Rating: 
Summary: gripping stuff
Review: historical fact mixed with historical fiction? Either way , it's an extremely good read , althought rather long . Ash ,the central character , makes a brilliant heroine . As does Flora , the groups surgeon , Who later becomes Duchess of Burgundy . The siege of which is one of the main plots within the book . If you've never read anything by Mary Gentle before I recomend this . Once started you'll have to finish it .
Rating: 
Summary: Don't buy it unless you're going to buy the others
Review: I am less impressed with Mary Gentle's writing than other reviewers - I often found myself confused about what was going on and who the secondary characters were, and like at least one other reviewer, I found the device of inserting emails from the contemporary fictional translator distracting. There are interestingly detailed medieval battle scenes, but only a few. The main character's dreary reliance on profanity wore on me. But most disappointing was the utter lack of resolution in any of the plot lines at the end of the book. If you weren't planning on buying further books in the series, don't bother with this one, because the story just hangs in mid-air at the end. I would have preferred more candor about this - I'm not taken enough with the character or the writing to bother with more of this, so that truly made this partial tale a waste of time. However, if the character intrigues you, or you want to read every alternate history book ever written, by all means go for it.
Rating:
Summary: Only the beginning
Review: I am writing a review of Book #1 to encourage you to begin this series, although my thoughts cover the quartet. I must confess that I was only mildly enthusiastic about Book #1 when I first read it. It felt a little choppy and somehow didn't quite pull me in. Thank the gods that I kept going. From page 1 of Book 2 to the final section of Book 4 I was enthralled - and the 5 star rating here is because of the series. Ms. Gentle has pulled off a remarkable feat in this quartet. It would spoil too much to say too much, but suffice it to say that the surprises never stop(read EVERY word). Not only has she crafted a marvelous, provocative, and "whole" yarn, but the narrative sections are as visceral as a first-person account. I miss Ash and hope there's more. Would that all reads were such a romp!
Rating:
Summary: Only the beginning
Review: I am writing a review of Book #1 to encourage you to begin this series, although my thoughts cover the quartet. I must confess that I was only mildly enthusiastic about Book #1 when I first read it. It felt a little choppy and somehow didn't quite pull me in. Thank the gods that I kept going. From page 1 of Book 2 to the final section of Book 4 I was enthralled - and the 5 star rating here is because of the series. Ms. Gentle has pulled off a remarkable feat in this quartet. It would spoil too much to say too much, but suffice it to say that the surprises never stop(read EVERY word). Not only has she crafted a marvelous, provocative, and "whole" yarn, but the narrative sections are as visceral as a first-person account. I miss Ash and hope there's more. Would that all reads were such a romp!
Rating: 
Summary: Unique in what it accomplishes
Review: I read the entire series as one novel (the UK edition), so I am perhaps less qualified than the other readers here to judge the merits of the first quarter of it as a novel in its own right.
Having said that, I was hooked from page 1. The characters, including Ash herself and the "supporting cast", are first-rate, and drawn in Gentle's typically unflinching style. The setting is fascinating: not exactly history, but historical enough to be interesting as a narrative as well as an exploration of a particular period.
It's definitely not a book for the faint-hearted. It's brutal, filthy and extremely violent. Not violent in that epic-fantasy glamourised-sadistic way, but violent in the way that you'd expect medieval life and warfare to be. Hardened and accepting of human suffering as a fact of everyday life. When Ash says that she doesn't expect to live to middle age, you believe her -- and more importantly, you believe that this is a character who lives her life in the knowledge that it's going to be short and bright and in the end, ugly. There are no modern-day sensibilities transposed onto a medieval setting; Ash is as real as it gets.
True, this is by no means a perfect book. Others have pointed to the "buttressing" structure of the interspersed emails as annoying; I agree -- but on the other hand, the emails are relatively simple to skim-read, and you can always ignore them if you're really irked. It feels a bit gimmicky, but to be fair, does eventually grow into a plot of its own, with its own resolution.
The other problem I encountered was the increasing importance of the supernatural/sci-fi element in the later parts of the book. While I love sf, and appreciate the skilful combination of it with fantasy, it just didn't completely work for me here. I really wanted it to, but ultimately I was just too intererested in Ash as a realistic character and in her world as a real setting to be engrossed by the idea of golems and machines. The fault, if there is one, lies merely in how brilliant the "alternate history" part of the book is; it didn't need the golems and emails and other gimmicks to sell the character and her world to me.
Don't let these relatively minor gripes put you off. This book really is a rare find: a solid story about a strong, genuine, flawed, utterly believable girl leading an army. If you're sick of female heroes who worry about breaking a nail in combat, but you still believe that they could be attractive and even (yes, that word) feminine in a realistic way -- Ash is your girl. If you want a gritty, richly detailed medieval setting, swords and castles, without the constraints of real medieval history -- "Ash" is the story for you. But if you're after a swords-and-sorcery epic where there is no filth in the streets and everyone has perfect teeth -- walk away now.
Rating: 
Summary: Is this the same Mary Gentle?
Review: I read the Orthe books and couldn't wait to get into another 1110 pages of Mary Gentle's work.
I am sure she put an enormous amount of work into it but it seems chiefly to have gone into including as many obscure weaponry words as possible.
As another reviewer said, it's juvenile, gratuitous and ill-made - if this book did not have Mary Gentle's name on it, I would not have been able to pick it as from the same author.
Ash seems to swear and flail around in armour a lot, but she is not believable at all and certainly not a strong female character like Christie was in the Orthe books.
The imagination and imagery is also sadly missing.
To be honest, I haven't finished the book and I don't think I will.
Rating:
Summary: Not quite five stars.
Review: I wanted to give this book five stars simply for the sheer originality in the crafting of the story. The combination of an alternate 15th century Europe and a wrapper story about a historian doing a translation of the text was brilliant. Not only do we get to read this vastly interesting mercenary story, but we also become intrigued by the historian's ponderings of how such a history could become "lost".What disappointed me about the book was that, despite the fact that the protagonist was a mercenary leader, there were relatively few battles in the story. Over four hundred pages, there were two battles that were clearly narrated and a couple of others that were offscreen. While I was not expecting constant action, four battles seemed awfully few for a mercenary band of this violent era. On a similar note, I wanted more exposure to the voice that Ash hears in her head that gives her tactical advice on the battlefield. I can only recall her using the voice once during a battle. This was a major disappointment since that was the major concept that grabbed my attention when reading about the book. Hopefully, this idea will be utilized more fully in the next three books. Between the scattered battles, the reader gets a vivid look at 15th century military life. Gentle holds nothing back in this regard. The view we get is harsh and candid. The reader is thrown into this world to sink or swim in the stark reality that Gentle creates. This is not for the weak of stomach! Of course, it's not all blood and guts. We get a look into the politics of a mercenary camp as well as vivid detail of the armor and weapons carried by the soldiers. All of this makes for a very realistic story. Gentle's protagonist is what makes the story interesting. Ash does what it takes to get her company through hardships alive and intact. She is at times cold and hard and at others introspective and vulnerable. She is a thoroughly fleshed out, three dimensional character with moods, feelings, fears, and desires. In other words, she is an imperfect human being rather than the near perfect characters prevalent in a lot of fantasy today. Ash's struggles to survive and to keep her troop intact are what drive the story forward through injury, capture, and political maneuvering. One other thing I might have wished for would be a deeper look into the minds of the supporting characters. All we see is Ash's point of view: what she thinks of other characters, her ideas about the situations they are in, and her opinion of the world around her. While this is effective in telling Ash's story (which is what the author was doing), the reader only gets one perspective on the world the author has created. I would have liked to see how her lieutenants felt about some of the decisions she made or their fears and hopes in regards to their own lives. All in all, this is a very powerful story, even if it is a bit slow in places. Gentle fleshes out her protagonist and the world she lives in vividly and thoroughly, making them entirely believable to the reader. I got lost in the narration, felt myself drawn into the world as if I was actually there at times. I am most definitely looking forward to the rest of the series.
Rating:
Summary: Unique but extremely graphic
Review: In a time when empires and alliances shift like sand, the Visigoths with their mighty army and magic-powered machines arise out of Africa to darken the sun. Literally, and for weeks at a stretch, not unlike the ninth plague of Moses' day. Setting their sights on Burgundy, opulent and powerful 15th-century jewel of Europe, the Visigoths begin devouring every nation in their path, spreading the darkness in their wake. Until they encounter Ash. Born in the mud and dung of a mercenary camp, of unknown parentage, she slew her first man at age eight. While most young women occupy themselves attracting men to their beds, Ash attracts men to her banner. They follow her because she wins, and she wins because of the unerring guidance of a sacred voice wise in the ways of war. And because she genuinely cares about the eight hundred men and women of her mercenary band. This concern shines through her vulgar and masculine demeanor. Though religious, Ash is no virginal Jeanne d'Arc. Money alone motivates her, not some Higher Cause. That begins to change when she realizes she may be the only obstacle between the Visigoths and their conquest of Europe. A Secret History features a literary device that at first I dismissed as a gimmick. Ash's story unfolds as though it were a hitherto undiscovered medieval manuscript suffering translation by a late 20th century historian, complete with footnotes. Transcripts of email correspondence between the historian and his editor appear at intervals throughout the text. Don't give into the temptation to skip these sections. Rather than detracting from the flow, the email transcripts form rungs of a ladder to propel the novel onward, containing information that aids the suspension of disbelief. This is not a book for the faint-hearted -- consider yourself warned! Graphic violence and vulgarity abounds. But if you crave a unique fantasy that eschews the object-oriented quest cliché, then refill your digitalis prescription and buckle yourself in for the ride.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant twist to history
Review: In this stunning set of books telling the story of a woman mecenary, Mary Gentle has cleverly set the story in context to a modern day search for reference material which in an extraordinary way seems to adapt itself to the story as it unfolds. The reader is on the one hand spellbound by the unfolding tale of a rough tough warrior maiden very similar to Joan of Arc and on the other facinated by the detective plot sitting over it played out in the present. One of the best set of books I have read for years and I read them all!
Rating:
Summary: Ash: A Hidden History
Review: Mary Gentle shows a growing maturity, in her already excellant ability, to write a captivating story. Told from the view point of a historian, trying to produce a scholorly work for a publishing house, "Ash" follows the life of a woman who should have had the stature of Joan of Arc, but instead became as mythical as King Arthur. Follow her from the time she kills 2 men, in self defense, at age 8, through the time she becomes a legendary "Merc Captain" who takes the war to Carthage at age 20. Ash is an incredible warrior leader who, in the quest to win land for herself and her company manages to find her employer marrying her off to a nobleman, because women can't yet own land. When her husband is captured and becomes a traitor to his people, Ash goes after him - only to find herself on the wrong side of a war when the German leader submits to the invaders. Ash's luck holds when the invaders hire her mercenary company to wage war against the richest empire of Europe. When the woman warrior who retains Ash's company reveals her face Ash is surprised to be looking at her double. And she hears voices too. When the woman takes Ash hostage, to send to Carthage, the invader's homeland, Ash's Merc company rescue her. Ash and the Carthehanian warrior are hearing the same voice, but it isn't from a saint, rather a machine made and kept in Carthage. And it's creators would like to know why.
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