Ashlords by Scott Reintgen

    I love horses and the idea of horse racing.  This cover caught my attention and between that and the "Ride or Die" tag line,  I just had to try it.

This book follows the story of three phoenix riders as they engage in a race for cultural dominance.  Phoenixes, in this case, are horses that are born each morning and die each night.  Their riders use alchemy to add to the ashes to improve their mounts. 

The story was a bit or a mixture between Hildago/The Black Stallion Returns/ and The Hunger Games.  If you know anything about the Ocean of Fire, the endurance races run in Saudi Arabia, this book will probably be of interest. 

I thought the story would have been better told from a single aspect - either the Alchemist or the daughter of former champions.  I think changing perspectives so often can cause a lose of depth to the character development and I think that is what happened in this case.  Also the story rushes through to the end but lacked what I thought was a satisfying finish.  In other words, I wanted to love it more than I actually did.  Three stars.