If you’re reading From Blood and Ash and Flesh and Fire series, you might be considering skipping A Soul of Ash and Blood.
A Soul of Ash and Blood is the fifth installment in From Blood and Ash series. It is a retelling of the events in From Blood and Ash from Casteel’s POV.
While there is some new information in these flashback scenes, I understand the hesitance of wanting to read yet another book in this series. After all, we’re committed to over a dozen books already.
There is a common misconception about this book. It’s not just all flashbacks of From Blood and Ash from Casteel’s POV. In addition to stories about how Casteel fell in love with Poppy, there are twelve present chapters in this book. These chapters take off right after The War of Two Queens and cover the stretch of the next few days. They move the plot forward and they are important to the story.
Full disclosure, I think you absolutely should read A Soul of Ash and Blood.
Casteel’s POV is adorable, and his friendship with Kieran blooms throughout the flashbacks. It also helps the reader better understand his motives, like why the hell did he act like that in New Haven? (Turns out he had a good reason.)
But I get it. You might be too busy. Your TBR might be too deep. Or maybe you don’t want to reread a retelling of FBAA.
In that case, here’s everything that’s happens in the present chapters of A Soul of Ash and Blood.
Synopsis
Poppy, Kieran, and Casteel walk beneath the tunnels in Carsodonia, where chaos reigns as the Ascended scramble. Poppy insists on giving them a chance to prove they can change, but Casteel and Kieran disagree. Casteel’s inner monologue is his usual mix of simping and surprising critical thinking.
Nektas joins them in the search for Ires—Poppy’s father, Sera and Nyktos’s son, and Malec’s twin. Delano, in wolven form, silently accompanies them, continuing not to speak since The War of Two Queens.
Casteel recaps their predicament: Millie, Poppy’s sister, is missing with Malik pursuing her. Sera and Nyktos are awake and could enter the mortal realm at any time. Callum is lurking, and Kolis has regained his corporeal form.
Meanwhile, Poppy’s health is worsening—she’s pale and cold, drawing concerned stares. When she asks about it, Nektas reveals she’s the second-biggest problem after Kolis. Casteel steps protectively between them, prompting Nektas to remark, “You’re too much like him,” a comment left unexplored when an earthquake interrupts them. (I have my thoughts on who this him is, but more on that in a different blog post.)
They deduce Penellaphe is waking, exciting Poppy, though Nektas tempers her enthusiasm by reminding her Penellaphe foresaw the prophecy Poppy fulfilled. He also teases Casteel, Kieran, and Delano for shielding Poppy from the quake when she’s the strongest of them all.
Then Nektas drops out another bomb, that the three of them being Joined means more than what we know so far. Poppy continues to deteriorate, but they can’t address it because they find Ires in his cave cat form.
Nektas reveals that being Joined means more than they know. Poppy’s condition worsens, but they push forward and find Ires in cave-cat form, caged and weakened. Nektas, horrified, identifies the shadowstone cage and wards as Callum’s doing. Attempts to calm Ires fail until Poppy touches him, her power soothing him. Nektas frees him with fire, and Poppy shifts Ires back with happy memories. Casteel connects with Ires over shared experiences of captivity, comforting him.
Father and daughter reunite, and Ires reveals Jadis is safe in the Willow Plains.
Poppy collapses, pale and colder than before, with a worsening headache. Nektas is shocked to learn that Poppy never went into stasis after her ascension. He warns stasis might cause her memory loss, though it’s rare. He suggests they talk to her while she’s unconscious so she can hear their voices in stasis.
Nektas takes Ires home while they move Poppy to a room. They put Emil in charge and Casteel begins recounting their story.
Casteel reflects on Vikter’s initial dislike for him and wonders if Vikter, part of the Fates, foresaw what would happen to Poppy.
He recalls his own struggles with guilt and anger when they first met, revealing he self-harmed to cope with trauma. He tells Poppy that talking about his pain, not inflicting more is what ultimately healed him. He feels guilt for hurting Kieran, who shared his pain through the bond, but they forgave each other long ago.
Kieran then prompts Casteel to reflect on whether he told Poppy the truth about Shea. Casteel admits he hasn’t and trusts Poppy to understand.
Casteel recalls capturing an Ascended, who recognized him from captivity. Though the ascended’s revelation about Malec’s freedom unsettled him, he empathizes with Malec, understanding the lengths he’d go for a heartmate. He reflects on his brother’s choices, his love for Millicent, and the ripple effects on their world.
In another memory, Casteel sneaks into Poppy’s room after one of her nightmares, sensing something was wrong with the Duke.
He recalls when Poppy stopped being “the Maiden” and became just Poppy—starting the night on the Rise.
Casteel also reflects on his growing love for her, recalling how Miss Willa’s diary and their moments at the Atheneum shifted his plans.
Kieran points out he loved Poppy long before he admitted it. We learn that Casteel hadn’t planned to kill the Duke until he realized the extent of his cruelty to Poppy.
Casteel reflects on love and its consequences. He imagines how things might have been different if Isbeth and Malec got to be together.
Millicent arrives with Malik, alarming everyone. Though initially skeptical, Casteel questions her and allows her near Poppy. Millicent reveals she watched over Poppy as a child and often visited Ires’s prison. Malik reveals the key to killing Revenants: the Primals or draken fire and blood. They also learn Isbeth hoarded vials of draken blood, which can be used as weapons.
Malik and Casteel hash out their issues, planting seeds of reconciliation.
Malik also confirms the Revenants loyal to Isbeth were actually aligned with Kolis.
In the last chapter before the book ends, Casteel’s father is a few hours outside of Carsodonia. The shadows underneath Poppy’s eyes recede, and her skin feels nearly normal.
Casteel reflects on when he fell in love with her, admitting it began at the Red Pearl.
He drifts off to sleep only to wake up a Revenant sneaking into the room. The Revenant has a knife made out of “ancient’s bones”, which burns Casteel when it cuts him. Casteel is incapacitated by the bone dagger wound, allowing the Revenant approach to Poppy.
The Revenant sings the creepy “What a pretty little flower” nursery rhyme.
Casteel begins to feel something—an ancient instinct taking over. Power floods his veins, his skin buzzes, and specks of eather cover his face. In a moment of transformation, he shifts into a cave cat.
He tears the Revenant to pieces.
Kieran enters the room to find Casteel in his unexpected cave cat form. He speaks to Casteel, reminding him of who he is, who Poppy is, and what they all mean to each other. His words coax Casteel back to his human form.
They discuss the aftermath of the shift, concluding that Casteel’s ability to transform—and by extension, Poppy’s—is linked to their Joining, just as Ires can shift into his cave cat form.
They “capture” the remains of the Revenant for questioning later.
Their discussion is cut short when the floor begins to crack. A thin circle of silvery eather erupts around Poppy’s bed, carving into the stone. The circle forms a line through it, then another from the top.
The symbol of the Primal of Life and Death is etched into the stone around Poppy as she sleeps.
Kieran and Casteel stand on either side of the bed, holding Poppy’s hands and praying she remembers who she is.
Poppy stirs.
Then, she opens her eyes. The green is gone, replaced by molten silver.
She awakens as the Primal.
That’s where the book ends! Is there anything else you want me to cover in From Blood and Ash universe? Or any other books? Let me know in the comments!
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