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235th out of 583 books
—
1,183 voters
From the Ashes (Fires of Redemption #1)
by
Adrien-Luc Sanders (Goodreads Author)
Sociopath. Killer. Deviant. Monster, devoid of morals, incapable of human emotion. The villain known as Spark has been called that and more, and as a super-powered aberrant has masterminded countless crimes to build his father's inhuman empire.
Yet to professor Sean Archer, this fearsome creature is only Tobias Rutherford--antisocial graduate researcher, quiet underachiever...more
Yet to professor Sean Archer, this fearsome creature is only Tobias Rutherford--antisocial graduate researcher, quiet underachiever...more
ebook, 149 pages
Published
September 7th 2012
by Entangled Publishing (Ever After)
(first published September 6th 2012)
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4.5 stars
An excellent urban fantasy, it surprised me a lot and what a page turner. Tobias is a fascinating, complex character and even when this cold blooded killer is talking death I felt for him. I loved his voice, compelling and believable it's the struggle and soul searching he goes through that makes the story work so well. Sean and Tobias had great chemistry together, I like these two and cant wait to see where the author will take us in the next installment.
An excellent urban fantasy, it surprised me a lot and what a page turner. Tobias is a fascinating, complex character and even when this cold blooded killer is talking death I felt for him. I loved his voice, compelling and believable it's the struggle and soul searching he goes through that makes the story work so well. Sean and Tobias had great chemistry together, I like these two and cant wait to see where the author will take us in the next installment.
This was amazing. How the author managed to cram so much in such a slight novel and not leave any stone unturned is truly a feat not a lot of writers can achieve. The author endeavoured (and was successful) to write a full story in a novella that did not leave his readers feeling gypped. Oh and it had a nice twist in the end to boot!
From the Ashes tells a story of Tobias Rutherford, the son of a ruthless aberrant whose primary goal was to rule the world. At first glance, his father was every bit...more
From the Ashes tells a story of Tobias Rutherford, the son of a ruthless aberrant whose primary goal was to rule the world. At first glance, his father was every bit...more
Sep 19, 2012
Kira
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Everyone! This is an amazing story. A true must read!
Where do I start. This story was amazing! The sparks that fly between Tobias and Sean reach out and steal the wind out of your lungs. The anti-hero who you root for is a hard character to write, but Adrien-Luc Sanders does it to perfection.
Too often novellas leave you wanting more. The only thing From the Ashes left me wanting is a sequel.
Too often novellas leave you wanting more. The only thing From the Ashes left me wanting is a sequel.
Great m/m urban fantasy with a slight super-hero bent. Ever since the advent of genetic modification of human foetuses, some babies have been born with the aberrant gene. This strips them of emotion at the same time as it gives them dangerous powers. The battle between Aberrants and humans is coming to a head. Spark (Tobias) is the son of the Aberrant leader, his right hand man, and his assassin. He is working undercover at a U.S. university, secretly sabotaging a professor who is working on a c...more
13 likes · like · see review
As a Master’s student in Biogenetic Science at UC Berkley Tobias Rutherford seems an antisocial reclusive nerd who spends his free time toiling in the laboratory with Dr. Langdon a research scientist and head of the department. Tobias is leading a double life and in reality is the infamous Spark, second in command and son of the world’s most feared villain, High General Infernus Blaze. I know, as Tobias indicates, his father has quite a handle. However, Blaze has earned his name, using his extra...more
4.5 stars
Tobias is a superhuman psychopath poised to destroy the human world. He is the son and second in command of the "superhumans king". His specialty is massive destruction and he wiped out the 3 million human population of Laos like it was nothing.
Then he meets gorgeous HUMAN Sean and his heart derails his plans, or to be more accurate, his dad's plans. Daddy is the mastermind here, Tobias is just the executioner.
If you liked The Administration, there is strong chance that you'll like th...more
Tobias is a superhuman psychopath poised to destroy the human world. He is the son and second in command of the "superhumans king". His specialty is massive destruction and he wiped out the 3 million human population of Laos like it was nothing.
Then he meets gorgeous HUMAN Sean and his heart derails his plans, or to be more accurate, his dad's plans. Daddy is the mastermind here, Tobias is just the executioner.
If you liked The Administration, there is strong chance that you'll like th...more
This novella was a quick read, but it was very well-done! The narrative was tight and the action was paced well. I loved the protagonist because he's very complex and conflicted. Somehow, the author made a character that could have been cartoonish very real, instead. Spark/Tobias is an aberrant (kind of like a mutant in the X-Men sense) who's expected to follow out the wishes of his dictator/tyrant father, Blaze, and help begin a war against humans in the United States. However, Spark runs into...more
The blurb is good enough for a "recap" and can help me to remember things; so I am just going straight to my opinion ...
I would never know about this story, if not for MandyM posting her review and it appeared on my timeline. At first, I wonder whether I could feel sympathy for a serial killer. In the first chapter, Tobias says that he is his father's (Lord High General Infernus Blaze) shadow. That as Spark, he conquered Laos (and killed million of people). But quickly, Tobias's voice reeled me...more
I would never know about this story, if not for MandyM posting her review and it appeared on my timeline. At first, I wonder whether I could feel sympathy for a serial killer. In the first chapter, Tobias says that he is his father's (Lord High General Infernus Blaze) shadow. That as Spark, he conquered Laos (and killed million of people). But quickly, Tobias's voice reeled me...more
10 likes · like · see review
I just put this book down and thought to myself: "That was so much fun!"
"From the Ashes" is basically X-men w/ a M/M romance in the backdrop. It's about a mutant population (aberrants) and the humans who fear them. (Sound familiar?) The prince of the aberrants, Blaze/Tobias, lives among the humans (in Berkeley, CA...my town!) and falls in love w/ a professor at his school. He's torn between his duties as an aberrant and his love for the human.
The book unravels a bit slowly in the beginning but h...more
I love this story. LOVE. Novellas are difficult because they are so short but I felt this one was perfect and I was never left feeling like I didn't get enough story. Tobias is such an interesting character--he's an anti-hero and an all around bad guy. He has trouble feeling emotions like normal people and his father, the biggest villain around, uses Tobias to do his bidding. Tobias, who has destroyed entire nations, just wants to be left alone. I loved his struggle to understand morals and what...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I fell in like with this book because of the cover – the geometrical shapes of the skin wrapped in wire just fascinated me. The blurb got me further, how interesting and different would it be to have an anti-hero as the main character? How promising a concept that someone could ‘rise from the ashes to become a hero in a world of villains’? Pretty on the outside doesn’t fix the inside…
Twenty-five year old, aberrant Tobias Rutherford, aka Spark, masquerades as a graduate student at UC Berkeley wh...more
Can a sociopath find love?
As with the occasional book, I find myself incapable of summarizing FROM THE ASHES any better than the book's own blurb. Which in this rare case is truly fortunate!
Something I've been seeking but find difficult to get in my science fiction based romances is one featuring protagonist characters that aren't all heterosexual—or caucasian for that matter—without all the fluff and dogma associated with forcing them into gay and lesbian labeling. On a personal level I can enj...more
As with the occasional book, I find myself incapable of summarizing FROM THE ASHES any better than the book's own blurb. Which in this rare case is truly fortunate!
Something I've been seeking but find difficult to get in my science fiction based romances is one featuring protagonist characters that aren't all heterosexual—or caucasian for that matter—without all the fluff and dogma associated with forcing them into gay and lesbian labeling. On a personal level I can enj...more
I love super-hero stories, so when I saw that Entangled Publishing was releasing some super-hero novellas, I was excited to check them out. I loved the first one that I read, Playing with Fire by Tamara Morgan, so I dove into From the Ashes with a great deal of anticipation. I was sucked into the story on the first page, thought there were a few pacing issues in the middle, and enjoyed the ending, so this is another successful read.
Tobias is an aberrant. He can control electrical currents, and h...more
Tobias is an aberrant. He can control electrical currents, and h...more
It's like X-Men with actual gay romance. How awesome is that?
It's quite awesome, actually. This story reeled me in and kept me hooked. I've always had a thing for darker characters so I loved Tobias from the beginning. Although I was kind of rooting for him to be good and evil at the same time. I can have both, right?
I loved his relationship with Sean. I love how he starts finding himself, realizing that he doesn't have to be this person he thought he was supposed to be.
I want more of Sean and T...more
It's quite awesome, actually. This story reeled me in and kept me hooked. I've always had a thing for darker characters so I loved Tobias from the beginning. Although I was kind of rooting for him to be good and evil at the same time. I can have both, right?
I loved his relationship with Sean. I love how he starts finding himself, realizing that he doesn't have to be this person he thought he was supposed to be.
I want more of Sean and T...more
This book has everything! Action, amazing characters, and a fascinating story that's unique and incredibly memorable. I got into the book immediately and devoured it in one sitting, and not just because I have a soft spot for super villains. The writing is magnificent, the descriptions made me feel as though I were right there, and the fast pace always felt fun and thoroughly engaging, never rushed. This book kept me turning the pages, breathless for more. In a word... awesome.
I loved the world...more
I loved the world...more
CAUTION: Spoilers
I so much wanted to like this book, but couldn’t because of this one issue.
+ the protagonist
The story was told in 1st person POV exclusively from the Tobias’s side, and he was everything I could have hoped for. He was crafty, cynical and merciless. Okay, I admit it; he was a wee more merciless than I was comfortable with. I didn’t like that he disposed his dim-witted, ex-boyfriend who got easily manipulated by the hero’s suspicious, keen classmate. Okay, fine, kill the classmate...more
I so much wanted to like this book, but couldn’t because of this one issue.
+ the protagonist
The story was told in 1st person POV exclusively from the Tobias’s side, and he was everything I could have hoped for. He was crafty, cynical and merciless. Okay, I admit it; he was a wee more merciless than I was comfortable with. I didn’t like that he disposed his dim-witted, ex-boyfriend who got easily manipulated by the hero’s suspicious, keen classmate. Okay, fine, kill the classmate...more
So. I'm trying to sort out my feeling about this book. On the one hand I loved Sean and Tobias. I liked how both were broken and vulnerable but still strong. I liked the natural evolution of their relationship. I even liked Spark, even if he was a bit of a sociopath. I think what bummed me out wasn't the story (excellent) or characters (perfect) or even the romance (not what I'm used to, but I really loved it). It's that it ended so soon--I wanted way more than I was given. That said, lovely lit...more
This is a tightly and beautifully written novella. Sanders is not afraid to craft characters who are not mainstream - Tobias is a brown, gay, villanous superhero who still manages to escape fitting any sort of stereotype. As a "straight" reader, I still found the m/m love scenes moving and steamy and my heart was fully engaged with the love story. So much of what I want to say would involve spoilers, so I'll end here. I will definitely be watching for any other books from this writer.
This was not at all what I was expecting, it was much better. I was immediately drawn in by Tobias' voice and his story. Thanks to MandyM's for coming to the rescue with yet another wonderful review. Take a look for more details.
5 likes · like · see review
I love love LOVE the love story in this book. It's sexy and sweet and what can I say? I'm a sucker for forbidden love. I also liked the question-what-you've-been-taught idea. This book is brilliant. You should read it.
One of those rare books that I got so caught up in that I forgot to breathe. More than once. Loved it. Enough said.
This was an excellent read. It's nice to read a book where there is a gay hero without it having to be the focus of the story. And there are some tastefully done sex scenes as icing on the cake. :)
Sexy, supernatural superheroes who fall in love as they try to save the world...who wouldn't love it?!
*Review coming soon!*
*Review coming soon!*
May 23, 2013
Arden
marked it as entangled
May 10, 2013
Gghr
marked it as to-read
May 09, 2013
H. Lang
marked it as to-read
May 05, 2013
Notinfrontoftheklingons
marked it as to-read
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Oct 27, 2012 12:30pm
Yay!!!! They are great now we just need to wait for the sequel.
Oct 27, 2012 01:42pm