The Foundling: Heir to Ash and Blood

 The Foundling is a fantasy novella following the life of Ash Bottom. Ash was abandoned as a baby and had a hard life living in the slums. The world in which The Foundling takes place has a strict caste system. At the bottom are “bottoms”, which is even lower than the laborer caste. 

Here in the bottom rung of society, Ash barely clings to life. Perpetually looking for his next meal and struggling to simply survive, Ash faces a dull existence. 

In a twist of fate, Ash saves a man from assassination, and this event completely changes his life. This decision sets Ash on a path to learn about his parentage, which saves him from the slums. In some ways, this is actually a bit out of the frying pan and into the fire situation, as the assassins quickly become very interested in him.

The book has a narrative style that I enjoyed. The pacing of the book is very quick, but it still manages to get into many intimate details.  In one example, after saving the man from assassination, Ash stands in front of the man he saved with a bloody brick in his hand and asks himself aloud, “Now what?” The man replies, “You’re the one holding the bloody brick….” This exchange tickled me. The author also describes two weapons given to Ash: an ivory-handled pistol and a Damascus steel dagger. The author’s knowledge of firearms and steel of yesteryear is a nice touch.

In addition to some witty dialogue, I enjoyed the author’s word choice and the pacing. The writing has a quality to it that enabled me to read the book very quickly. I was interested to learn more about this fantasy world, as well as what would happen to Ash next. The book is filled with new, bigger problems than the issues from just one chapter ago. The chapters are also very short, which I think helped contribute to the overall readability of the book.

I think my only complaint about the book might be the length. The last third of the book I felt was just a little too quick for me. While I enjoyed the pacing in most of the book, I thought everything resolved just a touch too quickly at the end. Ash also transforms almost instantly from a street rat to an unparalleled warrior, which was certainly enjoyable to read, although perhaps just lacking a touch of realism. All that said, I still enjoyed the book and highly recommend it.

Length: 142 pages

Perspective: 1st person

Tense: Past  

Kindle Unlimited: Yes

https://www.amazon.com/Foundling-Heir-Ash-Blood-ebook/dp/B0F9FV4LHJ