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Purge of Ashes: Book One of the Imbalance
***OUT OF PRINT / PREVIOUS EDITION: Please see the new, updated edition released in August, 2026***.
Zealots of the Scalion Legion arrive in a maelstrom of fire and blood, their ambitions as mystifying as their body count is explicit.
They rush at Orenzo Madleej, once eager conscript now crestfallen mercenary, suffocating his wide-eyed notions about historied combat. They fall upon Aronan Kloss, once worthy scion now heir to the throne, uprooting the dueling responsibilities of national security and human decency. They howl above Asma Madrejingo, once a resolute head now a fragile heart, leaving her for dead amid those who promised shelter – and they come with a sole cabalistic to hunt a single immortal betrayer harbored by Aronan’s powerful father.
Now obligated by contract to escort half a city of refugees to the distant capital, Orenzo and his division are Aronan’s only hope to protect his people from a massacre of crude magic and relentless iron. The road is long as a spear, trust as fleeting as reprieve, and the trials of confidence without as exacting as the worms of misgiving within – for as the harrowing march cripples morale and civil war bleeds out the toughest of the crown’s retainers, the capital seems less and less likely to provide sanctuary…
Yet sanctuary they will need, for among them walks one with smoldering temples in his a god’s bastard purposed with fraying the bonds between man and providence.
What chance, asylum, against the birth of imbalance?
Zealots of the Scalion Legion arrive in a maelstrom of fire and blood, their ambitions as mystifying as their body count is explicit.
They rush at Orenzo Madleej, once eager conscript now crestfallen mercenary, suffocating his wide-eyed notions about historied combat. They fall upon Aronan Kloss, once worthy scion now heir to the throne, uprooting the dueling responsibilities of national security and human decency. They howl above Asma Madrejingo, once a resolute head now a fragile heart, leaving her for dead amid those who promised shelter – and they come with a sole cabalistic to hunt a single immortal betrayer harbored by Aronan’s powerful father.
Now obligated by contract to escort half a city of refugees to the distant capital, Orenzo and his division are Aronan’s only hope to protect his people from a massacre of crude magic and relentless iron. The road is long as a spear, trust as fleeting as reprieve, and the trials of confidence without as exacting as the worms of misgiving within – for as the harrowing march cripples morale and civil war bleeds out the toughest of the crown’s retainers, the capital seems less and less likely to provide sanctuary…
Yet sanctuary they will need, for among them walks one with smoldering temples in his a god’s bastard purposed with fraying the bonds between man and providence.
What chance, asylum, against the birth of imbalance?
- GenresFantasy
590 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 7, 2016
About the author
Joel Minty
2 books39 followersI give out lots of 5*s, okay? Just usually loving what these folks are doing!
Joel Minty grew up immersed in fantasy novels, his favorites certain to weave sprawling macrocosms akin to The Malazan Book of the Fallen. At peace when creating worlds and the characters to walk them, he is the author of the epic fantasy series Imbalance and enjoys the genius of Bill Watterson, David X. Cohen and William Blake. Sometimes he thinks armadillos are quite the fanciful pet.
An English teacher by trade, Joel lives in Toronto with his wife, daughter and son.
Joel Minty grew up immersed in fantasy novels, his favorites certain to weave sprawling macrocosms akin to The Malazan Book of the Fallen. At peace when creating worlds and the characters to walk them, he is the author of the epic fantasy series Imbalance and enjoys the genius of Bill Watterson, David X. Cohen and William Blake. Sometimes he thinks armadillos are quite the fanciful pet.
An English teacher by trade, Joel lives in Toronto with his wife, daughter and son.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 27, 2016
Ok, full disclosure: I originally heard about this book when the author was plugging on the Malazan Empire forum. He advertised it as similar to Malazan Book of the Fallen, so naturally, my interest was peeked.
"Purge of Ashes" shares a lot of elements with Malaz. It also shares some archetypes with teh first Dagger & Coin Book (though the author says he hasn't read that). But the book grows to be its own thing, and the ending quickly ramps up the plot, and delivers a few surprising developments, where things get proper dark, in the vein of A Song of Ice and Fire, or The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone. There's also a few revelation moments, which is what's most reminiscent of Malazan, and the ending promises much, much bigger scope to things to come in the remaining books.
The story is told in a format typical for epic fantasy: multiple PoVs, third person narrative. PoVs vary, but they're all major players, even those who may not seem like it. Characters are fairly archetypal, but relatable, and manage to avoid feeling flat or one-dimensional.
The world of Imbalance is revealed slowly. It is a much larger place than what we see in the story, and the implications are that this is the beginning of something huge. The author borrows from Steven Erickson's style of dropping pieces of the world's history all over for the reader to piece together. It works, and I found it to be an enjoyable exercise. There's a set of major power players that gets a brief intro, and whose backstory is linked to in the end.
Bottom line: if you like your fantasy worlds complex, and you like piecing things together, this is a good pick. "Purge of Ashes" isn't quite Malazan Book of the Fallen- I don't know if it'll reach that level of complexity--but it's a decent, if somewhat lighter substitute, with familiar military fantasy archetypes and plots made into something rather new by the journey's end.
"Purge of Ashes" shares a lot of elements with Malaz. It also shares some archetypes with teh first Dagger & Coin Book (though the author says he hasn't read that). But the book grows to be its own thing, and the ending quickly ramps up the plot, and delivers a few surprising developments, where things get proper dark, in the vein of A Song of Ice and Fire, or The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone. There's also a few revelation moments, which is what's most reminiscent of Malazan, and the ending promises much, much bigger scope to things to come in the remaining books.
The story is told in a format typical for epic fantasy: multiple PoVs, third person narrative. PoVs vary, but they're all major players, even those who may not seem like it. Characters are fairly archetypal, but relatable, and manage to avoid feeling flat or one-dimensional.
The world of Imbalance is revealed slowly. It is a much larger place than what we see in the story, and the implications are that this is the beginning of something huge. The author borrows from Steven Erickson's style of dropping pieces of the world's history all over for the reader to piece together. It works, and I found it to be an enjoyable exercise. There's a set of major power players that gets a brief intro, and whose backstory is linked to in the end.
Bottom line: if you like your fantasy worlds complex, and you like piecing things together, this is a good pick. "Purge of Ashes" isn't quite Malazan Book of the Fallen- I don't know if it'll reach that level of complexity--but it's a decent, if somewhat lighter substitute, with familiar military fantasy archetypes and plots made into something rather new by the journey's end.
October 1, 2016
**THIS REVIEW IS FOR THE FIRST EDITION OF PURGE OF ASHES PUBLISHED BY REALMWALKER PUBLISHING GROUP.** As with the other review by Pavlo, I was also introduced to this book by a post on the Malazan Empire forums.
This book sets up an expansive world with a deep history and impactful geography (a la Malazan). This depth of worldbuilding (of which we're given only scant, yet alluring explanations, despite numerous references to places/events/people [again, like Malazan, in that this book, and potentially the series, will reward those who read its entirety and work to connect the dots]) influences actions both large and small — from the relationships interconnecting nations and cities, down to the choices made by massive groups and individual characters. Simultaneously, these individual characters form the core of the book; while it is an epic with a story that unfolds over many years and many lands, it is highly character-driven. We view events through their eyes and through their memories, with all the biases and emotions that entails. While these aspects make a book highly appealing to me, they also represent a steep learning curve for the first few chapters (familiar for, you guessed it, Malazan readers). It wasn't until around 40 pages in that I started to feel the novel gripping me and pulling me along. However, it's worth the initial work required to get into it.
As we get to know the main POV characters, we become immersed in their respective histories and modes of thought. They all have deep, detailed backgrounds which are slowly teased out in small bits over the course of the novel. All of their actions are consistent with their thoughts, and every one of them exists on a spectrum of morality. No character is a paragon of good; no character is an exemplar of evil. They make good choices for good reasons, good choices for bad reasons, bad choices for good reasons, and bad choices for bad reasons — just like we do. This gives them the necessary depth to feel like real people.
Additionally, specific characters are highlighted throughout the novel in short vignettes that elucidate on their backstory and expand on why they act as they do. These short bits did a lot to help me relate to the characters. Yet, these vignettes are a bit of a double-edged sword because we mainly get them for characters who are already named and already POV'ed, except for a few instances toward the latter half of the book.
While the POV characters are richly fleshed out, the non-POV (and, especially, non-named) characters tend to fall a bit flat. It's to be expected, as we don't get insights into their motivations, desires, flaws, and so on, but they felt a bit too one-dimensional. If we had gotten at least a few vignettes for these characters, then I think they would have been a lot more sympathetic than they were portrayed. At times, the novel even seemed to focus a bit too much on the internal voices of the main POV characters, leading to them feeling slightly detached from the non-POV characters. But, Minty did get better toward the latter half at letting us feel what the masses were feeling and making them more sympathetic for the reader. I just wish he had went back and tweaked the first half to give the reader that same feeling. I expect that in the next book, Minty will continue to improve on this aspect.
I focus a lot on the characters in this review because they're given the most focus in the books. But, there is also a lot of weight given to the topographical features of the settings. I don't want to give too many details for fear of spoiling bits, so I think it will suffice to say that we're exposed to a variety of environments, each of which have unique impacts on the characters traveling through them. These are not sterile stage sets; they're living, breathing microcosms. From swamp to city, the characters are heavily affected by where they are. And, to touch on specific plot events in the book without actually mentioning them, there are several times where you will feel unbounded joy at a character's accomplishments. And there are several times where you will feel deep sorrow at the swift and unexpected excision of a character from the story. This book packs emotional punches, and it does not attempt to soften the blows.
All things considered, this is a highly enticing book with small flaws (see my Nitpick Section below and the stuff I mentioned above) that don't detract from the complex and creative story that Minty has crafted (a book can be polished and dressed up to perfection, but that doesn't matter if the story is mundane — and this story is not mundane) . While it does require some up-front work to get into, once the characters and plot get moving, readers will likely have trouble putting it down. The twin plotlines — of the main story and the sub-story presented in epigraph form at the beginning of chapters — come together in the end like a lightbulb jolting on in the reader's head. This revelation, combined with the various situations the characters are left in at the end, leave the reader with several compelling strands to wonder about — and to read about in the second book, when it's published.
It's hard to review a single book in a series like this without having read said series in its entirety, so I await the rest of the books in the hopes that I can come back to edit this review afterward (though I probably won't remember to).
NITPICK SECTION
Grammatically, there are a few instances of strange sentence constructions and words being oh-so-slightly misused. However, I understand that there were issues with Minty's publisher/editor (which has since gone out of business), and I believe that those issues would have been fixed prior to publication if he had better support from a more stable publisher/editor. And, while I do feel it necessary to mention that these grammar flaws exist, they don't detract from the story itself and are definitely nitpicks.
The units used for measuring time throughout the book are not clearly explained, though some of them can be figured out with a bit of deduction. At first, they broke my immersion simply because they required me to think about the durations they measured. As I read more, I gradually became more accustomed to them, and by the end, I wasn't noting them as being immersion-breaking. I'm still not sure it's entirely necessary to use the measurements Minty did, as opposed to second/minute/day/week/etc., but he may have reasons for doing so. A chart in the front or rear of the book with conversions between our measurements and in-book measurements would have been useful. And again, this is just a nitpick.
This book sets up an expansive world with a deep history and impactful geography (a la Malazan). This depth of worldbuilding (of which we're given only scant, yet alluring explanations, despite numerous references to places/events/people [again, like Malazan, in that this book, and potentially the series, will reward those who read its entirety and work to connect the dots]) influences actions both large and small — from the relationships interconnecting nations and cities, down to the choices made by massive groups and individual characters. Simultaneously, these individual characters form the core of the book; while it is an epic with a story that unfolds over many years and many lands, it is highly character-driven. We view events through their eyes and through their memories, with all the biases and emotions that entails. While these aspects make a book highly appealing to me, they also represent a steep learning curve for the first few chapters (familiar for, you guessed it, Malazan readers). It wasn't until around 40 pages in that I started to feel the novel gripping me and pulling me along. However, it's worth the initial work required to get into it.
As we get to know the main POV characters, we become immersed in their respective histories and modes of thought. They all have deep, detailed backgrounds which are slowly teased out in small bits over the course of the novel. All of their actions are consistent with their thoughts, and every one of them exists on a spectrum of morality. No character is a paragon of good; no character is an exemplar of evil. They make good choices for good reasons, good choices for bad reasons, bad choices for good reasons, and bad choices for bad reasons — just like we do. This gives them the necessary depth to feel like real people.
Additionally, specific characters are highlighted throughout the novel in short vignettes that elucidate on their backstory and expand on why they act as they do. These short bits did a lot to help me relate to the characters. Yet, these vignettes are a bit of a double-edged sword because we mainly get them for characters who are already named and already POV'ed, except for a few instances toward the latter half of the book.
While the POV characters are richly fleshed out, the non-POV (and, especially, non-named) characters tend to fall a bit flat. It's to be expected, as we don't get insights into their motivations, desires, flaws, and so on, but they felt a bit too one-dimensional. If we had gotten at least a few vignettes for these characters, then I think they would have been a lot more sympathetic than they were portrayed. At times, the novel even seemed to focus a bit too much on the internal voices of the main POV characters, leading to them feeling slightly detached from the non-POV characters. But, Minty did get better toward the latter half at letting us feel what the masses were feeling and making them more sympathetic for the reader. I just wish he had went back and tweaked the first half to give the reader that same feeling. I expect that in the next book, Minty will continue to improve on this aspect.
I focus a lot on the characters in this review because they're given the most focus in the books. But, there is also a lot of weight given to the topographical features of the settings. I don't want to give too many details for fear of spoiling bits, so I think it will suffice to say that we're exposed to a variety of environments, each of which have unique impacts on the characters traveling through them. These are not sterile stage sets; they're living, breathing microcosms. From swamp to city, the characters are heavily affected by where they are. And, to touch on specific plot events in the book without actually mentioning them, there are several times where you will feel unbounded joy at a character's accomplishments. And there are several times where you will feel deep sorrow at the swift and unexpected excision of a character from the story. This book packs emotional punches, and it does not attempt to soften the blows.
All things considered, this is a highly enticing book with small flaws (see my Nitpick Section below and the stuff I mentioned above) that don't detract from the complex and creative story that Minty has crafted (a book can be polished and dressed up to perfection, but that doesn't matter if the story is mundane — and this story is not mundane) . While it does require some up-front work to get into, once the characters and plot get moving, readers will likely have trouble putting it down. The twin plotlines — of the main story and the sub-story presented in epigraph form at the beginning of chapters — come together in the end like a lightbulb jolting on in the reader's head. This revelation, combined with the various situations the characters are left in at the end, leave the reader with several compelling strands to wonder about — and to read about in the second book, when it's published.
It's hard to review a single book in a series like this without having read said series in its entirety, so I await the rest of the books in the hopes that I can come back to edit this review afterward (though I probably won't remember to).
NITPICK SECTION
Grammatically, there are a few instances of strange sentence constructions and words being oh-so-slightly misused. However, I understand that there were issues with Minty's publisher/editor (which has since gone out of business), and I believe that those issues would have been fixed prior to publication if he had better support from a more stable publisher/editor. And, while I do feel it necessary to mention that these grammar flaws exist, they don't detract from the story itself and are definitely nitpicks.
The units used for measuring time throughout the book are not clearly explained, though some of them can be figured out with a bit of deduction. At first, they broke my immersion simply because they required me to think about the durations they measured. As I read more, I gradually became more accustomed to them, and by the end, I wasn't noting them as being immersion-breaking. I'm still not sure it's entirely necessary to use the measurements Minty did, as opposed to second/minute/day/week/etc., but he may have reasons for doing so. A chart in the front or rear of the book with conversions between our measurements and in-book measurements would have been useful. And again, this is just a nitpick.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews