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nmcannon's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
After loving In the Vanishers’ Palace, I pretty much immediately picked up Fireheart Tiger and tucked in.
In magical pre-colonial Vietnam, Thanh is a princess and diplomat haunted. She’s haunted by how her mother the Empress sold her to faraway Ephteria (not-France France) with nary a tear; haunted by how she had to save herself from a great fire that devasted the Ephteria royal palace; and haunted by heartache when parents forcibly split her from crown princess Eldris. Lost and adrift in her mother’s imperial court, Thanh feels she may have finally found her footing when an Ephteria envoy arrives, and she gears up to diplomatically protect her country from these invaders. But any hope is dashed when Eldris arrives with said envoy, and the hauntings from days past burn brighter than ever.
A lot of the reviews mention that the comparison to Howl’s Moving Castle drew them in, and they ultimately were disappointed. I feel like the marketing department goofed once again. Fireheart Tiger is like Howl’s Moving Castle (the Studio Ghibli movie or Diana Wynne Jones’ book) in that it’s a fantasy setting with a fire elemental character and a woman who comes into her power. That’s it. Fireheart Tiger has a love story in it, but it’s not a part of the romance genre. I dunno, it reads more like a sapphic Tortall court intrigue novella than Sophie-and-Howl-Vietnam-AU.
I just…I really liked this story. Thanh is an excellent protagonist in her own right, and in the rights of how different she is from the typical fantasy politics heroine. Polite, thoughtful, and anxious, Thanh nevertheless tackles obstacles with the tools at her disposal. Her triumph is ever so sweet. The world-building was also stellar. After wrapping my head around the non-Euclidean geometry of In the Vanishers’ Palace, the simple colonialization metaphor with the Epherians felt comfortable. It’s a rare delight for a story to explore a toxic relationship that happens to be queer, and Thanh’s promise to explore her new relationship was like champagne right to the brain. Loved it.
Pick up Fireheart Tiger!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Colonisation and Abandonment
readerette's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I had to let my thoughts percolate a while for this one before reviewing. I wanted to like it. It had promise, but I'm just not sure it ever came through. I did find the romance elements sweet. The magic/fantasy elements and world weren't very detailed, but they were still interesting. However, the character development stopped short of giving me enough to care about them, and the story meandered to nowhere. It is a novella so it makes sense that it wouldn't go too deep, but I love good short stories because they have to be focused on the most important people, moments and details in order to suck you in. This did not measure up, got a little redundant in places (not good when the author only uses so many words to tell the story) and felt unresolved.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Violence, Sexual content, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Colonisation, Death, Kidnapping, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia
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