A Sword of Bronze and Ashes by Anna Smith Spark

I would like to thank the author and Flame Tree Press for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher – Flame Tree Press

Published – 12/9

Price – £12.95 paperback £3.82

A Sword of Bronze and Ashes combines the fierce beauty of Celtic myth with grimdark battle violence. It's a lyrical, folk horror high fantasy.

Kanda has a good life until shadows from her past return threatening everything she loves. And Kanda, like any parent, has things in her past she does not want her children to know. Red war is coming: pursued by an ancient evil, Kanda must call upon all her strength to protect her family. But how can she keep her children safe, if they want to stand as warriors beside her when the light fades and darkness rises?

Fantasy evolves and yet for me is always in discussion with its origins of myth and folklore. The last decade saw the rise and gentle fall of grimdark that challenged the simple morality of the past, the revival of folk horror reminds us of the terrifying strangeness of the magical world and perhaps now fantasy is looking to be a little more hopeful and in some quarters cosy. What could the next stage in fantasy look like? At the more epic end of the spectrum I have a feeling A Sword of Bronze and Ashes by Anna Smith Spark is going to be a book that for me signals a potential new direction for the genre creating in this first tale an amazing mixture of myth, magic, heroes and an intimate family battle for survival all told with skilful storytelling that is a pure pleasure to read and creates scenes of wonder, sorrow, grief and hope that definitely makes this one of my most notable reads of 2023.

Kandra is a middle-aged mother of three daughters and focused on keeping the farm and home ready for her family. But then sinister raiders attack her land, killing neighbours and turning their attention to her family. The raiders recognise thar Kandra is more than a simple housewife. In another time and place she was the mighty Ikandera Thygethtyn one of a powerful magical group of warriors created to protect the land. Famed heroes who eventually met their doom and in so doing the golden age of the world ended too. Kandra is no longer young and supple, but she does remember how to fight and is also very aware she has a family to protect. Her eldest daughter argued with her; her husband starts to distrust her, and her enemies have found her once again.

Oh my goodness. Half of me just wants to tell you to just pick this up. Enjoy one of the most evocative fantastical rides of a novel that I’ve had in a while and just indulge yourself in the creative merging of myth, legends and damn good storytelling. But I know Gentle Reader you may need a little more so reluctantly I will do so. I care I really do.

As always with Spark’s work it a poetical journey that the reader is sent on. Even from meeting Kandra walking in a park we hear the animals, feel the power of a river and the sense of history the land has. But the arrival of superhuman and malicious magical foes quickly ramps up the danger. We feel for what appears a simple homestead and then we find Kandra does indeed despite her years still have a few skills. This is a tale of a dangerous warrior getting back into the battle to protect her loved ones. She feels her age; she feels the pain of a middle-aged body and also the wearing of her patience that three questioning children and one unhappy husband can cause her but she will fight regardless.

What strikes me about when this fascinating element of the tale appears we seem less in s a standard medieval/style tale of questing and fighting and more watching a family go off the path of the normal world and into one where magic, legends and monsters run free. There are many inspirations from Celtic myth to play with in this novel from mysterious dark houses with sinister occupants to the infamous Mari Lwyd a Welsh monster with the skull of a horse. For Kandra’s family this is new and terrifying but for Kandra it evokes memories of her past and she must try and find a way through them.

In a variety of flashbacks, we see Ikandera in her glory days. Here Smith Spark lets rip with tales of powerful magical heroes constantly questing, battling evil and doing good. It’s a tale of knights that feels like they are adjacent and perhaps older than Arthurian legends and yet are original in their make-up and sexuality. That sense of awe at these amazing beings and their adventures is beautifully told as if they’re ancient legends or ballads that we should all already know and yet as the tale near the end we see the group’s fractures begin to finally appear and know that the final result will see Kandra out in the wilderness. The glory of seeing the dying of the light is brilliantly and solemnly delivered and I do highlight this tale is rapid, shifting and focusing and knowing when to take a breath but is still a little over 300 pages making it a focused read often hard to leave.

While we have the epic nature of powerful magical forces and legendary heroes Smith Spark avoids going for a tale of world-ending finales. Here the stakes are just Kandra’s family. A group who even though this is a setting far away from our own time are very familiar in their constant arguing, sulking, joy and occasional bravery. As such stakes are still high at a very personal level for Kandra, and any losses will be felt deeply by all. Nothing is easy in this story and the lack of safety means that we are aware people can lose everything in this. Yet despite this I felt this is not grimdark as the focus is on keeping your family safe and ploughing onwards. Its not folk horror as despite moments of terror the bigger feeling I took away was one of wonder. This is a tale with nods to the likes of Mythago Wood, Lee, Garner, and Cooper. An older tradition of the fantasy tale using the original bones of legends and myths to create a tale that here has a distinctly modern frame to it with a middle-aged mother warrior being our central character. It feels incredibly fresh and exciting to read story like this in 2023 a new branch of fantasy with a nod to the past suggesting another way of telling epic stories to modern audiences.

With A Sword of Bronze and Ashes Anna Smith Spark has created a magnificent tale balancing the last battle of an epic war between the powers of light and darkness with a family trying to survive a land where nightmares now walk the earth. Exploring themes of motherhood, growing old and guilt this tale has created a vivid mythical landscape yet it is a tale that never forgets to show the humanity of the characters. A brilliantly told story readers will not forget. Yes, you do need it go and ensure you get a copy.