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Where Fire Reigns
Not yet published
Expected 2 Feb 27Award-winning author Jared Pechaček takes us to a vast salt desert where wars are fought over water, a flaming angel brings judgment, and the only hope for mercy is a feral girl who knows nothing of her destiny.
Once, there were seas. Then the god of fire came. He defeated water, and under his rule the world has burned. The survivors live in the wasteland called the Salt, a vast desert where water is priceless and lives are cheap.
The Mother of Waters promised she’d return to save humanity, reborn into the world she lost generation after generation. She promised to die for us, and bring a flood to quench the world’s thirst. Unfortunately, at the moment of greatest need, the Church lost track of her. The promised child was lost, raised by robotic scavengers, ignorant of her destiny. That feral messiah is now in the hands of a ragtag crew of fugitives with no plan to save anything but themselves.
Tomas is a pyric, blessed with the divine gift of fire and burdened with a stolen airship. At the helm are Three and Four, twin cyborg navigators who escaped the wreckage of their last vessel and now long for freedom from the August Union that created them. On their tail is Violet, chief paladin of the church of water, intent on bringing the messiah to her destiny. And in their cargo hold is the girl who can call lightning and bring rainstorms. Her life could save the rest of humanity.
What is that girl’s life worth in this dried-up world?
Once, there were seas. Then the god of fire came. He defeated water, and under his rule the world has burned. The survivors live in the wasteland called the Salt, a vast desert where water is priceless and lives are cheap.
The Mother of Waters promised she’d return to save humanity, reborn into the world she lost generation after generation. She promised to die for us, and bring a flood to quench the world’s thirst. Unfortunately, at the moment of greatest need, the Church lost track of her. The promised child was lost, raised by robotic scavengers, ignorant of her destiny. That feral messiah is now in the hands of a ragtag crew of fugitives with no plan to save anything but themselves.
Tomas is a pyric, blessed with the divine gift of fire and burdened with a stolen airship. At the helm are Three and Four, twin cyborg navigators who escaped the wreckage of their last vessel and now long for freedom from the August Union that created them. On their tail is Violet, chief paladin of the church of water, intent on bringing the messiah to her destiny. And in their cargo hold is the girl who can call lightning and bring rainstorms. Her life could save the rest of humanity.
What is that girl’s life worth in this dried-up world?
480 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication February 2, 2027
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
Want to Read
June 8, 2026So excited for more wonderful weirdness and hopefuly more illustrations included from this author!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I received a free copy from Tor Books via Netgalley in exchange for a fair review. Release date February 2nd, 2027.
Pechacek's debut The West Passage was one of my favorite books of the year, and I felt it got way less attention than it deserved, so I was excited to get an opportunity to tell people about his latest novel. In Where Fire Reigns, forbidden fire mage Tomas impulsively rescues and absconds with a young girl who may be the promised Mother of Waters returned. On the run with his abusive uncle's ships, two cyborg Union pilots, and a very lost Church paladin, Tomas begins to realize that it may be impossible to escape his world's disastrous promised redemption.
The West Passage was striking for its blithely inexplicable worldbuilding. In contrast, Where Fire Reigns is just as original, but also much more of a straightforward fantasy plot, with a scifantasy setting that reminded me a bit of Sharon Shinn's Samaria. Pechacek depicts and unforgiving world blasted to rock and glass and salt that reminds the reader that the premodern child mortality rate was one-half. The Salt is chronic dehydration, babies left exposed to die of heatstroke, and whole communities destroyed when their aquifer fails—and all of the aquifers are failing. The broad sweep of survival is exquisitely and unremittingly bleak, but Pechacek also has an eye for the little details. For instance, I noted that the Church uses dry-cleaning solvents to wash clothes, while the rogue Project seems to use some kind of dry soap. It's hard to describe the particulars without making it sound flat, but the world has the expansiveness and depth I look for, albeit without the intriguing but controversial opacity of The West Passage.
Where Fire Reigns is a worldbuilding-first book, but the character depictions are still deft. The story is primarily told through Tomas' perspective, but the scope is fleshed out by brief, separate vignettes about other characters living on the Salt. The side chapters include long-running stories about a devout acolyte of the Church of the Mother of Waters, and one about the family of a gladiator in the technologically advanced Union. Tomas himself is deliberately written as seeming younger than he is. He's sweet, naive, eager to please, and utterly flattened by years of pervasive abuse. (Heads up for depictions of child sexual abuse). Of course, his narrow perspective also makes him a terribly unreliable narrator... Notable also are the linked vat-grown pilot twins Three and Four, desperately devoted escaped slaves who are treated as objects by most of the population.
Brutal, exquisite, and utterly fresh, despite the familiar fantasy arc of the plot. And what a striking ending to cap off the whole novel. His latest novel makes me even more convinced that Pechacek is tragically underrated, and more people need to read his books immediately. Where Fire Reigns was so different in setting and tone from his first novel that I'm excited to see what his third is going to look like. Recommended.
Pechacek's debut The West Passage was one of my favorite books of the year, and I felt it got way less attention than it deserved, so I was excited to get an opportunity to tell people about his latest novel. In Where Fire Reigns, forbidden fire mage Tomas impulsively rescues and absconds with a young girl who may be the promised Mother of Waters returned. On the run with his abusive uncle's ships, two cyborg Union pilots, and a very lost Church paladin, Tomas begins to realize that it may be impossible to escape his world's disastrous promised redemption.
The West Passage was striking for its blithely inexplicable worldbuilding. In contrast, Where Fire Reigns is just as original, but also much more of a straightforward fantasy plot, with a scifantasy setting that reminded me a bit of Sharon Shinn's Samaria. Pechacek depicts and unforgiving world blasted to rock and glass and salt that reminds the reader that the premodern child mortality rate was one-half. The Salt is chronic dehydration, babies left exposed to die of heatstroke, and whole communities destroyed when their aquifer fails—and all of the aquifers are failing. The broad sweep of survival is exquisitely and unremittingly bleak, but Pechacek also has an eye for the little details. For instance, I noted that the Church uses dry-cleaning solvents to wash clothes, while the rogue Project seems to use some kind of dry soap. It's hard to describe the particulars without making it sound flat, but the world has the expansiveness and depth I look for, albeit without the intriguing but controversial opacity of The West Passage.
Where Fire Reigns is a worldbuilding-first book, but the character depictions are still deft. The story is primarily told through Tomas' perspective, but the scope is fleshed out by brief, separate vignettes about other characters living on the Salt. The side chapters include long-running stories about a devout acolyte of the Church of the Mother of Waters, and one about the family of a gladiator in the technologically advanced Union. Tomas himself is deliberately written as seeming younger than he is. He's sweet, naive, eager to please, and utterly flattened by years of pervasive abuse. (Heads up for depictions of child sexual abuse). Of course, his narrow perspective also makes him a terribly unreliable narrator... Notable also are the linked vat-grown pilot twins Three and Four, desperately devoted escaped slaves who are treated as objects by most of the population.
Brutal, exquisite, and utterly fresh, despite the familiar fantasy arc of the plot. And what a striking ending to cap off the whole novel. His latest novel makes me even more convinced that Pechacek is tragically underrated, and more people need to read his books immediately. Where Fire Reigns was so different in setting and tone from his first novel that I'm excited to see what his third is going to look like. Recommended.
September 8, 2026
I try not to let expectations get in the way when I'm reading, but because The West Passage is my favorite book, it was hard not to have high expectations for this one. I am happy to report Where Fire Reigns met my expectations and now I can say Jared Pechaček didn't just write my favorite book, but he is a favorite author overall. Is it normal and not weird to say I love his mind? I'm just so in awe of a brain that can come up with this stuff.
The world-building is top tier. The Church controls water distribution in the Salt and with their yearly sacrifices, they feel more like a cult than a religious organization. But their strict adherence to prophecy and tradition is on point for either group. The Salt is alive with all kinds of people and Programmed creatures and "bottle-breeds" like Three and Four (twin cyborgs), and their gods. The twins are so cool, by the way. The way they share a mind but each still have their own personality is really interesting. Also, I neeeeed the audiobook (if there's going to be one?) because I really want to know how a narrator handles the language of the Programmed, which sounds like a bunch of clicking.
The way everything comes together in the end is perfect.
This book would make such a neat movie. That's partially my aphantasia talking because there were so many times when I wished I could visualize the ships and the people and the locations.
Thanks very much to Tor for the ARC!
The world-building is top tier. The Church controls water distribution in the Salt and with their yearly sacrifices, they feel more like a cult than a religious organization. But their strict adherence to prophecy and tradition is on point for either group. The Salt is alive with all kinds of people and Programmed creatures and "bottle-breeds" like Three and Four (twin cyborgs), and their gods. The twins are so cool, by the way. The way they share a mind but each still have their own personality is really interesting. Also, I neeeeed the audiobook (if there's going to be one?) because I really want to know how a narrator handles the language of the Programmed, which sounds like a bunch of clicking.
The way everything comes together in the end is perfect.
This book would make such a neat movie. That's partially my aphantasia talking because there were so many times when I wished I could visualize the ships and the people and the locations.
Thanks very much to Tor for the ARC!
Review of advance copy received from Author
Incredible work!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews