilenne Huang is awesome. I can literally feel The Dragon in the cover art even though it is dominated by Fen, our MC, the dwarf. The book starts with introducing each and every visitor to the forge which makes the story telling style an intriguing one. Moreover, I loved the way most of the novel is written just in the form of conversations and less action. Whenever Cal or Fen narrates one of their older stories, it's fun to listen. There was one regarding an enchanted teapot where I laughed out loud. Moreover, I enjoyed the way the author had explained various tools for smithing.
"Her mouth did something. Probably a smile. Or heartburn. It was hard to tell with dwarves."
And then there is Menace - a cat with wings. It was absolutely amusing to see Menace doing Menace things with various characters and objects. I loved the introduction -
"Fifteen pounds of cat with the ego of a small god, Menace considered the cold tea with ice-blue eyes, dismissed it, and groomed one massive paw instead."
However, the last 30% of the book was a struggle for me. I felt that the banter between Fen and Cal kept losing its charm due to the repetitiveness and similar patterns. Although I enjoyed the Elric's (another interesting character) arc in 2nd half of the book, rest of the things were difficult for me.
"Wood is a noble material. It was a tree once. Trees are sophisticated. Ore is just rock with ambition."
Overall, a cute little cozy fantasy book in which the people drink good quality tea and not piss-tasting ale.
July 28, 2026
Okay, let’s get the elephant out of the room: If Ember Ashworth is a nom-de-plume – and I highly suspect so – it is the best possible name for an author writing a fantasy series about a forge. Kudos! (And if it’s the author’s actual name, I guess writing this book was a true calling)
CLANG! is a book about a forge and the smith working there. But it’s not just any forge, it’s the Phoenix Forge, and not just any smith, but Fennix Ashborn, a female Dwarven smith. She runs the forge together with her best friend Cal, an Elven enchanter and Menace, a winged cat (tressym) who might or might not be the actual master of the forge. CLANG! basically describes a stretch of time and the days Fen has: The work she does, the customers she receives, the conversations she has. And somehow, this all adds up to something of an adventure.
It honestly took me a while to get into the narrative style and – maybe because of it – I was a little confused. The narrative is clearly focused on the conversations Fen and the other characters have. Once I got used to the short sentences and the focus on conversations rather than actions and descriptions, I really enjoyed the story. And there truly is a lot to enjoy: The characters are heart and soul of this book; their relationship, their banter, their chemistry, their development. And the characters are really likeable; I rooted for every single one of them and loved how they evolved into a found family. The banter was truly wonderful at times, there were quite a few passages I laughed out loud. The world building is very subtle, but there is a groundwork the author hopefully might be able to draw from in future books. And since the work at the forge plays an important role, I should mention that the processes described feel very realistic (but then I have no clue about actual smithing, so I am no expert to judge).
If you enjoy cozy fan with strong and lovable characters and lots of heart, you will certainly enjoy CLANG!. Oh, and did I mention that the animal sidekick here is a flying cat?!
CLANG! is a book about a forge and the smith working there. But it’s not just any forge, it’s the Phoenix Forge, and not just any smith, but Fennix Ashborn, a female Dwarven smith. She runs the forge together with her best friend Cal, an Elven enchanter and Menace, a winged cat (tressym) who might or might not be the actual master of the forge. CLANG! basically describes a stretch of time and the days Fen has: The work she does, the customers she receives, the conversations she has. And somehow, this all adds up to something of an adventure.
It honestly took me a while to get into the narrative style and – maybe because of it – I was a little confused. The narrative is clearly focused on the conversations Fen and the other characters have. Once I got used to the short sentences and the focus on conversations rather than actions and descriptions, I really enjoyed the story. And there truly is a lot to enjoy: The characters are heart and soul of this book; their relationship, their banter, their chemistry, their development. And the characters are really likeable; I rooted for every single one of them and loved how they evolved into a found family. The banter was truly wonderful at times, there were quite a few passages I laughed out loud. The world building is very subtle, but there is a groundwork the author hopefully might be able to draw from in future books. And since the work at the forge plays an important role, I should mention that the processes described feel very realistic (but then I have no clue about actual smithing, so I am no expert to judge).
If you enjoy cozy fan with strong and lovable characters and lots of heart, you will certainly enjoy CLANG!. Oh, and did I mention that the animal sidekick here is a flying cat?!
August 30, 2026
I received a copy of this book from BookSirens and am leaving a review voluntarily.
This book was a late edition to my summer reading list but I do think it might be my favorite. A paperback version is absolutely a future purchase and I can't wait to read more.
Fen is written so well. She's fleshed out but we don't get a huge speech or past flashback. We learn about her organically, by how she reacts to her world, to others and by her reasoning behind everything she does. She believes in work ethic, in standing behind her work, in the process of the work itself.
The rest of the world is forged, quite literally, in much the same manner--it's gritty and imperfect but that's what makes it feel so real. We don't know all the ends and outs because our characters don't. It's unnecessary. It makes the story solid.
Add in a semi-feral flying cat (with a beautifully appropriate name), Cal our elvish companion who most certainly owes their high blood pressure to Fen's dwarven stubbornness and you have a world which you'll not want to leave.
I'm more than ready to go back.
This book was a late edition to my summer reading list but I do think it might be my favorite. A paperback version is absolutely a future purchase and I can't wait to read more.
Fen is written so well. She's fleshed out but we don't get a huge speech or past flashback. We learn about her organically, by how she reacts to her world, to others and by her reasoning behind everything she does. She believes in work ethic, in standing behind her work, in the process of the work itself.
The rest of the world is forged, quite literally, in much the same manner--it's gritty and imperfect but that's what makes it feel so real. We don't know all the ends and outs because our characters don't. It's unnecessary. It makes the story solid.
Add in a semi-feral flying cat (with a beautifully appropriate name), Cal our elvish companion who most certainly owes their high blood pressure to Fen's dwarven stubbornness and you have a world which you'll not want to leave.
I'm more than ready to go back.
July 24, 2026
This book is not a love story. But at the same time, it is - a love story about found families and shifting worldviews and helping the people who need it most to find their way home.
This book is beautiful. The prose is simple, unflowery, the epitome of “show, don’t tell”. It just unfolds exactly as it needs to, without unnecessary exposition.
This book is cozy. Like a warm fireplace (with a mind of its own) and a purring cat (who scratched you and stole your dinner) and the comfortable silence of your best friend (who never lets you forget that you are loved, even if they never say it out loud).
I finished this book in less than a day. I’m still a little shell-shocked at how fast and thoroughly these cranky, opinionated, imperfect, lovable characters crawled into my heart and claimed me.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
This book is beautiful. The prose is simple, unflowery, the epitome of “show, don’t tell”. It just unfolds exactly as it needs to, without unnecessary exposition.
This book is cozy. Like a warm fireplace (with a mind of its own) and a purring cat (who scratched you and stole your dinner) and the comfortable silence of your best friend (who never lets you forget that you are loved, even if they never say it out loud).
I finished this book in less than a day. I’m still a little shell-shocked at how fast and thoroughly these cranky, opinionated, imperfect, lovable characters crawled into my heart and claimed me.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
July 10, 2026
I think this is my favourite book. May even become my favourite book series when future stories come out.
I was just enchanted by the storytelling; cosy, lighthearted, and often very funny! I immediately fell in love with Fen and her no-nonsense but gentle demeanor. You could almost feel the warmth coming through the pages the way the settings were described, the intricate and tense moments during Fen's work in the forge. But for me I just loved the characters relationships, the 'drama', the way they all showed how much they cared through their own little ways, and the way they grew too. So much thought and care went into this book, and that's why it has become my favourite.
A cosy fantasy with low stakes plot, lots of laughs and definitely hits the senses hard, definitely with a…
CLANG!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I was just enchanted by the storytelling; cosy, lighthearted, and often very funny! I immediately fell in love with Fen and her no-nonsense but gentle demeanor. You could almost feel the warmth coming through the pages the way the settings were described, the intricate and tense moments during Fen's work in the forge. But for me I just loved the characters relationships, the 'drama', the way they all showed how much they cared through their own little ways, and the way they grew too. So much thought and care went into this book, and that's why it has become my favourite.
A cosy fantasy with low stakes plot, lots of laughs and definitely hits the senses hard, definitely with a…
CLANG!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews