I was blessed by my mother with a love for reading all types of literature – mystery, romance, horror, biographies, and cereal boxes. My Covid brain fog appears to be lifting, so I am slowly getting back into my reading habit. In the last few weeks, I have tried several contemporary who-dun-its and small-town heartwarmers. But it is a fantasy series that has kept my attention.
Jordan Rivet is the author of over twenty books. I decided to try her series Fire and Steel. A five-book arc, the first book is called Duel of Fire. It focuses on Dara, a young somber woman from the misty mountains of Vertigon. Desperate to find her own place in her world, Dara is a competitive duelist looking for a sponsor. If she fails, she will have to return to her father’s workshop, a successful business that crafts magical lanterns from the liquid fire in the mountains. Dara herself cannot wield the fire power and is a disappointment to her parents. She is good at dueling, however – really good. By the end of the first book, Dara is juggling a handsome prince, a royal coup, a small dragon, rigorous training, and the realization that she too can wield the fire power.
I can feel the fantasy world Ms. Rivet has created – I can imagine walking the cliffside roads and crossing great bridges spanning craggy chasms. I don’t always like the quiet, laser-focused characters, but I truly like Dara. I’m currently in book 4 and rooting for her. Do I think this story will take a crazy left turn, such as the infamous Red Wedding scene no one saw coming in Game of Thrones? No, I think this story will follow the tried and true Happily Ever After formula. You know what? That is okay. More than okay. It became tried and true because people like it.
Kindle Unlimited has suggested some other books based on my current reading. I am looking at a few different options – the young adult dystopian series by Amy A. Bartol (firstborns in each family are venerated and groomed to be great leaders. Secondborns become property of the government.) Or perhaps one of the biographies about Mary Stuart or Catherine the Great.
It is Halloween month. Maybe a good, old-fashioned fright night is in order. Carrie by Stephen King, Dracula by Bram Stoker, anything by Edgar Allen Poe… I sense a bag of Reese’s peanut butter pumpkins and some spooky tales in my near future!
Everyone stay safe this trick-or-treating season. And happy reading!
From Amazon: A champion sword fighter. A handsome prince. A kingdom in peril. Dara Ruminor is a competitive duelist in Vertigon, where athletes live like kings as long as the crowds love them. She’s good with a sword but can’t figure out how to charm the spectators like a true champion.
When Dara is asked to train with Prince Siv, the heir to the throne, she faces her most difficult opponent yet. Handsome, charismatic, and utterly infuriating, he refuses to take the sport—or her—seriously.
But someone wants Prince Siv dead, and Dara might be the only one who can protect him. With assassins lurking in the shadows and tensions brewing between the kingdom’s magic wielders, Dara and Siv need each other’s help with more than just dueling. Skill with a blade might not be enough to save them.
Throne of Glass meets A Knight’s Tale in this swashbuckling epic fantasy full of sword fights, assassins, magic, and betrayal.
