Title: Mortal Fire
Standalone
Author: Elizabeth Knox
Publish date: June 11th 2013 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Source: ARC received from the publisher
Buy it from: Amazon
Goodreads summary:
Sixteen-year-old Canny Mochrie’s vacation takes a turn when she stumbles upon a mysterious and enchanting valley, occupied almost entirely by children who can perform a special type of magic that tells things how to be stronger and better than they already are. As Canny studies the magic more carefully, she realizes that she not only understands it–she can perform the magic, too, so well that it feels like it has always been a part of her. With the help of an alluring seventeen-year-old boy who is held hostage by a spell that is now more powerful than the people who first placed it, Canny figures out the secrets of this valley and of her own past.
Review:
Dang, Mortal Fire by Elizabeth Knox was damned refreshing.
I adore magic in the books I read and there’s certainly nothing wrong with spells, psychics, or magical worlds– heck they’re some of my favorite things to find in fiction. But it’s also nice to come across a book that has magic that is altogether different from anything I’ve seen before. And that’s what I got in Mortal Fire.
And that wasn’t the only thing different and refreshing about Mortal Fire. For one thing, we have a main character who’s got a little diversity for a change. She hails from the South Pacific and her mother is the daughter of an island chief. Canny, or “Akanesi” is a math genius and typically very solemn.
The 3rd person narration is a little distant and ordinarily my assumption would be that might make it difficult to connect with, but the prose of Mortal Fire was gorgeously written. I relished every word.
Need a second opinion?
“It is wonderfully mesmerising and unquestionably original.” –Realm of Fiction
“Mortal Fire is dreamlike and imaginative, and hard to explain – but I really, really liked it.” –Alexa Loves Books
