The Tears of Artamon by Sarah Ash

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Submitted by Skylar Odle 
(Jun 12, 2007)

In my personal opinion, I find this series to be one of the most captivating that I have read in my short span of years. I find the characters absolutly outstanding, and the plot witty with just right touch of chaos and heroics that makes any fantasy novel worthwhile. The deliciously dangerous and desperate plot as Gavril Andar/Nagarian fights, first for his identity and next for his people, to be highly engaging. The turmoil of politics throughout the series adds the extra spice to the all around voice of the book, giving it a much larger and all important aspect. Ash manages to weave an intricate web about her characters that, whether you like it our not, never ceases to bind you to them. I still feel that empty feeling one gets at the end of an excellent read, when the only disatisfaction one has is the fact that the series has come to an end, and your relationship with the characters has finally said adu. As for the subject of this series' numerous protaganists; I can not begin to imagine how someone could dislike a novel simply for the amount of characters said novel has. I discover that this is a common testimony that most first readers of fantasy have. I have to ask though...how hard is it to distinguish between one character and another? Is that what the problem is? I have one foolproof way to solve this dilemma, and that way lies in one word: names.

Once more I would like to formally congratulate Sarah Ash on an altogether wonderful series. It was a great read and I long for more.

The Tears of Artamon tells the story of young painter Gavril, who one day are told that he is the heir to the throne of Azkendhir, where his father once ruled. Gavril is taken to the snowy land of Azkendhir by his late fathers bodyguard, and pretty soon he is involved in the politics of the world. The story is set in a world which bears strong resemblance to the old Russian empire, and that is a pretty intresting thing. From there on the story is a mix of politics, quest fantasy and love story.

I found the beginning of the story fascinating enough to keep me reading, and it was the story of Gavril that interested me the most. And this is a fantasy story with some potential. However, the whole thing soon develops into boring political scheming, and halway through the third book I had completely lost interest in the plot. There is too many things going on at the same time, and it´s easy to lose track of all the characters whereabouts and what they are doing.

Nevertheless, Sarah Ash has the ability to write good fantasy. You can never really tell who is good and who is evil, which makes the reader interested and want to learn more about the characters. The problem is that there is so many things she wants to weave into this story, and that makes you lose interest after a while.

I think this series is just as good as or better than Harry Potter. I believe that there is so much more to the plot and complex character incite. You can’t beat a story like this one; Sarah Ash put her soul into these books. The hearts of men are easy to corrupt is a major theme in this book and is seen beautifully in The Lord of the Rings and in this book when the emperor tries to obtain the power of the daemon. I also enjoy the love story secretly tied into the struggle of Gravil Andar.