Bursts of Fire

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By Susan Forest

Publisher Description

Publishers Lunch 2019 Buzz Books selection. Recommended by Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Library Journal. Winner of the 2020 (Canadian SF&F) Aurora Award.

Bursts of Fire begins an epic political fantasy of revenge, addictions, and redemption in an empire where magic has become suspect and where love and loyalty—for one's lover, one's family, one's country—are tested. If Heaven desires the very earth be burned, what place can those below hope for, when the flames come for them?

To survive. To fight. To restore balance.

The Falkyn sisters bear a burden and a legacy. Their mother, the imperial magiel of the kingdom of Orumon, protects her people from the horrors of the afterlife by calling upon the Gods with a precious Prayer Stone. But war among the kingdoms has brought fire and destruction to their sheltered world. When a mad king's desire to destroy the Prayer Stones shatters their family, the three girls are scattered to the wilderness, relying on their wits and powers they don't yet master.

Assassin. Battle tactician. Magic wielder. Driven by different ambitions, Meg, Janat, and Rennika are destined to become all these and more. To reclaim their birth right, they must overcome doubtful loyalties within a rising rebellion; more, they must challenge a dogma-driven chancellor's influence on the prince raised to inherit his father's war: a prince struggling to unravel the mystery of his brother's addiction to Heaven.

Praise for Bursts of Fire

Publishers Lunch Buzz Books 2019 selection

"An emotional story of familial love, tension, and mistrust among three sisters and three brothers. Readers who relish adventure mingled with a message will be engrossed in the plights of the two sets of siblings."—Publishers Weekly

"Forest depicts strong female characters, with varying motivations and personalities adding plenty of action in daring raids, battles with war machines, and magical time walking, though equal attention is given to exploring relationships between the sisters and their allies. This exciting new series will have fantasy fans eagerly awaiting the next installment."—Library Journal

"The first book in the Addicted to Heaven series promises an exciting political fantasy with realistic representation of mental illness and addiction and is sure to entertain fans of epic adventures."—Booklist

"Themes of religious and democratic freedoms; magic-based time travel's addictive, almost hallucinogenic, qualities . . . readers can hope for more in future installments."—Kirkus Reviews

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3 Reviews

3.0

WildLavenderTea

Created about 5 years ago

“I made it 50% into Bursts of Fire before I ended up putting it down and not finishing. The premise was so amazing. There's multiple kingdoms and each kingdom has a line of magiels. Each magiel can go into Heaven and get death tokens for their people. If you don't eat a death token before dying you're doomed to wander earth as a ghost. There's two kinds of magic in the story; magiels and worldlings. Worldlings can do magic but it's with herbs and spells and such. Magiels don't necessarily need those things to do magic. Magiels also have shimmery/blurry skin so it's easier to pinpoint who is magiel and who isn't. So here's where my issues begin. We start the story with a high magiel warning others of impending doom. She cannot see beyond the next year or so of her life. Does she spend this time preparing her daughters for what she sees coming? No. They're pampered and barely given any skills to survive. But the mother makes plans for her kids when this event is supposed to happen, but doesn't share much with them about said plans. So most fantasy stories I read have split kingdoms, etc. and the people have only known heartache and despair for their lives. This isn't the case in this story. As this story starts, the kingdoms have been peaceful for generations and the kings are kind and just (I mean except for one but no one wants to believe he'll turn on them). I also struggled with how one king could suddenly overcome so many kingdoms and no one stood up to him or even tried? If there's that many kingdoms and he overtook one, how did word not eventually reach other villages and areas so people could band together? Not to mention, didn't the original lady who started the story predict WHO was going to turn on them? As for the main characters of our story, the girls themselves are ok. They're siblings so there's a ton of bickering, which is ok to an extent, but I found I didn't really connect with the three of them on any deep level. Where I stopped reading was when one of them who barely was aged 16 suddenly got into a physical romance with an older guy they'd met. There's no spark or hint of romance until suddenly there is and they just hop into bed. And the way he was described was much older than the girls, and obviously much older than the one he suddenly decided to sleep with. My last issue was the execution of all the magiels, but the one who is ordering their execution wants to kidnap some and make new magiels? Wouldn't it have been maybe easier to take the magiel children and raise them how you wanted, instead of slaughtering them all and then being like, "Oh hey we should probably maybe have more magiels except for just me." I'm so disappointed because I really wanted to love this story. Like I said, the premise was so promising and I LOVED the idea of the gems and different magiels in each kingdom, but then one we get into the story it just didn't pan out the way I hoped.”

Molly

Created over 5 years ago

Janet

Created over 5 years ago

“This book started slow for me but it's an epic fantasy where a lot of the world they story takes place needs to be established. I think the magic system could have been explained better but it didn't suck from the start. There was more, it had mental health and the characters were good, very believable. I always love stories with great sister power! I enjoyed the story and hope there's a sequel. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC to read!”