I am so happy to say I can finally post my stop of the Ultimate Blog Tour of Carnival of Ash by Tom Beckerlegge. My apologies to everyone for my tardiness but things happen and to me, a lot! So many thanks to The Write Reads for my invitation and to Rebellion Publishing for the copy of this book.
Cadenza is the City of Words, a city run by poets, its skyline dominated by the steepled towers of its libraries, its heart beating to the stamp and thrum of the printing presses in the Printing Quarter.
Carlo Mazzoni, a young wordsmith arrives at the city gates intent on making his name as the bells ring out with the news of the death of the city’s poet-leader. Instead, he finds himself embroiled with the intrigues of a city in turmoil, the looming prospect of war with their rival Venice ever-present.
A war that threatens not only to destroy Cadenza but remove it from history altogether…
The Carnival of Ash is a book that I wanted to read as soon as I saw the cover. This is the first time I have read anything by Tom Beckerlegge before and this book intrigued me. I do have to say here I was expecting a Fantasy book and to be honest it is more like an alternative historical fiction story.
Divided into twelve cantos (sections)which are all individual and such diverse stories. They are each told from a different characters perspective and each story becomes a unique strand of the city of Cadenza. This is a city of words, there are poets, publishers, authors, poetry and printing everywhere you go. This city isn’t all sweetness and light as you could expect but it has do much darkness and violence too.
My first impression was that the world building that the author has done is literally amazing. It was so vivid that I felt like I was there. It definitely carried me away into the world of Cadenza. The cantos introduces the characters and I was so captivated with each of them as the stories unfolded. Tom Beckerlegge really knows how to use language to keep a reader hooked into this special book.
As I read more and more of the Carnival Of Ash, it became increasingly atmospheric, actually it was atmospheric in spades! The story grows darker as the plot develops and when I say dark I mean as dark as night. Tom Beckerlegge writes about such sensitive subjects that the list of trigger warnings would be as long as my arm. I shall just say, be aware there are plenty of triggers in this story, before you embark on the journey that is The Carnival of Ash!
All in all, this may be a book that is dark and sinister but it is written in such a beautiful way that it swept me up in its hold until the last paragraph. A totally diverse read for me.
Author Bio
Tom Beckerlegge grew up in the northwest of England in a house filled with books. Writing as Tom Becker, he won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize with his debut novel; The Carnival of Ash is his first adult book. He lives in Enfield with his wife and young son.
sharonbeyondthebooks.uk 
Great review!
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