Firedancer

Masters of the Elements #1

by S.A. Bolich

Jetta's Dance is the first line of defense in the war to vanquish the Ancient, the malevolent, living fire that dwells in the heart of the world. When the Dance no longer holds the Ancient at bay, a failed Firedancer and her erratic apprentice are all that stand between a helpless village and the impending firestorm. Finalist for the 2013 EPIC Award for Fantasy.

Genres: Fantasy

394 pages, Paperback

First published August 28, 2011

About the author

S. A. Bolich is a fulltime freelancer with a number of published fantasy stories as well as many nonfiction articles in print and on the web, covering a wide variety of subjects from horsemanship to travel (usually with an historical slant) to the state of Flash web design. A native of Washington state, she resides there again after serving six years in Germany as a regular army military intelligence officer. She graduated summa cum laude from college with a degree in history, which she confesses was greatly aided by devouring historical fiction of every era and kind through her formative years.

Since then she has taught web design, trained horses, spent a few hectic and thoroughly enjoyable years volunteering with the United States Pony Clubs (kids and horses, oh, my!), worked in global marketing and project management, and finally managed a long-overdue escape from corporate world to write.

Her first published short story earned an honorable mention in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror; other stories have earned honorable mentions from Writers of the Future and 5th place in the Preditors and Editors online poll for best fantasy short (2009). Her first novel, Firedancer, appeared in September 2011.

She is currently working on the sequel to Firedancer, "Windrider."

You can find some of her previous work in:

Beneath Ceaseless Skies (December 2009)

Defending the Future IV: No Man's Land

Wolfsongs 2

On Spec (Fall 2010)

On Spec (Summer 2002)

Science Fiction Trails (March 2009)
Damnation Books (September 2009, a short published as an e-book)

Reviews

[Esther Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I devoured the pages like the Ancient fire devours all in its path. When I finished reading, I immediately bought the sequel Windrider.

My only gripe, and it’s a small one, is that Jetta gets startled a lot and she “jumps” or “freezes” every time. I think those two words were overused a tad.

The world is rich and layered, and every character feels real. I laughed and cried over their joys and sorrows. Character names follow patterns depending on whether the person is a Firedancer(Jetta, Settak), a Windrider(Sheshan, Ayesh), or a Delver(Rununn, Anual), but no two names are so similar that I ever got confused.

In this world, fire is an enemy that needs to be tightly controlled or it will destroy everything in its path. Firedancers are trained to fight fire that has broken free, and they do this by dancing. I have always been fascinated by the idea of dancing to create magic, especially since I have seen so few stories that use this idea. It is done very well here. S.A. Bolich is a master at describing just enough that we get a picture of the dance without giving us every detail and boring us to tears.

If you like fantasy, and you’re up for something different, you’ve got to give this book a try.

[Eden Colenca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was happy to see a full-length novel by this author, after encountering some of his (her? Why do people use just their initials?) short stories here on Goodreads and elsewhere. This was a really satisfying read, smoothly written, with beautiful descriptions and a main character who is fun to spend time with. She is not a Mary Sue, the dread I carry into any work where the character is probably going to save the world. Jetta, the MC, has her share of problems, including a peculiar cluelessness when it comes to men. Mourning her own life mate, she seems unable to believe that anyone else would be interested, and horrified to discover that she is being quietly pursued. I like it that Bolich does not have everyone leaping straight into each other's arms. Both parties to this slow-motion love affair are in mourning, both fighting feelings of betrayal of dead lovers and fear of committing to someone else, both being in somewhat dangerous professions. It is quite plausible and beautifully done.

The setting is well drawn, and the enemy is quite different than found in most fantasies. I confess to flying through this, fascinated by the concept of fire that is able to plot and plan its attacks on a village that has never been forced to confront it before. The concept of the Firedance is pretty cool, as is the rich detail that Bolich brings to every encounter. The book is well able to bring the reader into each scene, a talent I find lacking in a lot of fiction these days, and so I appreciate it where I do find it.

All in all, I recommend this. It's an easy read, but not simplistic in any way.

[Sheri Gormley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book begins slowly in a confusing place, and it is really hard to figure out what is going on, who all these people are, and why I should care about any of this until at least the third or fourth chapter. But that is not the author's fault as much as the editor's fault. The first rule for any fantasy book is to establish the characters and setting in an approachable way, and unfortunately, that did not happen here, and so I have to give it four stars instead of five stars.

However, if you are willing to plod through the incomprehensible setup of the first two or three chapters, you will be rewarded with a well-written and captivating story that is hard to put down. The characters are engaging and true to form. Even though I still have a lot of unanswered questions about the underlying mythology of this world, the people and the settings are simply wonderful.

The characters have strengths and flaws, biases and agendas, and the author does an incredible job of making you really care about these people and their struggles against the elements.

I'm definitely going to get the next book in this series, because I want to know what happens to Jetta, Settak, Sheshan and the rest of the characters in this world. If you like fantasy, I strongly encourage you to forgo the free first chapter and just buy the book and dive in. I promise it will start to make sense after the first few chapters, and then you won't want to put it down.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know how I missed reviewing this back when I read it, because I really enjoyed it. The strongest part of this book and what really drew me in was the world-building -- a world where fire (the Ancient) is semi-sentient and can follow faults through the earth to explode out to the surface, kept in check only by highly-trained dancers? Now there's something you don't see every day. And it's not just the broad strokes; even the little details are well-thought-out. For example, the conflicts between characters are credible, based on cultural differences in this world (e.g. wind vs fire), the characters' names follow certain patterns depending on their elemental association, the oaths and expletives are based on concepts and symbols meaningful in this world rather than ours, and so on. The characters are compelling too, with logical and sympathetic needs, flaws, conflicts. My one quibble might be that Jetta occasionally seems emotionally immature; there were a couple of times I wanted to shake her and say, "Now stop that!" But she is young, and has recently lost the love of her life, so perhaps her growth is part of the story arc. I'm looking forward to reading Windrider, the next one in line.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book through the gooodreads FirstReads contest.

Wow. This was actually a very very good book. I was a little hesitant at first...while I love fantasy books there are so many things that can turn a fantasy into something...just plain not good. This story on the other hand had the perfect balance of the 'fantasy' elements and the character elements. The 'love story' part of this book was dealt with tactfully and did not reduce the strong female charater to sighs and longing looks, but still communicated her growing need and involvement in a clear and touching way.

A great book! I look forward to the next in the series.

[Clare Deming · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Firedancer, S.A. Bolich introduces us to a fascinating world in which Clans have power over the elements of fire, wind, earth, and water. This is more than elemental magic though, and the way in which Bolich weaves her world together creates an organic tapestry of cultures that is completely convincing. At the heart of this first volume is Jetta Ak'Kal, a Firedancer of the third rank.

Read the rest of my review:

http://sciencefictionmusings.blogspot...

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a pleasure to read with its imaginative story set in a fascinating world where the clan elemental masters control fire, water, earth and air. This is the tale of Jetta, a Firedancer trained to fight the elemental fire through dance. Having been assigned to protect a remote community she finds that the dance forms, used since earliest times, no longer have any effect and must learn new lessons and make new allies where she least expects.

A great fantasy tale and I can't wait to read the other books in the series.

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An incredible read unlike any I've read before filled with turmoil, deep emotions, clans at odds, and the dance that fills the senses as it winds through the story. I enjoyed the character growth and the novelty of the story concepts presented. The imagery and descriptions in this book are breathtaking and unique! Received book through Goodreads giveaways! I highly recommend it!

[Josh Langston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ordinarily, I'm not a big fan of "high" fantasy, but this book ignores all the standard tropes and tackles meaningful issues in a way that makes the supernatural seem quite, well, natural. A thoroughly enjoyable read from start to finish. My hat's off to this gifted writer, and I look forward to seeing much more. Bravo for Firedancer -- bring on the sequels!

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book well worth reading. It hooks you into the characters from the get go, and makes putting it down for any length of time problematic. The characters are vivid, have depth and the story line keeps drawing the reader farther into it with every page.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It was exactly what I needed in my recent drought of books that I was reading. This book had good story, dialogue, and characters.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. The author did a great job of giving the Firedancer a history and well designed choreography. Made me want to read the next book.

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A formidable force, fire, rules Jetta's life as a Firedancer. She lives her training and her destiny to save people from this huge natural power. She can perform her dance which moves fire away from the human things it destroys into a different realm. As the story opens, Jetta faces two obstacles. Her guild has wavering faith in her and she is surrounded by people who want to help but instead harm her work. An undertone of unrecognized sexism follows Jetta, who is determined to prove herself.
Those who doubt Jetta do not recognize that the world has changed. They doubt her abilities instead of recognizing and examining the changes that Jetta realizes are there. The book is her journey through a world where the basic elements of old, fire, wind, water, and earth, are living. Her work is to help preserve people from fire, and as she makes her journey, the unrealistic expectations, the interference of the unhelpful, and the chipping away at her core self she faces huge challenges.
Jetta bears many test, and her intellectual and emotional responses even become her adversary as she makes her way through a cruel and confounding landscape. Even the fire challenges her in unexpected ways. This is a story of becoming and reckoning the world for what it is.
The world that Bolich built is alive. Clear descriptions bring it off the page. The people are common enough, but in this setting what they do and who they are make them vibrant. This makes the question that the book explores is whether Jetta can survive her own doubts more poignant.

[Derelict Space Sheep · Rating 4 out of 5]

42 WORD REVIEW:

A slow-burning fantasy where the rules of the world emerge through story rather than exposition, and the problems grow organically. Bolich pits elemental magic against prejudice and self-doubt. She invests time in setting and character, yet never at the expense of readability.

[S.A. Bolich]

Okay, I can't honestly rate this because I wrote it. I will say, based on extensive workshop feedback from readers and the reactions of those who have heard parts of it read aloud, it has a decent idea, well executed. For those of you anxious because it is small press, it was edited by Irene Radford, and I myself am previously published, in pro venues at that.

Read and enjoy the story of Jetta, a failed Dancer who secretly suspects the power of the Firedance is failing as well against the Ancient, the elemental fire at the heart of the world. Sent along with the most inept journeyman in all of the Fire Clans to a remote mountain village, she discovers that this backwater may actually be the flashpoint of an unstoppable battle against the Ancient's ravening desire to escape into the free air. And, just to really make her day, Jetta discovers that Annam Vale is full of Windriders, masters of air, the very substance the Ancient most craves. With disaster poised on every stray breeze, Jetta cannot afford to fail, or the whole world will learn the meaning of firestorm...

[L.j. Bonham · Rating 5 out of 5]

S.A. Bolich has created a fascinating world with rich characters and intricate plots. This book is a home run.