Review: Ember and Steel, by Donna Morgan

Author Website

Description

The gods are gone. Magic is lost. Vengeance is nigh.

There is death in the north; entire settlements slaughtered in the night by unknown hands. But dead things do not rest. Mages and scholars from across Breitho search for answers, to no avail.  

The church clings to a whispered prophecy to bring back the gods and end the horrors in the dark.

But none of them understands what is truly at stake.

In her tiny village, Sarah Brandt has her own problems. She has witnessed her friend’s murder and is now running for her life.

Her frantic escape takes her to a circle of Druid stones, where something ancient and powerful is waiting in the darkness. When she encounters the burning presence within the stones, Sarah’s world changes forever. 

Now it isn’t just justice she seeks, but salvation.

Not for herself, but for all humankind.

Order links – takes you to the Author’s website

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My Review

Donna Morgan asked for ARC reviewers int he BFS Discord, so I filled in the form and a few days later got the ebook. That was in December, it’s been a busy year so far, and I’ve just got the book read in time for publication day tomorrow. I’ve just pre-ordered a paperback and I need to know what Sarah, Gwith, Taran and Cas do next.

Sarah is a neurodivergent, poor, although literate, outcast living in a small village at the beginning. At the end she’s the embodiment of the spark of life and magic, living in a castle, with a knight husband, and working for the local Duke as his Librarian’s Assistant. The journey she takes to get there include the murder of her only friend, surviving a witch hunt, learning to fight, becoming the Ember Bearer, meeting a goddess, fighting monsters, meeting her husband, dying, and returning from the dead, not necessarily in that order.

I enjoyed this book immensely. I mean, I bawled my eyes out twice, possibly three times, it was fantastic. Sarah’s struggles as a neurodivergent person mirrored some of my own; the rejection of most of society, wearing a mask and contorting yourself to fit into other people’s ideas of normal and still failing, the fear of rejection based on being rejected so often. Surviving despite everything. I adored the first person perspective of Sarah and the interspersed chapters with Moriga and Gwith’s chapter when Sarah dies. I actually felt close to the characters because of that perspective, although I usually prefer 3rd person close.

There’s Sarah’s story and in the background we learn about Gwith, Cas and Taran, the three men who rescue her and become her found family. Cas and Taran are adorable, and would probably drive me up the wall. They’re dancing around each other and it’s obvious, while Sarah is terribly conflicted by Gwith. Since both of them have some trauma related to relationships, it’s understandable. They get the push to sort themselves out after fighting for their lives, which was so very sweetly written, and not graphic.

In the background is a corrupt church that wants to destroy magic and is trying to take over the human duchies. It has succeeded in a couple, but won’t in Trewan; Sarah is there and her presence helps to start the pushback against them. They want her dead because their ‘Veiled Lady’ has told them Sarah, Ember Bearer, will bring about the end of the world. It’s a complex plot the unleash the emptiness from the beginning of the universe and directed by a mad god.

There’s druids, elves, dragons, knockers, gods, and all the fun stuff we expect in fantasy. There’s a darkness that’s relieved by the light moments and love. The world building is magnificent, and the seeding of details that make sense later is really well done. I do like that the god’s are still about in various forms, they just aren’t responding to humans. I enjoyed the insertion of quotes from ‘historical documents’ at the beginning of chapters and the autistic traits I resonate with. I loved the developments of the characters as they go through events and survive. Sarah finding a job in the library is brilliant, I’d totally be hiding in the library and struggling not to ask the sentient giant snake all about his species and homeland, between disappearing into old books for days at a time, too. I think it’s a ‘autistic book person’ thing.

Anyway, as I said, I have a physical copy of this book on the way and if you enjoy darker fantasy, I recommend it.