Customer Reviews

Fires of the Faithful

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

A brilliant first novel, "Fires of the Faithful" expertly blends a strong, uncomplicated prose with a complex yet precise and easily fathomable storyline.

The setting is an enigma; at first, it seems to be a trite imaginary Renaissance fantasy setting, complete with sorcery and an emerging scholarly class. Later on, however, one begins to realize the error as the novel begins to suggest a post-apocalyptic future in which the religious tides are turned. Gone is the patriachal religion and political regime; in its place is a goddess-centric pagan theocracy. The empire is in the midst of a war and famine, although, as one imagines was the case from the feudal peasant perspective, it is not altogether certain who is being fought or why.

The main character, Eliana, a young conservatory student, practices the violin in a relative haven from the turmoil, far from her family's village. All is going well until she gains a new friend...a mysterious girl of great talent and a penchant for playing forbidden tunes. Music which carries a simple magic of its own, and comes from the old religious rituals. The Fedeli, an Inquisition-like organization, storms the conservatory in search of anyone who practices the Old Ways. Soon Eliana is fleeing her school and the Lady's Guards even as she escapes her old shackles of religious thought.

Our protagonist has embarked on a thrilling journey through rubble and wartime tragedy, struggling to find her family and her own identity as a heretic. She emerges, finally, as a reluctant but very sympathetic (from our perspective) heroine...leader of the bedraggled practitioners of the Old Ways.

The book is remarkable for its contrasts in depiction: the pleasant, cloistered conservatory versus the war-torn and magical energy-depleted countryside outside its walls; the sophisticated Lady's faithful against the comparatively illiterate, peasant heretical ascetics; Eliana's sheltered girlishness and the fierce, sanguine commander of the soldiers in the Old Way.

Kritzer's religious studies are fairly well showcased in this spiritual and political fantasy. Particularly noteworthy is her juxtaposition between the religious groups and the unique twist she brings to the story by her choice of real-world influence for the Old Ways. An excellent choice for fans of C.S. Lewis, Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series, and Clive Barker's "Imagica."

(Disclaimer: I knew Naomi in college)

The one thing about this book is that the world of the book will surprise you; assuming that any religion in the book is like any other that you know in the real world will inevitably lead you to some of the wrong conclusions. (Naomi was a religion major, and it shows) The booklist review calling one of the religions featured in the book "Catholic-like" is a bit misleading.

The characters are indeed well-developed, and the plot line proceeds as it should, but what really got me was the world that the book is set in - I don't know the author's plans for later books, (well, there is going to at the very least be a sequel to "Fires", but beyond that?) but I do hope she is able to reuse this fantasy world in other books. It's just incredible. (Or she could go invent another world just as detailed with as much care put into the religions and magic system as she put into this one; I'm not picky)

One word of caution: this is not a book for the overly squeamish. Characters die, sometimes with much violence and gore. (There's one scene near the end with the protagonist and lots of blood that I found especially pulse-quickening) Also, the main plotline is built on a huge governmental/societal conspiracy carried out by people who will kill to keep certain things secret.

I didn't hate this book but I didn't love it either. To be fair, the writer is good. She managed to keep me interested in the characters and the outcome despite several problems that I had with the book. One of the problems I had was that I didn't believe at all that Eliana (and Mira) was 16. She was acting incredibly mature for her age. She was a peasant who lived in one village all her life and spent the ages of 12 to 16 cloistered in a conservatory but she has the military and people skills necessary to earn the loyalty of Ravenna's soliders, bring the diverse rebels together, and stage a successful revolt against experienced military personnel. Right. But since it was fantasy, I just decided to ignore the fact the Eliana was supposed to be 16 and made her 25.

But the other problem that I had with this book was the pseudo-Christianity, (I can't really say if it was Catholicism or not because I'm not familiar with the differences between the various Christian denominations) notwithstanding the female deity, the dancing, and magic. I can't help but feel like the author was taking the easy way out by making her religion so obliviously Christianity. Usually, if a fantasy is set in a land that's not supposed to be Earth, then the religion is also not recognizable as an Earth religion. By basing her religion so closely on Christianity, it made me think the author was too lazy to create her own religious system.

My other problem with the religion was that sometimes I felt that I was being force fed the author's opinion that Christianity was the One True religion, especially in the first two thirds of the book. I resented that alot and almost quit the book a couple of times because of it. However, to be fair, I do think in the last third of the book the author presented a more balanced view of the religions, specifically in the with the character Mario, the healing of the boy Vinni by Lucia and Margherita, and Eliana's confusion and uncertainty over the two religions. I really liked this line "Someone somewhere had done a lot of obvious borrowing." from the healing scene because it's true of so many religions.

In conclusion, this book was a decent way to pass a couple of hours. If you're not as sensitive to the religious aspects as I am you'll probably enjoy it more.

Naomi Kritzer's first novel is a skillfully written story bringing together elements of paganism, christianity, magic, and a mystical ritual involoving music, dancing, and healing energy. This captivating tale of a sixteen-year-old violinist begins with scenes from her life at a rural conservatory. After several unforgivable intrusions into her personal life by the cruel enforcers of religious law, Eliana decides she can no longer live in the isolated music school.

The tale follows her transformation from an innocent, blind sighted girl whose greatest dream is to someday play for the emperor to a reluctant and finally adept leader. Captivating from the first page, this book will inspire you, and keep the pages turning late into the night.

I had the pleasure of listening to Naomi read the beginning of _Fires of the Faithful_ at a convention a few months prior to the book's publication. At the time, I was quite impressed with the reading, and I was disappointed that I'd have to wait six months to hear the rest of the tale.

This book does not disappoint. The prose is elegant, and the story is compelling. Naomi Kritzer has a bright future as a fantasy writer, and I am eagerly awaiting the sequel.

Eliana is a young music student at a conservatory somewhat removed from the outside world ravaged by war and famine and dominated by a strict religious order called the Fedeli. When the Fedeli come to the conservatory and execute one of Eliana's friends for apostasy and another friend is taken by the Circle (the powerful mages who govern the land), Eliana learns of the true nature of the famine and decides to return home. Finding her past destroyed, Eliana discovers the old religious ways and ends up in a refugee camp where no one is allowed to leave. She is distracted by her attraction to another young woman in the camp, but she finds herself considered a leader as she helps organize the already-established rebel forces. Now she must overcome her own inexperience if she's to lead. "Fires of the Faithful" is an interesting fantasy focusing on a young woman coming of age in a war-torn land. There is a lot of religious discourse, as Eliana learns more about the old religious ways and compares it to the Fedeli ways, and it's rather parallel to the Christianity/paganism debate. This can be distracting for some readers, but it doesn't necessarily hinder the story's flow.

I was in my local bookstore the other day, holding a coupon in my hot little hand, looking for something new to read, when I came across a copy of "Fires of the Faithful." It didn't look *too* exciting -- fairly standard fantasy material, I thought -- but I decided to buy it anyway because, hey, I had a coupon. What a lucky purchase! This novel is an utterly engaging,
unputdownable read. Although this plot has been done before (evil religious zealots oppressing the masses until Our Heroine overthrows them and saves the day) and the worldbuilding is fairly standard, the novel itself manages to be original and thought-provoking. It's an interesting meditation on the nature of religion -- what it is, the purpose it serves, how it can be corrupted to serve political aims.

[Side note: In most fantasy novels dealing with religion, the "bad" religion is pseudo-Christian and the "good" religion (if there is one) is pseudo-pagan. In Fires of the Faithful, it's exactly the opposite. At least one reviewer was turned off by that. Please, keep an open mind. It's not the religion itself that the author demonizes; it's its corruption into a political tool. And bear in mind that the heroine is young and sheltered; everything is black and white to her at first. The second books complicates the simplistic view of religion of the first book.]

But, most of all, this book was just fun to read. Music and magic combine with adventure and an understated romance to produce a fine and highly enjoyable fantasy. Highly recommended!

This book was very interesting in that it takes you to a differnt time and place. Eliana is a very dominant woman figure, and she is very intellegent. Mira, one of her closest friends is probably the most mysterious person in the book apart from Giovanni.

The only things that confused me were the religions, and Eliana's sexual prefrence considering that she seems attracted to both women and Giovanni. (Giovanni in the end...)

All in all, I enjoyed this book and would reccomend it to people who enjoy fantasy with a bit of magic.

"Fires of the Faithful" is not a terrible book, just the very definition of mediocre. This is a shame, as Bantam Spectra usually seems to be the only major fantasy publisher dedicated to quality and workmanship. They dig up authors who go the extra mile and give their books that extra zing, but "Fires of the Faithful" doesn't have it. The prose is almost robotically dull:

"It was a strange service. In form, it closely resembled the service of prayer and mourning that we had observed a month earlier, after so many students had received bad news through the mail--but there had been a bitter edge a month ago that was missing today. The death of an Emperor was a solemn occasion , but it was personal sort of mourning. None of us, except possibly for Domenico, had ever met the Emperor. I stole a look at Domenico, standing with the teachers near the front; his face was grim and inscrutable, and I couldn't tell if he was grieving over the Emperor's death, worried about the new Emperor, or thinking about something else entirely." (page 54)

I could note many flaws. One glaring one was Kritzer's frequent use of "kind of" and "sort of". Every beginning author kills those wimpy modifiers before they suck the vitality out of the sentences.

The big picture isn't much better. The story follows a thuddingly tedious pattern. Young innocent is exposed to the horrors and abuses of the outside world. Young innocent hears many lectures from other characters. Young innocent goes on long and perilous journey. Young innocent wisens up, leads an army, and defeats the bad guys, thereby fulfilling the prophecy. The most grating part is the stock villains. They are yet another band of evil priests, determined to root out heresy by the classics means of killing people and...killing more people.

This book has a great lead and a few interesting ideas, but the plot is fragmented, wandering without focus. Whenever the book seems to settle down on something (music school, competing religions, evil magic, finding family, oppressive government), that plot line is put on the back burner and another takes over. The same happens with secondary characters; as soon as you like them -- poof! -- they disappear.

The "religious discourse" and weak Christianity links are overplayed by other reviewers -- this book does not go on a soap box preaching the author's religious message. The main tenents of the two religions are never even defined.