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93 of 99 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't judge a book by the covers of other books, October 15, 2009
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The main thing I would say to potential readers is to judge this book on its own merits.
A number of reviewers compare "Child of Fire" to Jim Butcher's "Dresden Files" novels. Yes, this is Urban Fantasy. Yes, this is Dark Fantasy. Aside from that, I didn't find a lot of similarities. Keep in mind, just because Butcher likes a book, doesn't mean that it's the same kind of book that he writes!
Ray Lilly is in prison. We get some hints as to why, but I expect his back story to be revealed gradually in forthcoming books in the series. He is released from jail by the "Twenty Palace Society". We know even less about them, just that their mission is to track down and destroy anyone who is using magic. (Besides them, of course.) He is assigned to work with Annalise, and we don't know a whole lot about her either, other than that she is almost indestructible and has a really bad attitude about almost everything. Especially Ray. Who she fully expects to die very soon.
They are sent to a small town to investigate the disappearance of children, and the strange fact that once they disappear, no one remembers them. Not even their parents. The rest, as they say, is the story. And it's told very well. The narrative is tight and fast paced. The main characters aren't very likable, as some reviewers have mentioned. And on first appearance, they're not. But we don't know a lot about them, and they have a very unlikable job: killing anyone who has, or has been touched by, "unauthorized" magic. And that means there is frequently a lot of collateral damage.
This is obviously the start of a series. I'm willing to give Ray and Annalise the benefit of the doubt for now, until I know about them and their mysterious employer.
This is not Dresden Files, so don't expect a likable wizard, a sarcastic skull and a cute police woman. And don't expect much humor, unless it's the very, very dark kind. One reviewer compared the book to Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. Sorry, I disagree completely. This book isn't much like the Mythos at all, except that they are both in the dark fantasy and horror genre.
This book is dark, grim, and frequently unpleasant. And withing those parameters, it's an excellent book. If this is the kind of story you like, then I recommend that you give it a try. But approach it without expectations. Don't expect Butcher, Lovecraft, King, Koontz, or anyone else. Just expect Harry Connolly, and let him take you into his own dark world.
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24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fabulous Debut, October 20, 2009
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Ray is just the driver. His boss Annelise hates him -- with good reason, it turns out. Together they ride in a crummy van, chasing after a signal given off by an instance of unauthorized magic. What they find turns out to be more horrific than Ray ever imagined possible, and he's well acquainted with horrific. He just got out of prison.
The pair follows the trail further to Hammer Bay, a small city in the Pacific Northwest, known for its improbably successful toy manufacturing. The city is crawling with multi-generation old secrets, corruption, and lethal magic.
The story is fast-paced, full of violence, drama, and occasional dark humor. I found Ray Lilly to be complex and sympathetic. He does the hard things that need doing, even as he regrets them. Over the course of the story we learn that both Ray and Annelise have complicated histories -- so much so, I almost felt like I was reading book two in a series, rather than the first volume.
Hints about the Twenty Palaces Society were even more tantalizing. They stamp out -- with extreme prejudice, it seems -- unauthorized magic use. Their zeal is appropriate, though. They're the only thing protecting the world from the constant threat of annihilation. Annelise, vastly powerful and nearly indestructible, is merely a junior member.
Except what lurks in Hammer Bay is too strong even for Annelise. Saving the world is left to Ray, who has only a little magical protection, a scrap of a spell, and a whole lot of street smarts.
Normally I don't read a lot of Urban Fantasy, because common tropes of the field (snarky heroines and sex with undead/demons/monsters) are pet peeves of mine, but I liked this very much. I've seen a few other readers say this is too dark, but I honestly didn't find it that way, and I consider myself pretty sensitive. There are numerous novels where I can't get past the first page because they're so gross and brutal, and I had no trouble with CHILD OF FIRE at all. If you're wondering, try the sample chapter at the author's website. It's a good example of the tone throughout.
Overall, highly recommended for readers who like fiction that is action-packed, witty, and sophisticated.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
3.5 Stars - Good Series Start but Very Dark Tone, November 11, 2009
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I am an avid fan of Jim Butcher and his Dresden Files series and Rob Thurman and his Nightlife Series; both of whom endorse and to some degree write in the style of Harry Connolly. Child of Fire, as a first novel, shows promise. Ray Lilly however, is a darker character than those created by Butcher and Thurman and sometimes reads more as a thug than a protagonist early in the novel. His character grows and develops more nuances as you stay with the book and he becomes a progtagonist you can root for. However, it takes an extreme plot, which centers around the killing of children, to lighten his darkness and make the character more palatable. The early part of the novel reads choppily, not surprising in a new author but after three chapters or so, it settles down into a more even flow that holds the reader until near the end where there are so many subplots and so much going on that I found myself skimming more than reading. I wanted to know how things resolved for the characters but the plot was too convoluted. I think this could be because so much of the backstory is being held for future novels. In may be that after future novels are released, rereading this novel will help it better fall into context. I'd give a second novel by Connolly a try but I'd want more clarity and a main character who has been fleshed out with more humanity so that I'd enjoy reading his storyline.
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