If you had to use one word to describe traditional fantasy novels it would probably be... long. Sword of Fire and Sea is definitely not. Now most fans of the genre would probably be deterred by this, I mean how much story can you really pack into 277 pages, right? Well it turns out that you can pack in more than enough, enough to make the book FEEL like one of those books that can double as a step ladder (this is a good thing).
As for a quick plot summary: Captain Vidarian Rulorat is the last surviving member of a family afflicted with the Blood plague, a genetic disease that torments families who cross elemental boundaries. Vidarian's great-grandfather married a fire priestess and had to pay for it. He condemned his family to bear the Blood plague, and was also forced to enter into an alliance with the the fire priestesses: the Breakwater Agreement. Now the time has come for Vidarian to fulfill his family's obligation. He is tasked with escorting a fire priestess, Ariadel Windhammer, to a water temple for safe keeping. Just to make things interesting, she's being pursued by a group of ruthless telepaths who are bent on silencing her after she witnessed their forbidden rites.
That's a good start. Now, the reasons you should read this book.
First, like I mentioned above, it's a page turner! The book never gets bogged down in the lengthy descriptions that so many authors seem to favor, and despite the short page length there's ample character development and plot advancement. Speaking of which, the plot is solid. Engaging and unpredictable, every time you guess something correctly you'll probably get blindsided twice. As for character development, I was pleasantly surprised. This is one area where the page length could have been a hindrance, but Erin Hoffman really got every last drop of character development out of the book. If a character is mentioned, there's a purpose, and that's a refreshing change of pace from constantly wondering who's important and who's not.
Second, the magic system is fantastic. Multi-faceted and well thought out, it combines elemental magic, telepathy, magic artifacts, Goddesses, well you get the point. The magic system is almost a character by itself. Like in Brandon Sanderson's books, the magic isn't there just for show, it solves problems and seriously affects the world. Best of all, there's a lot of it. Some authors view magic as a crutch, but used well (like in this book) it really enhances things.
Third, it's a smart book. The scenes involving ships or gryphon flight stand out, rather than gloss over minor details about ship life or flight mechanics she includes them and it makes everything seem much more plausible. When Vidarian talks about sailing, he sounds like a sea captain, not just a bland protagonist, you really feel like he knows what he's doing. On top of these nice little details, the prose is extremely clean and flows well. There aren't any bulky sentences, everything is sleek and easy to read. A great example would be this sentence, short but sweet (no pun intended): "Her voice was like crystallized honey - strong and hard but sweet and bright at once, as if just on the verge of bursting into song."
Fourth, and lastly, there are gryphons! The back of the book mentions them in passing, but they are featured prominently in the book and really provided a neat wrinkle to the story. As important as the magic system, or any character, the gryphons are awesome.
So, if you dig books you just can't seem to put down, smart books with a lot of magic, books that really cut out the unnecessary filler that seems to saturate lots of fantasy literature these days, this is a must read!
