Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros-Book

From a Google Image Search – Apple Books

Rebecca Yarros’ Empyrean Series will eventually have five books. So far, we have two. The first book was Fourth Wing. The second is called Iron Flame. The kingdom of Navarre has isolated itself from the rest of the known world and Basgiath College is not only running the kingdom (although there is king), training up the citizens who will protect the kingdom militarily, but they are also hiding something. Violet Sorrengail, whose mother is one of the administrators who run the college, is estranged from her mom. Violet is now in her second year, and she has been chosen by not just one dragon, but two, although she only rides one. She came in as a frail girl who barely passed the rigorous admissions tests and has become strong by building physical strength and by learning how to lean on other skills that make her extraordinary. The college trains foot soldiers (infantry), and the dragons train the riders, there are scribes who keep the history, and healers who mend the wounded.

Xaden Riorson is one of 104 children of a rebel group from another kingdom whose parents were executed. The children are marked with tattoos along one arm and Xaden was cut 104 times on his back by Violet’s mother to remind him that he is responsible for the others. Although he sets out to make Violet’s life at the college difficult because he thinks she is too weak to be there, she has opportunities to show him that she can keep a secret. She is also dangerously attracted to Xaden. A fantasy with a hot romance combines two genres that have plenty of fans. Readers will get very invested in the love blooming between these two.

The kingdom of Navarre is protected by wards that keep out enemies, but why are there enemies and who are they? Who is attacking the kingdoms on other continents where the wards have failed? Why are the college administrators so secretive about what is happening at the fringes of the kingdom? If the rebellion was quelled who are the enemies of Navarre? The riders sent to the fringes are battling flyers who seem to think that Navarre is their enemy. But something else is out there and Violet, who studied history with her father, knows what they are up against. She knows that the college administrators have hidden away books that would enlighten everyone, and perhaps show how to reactivate the failing and failed wards that used to keep evil away.

Is there such a thing as unconditional love? Violet and Xaden are about to find out, in the next book. You might be tempted to unlove this series but perhaps the author has points to make, and you might want to hang in to find out. Will the people of Navarre have to vanquish all their enemies, or will they find a way to unite all the world in utopian tolerance and keep the lovers together to bring joy to the new world? How will the dragons deal with the changes that they must internalize? This is a series that has readers on an emotional rollercoaster and that gives it value if you like to read for entertainment.

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarrow – Book

Sometimes taking a break from reading about weighty subjects is good for the brain. We might return to a genre that has given us pleasure in the past, in a novel that flies by, the passing of time forgotten. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros promised to be just such a novel. It has been given a new genre classification, romantic fantasy. There are dragons, family intrigue, magic, power struggles, and love happening at a military college training kids to become soldiers to defend the kingdom. Some at the college are training to be infantry, some to be riders bonded to a dragon, some to be scribes to keep the books that record the history of Navarre, and some to be Healers.

Violet Sorrengail is the newest cadet to walk the Parapet to gain entry to this school that is headed by her estranged mother. Violet has a weak joint disease and was trained by her father to be a scribe, but she decides to become a rider, despite the challenges her fragile body presents. Violet surprises everyone, especially the wingleader, Xaden Riorson who would like to see her fail but is drawn to her by a powerful sexual attraction. Violet, although not training as a Scribe, realizes that something is wrong with the Basgiath College archives. Books are missing. Parts of the histories of Navarre have been lost or locked away. And the wards that guard Navarre’s borders are weakening or falling.

It takes a while to put together a group of true friends when you are in a new school. There is a lot of social power jockeying and close friendships emerge along with personal enemies. The power of friendship and love to align the forces of good against the forces of evil is part of any good fantasy world and the Empyrean is no exception. It is these friendships, sexual attractions, and love relationships that bond us to the characters in a fantasy, even the dragons, and it is the animosities, the evil plots that inspire us to read further to see what unfolds. We always hope that good will win, that our heroes will grow and add to their talents. Until George R. R. Martin this outcome was predictable. Not so much now.

This book is part of a projected series of fantasy books known as the Empyrean Series. Iron Flame is the second book in the series, but the last three books have not yet been written. If you like Nora Roberts and hot sex you may like Fourth Wing.

Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone – Book

Gladstone-Empress Tor.com

Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone – Book

A space opera of world building, world destroying, planet eaters, strange goddesses who stride across space, like the Suicide Sisters, and a “ragtag” group, united by a mission – Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone is a mashup of Star Wars and a complex video game, all brought to life with words rather than actual graphics.

Viv knows only Earth. She is a businesswoman. She has not been truly ruthless, but she has been heedless of other’s feelings as she climbed her way to the top of the business world. Just as she is in an enormous server room about to finish uploading a program which could give her dominion over her world, the Empress of Forever, very green and powerful in ways Viv has never even imagined reaches in and grabs ahold of Viv’s heart and zaps her into a place in space called High Cacereal. How is Viv still alive? How will Viv get home? How will she get back to Magda to make sure she is safe? How will she find out what happened when she sent out her virus before it was completely loaded?

Well the answers to those questions will not be quick in coming. Viv first saves the Empress’s enemy Zanj, a feisty space pirate who has been imprisoned for 3,000 years, one of the once-famous Suicide Sisters. Zanj, never one to sit still can use the Cloud to travel through space. The first of the group hunting the Empress that Zanj and Viv meet is the loveable Hong, a monk with lots of courage and common sense. Then Xiara of the piloting Ornclan is added, and Gray of the Grayframes. Of course our band of Empress-haters must travel to every corner of Max Gladstone’s and Zanj’s world to see the damage the Empress has wrought.

Since Viv arrives in this world from the world of business she brings with her the wisdom success in business has taught her. This blend of How-to-Succeed-in- Business book lore, self-help psychological teachings, warcraft, and science fiction is kind of dazzling. How do people think up this stuff? It’s Linked in, Instagram, and World of Warcraft all rolled into one.

Despite this odd marriage of disciplines, Max brings his fantasy-built world richly alive for us. The novel is fun to read and as Viv learns the lesson that would have sealed her success as a businesswoman or made winning irrelevant, so do we. There is no I in team, but having the support of a truly connected team allows you to realize the very best version of yourself. Empress of Forever introduced me to a whole other kind of fantasy/science fiction novel for the computer age, perhaps intended for younger readers. Still, I found it fascinating to see how the genre is being transformed, and I made some new fictional friends.

Of Blood and Bone by Nora Roberts – Book

of blood and bone Characters Wanted

Of Blood and Bone by Nora Roberts is the second book in a trilogy called Chronicles of the One. This is a dystopian saga, but it is not Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. Roberts pits wholesomeness, the sweetness of summer sunshine, bees, honey, family, children, love—life lived simply and communally—against lives that feature hate, fear, intolerance, and brutality.

When Mr. McLeod cracked the shield and dark Magick was loosed on the world, two-thirds of the world’s population died of an incurable virus which became known as the Doom. Many survivors found themselves with magical talents. Some became faeries, some elves, and some witches. The world split into the light and the dark and war was in the air. Humans who survived with no magical talents also split between good and evil. Some humans felt that magical creatures were an abomination and they tortured, killed, or executed them whenever they got the chance. What was left of governments captured magical creatures ostensibly to save them and to study them, but they imprisoned them and strapped them to metal tables so they could learn what they could and then eliminated them. And gangs bent on chaos and mayhem killed anyone who was vulnerable.

The child of Lana and Max, two witches who had to flee NYC in the worst days of the Doom (Book 1), Fallon Smith, was known to be “the One” who would set things right before she was even born. Fallon has lived quietly on an isolated farm with her family but now, on her thirteenth birthday, Mallick comes to take Fallon away for training. From here on the story resembles the King Arthur story, except this time the King is a woman. Mallick is her Merlin and when she successfully finishes her training she wins the sword and the shield from the sacred well. During her training she also wins three unusual and powerful companions.

It’s a great tale even if Fallon is a bit like heroic Barbie and the young man, Duncan that she meets in New Hope is a bit too much like Ken. Fortunately, although the novel holds out the promise of romance at some point in the future, for now it stays focused on war and setting the world to rights. This seems as if it would make a great YA fantasy series depending on where it goes in Book 3.

I liked Of Blood and Bone. Apparently, in real life, there was a little issue about two similar titles between two authors, but it was settled amicably I believe. I look forward to the third book. But if we find ourselves in a truly dystopian world I don’t expect that Magick (or even magic) will save us. There is too much fantasy in this to put it in the category of dystopian literature. Still when you need entertainment this trilogy could be a fun choice for a quick break from more serious fare.

Photo Credit: From a Google Image Search – Characters Wanted