The Shattered Realms Book 1

In Flamecaster by Cinda Williams Chima, we return to the Seven Realms from her previous series, The Seven Realms (see my review of book one here and the full series here). The events of The Shattered Realms take place about twenty years after the story of The Seven Realms, so there are some familiar characters but for the most part, it's new characters in a familiar setting. The first book follows Adrian sul'Han, a prince in hiding, and Jenna Bandelow, a rebel against the rule of the King of Arden. When their paths collide, big things happen - things that include my favourite fantasy creature, DRAGONS.

Summary

After the death of his father, Adrian sul'Han, prince of the Fells, is on the run. He escapes those who would harm him - the army of the King of Arden, with whom the Fells have been at war for the past twenty years. He runs away to Oden's Ford, the politically neutral school of magic and soldiers, to learn to use his magic to become a healer. Four years later, he is attacked by zealots of the Church of Malthus, who despise all magic and wizards. He escapes with the help of Lila Barrowhill, a fellow student, and sets out to infiltrate the court of the King of Arden - and kill him, ending the war with the Fells.

This is literally the only fan art I could find from this book. It's Jenna Bandelow.

Jenna Bandelow was witness to a brutal murder. The King of Arden was visiting the coal mine where Jenna was forced to work, and he murdered Jenna's two best friends - seven-year-old Maggi and fifteen-year-old Riley. For the next four years, Jenna pursues her ultimate goal - to topple the empire built by the King of Arden and exact retribution for the deaths of her friends. Jenna is unusual - she has a strange mark on the back of her neck that marks her out as special. She does not know what the mark means, and her adoptive father was only told that it was dangerous and people would seek to kill her because of it. For this reason, she keeps it hidden. Then the King of Arden sends soldiers to find a girl with a marking just like this - and it becomes more important than ever that Jenna remain hidden from them. However, she is captured - and comes that much closer to her goal, at least in proximity, when she is taken to the capital of Arden.

Initial Reaction

I enjoyed reading this book. It was fun, even if the subject matter was a bit heavy, and since I already knew about the magic systems and political structure it was easy to understand. I didn't get the depth of character and thematic material that I have come to expect from Cinda Williams Chima's books, but overall, it was a fun little read. I look forward to the next three books in the series.

What's Important?

The plot was really the most important thing in this book. Watching the two separate plot lines come together and waiting for the two to meet was what kept the pages turning. In most of Cinda Williams Chima's books, I have been impressed with the thematic material and connection to issues in the real world, but in this book I didn't get as much of that. It's possible that we will see it more in future books, or that there is a connection that I didn't see.

Rating

I give Flamecaster by Cinda Williams Chima 3.5 stars and a half of a spicy pepper. I don't have a graphic for that so just imagine it.

Though the characters and thematic material were somewhat lacking, the intricacy of the two intertwining plot lines kept me turning the pages, which in my opinion is the most important aspect of a book. If I want to keep reading it, it can't be all that bad. I would recommend this book for readers 13 and older who enjoyed the Seven Realms books - they're really a pre-requisite to read this series.