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polarbear2023's review against another edition
Gave it a very solid shot it's just a little numb and slow and boring
caitcoy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
To be perfectly honest, I never would have picked this up had a friend not highly recommended this series to me. I hadn't heard of it before their recommendation and it deals with some pretty difficult subject matter. Fortunately, Fire Logic ended up being one of the most nuanced, philosophical fantasy stories that I've picked up and I loved it.
I should say right off the bat that the writing style for this has a somewhat removed or distant feel to it. There are a couple different POVs that you're following and while each of them are dealing with very difficult things (addiction, torture, genocide), it mostly avoids gruesome details. It might be a little more challenging for very character-driven readers because each POV is written in third-person and it isn't as in the moment with the character so it feels less devastating. For me, that made it much easier to deal with the darker sections because being in that moment is sometimes too much.
That said, I grew to love most of the characters (still not sold on Norina) and in particular, the portrayal of addiction with Karis is really compelling. Even with the removed style, Marks does an excellent job of exploring character arcs. It was also super refreshing to have such a queernormative world. Many of the characters are queer but it's just a part of who they are and it's a part of the world, never called out.
Usually if a book gets super philosophical, it's an immediate annoyance for me. But with Fire Logic, I kept finding myself highlighting passages and wanting to write them down, which I never do. I just really appreciate how nuanced Marks' handling of oppression and colonialism was. There are no simple answers in Fire Logic and I feel like it does an excellent job of exploring the themes of resistance and the different paths that can take.
Overall, Fire Logic was definitely a hit for me and I'm very much looking forward to seeing what Marks does with the sequels. If you love thematically driven fantasy and don't mind a more distant writing style, I'd highly recommend it!
I should say right off the bat that the writing style for this has a somewhat removed or distant feel to it. There are a couple different POVs that you're following and while each of them are dealing with very difficult things (addiction, torture, genocide), it mostly avoids gruesome details. It might be a little more challenging for very character-driven readers because each POV is written in third-person and it isn't as in the moment with the character so it feels less devastating. For me, that made it much easier to deal with the darker sections because being in that moment is sometimes too much.
That said, I grew to love most of the characters (still not sold on Norina) and in particular, the portrayal of addiction with Karis is really compelling. Even with the removed style, Marks does an excellent job of exploring character arcs. It was also super refreshing to have such a queernormative world. Many of the characters are queer but it's just a part of who they are and it's a part of the world, never called out.
Usually if a book gets super philosophical, it's an immediate annoyance for me. But with Fire Logic, I kept finding myself highlighting passages and wanting to write them down, which I never do. I just really appreciate how nuanced Marks' handling of oppression and colonialism was. There are no simple answers in Fire Logic and I feel like it does an excellent job of exploring the themes of resistance and the different paths that can take.
Overall, Fire Logic was definitely a hit for me and I'm very much looking forward to seeing what Marks does with the sequels. If you love thematically driven fantasy and don't mind a more distant writing style, I'd highly recommend it!
kivt's review against another edition
3.0
had that high fantasy epic narrative tone/style that really leaves me cold. otherwise it's not a bad story and the characters aren't bad. they're just all held at arm's length.
slawler's review against another edition
4.0
The first part of this book was really a slog for me to get through. I do not enjoy stark and despairing scenes of slaughter, violence, grief, and loss, no matter how well written. The plot lines are meandering and complicated.
In retrospect, I can appreciate how the prevailing themes of choices, destiny, and being unsure of one's self and ones purpose are exemplified during this world-building. The characters are confused and hopeless and wandering, and the writing parallels that.
The plot really starts to move in part 3, and the cast of characters finally falls into place. This really picked up the pace for me and I finally enjoyed myself. The hard work of the slog was rewarded!
If I wasn't reading this for 2023 bingo, I would have stopped. Now that I've finished I will at least try the second book. If the pacing and action keeps up I'll probably read and enjoy the rest of the series.
In retrospect, I can appreciate how the prevailing themes of choices, destiny, and being unsure of one's self and ones purpose are exemplified during this world-building. The characters are confused and hopeless and wandering, and the writing parallels that.
The plot really starts to move in part 3, and the cast of characters finally falls into place. This really picked up the pace for me and I finally enjoyed myself. The hard work of the slog was rewarded!
If I wasn't reading this for 2023 bingo, I would have stopped. Now that I've finished I will at least try the second book. If the pacing and action keeps up I'll probably read and enjoy the rest of the series.
froggoh's review against another edition
This kind of storytelling is a little too distant for me. Maybe I'll come back to it someday.
skycrane's review against another edition
5.0
This was brilliant. Another book to the ever expanding list of "possibly the best book I've read this year."
ravengrimsbane's review against another edition
3.0
I found this very difficult to get into. I like the premise, and for the most part, thought the book was reasonably well written, so may give it a try again later, maybe during the summer when I have less to focus on.
alphabetseeds's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Strong classic fantasy vibes - reminded me quite a bit of Mary Stewart's Merlin books in storytelling and tone. The writing often takes on lyrical, parable-style vibes, and it can feel very historical-mythic in that sense with a grounded, believable setting. Lovely to read a book like this with queer characters/relationships that are just natural and accepted.
What kept me from loving this book is that because of the more detached style of writing, I often had a hard time connecting with the characters' emotional states. The magic system - and I use that loosely - also follows fairly strict archetypes, where fire-blooded people are ruled by passion and intuition, and earth-blooded people are connected to the world around them and are very stoic and grounded, and it often overruled other character personality traits that may be present. It also has a pretty slow pace, so sometimes I'd get a little lost in the meandering narrative.
I have the rest of the series so I will continue on. I'd like to see where this all goes.
What kept me from loving this book is that because of the more detached style of writing, I often had a hard time connecting with the characters' emotional states. The magic system - and I use that loosely - also follows fairly strict archetypes, where fire-blooded people are ruled by passion and intuition, and earth-blooded people are connected to the world around them and are very stoic and grounded, and it often overruled other character personality traits that may be present. It also has a pretty slow pace, so sometimes I'd get a little lost in the meandering narrative.
I have the rest of the series so I will continue on. I'd like to see where this all goes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Drug abuse
lines__lines's review against another edition
slow-paced
3.0
This book reminded me to go into the setting to set up the content warning function on here because I was blindsided by genocide. Yes, I did read the blurb that mentions "last of her tribe", but I read the blurb when the book was announced for book club and never re-visited that before reading a month or so later...
Past that point, I did end up liking this book. It's slow and it feels like it is laying a lot of groundwork and world-building for the rest of the series, but around the midway point it does pick up plot-wise, and Zanja starts to take a little more control of her own decisions and fate again. But it's definitely a rocky road and all of the characters suffer from various forms of trauma and are living in a war-torn occupied land which means it's not an ideal setting for recovery. Despite much of the book feeling rather grim, I do think there's threads of hope that pull together nicely as the story works its way into the final act. I also appreciated that this a fantasy world that's pretty queernorm (no trans or non-binary characters in this installment, but preconceived gender roles are not really a thing at all, and same-sex relationships are normal).
I think the prose was a bit of a weak point, keeping the reader a bit of a distance from the characters. Which on one hand, also helps keep the level of depressing at bay as well. Once again, the latter half of the book felt a bit more engaged on this than the first half. The elemental magic system in this is very original and intriguing, but this book didn't fully explore how it works. I'm given to understand that the rest of the series the books improve on many of the aspects that I found a bit lacking in this one, and given that this was written over almost twenty years, that makes sense! This one definitely has a feel like other books from the early 2000s in some ways. I'd like to read the rest of these eventually.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/198y4vp/fif_book_club_fire_logic_midway_discussion/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1afitup/fif_book_club_fire_logic_final_discussion/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
Also I know this is a small press book, but it definitely had typos. Enough that some previous reader of my library copy penciled in a couple (but not all!) of the corrections.
Past that point, I did end up liking this book. It's slow and it feels like it is laying a lot of groundwork and world-building for the rest of the series, but around the midway point it does pick up plot-wise, and Zanja starts to take a little more control of her own decisions and fate again. But it's definitely a rocky road and all of the characters suffer from various forms of trauma and are living in a war-torn occupied land which means it's not an ideal setting for recovery. Despite much of the book feeling rather grim, I do think there's threads of hope that pull together nicely as the story works its way into the final act. I also appreciated that this a fantasy world that's pretty queernorm (no trans or non-binary characters in this installment, but preconceived gender roles are not really a thing at all, and same-sex relationships are normal).
I think the prose was a bit of a weak point, keeping the reader a bit of a distance from the characters. Which on one hand, also helps keep the level of depressing at bay as well. Once again, the latter half of the book felt a bit more engaged on this than the first half. The elemental magic system in this is very original and intriguing, but this book didn't fully explore how it works. I'm given to understand that the rest of the series the books improve on many of the aspects that I found a bit lacking in this one, and given that this was written over almost twenty years, that makes sense! This one definitely has a feel like other books from the early 2000s in some ways. I'd like to read the rest of these eventually.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/198y4vp/fif_book_club_fire_logic_midway_discussion/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1afitup/fif_book_club_fire_logic_final_discussion/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
Also I know this is a small press book, but it definitely had typos. Enough that some previous reader of my library copy penciled in a couple (but not all!) of the corrections.
krandelkransky's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75