A Darkness Forged In Fire by Chris Evans
The Blurb On The Back:
We do not fear the flame, though it burns us,
We do not fear the fire, though it consumes us,
And we do not fear its light,
Though it reveals the darkness of our souls,
For therein lies our power.
Bload Oath of the Iron Elves
First in a stunning debut series, A Darkness Forged in Fire introduces an unforgiving world of musket and canons ... bow and arrow ... magic, diplomacy, and oaths - each wielding terrible power in an Empire teetering on the brink of war.
In this world, Konowa Swift Dragon, former commander of the Empire's elite Iron elves, is looked upon as anything but ordinary. He's murdered a Viceroy, been court-martialed, seen his beloved regiment disbanded, and finally been banished in disgrace to the one place he despises the most - the forest.
Now, all he wants is to be left alone with his misery ... but for Konowa, nothing is ever that simple. The mysterious and alluring Visna Tekoy, the highborn daughter of an elfkynan governor, seeks him out in the dangerous wild with a royal decree that he resume his commission as an officer in Her Majesty's Imperial Army, effective immediately.
For in the east, a falling Red Star heralds the return of a magic long vanished from the earth. Rebellion grows within the Empire as a frantic race to reach the Star unfolds. It is a chance for Konowa to redeem himself - even if the entire affair appears doomed to be a suicide mission ... and the soldiers recruited for the task are not at all what he expects. And worse, his key adversary in the perilous race for the Star is the dreaded Shadow Monarch - a legendary elf-witch whose machinations for absolute domination spread deeper than Konowa could every imagine ...
It’s always interesting to see a fantasy author take an existing fantasy trope and do something different with it, and I really liked the key concepts in this novel, i.e. that the Iron Elves are elves who are unable to bond with trees (hence the superstition that they ‘belong’ to the unnatural Shadow Monarch) and the introduction of canon and muskets and more ‘modern’ warfare into a medieval-type setting. Unfortunately, despite the good ideas, the execution didn’t quite come off for me.
The plot revolves around Konowa, an Iron Elf banished to the forest after murdering a Viceroy he’d discovered to be in league with the Shadow Monarch. Recalled to the army, he’s told that the Iron Elves Regiment is being reformed, with the catch that it won’t comprise of Iron Elves. Instead, the new Regiment will be formed from humans, elfkynan and even (the horror) a dwarf and will be led by a Prince completely unsuited to a military life, who seeks the mysterious Red Star that will enable them to destroy the Shadow Monarch once and for all. Konowa has to keep his men alive, find the Red Star and think about his feelings for the beautiful elkynan witch, Visna, who is accompanying them on the journey. At the same time, a new Viceroy has been sent to replace his murdered predecessor, and he discovers that something very unpleasant is going on at his new posting ...
The problem with the plot is that it’s basically one long march where, apart from the odd skirmish and filling in of backstory and obligatory final battle, very little happens. Although I enjoyed the world that Evans carefully crafts (his depiction of fetid jungles and ominous greenery is particularly evocative), I never really felt close to the characters. In particular, the romance angle between Konowa and Visna is forced from the start and I didn’t understand what drew them together other than the author’s decision that they should be together. Konowa shares traits with Sharpe - bolshie but brave and genuinely caring about his men and concerned about his own failings as an elf, without being obsessive about them. There are some interesting supporting characters - notably Corporal Yimt, a dwarf whose seen it all and who plays into the trope without becoming a caricature and Rallie, a cynical newspaper reporter who sees the bigger picture. Unfortunately, other characters - notably the incompetent Prince and naive new recruit Alwyn are more two-dimensional and do little other than propel the plot.
I could have also done with a little more explanation from Evans in the plot as he relies on showing more than telling. Normally, this wouldn’t bother me but when Evans is introducing new species such as the Elfkynan, I need to understand how they’re different from everyone else and never really felt that I did. Similarly, the set up for the next in the trilogy relates to something unexpected that’s happening to the Regiment (which I won’t spoil) and I needed the implications of this to be telegraphed earlier and more clearly given its evident importance.
That said, the very end of the book poses an interesting scenario and I would be interested in knowing where Evans is going to take it in book 2. Hopefully, having done all the set up, there will be more action in the remaining books in this trilogy.
The Verdict:
There’s too much set-up and not enough action in this book for it to be an interesting read in its own right and I would have liked to see more explanation of the significance of the key events. In addition, I don’t buy into the central romance and could do with that angle being removed altogether. However, the book ends with an interesting scenario that would make me want to read the next in the trilogy and I think it’s always interesting to see a fantasy writer taking the existing fantasy canon and try to twist something different into it.
We do not fear the flame, though it burns us,
We do not fear the fire, though it consumes us,
And we do not fear its light,
Though it reveals the darkness of our souls,
For therein lies our power.
Bload Oath of the Iron Elves
First in a stunning debut series, A Darkness Forged in Fire introduces an unforgiving world of musket and canons ... bow and arrow ... magic, diplomacy, and oaths - each wielding terrible power in an Empire teetering on the brink of war.
In this world, Konowa Swift Dragon, former commander of the Empire's elite Iron elves, is looked upon as anything but ordinary. He's murdered a Viceroy, been court-martialed, seen his beloved regiment disbanded, and finally been banished in disgrace to the one place he despises the most - the forest.
Now, all he wants is to be left alone with his misery ... but for Konowa, nothing is ever that simple. The mysterious and alluring Visna Tekoy, the highborn daughter of an elfkynan governor, seeks him out in the dangerous wild with a royal decree that he resume his commission as an officer in Her Majesty's Imperial Army, effective immediately.
For in the east, a falling Red Star heralds the return of a magic long vanished from the earth. Rebellion grows within the Empire as a frantic race to reach the Star unfolds. It is a chance for Konowa to redeem himself - even if the entire affair appears doomed to be a suicide mission ... and the soldiers recruited for the task are not at all what he expects. And worse, his key adversary in the perilous race for the Star is the dreaded Shadow Monarch - a legendary elf-witch whose machinations for absolute domination spread deeper than Konowa could every imagine ...
It’s always interesting to see a fantasy author take an existing fantasy trope and do something different with it, and I really liked the key concepts in this novel, i.e. that the Iron Elves are elves who are unable to bond with trees (hence the superstition that they ‘belong’ to the unnatural Shadow Monarch) and the introduction of canon and muskets and more ‘modern’ warfare into a medieval-type setting. Unfortunately, despite the good ideas, the execution didn’t quite come off for me.
The plot revolves around Konowa, an Iron Elf banished to the forest after murdering a Viceroy he’d discovered to be in league with the Shadow Monarch. Recalled to the army, he’s told that the Iron Elves Regiment is being reformed, with the catch that it won’t comprise of Iron Elves. Instead, the new Regiment will be formed from humans, elfkynan and even (the horror) a dwarf and will be led by a Prince completely unsuited to a military life, who seeks the mysterious Red Star that will enable them to destroy the Shadow Monarch once and for all. Konowa has to keep his men alive, find the Red Star and think about his feelings for the beautiful elkynan witch, Visna, who is accompanying them on the journey. At the same time, a new Viceroy has been sent to replace his murdered predecessor, and he discovers that something very unpleasant is going on at his new posting ...
The problem with the plot is that it’s basically one long march where, apart from the odd skirmish and filling in of backstory and obligatory final battle, very little happens. Although I enjoyed the world that Evans carefully crafts (his depiction of fetid jungles and ominous greenery is particularly evocative), I never really felt close to the characters. In particular, the romance angle between Konowa and Visna is forced from the start and I didn’t understand what drew them together other than the author’s decision that they should be together. Konowa shares traits with Sharpe - bolshie but brave and genuinely caring about his men and concerned about his own failings as an elf, without being obsessive about them. There are some interesting supporting characters - notably Corporal Yimt, a dwarf whose seen it all and who plays into the trope without becoming a caricature and Rallie, a cynical newspaper reporter who sees the bigger picture. Unfortunately, other characters - notably the incompetent Prince and naive new recruit Alwyn are more two-dimensional and do little other than propel the plot.
I could have also done with a little more explanation from Evans in the plot as he relies on showing more than telling. Normally, this wouldn’t bother me but when Evans is introducing new species such as the Elfkynan, I need to understand how they’re different from everyone else and never really felt that I did. Similarly, the set up for the next in the trilogy relates to something unexpected that’s happening to the Regiment (which I won’t spoil) and I needed the implications of this to be telegraphed earlier and more clearly given its evident importance.
That said, the very end of the book poses an interesting scenario and I would be interested in knowing where Evans is going to take it in book 2. Hopefully, having done all the set up, there will be more action in the remaining books in this trilogy.
The Verdict:
There’s too much set-up and not enough action in this book for it to be an interesting read in its own right and I would have liked to see more explanation of the significance of the key events. In addition, I don’t buy into the central romance and could do with that angle being removed altogether. However, the book ends with an interesting scenario that would make me want to read the next in the trilogy and I think it’s always interesting to see a fantasy writer taking the existing fantasy canon and try to twist something different into it.