by
Jane Routley
ISBN: 0-380-79425-X Order from: Amazon.com Barnes & Noble.com
This sequel to the Routley's excellent first novel builds up the character of the young mage Dion through deadly struggles and earthly amusements.
Reviewed by David on May 26, 1998
Genre: Fantasy (Demons, Politics)
Synopsis: The young female mage Dion is hiding her fame and notoriety in an obscure village, when the news of her missing sister pulls her into a deadly struggle for the control of the war-torn and demon-haunted country of her birth.
Full Review: Jane Routley has created a new world and a delightful new heroine in her first novel Mage Heart. Dion, who was about eighteen in Mage Heart, is a bright but lazy teenager, at once repressed and prim due to her strict upbringing by her father, and excited and fearful of the new opportunities open to a powerful mage.
After the events in the previous novel have left her with a load of guilt and a distaste for political and magical power, Dion has moved to a remote village to work as a (somewhat) humble healer.
While adapted at an early age by a magician, she still has vague memories of her mother and several of her siblings. When two grown-up half-brothers show up on her doorstep asking for her help in locating her half-sister, Dion reluctantly agrees to follow them into Moria. Moria, her birth country, is in the middle of a militant religious revival that has made the practice of magic a capital offense.
Unfortunately, the fanatical priests are not the only problem Dion has: has country has split into three regions, and is on the verge of a civil war. There is strong evidence that at least a fraction of the militant church is using necromancy—and is feeding humans to demons in return for the demons' assistance in the political struggle.
The demons in Routley's world are fearsome things—something like the weapons of mass destruction. The world of magic and necromancy in this universe is somewhat conventional, as are the political struggles. What makes this book a pleasure to read are the characters, especially Dion herself. She is noticeably more confident after her 4-year sojourn as a country healer. Her delight in earthly pleasures is even more intense by the flickers of guilt she overcomes when she indulges herself. Her behavior, combining in various measures guilt, overconfidence, loyalty, slight vindictiveness and compassion, makes her utterly believable. Frequent but not overpowering humor makes the plot easy to absorb. Here is Dion walking by the soldiers of the Duke, her nominal liege, and silently fuming at their crude observations of her feminine charms:
Annoying, yes, but hardly a good enough reason to blow people up, though by the time I reached Silva's I was feeling sorely tempted. Much later it occurred to me that I could have turned their whole bodies—or maybe just their private parts—a kind of iridescent, shining-through-your-clothes, purple. Another good idea thought of too late. Life is full of regrets.I found the plot a bit more ponderous than the first book. The increased amount of world-level politics and power games are portrayed with competence, but without the flair and freshness that characterizes the personal affairs of Dion and friends. In addition, the introduction of the Klementari magic with its own rules made somewhat of a lump in the world image that I have been building. I hope Routley does not follow the path of the less skilled authors who introduce new creatures, characters or rules every time the plot needs momentum.
These quibbles aside, Fire Angels is an excellent book. Its most remarkable feature, the ease and charm with which it describes the main character and her interactions, make it stand head and shoulders above most contemporary fantasy.
I recommend this book, and look forward to reading many more from Ms. Routley.
Overall: 7; Plot: 6; Characters: 8; Style: 7; World-building: 6; Originality: 6;
Avon Books, June 1998, Trade, 436 pages
ISBN: 0-380-79425-X Order from: Amazon.com Barnes & Noble.com