Customer Reviews

Child of Fire: A Twenty Palaces Novel

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(54)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I think having Jim Butcher blurb this book did not do it any favors. Dresden and his adventures are in a class by themselves, and it would be an amazing first novel that could come up to those standards. CHILD OF FIRE doesn't do that. Which isn't to say that it's a bad book, because it isn't bad at all. It just isn't Jim Butcher. Ray Lilly doesn't have Dresden's sense of humor, that ironic take on the world that makes him so much fun. Lilly has ideals, an raging awareness of his mortality, and a very awkward sense of admiration for his boss, Annalise Powliss - an admiration coupled with a great deal of fear and loathing. This makes for some interesting interactions between the two.

Connolly has a good start on a series here. Just don't dive in thinking you are in the same pool that Dresden inhabits.

Beware as some details included below may seem spoiler-ish to you.

We're introduced to Ray Lilly in a rather confusing manner, any information about him being learned along the length of the entire story. He himself doesn't know most of what is going on around him, which seems to tell me that the fact that we learn things so sparingly should be OK. What we do learn throughout the book is interesting, but it is indeed sparse. Too much so. This pretty much hangs over the whole book, and I was frustrated not to learn a whole lot about any of the plot points, characters and the world being built.

The beginning of the book also introduces a horrific scenario, the events that bring Ray and Annalise to a small Washington State town. Excluding any spoilers, let's just say it has to do with horrible things happening to many children throughout the book. The way the author incorporates this facet of the plot felt more horror-ish to me. Frankly, it turned my stomach and it cast a major pall on the book. Hey, I'm a mom, which I think had a lot to do with my reaction. I'm also not a fan of horror and the worms reminded me too much of a couple of the very few encounters I've had with the horror genre that have also left a bad taste in the mouth.

Not only did those worms turn my stomach because of the way the author described them, but I felt as if I was being emotionally manipulated. Before I go any further, I make no claims about the author's actual intent. I am only relaying my reactions and opinions formed from said reactions. Kids are often too easy a target in fiction. Often they are helpless against what is happening to them. Ray isn't immune to this aspect of his mission, which actually was simply to drive Annalise around and do her basic dirty work. But he takes it on himself to do something about these kids, to keep it from happening to others. Still, I felt manipulated. It is made a big deal in the beginning of the book, but it wasn't dealt with in equally as important a manner when it comes time to resolve that particular part of the plot. It was as if, oh well, there isn't anything we can do after all. Moving on. Perhaps it will be addressed again in the next book, I'm not sure. The part where Ray realizes something important to the plot about the poor kids was all a little bizarrely out of focus, as if all the importance/effort on the part of the story of having those kids die was now unnecessary. It just...deflated.

That aside, I have to hand it to the author for incorporating other aspects of the plot that kept me wanting to get to a point where we find out something. Anything. But as I said before, Ray is in the dark the entire book, and so are we since he's our first person guide. Annalise has a major and understandable grudge against him, so she's in turn very uncommunicative with him. Another roadblock to the reader becoming informed. There were the cop brothers, who have an interesting stranglehold on the town. So we do learn a few things, but readers won't really learn anything profound in this installment.

I enjoyed Annalise's character, in as much as we're allowed to know her this go around. Yes, I wanted to know more about a woman who, through her own ancient strength, could rip a man's finger from his hand as casually as I pluck an apple from the apple bin. Or smack a man's head off his shoulders with the same amount of boredom. Who wouldn't want to know who the heck she is - what she is?

Ray himself is a go-getter. He's not satisfied to be Annalise's wooden man and he's admirable for going off on his own when necessary and doing whatever he could to save the kids and figure out what was going on. I think he's where some humor is meant to come into play, and he's got a mild, smart enough mouth to be so, but those kids! I'm afraid I couldn't find anything about the book funny when Ray kept bringing up the kids (again, can't say why he did so without spoilers). He carries what he calls a ghost knife, and it comes in handy. Again and again and again. Can weapons be Mary Sues/Marty Stus? If so, this weapon could do it all in whatever situation Harry happened to find himself in. I found it a tad too convenient while at the same time finding it utterly cool.

The world was one of those urban fantasy staples whereby average citizens don't know about the big bad other worlds out there. I was reminded somewhat of the movie Constantine with Connolly's particular brand of demonic creatures, called predators, which reside in what Harry called the Empty Places. They are creatures so horrible one couldn't imagine them. They live to find worlds like Earth, with plenty of juicy things like humans and human blood to feed on. Nice to see humans are, and shall always be, tasty in urban fantasy.

Besides these kinds of details, I felt the worldbuilding was sparse. We're not given a lot of info on what the Twenty Palaces are, though there is a bit. Magic isn't present a whole lot, except in the form of "spell books". And apparently you don't have to have an innate, inward talent for magic. Anyone can "do" a spell and have it work. It's definitely an interesting world, I only wish we'd been able to learn more about it.

I feel a though the author has tried to do a good job of enticing readers into this new world and that of Ray and the Twenty Palaces. I've read so many firsts in new series though and don't feel that the necessary balance has been achieved with Child of Fire. There's too much held back. Perhaps if readers were allotted a little more information in this one, or had characters been developed somewhere even slightly below surface thoughts and actions, I might be looking on to the second installment. As it is, Child of Fire tries, but not in a manner that's getting me to move on to the next book.

Hey, this book was just selected one of the the 5 BEST *Mass Market* novels of 2009 by Publisher's Weekly:
[...]

Remember those HBO movies that combined Lovecraft and Chandler? Not like that...

CHILD OF FIRE is more of a *Hammett* Continental Op novel like RED HARVEST meets HP Lovecraft - more action oriented, more brutal, more "street" - and a real fast read. Ray Lilly is a career criminal (car thief) who is awaiting trial for some murders he didn't do that have a weird supernatural element to them. His public defender is replaced by some slick mob lawyer type who tells Ray he'll make the charges go away if Ray forgets the supernatural stuff he saw. He even sets Ray up with a job as a driver. This is no normal mob lawyer - this guy is from the Twenty Palace Society - a secret organization of Sorcerers. They control magic, the way some other mob might control drugs or prostitution or motion picture distribution. Ray's driving job is for...

Annalese Powess, a sorceress-assassin who kills those who use magic without permission from the Twenty Palace Society mob. Rogue socerers, people who find some spellbook and use it... anyone who is using magic in some way that might bring down the heat on the mob - or maybe get in their way. Cast a spell without permission - they send Annalize to wack you. All of this stuff is back story we have to piece together as we read - because the book hits the ground running!

It opens with Ray and Annalise on the way to a hit...

Small town in Washington State has an overly successful toy factory - and children who spontaneously combust... and the kid's parents forget they even had kids. They find ways to rationalize the car seats and toys in the front yard. The burning kids are scary and sick and twisted - but that's just the tip of the terror in the novel. This is one of those small towns with a secret - and also a bunch of warring factions that would rather the two outsiders be dead.

No shortage of scary stuff, and no shortage of action and tension. Just when you think things can't get worse - Annalise tells Ray that part of his job is to be the decoy that gets killed so that she can attack...

But when she attacks, Annalise discovers the evil in this town is more powerful than she is. Ray survives, Annalize is seriously wounded... and now all of that evil from all of the different factions in the town are coming after Ray. He is the man in the middle and must figure out who and what is behind all of this in order to survive.

- Bill

CHILD OF FIRE is a decent first effort for Harry Connolly in the urban-paranormal-fantasy genre, and there are a few original and intriguing aspects to this story. However, CHILD OF FIRE does not quite capture my interest the way it should. CHILD OF FIRE is dry, slow, and lacks tension.

CHILD OF FIRE is the story of Ray Lilly, a part time driver and full time lacky for Annalise, a high ranking sorceress. Annalise's, and thus Ray's, job is to hunt down and dispose of errant wizards and wielders of magic. Their latest case takes the pair to the town of Hammer Bay, where children are mysteriously and horribly disappearing. But their investigation goes terribly wrong. Can Ray save the children? Can he solve the mystery? Can he defeat the evil magic?

Like many readers of CHILD OF FIRE, I chose this book because it was recommended for fans of Harry Dresden. And, as I stated earlier, it is an acceptable first effort. However, I could not connect with this story and these characters the way I wanted. To begin with, there is clearly significant history between Annalise and Ray. This back story is often alluded to, and some details are provided, but I really felt like I was missing important details in their relationship. I even checked to see if CHILD OF FIRE was the second book in the series, but it is definitely the first. It just gives you the feeling that you have come into the story somewhere in the middle, which makes it hard to relate to the characters.

Additionally, the writing in CHILD OF FIRE is very dry and plodding. While there is some suspense and the action does move out quickly from the beginning, the pacing feels slow and pedantic. The tension is not a strong as it should be, and the reader's attention wanders easily.

Overall, I am interested enough to read the next book when it comes out, but the author definitely needs to find his rhythm fast. And while I found CHILD OF FIRE to be an okay read, it is certainly no Harry Dresden.

Lets get the formalities out of the way first; this review is going to be biased. It's not something I can help, so it's important that you know that right up front. The author and I have been friends for years. We met through [...] and I picked up the Black Gate magazines which had his short stories. I ordered the book months in advance and had very high hopes for Harry Connolly's "Child Of Fire", maybe too high. I was really, really looking forward to his debut novel because of the love I have for Harry's short stories. I always hate it when I find myself clapping like a school boy as I plop down my hard earned money. Life rarely lives up to our dreams.

Finally I got to read "Child Of Fire"...

"It felt good to sit behind the wheel again, even the wheel of a battered Dodge Sprinter. Even with this passenger beside me."

That is how it begins, soon I was done. I could not put this book down.

The story is basically about Ray Lilly, an ex-con who is recently released from jail. He's found himself working as the driver for a very deadly woman, Annalise Powliss. She's a member of the Twenty Palace Society, a group of sorcerers devoted to hunting down and executing rogue magicians. That sort of work tends to make one hard to the cruelties of the world, and Annalise is harder than most. She also holds a personal grudge against Ray and searching for an excuse to kill him.

The pair make their way to the town of Hammer Bay. Annalise is sent there on a job, someone is using magic against the Twenty Palace Society rules. They don't get far into the city limits before running into victims of this rogue magician's spells. Annalise isn't affected by the nasty scene, but Ray spurs into action. If he could just keep his mouth shut and eyes on the road Ray Lilly might live another day; he can't do anything that he's supposed to.

"Child Of Fire" whips into action on the first page and doesn't stop until the last page is turned. I said I went in with high expectations, they were met and exceeded. Harry Connolly has a classic urban fantasy novel, "Child Of Fire" is as good as any I've read. About halfway through, I realized that I was having the same exhilaration that I got reading Stephen King classics like "The Stand", "Misery" or "Pet Cemetery". This is one rollercoaster-fun-tastic book. The characters are believable, even the story is grounded in so much truth that I wouldn't be shocked to see a sorcerer knocking on my door.

If I was biased (in a negative way) as I started reading "Child of Fire", I finished the book cheering for more. I am very happy to highly recommend this book. Harry Connolly has come out with all guns loaded.

Ray Lilly works for Annalise Powliss, a sort of enforcer among sorcerers, and he's terrified of her. She wants to kill him, but she's been forbidden to, and so is forced to settle for using him as a chauffeur and hired hand in all things magical and mundane.

On their first outing, they work together to help a family whose child has just spontaneously combusted before their eyes, ultimately dissolving into a mass of fat, wriggling, silver-gray worms. But the family doesn't want their help; they've forgotten their son ever existed, even while still within view of the black scorch mark left behind when he caught fire.

And all this happens within the first ten pages of Harry Connolly's Child of Fire, the first in a series of urban fantasies known collectively as the TWENTY PALACES series. There are three novels published to date, plus a prequel available only as an ebook, with no further books planned, unfortunately; according to Connolly's blog, they just didn't sell as well as hoped, despite considerable support by the publisher.

I liked Child of Fire so much that I immediately got hold of all the other novels in the series -- and I'm hoping that the ebook of the prequel sells well enough to make it worth Connolly's time to keep going. These are urban fantasies of a different flavor, with a male protagonist (as opposed to the usual leather-clad young female) who has been around the block a few times. Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett seem to be Connolly's influences, rather than Charles de Lint and Laurell Hamilton, which is all to the good. This dark and violent version of a magical world is fascinating, assuming you can tolerate the nearly unbearable premise of children destroyed by fire for a dark purpose.

Connolly keeps plenty of things mysterious in this novel: just what is the Twenty Palace Society anyway, and why does Annalise hate Ray so much, and why is he so loyal to her regardless? But the mystery itself, which involves a toy factory producing old-fashioned toys that ought not to appeal to children but inexplicably are as attractive as the latest videogame, is fascinating. Ray and Annalise are in danger almost from the first page, particularly after Annalise suffers an injury that severely affects her ability to continue her investigation -- even her survival. (And the treatment she requires for the injury -- the consumption of vast quantities of raw beef -- is beautifully creepy.) Her magic has a system, Ray's has a different system, and the devils of the piece have their own source of power that seems to come straight out of latter-day Lovecraft.

Child of Fire moves fast and never lets up. Anyone who likes a heavy dose of mystery mixed in with his or her fantasy is likely to find this novel engrossing and enjoyable.

Ray Lilly, the main character, wasn't born a hero. The truth be known, Ray's life wouldn't qualify for angel wings or priestly robes. He's a guy two steps ahead of the police, one step ahead of Satan. If you advertised for a hero with a cape, Ray would never interview. You wouldn't let him babysit your pet rock. Yet, when the tide rises against you, there's no one you would rather have at your side.

Ray's journey through this book is remarkable. Despite his less than stellar reputation, Ray does the right thing at the right time--perhaps not for the right reasons--but he does it. His battle against overwhelming forces forces him into situations everyone else would avoid. His connection to his boss, the female magician who directs him, grows with every chapter. It may be a match demanded by the forces of evil, but it works.

The story is a thrill ride where Ray must use wit and courage to win the day--and he doesn't always win. It is a very good read that will leave you wanting to know about Ray, his boss, his boss's bosses, and the incredible world the author as created. Enjoy it, join Ray. You won't be disappointed.