The Ashen Path

by A.N. Mouse

Annabelle Raveastre is a knight of Highwyn. She travels the country on assignments from the crown, lending her skills to to communities that are too small to employ their own host of knights. She finds herself in Essmore on the trail of an arsonist. Annabelle thinks that Essmore is a miserable little town and finds that its cowering townsfolk want nothing to do with her. Her reputation for violence as a means to an end leaves for a civilian population that isn't exactly eager to work with her. When the arsonist burns down an inn, one of the employees manages to escape. He has his secrets but they don't interest Annabelle. What does interest her is that he has people skills she lacks and also possess seemingly endless motivation to assist her. She has to bend the rules a little if he is to accompany her, but no one pays much mind to her activities anymore. Her track record largely allows her to do as she pleases. Things get more complicated as the chase grows longer. The arsonist enlists an assassin to kill them and teams up with a shapeshifter to expand his reach. Annabelle is not so easily dispatched. Even if she loses her companion, even if she loses everything, she knows that this fight can only come to one end. Even if the whole country burns, she will see him dead.

225 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 8, 2016

Reviews

[Ace Layton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Ashen Path is a wonderful light fantasy read. I will be the first to admit my biases; this book contains many ideas and people that are very close to me. With that said, A.N. Mouse does an excellent job of bringing them to life and creating a life-like light fantasy world that sucks you in.

The character development is phenomenal. The main character, Annabelle, is not the most redeemable person at first, which makes watching her learn and grow and choose to make changes to her lifestyle interesting and leads you to keep reading to find out what is next. Charon is unbelievably patient with the grumpy knight and seems like someone that A) Anyone would want to be friends with and B) nothing bad should ever happen to, ever. Watching their adventure unfold together and how they play off of each other is the best part of this book.

The characters are strong, and the plot is compelling without being overly complicated. The villain is a likable scumbag (which is one of my favorite kinds) and it's interesting to see how his plans evolve as the book goes on.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for an excellent light fantasy read.

[Abigail Condon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went into this expecting a cool fantasy adventure, and I got exactly what I hoped for. Right away I was thrown into an intriguing plot that kept me engaged all throughout, and managed to keep the momentum going even during the slower moments of the story. The characters were what really sold me though! The two main protagonists’ dynamic was a joy to read, especially seeing how they each progressed over the course of the story. Seeing how they grew as people and learned from each other was really satisfying. There were many moments that had me either laughing or tensing up in anticipation, but ultimately, I loved where they ended up by the story’s finish, and what their characters said about the world they lived in. There were a lot of really neat things going on in this book, from turning gender stereotypes on their head, to the value of mercy in contrast with justice, to comments about family and love, and I thoroughly enjoyed all of it. I’m looking forward to reading more from this universe!

[Crasher · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Ashen Path is one of the best fantasy books I’ve ever read. The characters of Annabelle and Charon are some of my favorite of all time and their relationship is one of my favorite as well. The plot is decently suspenseful and genuienly fun to follow. It is written by someone who loves fantasy but doesn’t mind switching it up a bit. If you haven’t read Ashen Path yet, do it.

[Max · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sort of book where the more you read it, the more context you have and the more the story changes/has different subtleties applied to it. Exciting without being too exhausting.

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[hobbit_tomes · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

This is a wonderful light fantasy book!

This book has some of the most well written character growth and development I've seen. At the beginning of the story, Annabelle is not a very likeable character and her actions make her appear to be irredeemable. She's cut throat, violent and doesn't go out of her way to connect with anyone. Watching her learn to grow and forge new friendships and relationships, and foster trust within her community was really beautiful to see.

My only complaint is that I would've liked a bit more of an explanation regarding the magic system, namely Charon's powers. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed this story and I recommend if you're looking for a quick light fantasy read.

[Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful light read that follows the adventure of an unlikely duo. I love that they both learn and grow from one another and, maybe most importantly, heal parts of themselves along the way. I had read it before but needed to refresh myself with another read before diving into the sequel. This book has fantasy, magic, unconventional romance, and chosen family that will warm your heart and villains you love to hate. I highly recommend picking up a copy to read!

[Azalea Forrest · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Ashen Path. Wow. I really loved this book. It's got just enough fantasy in this medieval world to pull you in and think twice about what's really going on. Strong female lead (physically and emotionally) and a very interesting supporting character with both a questionable past and curious abilities... It's a mystery I'd love to delve into again.

[Joseph Place · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great read! Set in an interesting fantasy world with characters that manage to keep you invested all the way through! The two protagonists pull you in with their interesting and evolving dynamic while the antagonists make it so easy to hate them in the best ways. An emotional laboring journey with plenty of intense moments that leave you on the edge of your seat What a great assembling of words would recommend!