Lord of Snow and Shadows: Book One of the Tears of Artamon

Sarah Ash accomplished something no other writer has achieved: she kept me interested in a vampire fantasy that mixes sword- and gun-play. I am not a fan of vampire and dark magic works, and my favorite fantasies generally don’t involve gunpowder (I’m a purist in the “sword and sorcery”, not “handgun and sorcery”, sense), but the talented Ash forced me to re-evaluate my fantasy biases in Lord of Snow and Shadows: Book One of the Tears of Artamon.

The story of the young painter, Gavril, and his deadly “Drakhaon” inheritance draws strongly on themes echoing the end of the Czars and the rise of Bolshevik extremism. The atmosphere is decidedly Russian aristocracy, and the mostly snowbound settings meld nicely with some of my distant Tolstoy memories. I would have enjoyed a heavier emphasis on nuanced court intrigue (an important betrayal is forecast too far in advance), and the social/political dance could have used a little more finesse, but Ash successfully creates a unique fantasy world that leaves her a lot of room for development in later volumes.

More importantly, Sara Ash shows a serious talent for developing characters you can love. Gavril had substance and complexity, and remained an entertaining character to the very end—in part, because the Dracula legend is here transformed into something better, with a nod or two to “The Portrait of Dorian Gray.” Kiukiu the scullery girl takes off in a direction you wouldn’t imagine, while the early thwarted love theme you suspect will come to dominate is instead relegated to a more appropriate position as just one of many conflicts. Even better, you might actually mourn the loss of one of the bad guys in this story. Fantasy needs character writers like Ash.

Lord of Snow and Shadow is not without problems. I think Ash tries too hard to avoid linear progression, so some of the storyline jumps are too abrupt and the characterizations are somewhat weakened by a development process I liken to forcing bulbs. Gavril’s mother starts out strong, then flat-lines. The central duplicity of one aristocrat should have been more subtly presented. The alchemy elements (pun intended) diminished the overall fantasy value by taking a real-life historical fraud and asking the fantasy reader to accept it as true. The temporal setting of transition from a time of low tech to one of high tech is not overly convincing (perhaps the “Vox Aethyria” is a generation or two ahead of the time?) The story suffers from the absence of real relationship development between Gavril and his reluctantly accepted right hand man, Kostya.

It’s also unfortunate that certain interesting characters were killed off. With any first book in a series, I always look for characters who it would be a pleasure to see reappear. Sadly, at least a couple good ones won’t be taking a second bow unless a special literary device is employed.

Overall, however, Sara Ash’s creativity has given us an enjoyable read that leaves you wanting more. Given what I’ve seen on the fantasy shelves lately, that’s high praise. I am looking forward to even better writing from Ash in later installments.

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Other Reviews of works by Sara Ash

Prisoner of the Iron Tower - Jan 29, 2008

Interview with Sara Ash

On the Spot at Fantasybookspot: Sarah Ash - Sep 13, 2005