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A review by jnyama
Children of Fire by Drew Karpyshyn
4.0
Children of Fire, the first in an epic fantasy series by Drew Karpyshyn, shows a promising beginning to a fairly ambitious tale.
While fans of Bioware video games are familiar with Karpyshyn from "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic" and the Mass Effect series, this story seems much more reminiscent of Bioware's Dragon Age universe, with an overruling religious order that stigmatizes those born with "the gift" of magic. Those unhappy enough to be blessed/cursed with it are taken away from their families and more or less locked up while taught to control it. In Dragon Age, mages are feared because their ability to tap into the magical Fade leaves them vulnerable to possession by demons; in Children of Fire, wizards are feared by the Order because their ability to tap into the Chaos leaves them a possible conduit for demons there to escape into the common plane of existence. There is also similar inter-species political strife and, of course, the occasional dragon.
The weakness of the book involves the large amounts of exposition required to set up this whole world and its complicated mythology involving ancient imprisoned Gods, twisted and evil from eons of banishment, and a fading magical barrier called the Legacy. The sequential nature of the tale is evident in that the book ends somewhat abruptly, while all its characters are still mid-quest--so people requiring a rounded ending from each book they read may be a little disappointed.
Ultimately however, although the components of the tale may not be new, the story is put together in a fairly compelling fashion, with characters that are interesting and which have clear and often opposing motivations. I'll certainly be looking forward to the next installment.
While fans of Bioware video games are familiar with Karpyshyn from "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic" and the Mass Effect series, this story seems much more reminiscent of Bioware's Dragon Age universe, with an overruling religious order that stigmatizes those born with "the gift" of magic. Those unhappy enough to be blessed/cursed with it are taken away from their families and more or less locked up while taught to control it. In Dragon Age, mages are feared because their ability to tap into the magical Fade leaves them vulnerable to possession by demons; in Children of Fire, wizards are feared by the Order because their ability to tap into the Chaos leaves them a possible conduit for demons there to escape into the common plane of existence. There is also similar inter-species political strife and, of course, the occasional dragon.
The weakness of the book involves the large amounts of exposition required to set up this whole world and its complicated mythology involving ancient imprisoned Gods, twisted and evil from eons of banishment, and a fading magical barrier called the Legacy. The sequential nature of the tale is evident in that the book ends somewhat abruptly, while all its characters are still mid-quest--so people requiring a rounded ending from each book they read may be a little disappointed.
Ultimately however, although the components of the tale may not be new, the story is put together in a fairly compelling fashion, with characters that are interesting and which have clear and often opposing motivations. I'll certainly be looking forward to the next installment.