A Darkness Forged in Fire | |||||
Chris Evans | |||||
Pocket Books, 419 pages | |||||
A review by Tammy Moore
He's wrong. For She is stirring, sending out her monsters and her poisonous, hungry trees, and the Red Star has
fallen. If her plans come to fruition then things will become unfathomably worse for him, for the Empire, for the
whole world.
Konowa is summoned back to the Empire's service by the rebellious elfkynan aristocrat Visyna Tokoy and ordered to
find the Red Star before the Shadow Monarch does. The Iron Elves are recommissioned as well, but these are not the
doughty, near-legendary elven soldiers that Konowa used to command. Instead they are a band of "louts, thieves,
ruffians and wastrels" drawn from the dregs of the army. Still they are Iron Elves now and Konowa is determined
to make them honour the name. He'll hone them into the best soldiers in the army, because otherwise every last
one of them will die.
Accompanied by the spoilt, arrogant Prince Tykkin, an enigmatic journalist who knows more than she ever plans to
write and even the beautiful Visyna the Iron Elves set out to Luuguth Jor. Where the Shadow Monarch and what She
has left of the murdered Viceroy wait for them. For the Shadow Monarch knows that they are moving
against Her, She has more than one servant in Elyfkyna and Her finger has always been laid on Konowa's fate.
A Darkness Forged in Fire is a polished and assured debut novel from author Chris Evans and the first in
a series that has the promise to become one of the staples of the genre. Chris Evans has created a fantasy epic
that has no problem in moving between the machinations of politicians and the rough humour of the army
grunts. The characters and their motivations are complex, the scale of events is epic and the influence those
events have on the characters is brutally personal. It reminded me irresistibly of
Raymond E. Feist's Riftwar Cycle novels. Primarily, the combination of the epic scale of the
world and the threat with the more limited world and motivations of the characters. No-one sets out to take
on an Epic Quest to save the world, they are forced into it by events beyond their control and their own
slightly shop-soiled morality. The heroes in A Darkness Forged in Fire don't wear glittering armour or
claim to be righteous. Konowa is grumpy and ill-tempered, but the Iron Elves are his men now and he'll do his
best for them. Yimt, one of my favourite characters, is a corrupt, rock-chewing dwarf with a jaundiced view
of both the military and the world, but he'll stand and die for his fellow soldiers.
If A Darkness Forged in Fire has one major weakness, it's that it doesn't stand out as being as original
and interesting as it is. When I picked it up to read, I expected a fairly standard fantasy quest with elves
and an evil sorceress, and I got that. However, there was also a very grittily realistic military campaign,
tree-loving elves that are closer to eco-warriors than their traditional fantasy counterparts and a villain
who is masterfully frightening and alien. It's hard to make a genuinely fascinating and sympathetic villain
who is evil, yet I am as eager to find out more about the Shadow Monarch and her past as I to find out
about Konowa and his future.
There's a curse too, and a scene where a crusty dwarf meets an elven lady and, in this world, it unfolds quite
differently.
A Darkness Forged in Fire is a strong opening book for a new fantasy series and a thrilling and
enjoyable read on its own merits.
Tammy Moore is a speculative fiction writer based in Belfast. She writes reviews for Verbal Magazine, Crime Scene NI and Green Man Review. Her first book The Even -- written by Tammy Moore and illustrated by Stephanie Law -- is to be published by Morrigan Books September 2008. |
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