Golden's Wins Soar High
On Fire's Wings by Christie Golden
I was prepared to dislike On Fire's Wings. Certainly, I approached it with a great deal of skepticism. After all, its author gained her fame by writing the novel that launched Ravenloft, a gothic horror fantasy role-playing world. While I'm a fan of both role playing and Forgotten Realms, I could do without horror.
This was the author who created well-known vampires and wrote the novelizations of Buffy The Vampire Slayer episodes. Given my impatience with the vampire genre and total lack of interest in horror, I had pretty low expectations for On Fire's Wings.
Boy, was I in for a surprise.
On Fire's Wings turned out to be the best fantasy novel I've read this year. I might even rank it higher had it not been for one major flaw which I'll get to in a moment. Christie Golden has written a novel that manages to be fresh and original while incorporating traditional elements and structure of fantasy. The novel was a gripping one-keeping me up more than one night as I preferred reading more chapters to sleeping.
A World of Her Own
First, I must hail Golden as a remarkable world-builder. It is a challenge faced by so many writers in this genre. How does one create an entirely new world that readers can relate to and understand while not cribbing someone else's ideas or coming across as stale?Golden blends recognizable flavors into a dish that is refreshing and original. Odors of the Middle East waft across our literary noses, yet it is not the Middle East. Prejudices from our world are carried over so that we recognize the hurdles without the author having to waste tedious words explaining them to us.
Like all good world-builders, Golden weaves in a rich mythology that guide the actions of her characters and the world. There is a depth to her world because it contains its own often-untold stories. The clans and peoples have a history that we get just a glimpse of.
In this world of Arukan, the people know of such things as dragons and witchcraft and magic; though few have actually experienced it. It is only when we get deep into the novel that the readers start to understand what the magic is and what it means to the people of the land.
Telling The Tale
On Fire's Wings tells the story of Kevla and Jashemi, two very different siblings. Kevla Bai-Sha was raised as the daughter of a prostitute in a marketplace. Her job was to hawk her mother's services and bring back clients. It is here where she is picked up by Tahmu, a lord of the land whom we quickly learn is her illegitimate father. Kevla, though, is not privy to that information, not even when Tahmu takes her back to be a handmaiden to his wife.Jashemi kha Tahmu (son of Tahmu) does learn that Kevla is his sister and makes every excuse to spend time with her. The two of them have a bond so powerful that it is beyond either of their ability's to understand it.
Even while under one roof, they live very different lives and as they age dangers begin pulling them more tightly together until they must make difficult choices with severe ramifications.
Golden lets us know right off the bat, though, that this is not a story of two individuals. It is the story of worlds and of epic battles against good and evil. She sets the stage with her preface, a preface that shows a previous losing battle of a world that is likely to go undetailed.
Taking Chances
Golden also must be lauded for taking a great deal of risk in her stories. She shuns the stereotypical choice and is willing to make choices outside the norm. There are times the book is shocking because tradition tells you that an author won't do what she does. She is ruthlessly committed to the story, even if that means changing the characters in ways we don't want to see them changed. Nor does she make light use of the word sacrifice or cheapen the prices that her protagonists must pay.For the most part, those risks are rewarding. They make the book a richer, more interesting tale. There is one point, though, where the book fails horribly. There is a moment in the book that has a huge build-up and is obviously meant to be horribly tragic and heart-rending. Instead, I could do nothing but laugh at its triteness-this in a book that in every other way had avoided stereotypes and easy choices. Indeed, it reminded me of the jokes that used to be made about the consequences of Superman marrying Lois Lane.
Unfortunately, this moment has ramifications that are supposed to echo throughout the rest of the book and it makes the last third of the book much less compelling than the first two-thirds.
Fantasy Fans Must Read This
That one moment aside, this book is one that fantasy lovers should put high on their list. Golden has a fantastic writing style. She does everything right: Rich characters, fast-moving plot, detailed world, background lore, and heaps of originality. She creates characters and stories that we care about and want to read more of.There is a great deal of adult content, touching upon such issues as prostitution, infidelity, and incest. For the most part, it is handled with a great deal of sensitivity and adds to the story and its telling. Still, it is not for the pre-teen set. Consider it instead a very delicious treat for adult readers.
Also, this book is just the start of a series. The next book, The Stone Dancer, tells more of the story, though possibly from a different point of view. If the other books keep the promise of On Fire's Wings, the series will be of epic proportions.
