This is a book I picked up at Powell’s whilst attending the Tcl
conference; I’d not heard of Sarah Ash before, and there was a note on
the shelf saying that it’s a good book. I agree, as it happens, and I’ve
already acquired the second book in the series.

Lord of Snow and Shadows is what I think of as a political
fantasy–that is, a fantasy novel in which politics and intrigue are at
the forefront, as with George R.R. Martin’s
A Game of Thrones. Ash’s world is clearly though loosely
based on Imperial Russia–but a Russia which is divided by an ocean from
the rest of “Europe”, and in which the empire splintered, generations
ago, into five independent princedoms.

The prime mover in the political drama is Eugene, Prince of Tielen.
Legend has it that the empire will be reunited by the man who reunites
Artamon’s Tears, five matched rubies which once adorned the imperial
crown. Eugene is determined to be the one, and the only man who stands
in his way is Volkh Nagarian, Drakhaon of Azhkendir–if man is the right
word, which it probably isn’t. Like all of his line, Volkh is the host of
the Dhrakaoul: a violent dragon spirit which subjects him to sudden
vicious rages, and whose shape Volkh can take at need. Not even an army
can withstand the flame of the Dhrakaoul, but this aid comes at great
personal cost to the Dhrakaon, and at times an even greater cost to his
people.

Still, Eugene is not one to be balked, and in the opening pages of the
novel he succeeds in having Volkh murdered…which sends the Dhrakaoul
fleeing south to Volkh’s son and heir, a young portrait painter
unaware of his ancestry. Gavril Nagarian must learn to lead the unruly,
barbaric people of northern Rossiya, and must somehow prevent the
Dhrakaoul from consuming him utterly.

Not a bad start, I think; and the best part is that not only does Ash keep
surprising me, but she plays fair in doing it. The climax of the book is
everything one could want, and much to my surprise includes a plot point
that some authors would have dragged out for three or four volumes. It
makes me extremely curious to know where she’s going, for I confess I
haven’t the slightest idea.