Can I please give this more than five stars?

This is not the type of book I would usually read as I'm not a fan of fantasy stories as a rule but I met the author at a book signing and being as she was a new author to me I was intrigued to read some of her work and boy am I glad I did. The story is stunning, each word creating a visual in the mind that is breath taking. The characters are wonderfully thought out, each being strong in their own way, the story is well placed and seriously well thought out, there was a perfect balance between the action in the story and the peaceful moments that lead you perfectly throughout the intricacy of the web that this author wove. Gah I'm not even sure I'm making sense right now, that is how much this story has blown my mind. My only advice would be to read it and see just what I mean. Brilliant absolutely brilliant!

Although this isn't my first read by this author, it is my first ever delve into the medieval fantasy genre so I went in with a pretty open mind.

Finding out early on in the story that Jacantha was born to fulfil an ancient prophecy, I found it dragged quite a bit for me after that until around half way. I wanted to keep reading though as the storyline in general was a good one, and the characters were interesting.

Once it had me in its throes around two thirds through, I was hooked. I have to say, I sort of detested Wend Y Mawr and I was hoping he would come to a bad end! The torture he cast upon people made me cringe at times imaging the pain, but in a weird way I like reading it!

Overall, although Ascension took a while to get going for me, I enjoyed the storyline and I'm looking forward to the next in the series.