Ashes of the Ancestors by Andrew Knighton
I would like to thank Francesca from Luna Press Publishing for an advance copy of this novella in exchange for a fair and honest review
Publisher - Luna Press Publishing
Published - 7/2
Price - £8.99 paperback £3.19 Kindle eBook
In a haunted monastery at the heart of a crumbling empire, a lone priest tends the fires for the dead. A servant bound by the bones of her family, Magdalisa is her people's last link to the wisdom of the past.
But as the land around them dies, new arrivals throw the monastery into turmoil. A dead warlord demanding recognition. Her rival, seizing the scraps of power. Two priests, both claiming to serve the spirits, both with their own agendas.
As ancient shadows struggle for the soul of an empire, Magdalisa must decide how far she will go to keep tradition alive.
Who cannot day their past has not influenced us. Our greatest triumphs and failures prey on our minds and shape our future decisions and behaviours. Genres are shaped by the authors and editors of the past either in affection or as a reaction to and then we have countries. Countries have often centuries of who used to be in charge and rule us. They create the myth of who we are and who we are supposed to be. In Andrew Knighton’s excellent novella Ashes of the Ancestors we visit a country that was once a huge empire and faces a time of great danger and ALL the past great and good want a day in the future.
Magdalisa works as a priest in one of the Empire’s greatest Abbeys. But she now works alone there are no other priests left. She daily looks after the Abbey; the great machinery and fires left behind and obeys all the ghosts that habit it. For the Abbey is where those the Empire deems great and worthy are laid to rest and through a mysterious fire are transformed into personas made of Ash. The Ghosts can be requested by anyone willing to make a worthy offering to answer questions on farming to warfare. As a great warlord is laid to her rest Magdalisa is shocked to find she is now training a novice who hates the Empire and also all around there is famine and ambitious Leaders hoping to secure the throne. Can the Abbey bring the Empire back to order?
I loved this story for its inventiveness in plot which also raises questions just about how countries get ruled by their past. The idea of a National Abbey where all the nation’s ‘heroes’ live on is fascinating. Knighton gives the tale a decaying gothic feel of a place that has seen its better days and runs on endless ritual (why yes dear reader I do live in the UK) initially as it is just Magdalisa and the ghosts it all feels a little eerie but pointless and then suddenly things start to happen. We get to see how a WarLord is made a ghost and Magdalisa has to foil an attempt to blow things up by the younger Adrana who has a score to settle. In the aftermath though Adrana agreed to simply serve as a novice. And that leads to more poeple wondering what will happen next. It’s a tale of how in times of chaos we tend to look back at our finest hours; our apparent great leaders and think how can we repeat ourselves to get us back to where we belong - on top.
The fascinating angle is that Magdalisa is a true believer in the glory of the Abbey and the Empire. She in particular respects the ghost’s leader the most mighty, intelligent and tactically smart Empress Chryssania. The greatest of all and for whom this Abbey was originally designed. All the ghosts should for perhaps that is must respect her will. But Madalisa gets shocked when she realises that that isn’t always going to happen. Magdalisa gets to see the true nature of a greedy novel who just wants more land and throne and she starts to hear from other ghosts that the past was not always the best way forward. On a brief trip outside we see a land in regular famine and drought, things get worse and worse for the inhabitants who look to the Abbey and the past for guidance. Why can’t they become the Empire that ruled three continents again? The interesting question is what will Magdalisa do next about it? Will Adrana’s desire for destruction get in her way? The story told by our priest keeps us guessing but it’s a constantly changing scene and her words and actions don’t immediately give us the answers. Can the past actually control us and what will it do if we say no? The finale is deeply satisfying exploring that idea.
Ashes of the Ancestors is a hugely inventive fantasy exploring how the past rules us. The idea of making your Empire great again is a message so many populists keep trying to get in our heads. This tale reminds us don’t let ghosts get in charge. Strongly recommended.
