Carthage Ascendant
begins immediately after the end of A Secret History
(and, of course, follows directly in the British one-volume edition of the Book
of Ash). This section opens
with Ash and her new employer, the Lancastrian John de Vere, approaching
Charles the Bold with plans to attack the Visigoths at their capital of
Carthage in an attempt to destroy the stone golem which provides the
Visigothic general the Faris with tactical advice.
Gentle begins to flesh
out the character of Fernando del Guiz, Ash’s husband de jure.
In A Secret History, del Guiz is portrayed as a bored nobleman
who is rewarded with a wife who was causing problems for the Emperor.
In Carthage Ascendant, del Guiz is portrayed as a more modern
voice. One of the few people
who reacts in horror to the warrior culture in which Ash and her compatriots
live and to which he, at least theoretically, belongs.
At the same time, Gentle is careful to show del Guiz as he would be
seen by his contemporaries, thereby distancing him from any modern ideals.
As with A Secret
History, Gentle strives for an authentic and unromantic depiction of the
fifteenth-century. This is
clearly brought home when ‘Amir Leofric categorizes Ash’s health
prior to the beginning of a torture session.
He describes the evidence of dirt, disease and infestation in a
matter of fact tone which Ash accepts in the same manner.
Given the general
realistic feel of Carthage Ascendant, some of Gentle’s phrase
choices are particularly anachronistic, such as Ash’s thought that her
“ass is grass” or her invitation to del Guiz to “step into her
office.” When Gentle uses such modern phrases, the text becomes
extremely jarring. On occasion,
Gentle excusing these anachronisms with footnotes presenting the
“original” Latin.
Of course, Gentle is
writing a fantasy novel, so no matter how realistic her world appears,
eventually she will introduce things which cause the reader to suspend
belief. Ash has the ability to hear voices which give her advice
during battles. She learns the ostensible origin of these voices and
make an attempt to destroy the source, a tool used by the Visigoths and her
apparent twin sister. In the process, Ash learns that the Visigoths
themselves are a tool, although to what purpose, she is unable to ascertain.
Gentle’s modern
scholar, Pierce Ratcliff, and his editor, Anna Longman, continue to discuss
historiography in the form of questions their manuscript about Ash raises
about the history of the Burgundian period.
No longer content to espouse traditional theories, their discussions
have begun to move into more theoretical realms of parallel universes
Carthage Ascendant
is a strong continuation of A Secret History, building on the ideas
and characters in the earlier book in a way which does not allow it to stand
on its own. At the same time, it is stronger than the first book in
the series, for Gentle is able to advance her plot in Carthage Ascendant
while A Secret History mostly laid the groundwork for this and, one
would assume, the subsequent novels.
