Something in this book made me think about Italian romantic story of the XIX century. Poets, words, a city that could be in Italy.
I liked the style of writing and liked the characters, the different stanzas were an interesting literary artifice but I was sometimes confused by the variety of characters.
All in all I liked this book.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

As soon as I read about The Carnival of Ash I knew I had to read it, so pre ordered it. What drew me to this book was that it was set in Italy, it was historical and most of all the imagined city of Cadenza, a city of poets, writers and libraries: this sounded the perfect society to me as a book lover. You would think it to be a city of culture, learning and harmony, with the leader even being a poet. But what Tom Beckerlegge creates is a city in turmoil, with the leader dead, and the citizens not happy with the new leader, who is a bureaucrat rather than poet. As revolution begins, Cadenza finds itself in turmoil with the threat of destruction from both outside and inside forces.

Each chapter is labeled as a Canto, keeping the theme of poetry throughout the book. There are twelve cantos in all, with each telling the story of a character who lives in Cadenza. I was surprised by this as I expected a continued story rather than twelve seperate stories. As I continued with the book, I did get into the flow and the stories of these wonderful and memorable characters, and Canto Twelve did bring some of the stories together. Some of my favourite characters were Vittoria/Hypatia, an Ink Maiden, who writes letters to clients who are unrequieted in love. She writes of their fantasies and desires whatever they maybe. Lucrezia Pitti, punished for the crimes of her family who spends her time re-writing books to erase parts of the past that the Artifex, leader of the city, wants changed. All the characters are beautifully drawn, full of vitality but not all very nice.

Tom Beckerlegge’s writing is as beautiful and lyrical as the imagined poetry in the book. His descriptive prose and attention to detail bring the city into full technicolour; the fountains filled with ink rather than water, the less salubrious printing district, the many libraries and Accademia with their frescoed walls and thousands of books. What came to mind whilst reading this book was how much it reminded me of Renaissance Florence, with the beautiful buildings and with the names chosen by the author that had a Florentine connection like the Pitti family and Cellini. There is however a darker side to this book, the debauchery, violence, murder and mutilation in the name of punishment that gave a menacing undertone to Cadenza.

After a shaky start, I fell into the rhythm of this book, with the varied perspectives of the different characters, and the world building of Cadenza. Beautifully written with the perfect balance of fun and fivrolities and the darker side of the human condition, The Carnival of Ash slowly reeled me in until I was hooked. If you are looking for a different read, full of intriguing characters then I highly recommend you add this to your TBR.

'The Carnival of Ash ' is an unusual novel from Tom Beckerlegge and the opening chapter is certainly attention grabbing- pur protoganist is lying in a grave, having reached a stage where he feels that his life is over. Though he does balk at being buried by the local gravedigger ... and decides to move on - probably a sensible decision.
And so begins 'The Carnival Of Ash' a novel set in a medieval city called 'Cadenza' where the written word rules and poets, writers can be treated as gods, but only the select few. The novel is divided into twelve 'canto' or chapters and each canto is told from the point of view of various characters. Cadenza is a city where the patriarch rules and the majority of PoV are certainly very much in this view. Although I enjoyed the author's writing style, I could see how this style/attitude could bother other readers.
I'm a little confused by the genre for this book as it is marketed as 'fantasy' and while Cadenza is clearly a city of the imagination, there is no sense of the usual magic, fantastical world that is commonly found in such novels.

Thank the publisher and NetGalley for this eArc.

I will start by saying that this isn't what I expected when I read the synopsis, and that's not to say the summary was inaccurate. I'm talking more about the fact that I would have never imagined this style and form. Characters changed, Cadenza stayed, being one static point, the anchor, the actual main character of this book. It took a bit of getting used to, but I really enjoyed it. I also enjoyed most of the "human" characters we meet and all their stories that seem separate yet meshed in the end into a tidy conclusion. In this Venice inspired city-state, we get to enjoy the wonders of stories and the horror of loss, all in one.

I hope you enjoy it, when you di pick it up, it is truly quite unique!

Okay…. I don’t think this is for me. At all. Check content warnings before going into this book. I just couldn’t with this story.

Although I haven't finished reading it yet this book definitely won't get anything more then a 2-3 stars from me. None of the characters are compelling enough for the reader to get engaged. The unraveling of the connections between them all is to drawn out and not nearly enticing enough. The author attempts grandiose with his styling and prose but doesn't quite accomplish the literary feat he was aiming for.

Unfortunately, I've had to claim the reader's right to not finish on this extraordinary book, about 20% through - which isn't a decision I've taken lightly.
I just couldn't get past certain aspects of the plot which were thoroughly unbelievable, particularly from a character development point of view.
That being said, the quality of the writing is amazing. I have no doubt that this novel will be right up many a street.

I was really excited for this book. The description seemed to describe the perfect academia aesthetic with beautiful imagery. However, this was very much not that. This story was dark, violent, and lacking any complete female characters that weren't shadows of their male counterparts. Unfortunately, it did not meet my expectations.

Very intriguing premise and narrative structure and very well written but couldn't quite get into it. Also feel that the Fantasy elemenrts were oversold, as the main 'fantastical' element seemed to be the setting and the focus was more on politics.

"As a rule, the abbot said as little as possible. He treated every word as though they were a personal gift from God himself, only parting with them with extreme reluctance."

----------------------

I was really on the struggle bus with this one. The concept is so intriguing, a city in Italy that rivals Venice's art scene but with words. Poetry is everything. The politics, the religion, the day in and day out interactions are all about elevating, adoring and creating poetry. The idea and the writing are immensely beautiful. The plot and the arrangement just were very confusing to follow. There are so many characters and our POV changes so many times that by the time we settle with a character, the story has moved on and we don't get back to them fast enough for me to have remembered the details of their story.

I'm hoping I can revisit this one another time and perhaps it will all click for me. It's the first book I've read in a while that I wasn't sure if it was me or the writing that was the issue.

Thanks to Netgalley for access to an advanced copy. All opinions above are my own.

thanks to the folks at rebellion publishing for providing this ebook via netgalley in exchange for an honest review
MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD
***

This is the City of Words, is it not?

The Carnival of Ash is an entrawling reading indeed.
Written beautifully, tells the not so necessarily connected stories of the people of Cadenza, a city that lives and breathes for the written word. I personally found it so interesting, all the different stories of these people and how they all revolve around words, books, libraries and parchment. Poets, librarians, writters, all find their home in this city, for good or bad. Ambition, politics, plotting and mystery, romance, love and hate, freedom and peonage, all by, for and because of the written language.
I really liked how all the separate storylines and characters collide by the ending and liked the feeling of anthology during all the twelve cantos.
The writting is so beautiful i should rate it five stars on its own. Absolutelly wonderful to read.
Highly recommended.

CONTENT WARNING: This book contains contents that may trigger sensitive readers like violence, sexual violence, sexual content, graphic gore and suicidal thoughts.

The Carnival of Ash is an enthralling read. A lyrical fantasy about a city of poets and librarians. Cadenza is a city that lives and breathes for the written word. The story begins with Carlo Mazzoni, a young wordsmith arriving at the gates of the city of Cadenza, intent on making his name. However, as the bells ring out with the news of the death of the city's poet-leader. Carlo finds himself embroiled with the intrigues of a city in turmoil. With 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...

Carnival of Ash is made up of twelve different but interconnected stories or cantos. These stories all revolve around words, books, libraries, ink and parchment. Poets, librarians, writers, dukes and leaders, and all find their home in this city. For me, this added to my overall enjoyment of the book, reading about all the different characters. All the characters appear and then reappear throughout the twelve cantos. As these stories are told through the eyes of others, it gives you a different character perspective each time. Some stories were more appealing than others but I enjoyed how everything was woven together at the end.

Carnival is at times a witty novel with lots of situational comedy, more of wry humour than laugh out loud funny. The characters are well developed both rich and diverse, each having a unique voice. The world is both rich and familiar and one I enjoyed spending time in.

This is a wonderful story: dark, poetic and lyrical. My thanks to Netgalley and Rebellion Publishing for providing an e-arc for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review:

First of all, thank you to NetGalley and Rebellion Publishing for this ARC. This review is written voluntarily by me.

In my opinion, my reading journey for this book is really hard in the beginning but becomes more exciting towards the end. This novel is divided into 12 cantos, and, I nearly give up on the first one (but luckily, I don’t). Most of these cantos are told from the perspectives of different characters and revolve around their current life and their backstory. For me, the premise of this novel and how the story is told is intriguing but the execution is not enough for me. For the plot, from my understanding, even though these cantos are from different characters’ perspectives, the plot keeps moving forward. This novel has a lot of characters and stories that need to be remembered because some mentioned characters are mentioned in other cantos as well. The worldbuilding is excellent for me, but with a lot of characters, it can be overwhelming for readers to keep up. As far as I know, this novel is marketed as a mix of historical fiction and fantasy, but for me, it is better to be marketed as sci-fi too because I think this story is set in alternate universe medieval Europe. However, it is just my opinion. For the characterization, for me, it is okay, but I think it can be improved more. Lastly, I hope there is a map of the city included in the published edition because it is really hard for me (and maybe for other readers) to imagine the locations in the city.

I really wanted to love this novel but I think I thought it was going to be something it wasn't. After waltzing my way through books like The Night Circus and Caraval I was hoping for a similar vein .... But this book touched on much darker topics. This story will definitely appeal to some but didn't quite float my boat

In The Carnival of Ashes, Tom Beckerlegge takes us back centuries, to a time when Italy was ruled by city-states and small kingdoms, when Venice governed a trading empire, and the fictional city of Cadenza was ruled by poets. This novel—which is arranged in linked prose chapters called cantos—shows us the strange events that bring down the city of poets and libraries through the eyes of a cross-section of its inhabitants. And not only do the characters vary from high to low, poet and non-poet, the cantos themselves transform from comic to Gothic to mystery to tragedy and more. This book is absolutely stunning.

We first see Cadenza through the eyes of the (initially) hapless Carlo. Carlo is an aspiring poet whose family originally fled from Cadenza decades ago due to a political scandal. Sheltered Carlo has come to redeem his family name, only to be cut to metaphorical ribbons the first time he meets a group of Cadenzan poets and battered by a lot of plain bad luck. Thankfully, he meets a strangely erudite gravedigger who will take him in until he figures out his next steps. The next time we see Carlo will be in a group of writers playfully kidnapping a woefully bad poet whose only redeeming feature is that his father is very rich. Later, we see Carlo as he tries to save a few lives during a revolutionary bonfire that would have done Savonarola proud.

But it takes us quite a long time to rejoin Carlo, because Beckerlegge introduces us to a mysterious ink maid (a woman who makes money by writing customized love letters to her clients), a formerly great poet who squandered his talent on a feud, monks and scholars, torture victims, pompous politicians and their wily wives, and others. By the time we’ve circled back around to Carlo, we have a fairly thorough impression of a city that is teetering on a precipice while others whistle as hard as they can in the dark. We learn that Cadenza is very much about tradition. For example, their leaders must be poets and the current leader (who took over after the previous one was killed by one of his bookshelves) is an accountant. When that leader cancels a central part of the city’s carnival revels, it leads to unrest among the poets. Traditions are jettisoned further when plague arrives. Rumors of invading Venetians and a poorly timed attack of paranoia tip the city even further into chaos. Without their traditions holding them in place, opportunists come out of the woodwork to either settle scores or rise to previously impossible heights.

Readers who enjoy political machinations will like The Carnival of Ash, as will readers who like vivid historical fiction (even if Cadenza wasn’t real). Readers who like virtuosic writing will like this book a lot, too. I was delighted by the way the cantos switched tones and genres without skipping a beat. Even though the characters are, more or less, connected, the different cantos and their genres created a sense of how different all of their lives and perspectives are. In so many books, especially genre fiction, we see characters come together to right a wrong or solve a problem. In The Carnival of Ash, everyone very much has their own problems and motivations. Alliances are temporary and betrayals are frequent in this collection of stories. The end result is an incredibly rich read that I want to dive back into.

I’m very much looking forward to seeing what Beckerlegge serves up next.

This was not for me. It sounded good in concept but turned out to be quite painful to read. Maybe it could have done with some more extensive editing or cleanup? I’m honestly not sure. It just didn’t work out for me.

This is a pretty hefty read, but one which I feel could be picked up and put down again if the reader was daunted.

It consists of many tales “Canto’s”, all set in the same city, following the tales of its occupants, all who have a connection to each other, so you read the story of one person, then the next tale may be the person that the prior tale mentioned, so it flows really well.

I really enjoyed reading this, the writing is easy, and it feels quite philosophical, does it remind me of Canterbury Tales? Maybe?!!

Overall, this is an enjoyable book.

My thanks to Netgalley and Rebellion for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review

Have you ever picked up a book and then realized the synopsis wasn’t exactly telling you the truth? Maybe not outright lying about the premise of the book, but certainly misleading a potential reader. With The Carnival of Ash, I went in expecting a fantasy book about this beautiful Italian city full of wordsmiths and poets, where the written word reigns supreme and surely there would be book magic! Or some sort of fantastical element, no matter how small! My hopes were dashed, because in the first third of the book there was no such thing. This is straight up historical fiction/alternate history.
My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.
That’s not even why I decided to DNF this book!! I DNF’d it because I only stumbled across one character I remotely liked and the rest were unbelievably pompous pricks! It went from one self-centered, entitled male poet to another and if you ask me, they were practically interchangeable if you aged them up or down. Vittoria, the ink maid who writes custom smutty fiction for her patrons, and who now has a mysterious admirer sending her intriguing letters was the best part of what I read. Her section of the book was brilliantly entertaining and then it ended…
Overall, this didn’t live up to my expectations (and apparently I wasn’t the only one who felt this way), but I could have lived with that if it had been an entertaining read. I was bored and decided to move on to the next book in my queue because life is far too short to force yourself to read something you’re not enjoying. Especially if it’s not educational.

Cadenza is a city ruled by words. Poets, writers and storytellers vie for power by sharing their works. Libraries and printing presses create the economy. Cadenza's Artifex Tommaso Cellini, an adept poet, dies mysteriously on the day Carlo Mazzoni arrives in town trying to find his place among the wordsmiths. Cellini is replaced by an Artifex more worried about budget numbers than words and the city rebels. Soon crime, plague and internal strife plague Cadenza as they prepare for war against the invading Venice.

Carnival of Ash is the story of a fictional city that is at its apex only to fall spectacularly and possibly begin to rise from the ashes. Written in Cantos, each Canto shows a point of view from a different citizen of Cadenza. As the Canto's continue, the character's stories begin to combine. Even though there are about a dozen characters and different stories to keep track of, the story seems to not be about the characters as much as the city itself and what can happen without a well-rounded society. The writing was verbose and pompous, fitting for characters who lived in a city of words; however, I expected some more word play, lightheartedness and poetry. The characters were all interesting and unique, each with their own flaws and failings. I felt most drawn to Vittoria's character and the tragedy of her circumstance. I was entranced by her story and how her words eventually took over. Carlo and Ercole, the gravedigger were another great pair. Carlo, who seemed doomed from the beginning, slowly finds his place. Ercole, an alchemist in a city of words brings in the next era. Carnival of Ash is an unexpected work with violence, ego and destruction.; it may not be for everyone but was an interesting read.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

I so wanted to love this book. It had so much potential because it felt like it was written for me!
But I just couldn’t handle it, so it was unfortunately DNF’d.
It was hard to understand what was going on, who was who and where it was even happening.
It tried so hard to be an intelligent read that it lost any intrigue and it did not hook me. I was dreading reading this book from the get go because it felt like it was bogging me down. A big book doesn’t worry me, but this book was heavy in its use of language to the point where I couldn’t keep up, and I love a challenge!
Not for me I’m afraid.