Bursts of Fire

April 15, 2019
Forest eases into her seven-book Addicted to Heaven Saga with an emotional story of familial love, tension, and mistrust among three sisters and three brothers in Shangril, a land of seven kingdoms devastated by conquest and fanaticism. Three teenage sisters—sensible elder Meg, spoiled Janat, and fearless little Rennika—live in peace in Orumon with their mother, Talanda Falkyn, a powerful magiel (magician). Talanda controls the Amber prayer stone used to petition Heaven and the Many Gods. Troubles begin when King Artem Declan invades Orumon and the other kingdoms in a vicious holy war. Guided by the ruthless evangelical magiel Wenid, Artem outlaws worship of the Many Gods in favor of the One God and imprisons or kills all other magiel. The Falkyn sisters escape Orumon and encounter the revolutionary peasant Sulwyn Cordal, who brings hope to stopping Artem’s advance. Meanwhile, Artem’s three sons confront the war differently: illegitimate Uther is loyal to the cause, teenage prince Huwen is reluctant, and young Eamon, who has a tragic past, is suicidal. Emphasizing characters and lessons of tolerance, Forest employs the fantasy world as an allegory to address issues of religious intolerance, immigration, xenophobia, refugees, and mental illness; this gives the novel a timely feel, but allows the plot to drag. Readers who relish adventure mingled with a message will be engrossed in the plights of the two sets of siblings.

June 1, 2019

Forest (The Dragon Prince) kicks off a projected seven-book series with the dramatic escape of three magical sisters. As daughters of the imperial magiel, Meg, Janat, and Rennika flee a luxurious life when the army of the king lays siege to their castle home. Impulsively destroying a prosperous peace, the king overruns neighboring castles, killing the magiels and smashing the prayer stones that drive their magic. The sisters are hunted for the abilities revealed in their faces. Hidden and separated, they face harsh futures. They are reunited as the commoners rise up against the king, and the king's son, now leading the army, discovers the terrible secret that started the war. Forest depicts strong female characters, with varying motivations and personalities adding plenty of action in daring raids, battles with war machines, and magical time walking, though equal attention is given to exploring relationships between the sisters and their allies. VERDICT This exciting new series will have fantasy fans eagerly awaiting the next installment.--Catherine Lantz, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago Lib.

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 15, 2019
Three sisters fight in exile, using magic to restore their land. After King Artem invades the Orumon Kingdom in the name of the One God, Meg, Janat, and Rennika Falkyn seek new roles in a chaotic Shangril. The Falkyn sisters, royals and powerful magiels with time-shifting skin, become entwined in the commoner-led resistance. With their ability to manipulate time, the sisters are seemingly eager to be used as powerful tools rather than forging their own paths. Meg, the eldest, tries to protect her sisters, but as the girls' romantic interests develop, the story likewise becomes muddied. Prince Huwen strives to feel worthy as King Artem's heir while struggling with the legitimacy of his father's war and his brother Eamon's deep depression. Themes of religious and democratic freedoms; magic-based time travel's addictive, almost hallucinogenic, qualities; and Shangril's dependence on the Gods for death tokens could have set this fantasy apart, but instead it feels disjointed and not fully delivered. The European-influenced naming conventions and a lowborn tongue with Scots and Yorkshire overtones imply white as the default, with only body types and shifting magiel or steady skin used as descriptors. Very much an introduction to the main cast, the novel's chronology and pacing weaken character development and limit interest in their fate. Lacking in thrills and suspense; readers can hope for more in future installments. (map, reader's group guide, mental health information and resources) (Fiction. 14-18)

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July 1, 2019
The empire of Shangril is made up of seven countries, each of which is ruled by one of the seven Great Houses, whose kings are chosen by one of the seven Many Gods. Each king employs a magiel, a shimmering-skinned magic-wielder, to look after its Prayer Stone. King Artem, ruler of Arcan, decides he is destined to rule all seven countries under the worship of the One God, so he uses his army to overthrow the other six kings and destroy their Prayer Stones. Talanda Falkyn, magiel of neighboring Orumon, has foreseen this destruction and knows a highborn magiel's ability to reach the Many Gods is the only way to stop King Artem's tyranny, so she helps her three magiel daughters escape when King Artem attacks. Armed with only vague instructions, the three girls begin their journey through a war-torn, chaotic empire. The first book in the Addicted to Heaven series promises an exciting political fantasy with realistic representation of mental illness and addiction and is sure to entertain fans of epic adventures.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)