Child of Fire Review

Dark Fantasy

Child of Fire delivers a brutal dark fantasy experience. Right from the start, there are mercenaries, horrific monsters, and hands-on damage. The trail of violence, blood, and death continues but the action does not drag on. Instead, it occurs in explosive spurts of confrontation. The wendigo is a good, high-stakes monster, and every clash shows the hero Caden to be both skilled and lucky to come out of fights alive.

The tension ramps up betweenwhiles in layers of stakes. Caden struggles with a magic that tests his self-control; he has one friend who is sick, another who is missing; the city is beset by thugs, drugs, and monsters; children are endangered or preyed upon; political and social intrigues complicate matters; and the physical toll on Caden continues to mount.

The story never trails into grimdark conclusions. Children can be saved, friends trusted, and the city improved one fight at a time.

Not a Morally Gray Character

Caden is a likable character, with both virtues and vices as the genre dictates. His candid manner makes him genuine, and his pugnacious nature does not allow for guile—only for scorched earth (literally).

While the unrestrained violence on monsters and thugs alike may suggest the gray morality typical of dark fantasy, Caden adheres to a sense of justice. He never directs his wrath at the innocent, and despite his monetary motivations as a mercenary, he goes out of his way to protect others.

There is also a scene in which the romantic interest seeks him out in a suggestive way, but he does not take advantage of the situation to indulge in casual sex. The scene in clearly intentional in avoiding this vulgar staple of the genre, but does not judge the morality of her intentions. Caden’s reasons for behaving in this way, despite his mutual interest in her, pass completely unremarked. This treatment of the interaction allows the reader to interpret it at their discretion: perhaps Caden has moral qualms about hookup culture, or perhaps an intimate fling is simply not a good idea for a mercenary looking to limit the ties he makes with other people. Either way, no lecture, and more importantly, no awkward dialogue.

Fantasy City

The setting is a generic fantasy city, punctuated by taverns, mansions, and sewers. It feels pleasantly familiar; its opportunities for both danger and adventure are high.

At the same time, it feels grounded in a physical place. The story does not take place exclusively within the walls of the city, the outside world all but irrelevant. Instead, there is an interplay between the city and the surrounding area. There are geographical features—there is a valley in which the city rests, a Ridge within and above the city where the rich live, a river and accompanying docks on the other side, the mountains around the city, and the forests where bandits camp and a necromancer’s pets lurk.

Calen’s history provides hints to places and events farther afield, but the scope of this first book is relatively local and invitingly detailed.

Monstrous or Dangerous

The theme of Child of Fire is sadly a bit rough, but it is noteworthy due to its interaction with the genre.

Calen has an exchange with the antagonist during the climactic battle in which they discuss men’s evil actions. The deathmonger claims that his methods “are more beastly” but not “more monstrous” than the atrocities committed by the rich and powerful. His motivations were to save the city from them. Calen rejects this excuse, pointing out that while there may be degrees of evil, it is still evil.

Furthermore, when the deathmonger accuses him of committing “monstrosities” in his past, Calen dismisses it. He describes himself as “someone who knows the evil they’re capable of but chooses not to be that person” and “a dangerous man who does not use his power for evil purposes.”

This emphasizes that Calen, and the world he operates in, is not morally gray. Our hero is capable of horrible things, which enables him to rain retribution down on drug dealers, thugs, bandits, and kidnappers. He won’t feel bad about it, but that does not make him morally aimless. In fact, it suggests that those behaviors are appropriate, since Calen believes there are evil deeds that are evil regardless of who commits them or why and seeks to avoid committing them himself.

Check Out Child of Fire!

Child of Fire delivers gory action, likable hero, and a dark aesthetic while avoiding some of the pitfalls of the dark fantasy genre. I look forward to reading more of the Ballad of Sorrows series!