Fiona Ember’s life has been shattered to pieces. After an assassination attempt gone awry, her friends are dead, she’s lost her magic, and she’s now imprisoned by the magician she just tried to kill. To make matters worse, she learns he’s the infamous Auspex, who possesses the gifts of precognition and mind-reading, and who’s known for his deadly and unyielding reputation.Resigned to torture and … torture and execution, Fiona is surprised when the Auspex offers her a chance to live—but first, she will need to demonstrate the value he’s seen in her future. Fiona must discover what he wants from her quickly, before his patience runs out.
Thousands of miles from home and alone in enemy territory, what are Fiona’s hopes of impressing the Auspex and reclaiming her life and magic? And what happens when she starts being drawn unwittingly into his dangerous and mysterious plans?
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(Mostly Spoiler-free)
Character-driven Urban Fantasy with mage clans!
Bonus points that this story doesn’t take place in the US, but in Hong Kong!
A failed assassination attempt leaves Fiona in enemy hands, and the very many she was sent to assassinate offers her a chance to live.
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The magic is awesome. I loved the description of it, the variety, and the thought process put behind making the different types so unique. (And in some cases, similar.)
Fiona was intense, thoughtful and she has anxiety, but that only made her more interesting for me. I love characters who are meant to be introverts who live up to that concept. 🙂
Her love interest, who I will resist naming, is awesome. (For readers who loved the concept, he is not against a necessary evil for himself and his found family.)
Male/Female friendship, Slow Burn Romance, and a Diverse cast of characters that will make it really hard to pick your favorite!
This series does have a bit of a slow start, but it’s definitely worth it when the plot opens up!
A definite new favorite series of mine. 🙂
Excited for the next book, Ignited!
Fiona Ember’s life has been shattered to pieces. After an assassination attempt gone awry, her friends are dead, she’s lost her magic, and she’s now imprisoned by the magician she just tried to kill. To make matters worse, she learns he’s the infamous Auspex, who possesses the gifts of precognition and mind-reading, and who’s known for his deadly and unyielding reputation.
Will she get her life and magic back read the book and enjoy this exciting book.
Firstly, I would like to thank BookSirens for the free copy of this book for my honest review.
I am not an emotional person. I have never been. In truth, I find I only truly understand such things when I read, and occasionally through film.
This book made me emotional, or rather I reacted to the emotions of Fiona. She is a character with very strong emotions, very strong views and opinions and worries and I found that her anxieties resonated somehow with me. It is not altogether that often that I find myself moved to such a degree as I was with Fire Within.
It was written in such a way that it is an emotional journey. It is a harrowing rollercoaster of emotions that you must partake in as Fiona comes to terms with her situation with the man she was sent to assassinate and what the future holds for her.
Though most would consider this book fairly uneventful, there is quite a bit of action to be had in it, even if the primary focus is character driven rather than action oriented. All of the characters that you are introduced to in the course of this story feel very real – which isn’t always the easiest thing to do when writing a fantasy story. They are all extraordinary, some more than others, but even in the face of that Fiona is exceptional.
The interspersed smattering of languages here and there throughout the book were never imposing or uncomfortable. Casual Cantonese, though not usually something familiar to the average English-speaking reader, was presented in such away that it was fairly easy to understand the words that were conveyed – at least in intention, if not always in direct meaning. This is done with any of the other languages that are presented – though primarily the two that come up most are Cantonese and French. There have been novels in the past that shove alternate language terms down the reader’s throat and expect them to understand or get a dictionary and look up the words themselves, and those were never stories I enjoyed. While, yes, it might be a bit of hand holding to explain every non-English word; it is also the job of the author to convey their story in such a way that it is accessible to the reader. Fire Within does an excellent job of showcasing that a novel can have other languages presented in it and not be like slogging through a language lesson just to understand context or what is happening in the story.
I wasn’t sure what to think of this book when I first picked it to read. I thought the synopsis seemed interesting enough, but I was pleasantly surprised by the writing. I think that it was the emotional portrayal that Fiona put forth that drew me in, so much so that I read this book straight through in one sitting.
If you enjoy dramatic stories, or stories that are more character driven, I urge you to give Fire Within a chance. You may just be pleasantly surprised, too.
this is a differnet kind of read for me. i feel that this is a new author for me and feel that it will be a new series to start.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.