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A review by _christinacreads
A Spark of White Fire by Sangu Mandanna
4.0
A Spark of White Fire by Sangu Mandana is an action-packed, plot-driven space opera novel about family, politics, and war written in the same beautiful prose that you find in her other novel, The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches.
This is a soft Sci-Fi retelling of the Mahabrahata, which is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India. Considered to be the longest poem ever written, it narrates the struggle for sovereignty between two groups of cousins.
We follow Esmae, who as an infant was sent away by the queen. She grew up in another land, isolated from her family with only the goddess Amba as her sole confidant. When the King of Wychstar offers the gift of a sentient spaceship named Titania to a warrior who can defeat a single, seemingly impossible challenge, Esmae leaps at the chance to reunite with her family.
In this book there are powerful but limited gods, magic and curses, a strong, independent female main character, and a very interesting war-averse talking warship
Esmae is quite the interesting character. Her longing for family and her desire to belong is her main driving force. Throughout the book we see her trying to truly understand the difference between the family you were born into, and the family that you choose to belong in. She’s strong but vulnerable, loyal to a fault, and unnervingly compassionate.
The book’s secondary characters are vivid and Sangu has a way of presenting them where we able sympathize and understand why Esmae’s enemies had made the choices they did. There is great representation for both people of color and the disabled. Definitely my part of the book was the intense family dynamics.
Surprisingly, I did find the romance element to be a little on the weak side considering I was blown away by the gentle grumpy-sunshine romance in The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches. The first book, in my opinion, would've been fine without the addition of a love interest at all.
I thought the world building was gentle but very interesting. It’s founded on space, gods, the magic of gods, and fixed points in time. Sangu does throws you into the deep end - and tugs you along for the ride. Although I will admit that the fact that it’s set in space is really just there for the heck of it. This could've been set under a mountain or in a secret underwater society and the soul of the book wouldn't change.
The book’s strength is the plot and the way the characters interact with one another around the plot. There's a heady mix of political intrigue, family drama, action scenes, gut punching betrayal. If you are very familiar with the Mahabharata you may find it a tab bit predictable but it’s still good nonetheless.
Nonetheless, I would definitely recommend A Spark of White Fire to anyone who’s in the mood for a YA fantasy/space opera with a brown FMC.
Watch the review on tiktok:
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRGAcy1N/
This is a soft Sci-Fi retelling of the Mahabrahata, which is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India. Considered to be the longest poem ever written, it narrates the struggle for sovereignty between two groups of cousins.
We follow Esmae, who as an infant was sent away by the queen. She grew up in another land, isolated from her family with only the goddess Amba as her sole confidant. When the King of Wychstar offers the gift of a sentient spaceship named Titania to a warrior who can defeat a single, seemingly impossible challenge, Esmae leaps at the chance to reunite with her family.
In this book there are powerful but limited gods, magic and curses, a strong, independent female main character, and a very interesting war-averse talking warship
Esmae is quite the interesting character. Her longing for family and her desire to belong is her main driving force. Throughout the book we see her trying to truly understand the difference between the family you were born into, and the family that you choose to belong in. She’s strong but vulnerable, loyal to a fault, and unnervingly compassionate.
The book’s secondary characters are vivid and Sangu has a way of presenting them where we able sympathize and understand why Esmae’s enemies had made the choices they did. There is great representation for both people of color and the disabled. Definitely my part of the book was the intense family dynamics.
Surprisingly, I did find the romance element to be a little on the weak side considering I was blown away by the gentle grumpy-sunshine romance in The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches. The first book, in my opinion, would've been fine without the addition of a love interest at all.
I thought the world building was gentle but very interesting. It’s founded on space, gods, the magic of gods, and fixed points in time. Sangu does throws you into the deep end - and tugs you along for the ride. Although I will admit that the fact that it’s set in space is really just there for the heck of it. This could've been set under a mountain or in a secret underwater society and the soul of the book wouldn't change.
The book’s strength is the plot and the way the characters interact with one another around the plot. There's a heady mix of political intrigue, family drama, action scenes, gut punching betrayal. If you are very familiar with the Mahabharata you may find it a tab bit predictable but it’s still good nonetheless.
Nonetheless, I would definitely recommend A Spark of White Fire to anyone who’s in the mood for a YA fantasy/space opera with a brown FMC.
Watch the review on tiktok:
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRGAcy1N/