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Pathfinder Tales: Forge of Ashes

4.40/5 (based on 8 ratings)
Pathfinder Tales: Forge of Ashes
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Hearts of Stone

Years ago, the dwarven warrior Akina left her home in the Five Kings Mountains to fight in the Goblinblood Wars. Now at long last she's returning home, accompanied by Ondorum, her silent companion of living stone. What she finds there is far from what she remembers: a disgraced brother, an obsessive suitor, and a missing mother presumed dead. Yet the damage runs deeper than anyone knows, and when Akina's brother is kidnapped by ancient enemies from the legendary Darklands, she and Ondorum must venture below the surface—and into danger as old as the stones themselves.

From debut novelist Josh Vogt comes a tale of love, redemption, and subterranean battle, set in the award-winning world of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

400-page mass market paperback
ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-743-7
ePub ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-744-4

Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Sanctioned Content
Forge of Ashes is sanctioned for use in Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild.

Download the Chronicle sheet — (395 kb zip/PDF)

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4.40/5 (based on 8 ratings)

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Surprisingly Good

4/5 —

NO SPOILERS

A bloodthirsty dwarf and a kick-ass oread who’s taken a vow of silence walk into a bar. That’s not the start of a joke, but of a surprisingly compelling Pathfinder Tales novel, Forge of Ashes. An interesting plot, excellent characters, exciting action scenes, and a strong understanding of Golarion’s lore make for a strong addition to the line. This one is worth taking a shot on even if the subject matter doesn’t initially seem appealing.

SPOILERS!:

Forge of Ashes starts in the dwarven city of Taggoret in the Five Kings Mountains. A dwarf bloodrager named Akina is returning home after years away adventuring, and has brought for company an oread monk named Ondorum. But instead of a happy family reunion, Akina learns that her mother went missing years ago and is presumed dead, and her brother, a former cleric of Torag, has been essentially excommunicated for inexplicably spouting stuff about Droskar and the “Ashen Forge”. But an old suitor named Gromir, who’s long held a torch for Akina, tries to rekindle things. Only, Gromir hates Ondorum (interesting to see dwarf vs oread antipathy; it makes a certain kind of sense!) and, far worse, is secretly working for a powerful group of duergar in the Darklands! Gromir kidnaps Akina’s brother, and to get him back, Akina and Ondorum have to give chase. Along the way, they befriend a caligni named Izthuri, deal with xulgath raids and (really funny) chatty ropers, and eventually uncover a duergar plot to use a magical artifact called the Ashen Forge for nefarious means.

That’s a lot of detail, but the story isn’t hard to follow. Some really interesting setting lore is incorporated into the book, and I walked away having learned a lot more about Taggoret, duergar, oreads, and the Darklands. (and I liked seeing the forge-spurned from an ages-ago module) The action scenes are top-notch, with some thrilling monk vs monk fights. Nor does the book pull any punches when it comes to killing off characters; the stakes are certainly dire, which really ramps up the tension near the end. Forge of Ashes isn’t a book I’d be naturally drawn to (I don’t have a particularly strong interest in dwarves), but I ended up really enjoying it.

Forgettable but enjoyable

4/5 —

I've retained little besides the opening scenes for the actual plot, but I remember really thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It's particularly rare to get good dwarven characters in Pathfinder Tales, so that was a big bonus.

The Descent

4/5 —

This was pretty enjoyable. The 2 main characters were both unusual--a dwarven barbarian and an oread monk--and their relationship an interesting one. Maybe opposites attract? As I've seen in some of the other Tales novels, their antagonists run the range of sympathetic to irredeemable evil. Well-done. Battle scenes are great, especially when Akina goes into a rage, and there were quite a bit of fun interactions w/ the denizens of the Darklands.

My favorite scene involved a malevolent but surprisingly loquacious, downright philosophical Roper. Trying to induce a conversation w/ a monk who's taken a vow of silence. Brilliantly twisted.

Great book, and best first 50 pages of any book I can recall!

4/5 —

Although I did not care for the endings *style*, this is a very strong book, and definitely worth 4 stars.

The writintg style is very fluid and easy going, and is just a pleasure to read. You will look up at the clock and wonder where the time has gone.

The characters are very interesting right off the bat and drag you in, and the action also gets you sucked in right off the bat! Mysteries are presented early, and yet the author has done such agood job of making you like the characters so quickly, youre hooked, and nothing feels forced. The first 50 pages of this work are really a study in outstanding writing and involving the reader extremely quickly without anything feeling forced. Very impressive.

The rest of the book is just solid and very good. Id normally go into more detail, but will just say for any Pathfinder folks out there, its a wonderful journey involving the Darklands, and you'll thank me for not commenting additionally!

This is hard to explain, but I liked the ending, but not its style. I can't really describe it any better than that without spoiling.

Do I like this book, ending and all, enough to reccommend it? Absolutely. It's a fine addition to the Tales series.

Great Adventure and Intriguing Characters

4/5 —

I'm always interested in Darklands adventures, something we don't get much of in the Tales line. More than that though, Akina and Ondorum are such an interesting pair that they really bring the story to life. Looking forward to more from Josh Vogt.

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Webstore Gninja Minion

Announced! Cover image and description are not final and subject to change.
Contributor
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Can't wait for this one. Yay, Dwarves!
Dark Archive Contributor
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Having read the outline and the first few chapters, I assure you this one is a winner.
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Sounds interesting!

I'm excited for the possibilities of an exploration of dwarven culture.
2 people marked this as a favorite.

A book where the main character is a dwarf? I'm all for this!

Dwarf adventure?
Sounds very interesting.

I am pretty excited for this book. Both Hunter's Folly and The Weeping Blade were excellent. I enjoyed that they were somewhat different from your classic fantasy story. Especially The Weeping Blade: a tale of disabled adventurers saving the local beggar population? Awesome.

I'm looking forward to learning more about dwarf culture through this book.
Lantern Lodge RPG Superstar 2014 Top 4
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Yes. YES. I am buying this. This will be mine.

No pressure but Josh Vogt is setting the bar for contemporary dwarven representation in Golarion. No pressure.
Editor

No pressure at all, Robert. :) I greatly enjoyed writing this story and I certainly hope folks have fun with these characters once they're unleashed on the world.

And thanks to all for the kind and encouraging words!
Dark Archive
Dave Gross wrote:

Having read the outline and the first few chapters, I assure you this one is a winner.

If Dave Gross says this is good it will be. Dave, when will the next Varian and Radovan novel come out (they are my favorites!)?

It should be the next one in june or the one after that in august... ;-)

Will it tie into Hell´s Rebels because of the chelish heritage of the characters or will it be something else?

I have a suscribtion at my local store and i read every novel - the good ones more than once.
Dark Archive Contributor
Marco Massoudi wrote:
Dave Gross wrote:

Having read the outline and the first few chapters, I assure you this one is a winner.

If Dave Gross says this is good it will be. Dave, when will the next Varian and Radovan novel come out (they are my favorites!)?

Thanks! I'm not at liberty to say when a new Radovan and the Count novel may appear, but I'm sure James Sutter will answer this question the moment that he can.

Quote:

It should be the next one in june or the one after that in august... ;-)

Will it tie into Hell´s Rebels because of the chelish heritage of the characters or will it be something else?

I think it's safe to say that it won't tie in to Hell's Rebels, at least not intentionally. (Novels are outlined and even written long before APs.) However, any novel involving Varian Jeggare is likely to have a few threads tying him back to Cheliax, so it's entirely possible you'll find some entirely coincidental connections to Hell's Rebels.

Quote:
I have a suscribtion at my local store and i read every novel - the good ones more than once.

That's fantastic! You should jump in on the Pathfinder Tales Book Club discussion. (Search on PTBC to find the existing threads.) They're currently discussing Death's Heretic and have already covered Crusader Road, both of which I imagine you've read more than once.

And thanks for the splendid reviews of Prince of Wolves and Master of Devils. I'm eager to read what you thought of Queen and King.
Dark Archive Contributor
Marco Massoudi wrote:
Dave Gross wrote:

Having read the outline and the first few chapters, I assure you this one is a winner.

If Dave Gross says this is good it will be. Dave, when will the next Varian and Radovan novel come out (they are my favorites!)?

It should be the next one in june or the one after that in august... ;-)

Will it tie into Hell´s Rebels because of the chelish heritage of the characters or will it be something else?

I have a suscribtion at my local store and i read every novel - the good ones more than once.

Now that I'm at liberty, I can answer you properly. I think you already know the title and release date already. No, Lord of Runes has nothing to do with Hell's Rebels. It starts about two years after the end of King of Chaos in the city of Korvosa. Most of the novel takes place in Varisia.

And that's all the teaser I'll offer for now. However, you might be interested in the Pathfinder Trivia I've been dropping at my website. Unsurprisingly, there's a lot of other Radovan & the Count content there, as well as my favorite feature, "Creative Colleagues," which are short interviews with other writers, artists, and, well, as the title indicates.
Community Manager

Cover image and description updated to final.

FINALLY! A novel set in the Five Kings Mountains! I've waited a long time for this. Now, I'm going to SAVOR IT! :D

Does anyone know when the e-versions will go on sale? Really looking forward to reading this book. Thanks.
Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

May 29.

Thank you Vic.
Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

This is the last book from Paizo before the switchover to Tor, right? If so, then why aren't there ebook downloads for it in this months shipment?

There was in mine, so you should probably poke customer service about it.
Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

Thanks, I will do that.

Just wrapped this one up, and absolutely loved it. I'll be posting my full review shortly. All I'll say for now is well done Josh on a superb debut novel.

Review posted, both here and on The Grassy Gnoll!
Owner - House of Books and Games LLC

@Josh!

Great to meet you face-to-face at ConnectiCon. I really do hope there's another novel in the works from you - it's always great to have another skilled writer in the fold.

-burt

Hear that James!? More from Josh!

:)
Editor

Thanks so much! A pleasure to meet you as well. This con has been awesome and it's great to see such a dedicated Pathfinder community in town.
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