Book 5 in the From Blood and Ash series, A Soul of Ash and Blood, offers little new information – less than a Novella – and it feels like an editor clipped together unused footage from the first novel in the series. I won’t spoil the book this early in the post, but my theory is that either Armentrout originally wrote From Blood and Ash with dual POV between Penellaphe and Cas, or she re-wrote the first book from Cas’s perspective to be released as bonus content at some point. Book 5 of the series, A Soul of Ash and Blood, then utilized that writing for 95% of the book.
I don’t mind – as a superfan of the series I’d have bought the book no matter what. I just wish it was marketed a little more honestly. Publish and market it as Cas’s story. Cutting it and pasting it into book 5 is disingenuous.
My true opinion: if you’re a super fan of From Blood and Ash and Flesh and Fire series, go into A Soul of Ash and Blood knowing that you’re getting a retelling of From Blood and Ash (book 1), from Cas’s perspective looking back, with all of the information that he has learned through The War of Two Queens. If you are not a super fan but want to finish the series, Read the first five chapters and the last three chapters of A Soul of Ash and Blood. You can skip over the rest because you’ve already experienced that story.
Visions of Flesh and Blood, From Blood and Ash Book Six – A Compendium
The sixth installment of the From Blood and Ash series and companion to Flesh and Fire series is a Compendium of the two series. Written by the infamous and adventurous Willa Collins, it is an in depth encyclopedia of sorts. There are short stories, rules of the world the books are set in, and artistic renderings of characters and scenes. I can’t wait to get my copy!
Publisher’s Summary
VISIONS OF FLESH AND BLOOD: a Blood and Ash/Flesh and Fire Compendium is a comprehensive companion guide for background, history, reader-favorite information, art, and reference materials. Combined with original short stories and scenes from some of the world’s most beloved characters, as well as never-before-seen visual enticements, it’s a treat for the senses.
Told from the point of view of Miss Willa herself, the compendium acts like research material but reads like a journal and cache of personal notes, allowing the reader to revisit the characters and history they so love yet view things in a different way.
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