Leaves of Flame
Benjamin
Tate
Reviewed
by D. Andrew McChesney
In this, the sequel to Well
of Sorrows, Colin Harten is challenged by dark forces seeking to overthrow
the accord he helped establish between human, dwarren, and Alvritshai. An unbalance in the magical powers of Wrath
Suvane places the safety and well-being of all races in jeopardy. Can Colin locate the cause of the disturbance
and restore the balance before dark forces overrun the known world?
While this is the second book in a planned trilogy, Tate’s
skillful writing allows it to be read as a stand-alone story. It is possible to understand this one without
having read the first. Without being redundant,
sufficient reference and explanation exists, that a reader who hasn’t read the
first, or a reader who read it some time ago, loses very little. Yet Tate ends this story much as he did the
first, with the reader anxious to read the next and find out what happens. Commercially that is a good thing. If one convinces readers to buy the first
book, the need to find out what happens next will entice them to purchase the
second… and the third.
He also excels at creating a world in
which magic and supernatural power is woven directly into the fabric of daily
existence. In Tate’s (and the reader’s)
imagination, those powers and forces are a part of the natural world, even if
they are beyond what we consider to be normal.
They are so interwoven into the various societies, that they are a matter
of fact part of that world. He also does
a great job of providing overall racial characteristics and behaviors for each
of the main groups, but also creates specific individuals, each with attributes
and faults, such as we see in everyday life.
As this story progresses, we also see
reference to phenomenon first mentioned in the Throne of Amenkor trilogy, written by the same individual as Joshua
Palmatier. This reviewer looks forward
to the third installment of Tate’s work to see if any further correlation
between the two trilogies is offered.
Perhaps the follow up volume to Leaves
of Flame will answer questions of time, people, and geographical
relationships between the two.
Leaves
of Flame is a well-written and exciting work of epic fantasy. The autographed copy read for this review is
a mass market edition from DAW. It
carries ISBN 978-0-7564-0704-9 and a cover price in the US of $7.99