Fictional novels about real yet uncommon circumstances have always seemed to have a certain appeal to readers. This is certainly true for books about cults, and over the past few years there has been an influx of popular stories which tackle this topic. With his second novel, First, Become Ashes, K.M. Szpara takes the standard cult story to a different level, interweaving fantasy with reality to leave readers feeling simultaneously enthralled and unsettled. And this is Szpara, after all, so let’s not forget the story must include a good dash of steamy, queer sex!
The Fellowship of the Anointed is all its inhabitants have ever known. It is a refuge of safety from the monsters that occupy the outside world. It is the place the Anointed learn to develop and wield their magic. It is their family, although not in the traditional sense. In short, it is everything; their entire world. To the outsiders, however, the Fellowship is exactly what it sounds like—a cult. An isolated compound led by an extremist who, for the past few decades, has guided her followers in strange and secretive ways.
One of the most promising of the Anointed is Lark. Only a few months away from turning 25, and thus beginning his crusade to destroy the monsters, his faith is both pure and blind. He questions nothing, only does as he is told. After all, this is the only life he’s ever known. However, when the Fellowship is stormed by the FBI—the members “rescued” and their leader facing criminal charges—Lark cannot accept the possibility his entire life has been a lie.
Told from multiple perspectives, First, Become Ashes is the story of what comes next when you are removed from all you have ever known. As Lark remains compelled to seek and destroy the monsters he has trained his whole life to face, his partner Kane struggles to help Lark see that his magic was never real, it was merely a means of control. Or was it? Lark’s sibling, Deryn, relieved to be free from the Fellowship, grasps at this opportunity to prove their worth once and for all. And along the way, Lark meets Calvin and Lilian, each drawn to him for different reasons but both willing to aid him along on his quest. Together, these alternating viewpoints present a journey full of action that will keep readers furiously turning pages until the very end.
Szpara has made a number of interesting, and perhaps controversial, choices with this second novel. Much like his debut Docile, First, Become Ashes has no shortage of explicit subject matter. In fact, there is a content warning to give readers advance notice of “explicit sadomasochism and sexual content, as well as abuse and consent violations, including rape.” You see, the Fellowship teaches pain as the way to grow and develop one’s magical powers. While the graphic sex scenes and flashbacks of abuse make this a book that is certainly not for everyone, Szpara nests this content down into the narrative in a way which feels integral to the story. After all, a main theme of the novel is resilience and the ability to overcome past trauma to move forward.
Szpara also creates an illusory blurring between what is real and what is magic in this story … to the point that it is difficult for the reader to know the difference at times. This lingering question in the back of the reader’s mind: do Lark and the other Anointed truly possess magical powers, or have they just been brainwashed into believing they do? This drives the story ever forward.
Another aspect well worth noting is the emphasis placed on the use of pronouns throughout the novel. The members of the Fellowship are clear in identifying their own pronouns and are also very vocal about ensuring outsiders do not misgender them or make assumptions about their gender identity. The centering of this topic is rarely executed so clearly in other novels, a step which Szpara should be recognised for.
First, Become Ashes, like any good fantasy book, examines issues of the world around us in a setting with a bit more magic. Szpara intelligently probes how we come to be the people we are and how we learn about the world from those around us. He considers the influence of organised religion and individual convictions, how ideas that are presented to us turn into deep-rooted beliefs. He questions the righteousness in how we believe others (or don’t) when they tell us who they are and what they need. All together this novel has everything one looks for in a great fantasy read: a world which wraps itself around you, characters you adore and root for, friendship, love, sex, and so much more. The fluidity of Szpara’s writing will pull you in for an adventure you won’t want to miss if you are brave enough to take the leap.
First, Become Ashes is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of April 6th 2021. Many thanks to Tordotcom Publishing for providing me with an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
The Fellowship raised Lark to kill monsters.
His partner betrayed them to the Feds.
But Lark knows his magic is real, and he’ll do anything to complete his quest.
K. M. Szpara follows Docile, one of the most anticipated science fiction novels of 2020, with First, Become Ashes, a fantastic standalone adventure that blends pain and pleasure and will make readers question what is real, and what is magical.
Lark spent the first twenty-four years, nine months, and three days of his life training for a righteous quest: to rid the world of monsters. Alongside his partner Kane, he wore the cage and endured the scourge in order to develop his innate magic. He never thought that when Kane left, he’d next see him in the company of FBI agents and a SWAT team. He never dreamed that the leader of the Fellowship of the Anointed would be brought up on charges of abuse and assault.
He never expected the government would tell him that the monsters aren’t real–that there is no magic, and all the pain was for nothing.
Lark isn’t ready to give up. He is determined to fulfill his quest, to defeat the monsters he was promised. Along the way he will grapple with the past, confront love, and discover his long-buried truth.
