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Fire and Shadow
On Fern's 18th birthday, she discovers she's a fire-starter. It's a gift, and she's glad to have it. But fire starting is a curse as well as a blessing. Fern must learn how to control it, and to do that she has to leave her home and family, lest she burn them all by accident. Fern travels to a place where other young people have gathered to learn how to manage their gifts. Though none are firestarters, they understand self-control, and there are books to help. And that's where she meets Nik, the enigmatic magician who seems to understand her and her gift better than she does herself. From the moment they meet, sparks fly, sometimes literally. Nik makes her lose her temper faster than anyone else can, but he understands her better than anyone else, too. Fern realizes something she didn't look for and didn't expect; she's falling in love with him. But can Nik be trusted? Or is he hiding dangerous secrets of his own?
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First published January 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 29, 2016
Fern is, for all intents and purposes, a pretty blank slate starting out. Until her powers manifest there isn't much to her. The world she lives in intrigued me though, hinting at things that made people frightened within their own homes, whispers and such. The threat Fern's family feels from the 'shadows' is palatable, especially when Fern's sister-in-law Sophia explodes in angry fright at Fern's nieces and nephew. Tension by any other name...
Fern develops these powers and its decided by all that it would be much much safer for them if she is far far away from them. Especially if she can't learn to control her powers. A school of magic is located just beyond the forest and they can hopefully help her. You can tell that they struggle to feel that hope though. Small isolated village like theirs hadn't seen a fire-started in ages, they weren't sure whether to be more scared of her or the shadows!
And the trek to through the swamp and forest is where Fern becomes more interesting. As she becomes more confident in her control, she loosens up and can see what she would have been like if fear didn't rule. Zephyr I was the most interested in, with his horribly damaged mind and limited sanity. As for everyone else we're given the minimum of their histories. Just enough to flesh them out, but not a whole lot to fill them out.
Fern's time at the school was the best part--as she learns to control her gifts, meeting other mutantsmagic-users like herself and falling in love with Nik. Their feelings developed through their fighting and arguing and not truly listening to each other, but they understood each other. Communication kind of sucked for everyone in the book anyhow since, as a general rule, everyone seemed to be stubborn and pig-headed.
Everything was going well, then of course it doesn't and the end...it felt very rushed. After chapters of detail given to a lot of things, the ending goes too quickly and under done. Without giving away too much Nik's secret is revealed and this leads to some interesting developments for his relationship with Fern. Which was fine, but the execution was off. It's a big huge deal, but its only given about fifteen pages max to wrap up everything.
Overall for just over 100 pages, this makes for a fun, intriguing read. The ending is almost a deus ex machina, but the story is worth reading for the world it sets up. I hope that Howson has a sequel planned, because I know I'm looking forward to learning more about what happens next for Fern and Nik.
Fern develops these powers and its decided by all that it would be much much safer for them if she is far far away from them. Especially if she can't learn to control her powers. A school of magic is located just beyond the forest and they can hopefully help her. You can tell that they struggle to feel that hope though. Small isolated village like theirs hadn't seen a fire-started in ages, they weren't sure whether to be more scared of her or the shadows!
And the trek to through the swamp and forest is where Fern becomes more interesting. As she becomes more confident in her control, she loosens up and can see what she would have been like if fear didn't rule. Zephyr I was the most interested in, with his horribly damaged mind and limited sanity. As for everyone else we're given the minimum of their histories. Just enough to flesh them out, but not a whole lot to fill them out.
Fern's time at the school was the best part--as she learns to control her gifts, meeting other mutantsmagic-users like herself and falling in love with Nik. Their feelings developed through their fighting and arguing and not truly listening to each other, but they understood each other. Communication kind of sucked for everyone in the book anyhow since, as a general rule, everyone seemed to be stubborn and pig-headed.
Everything was going well, then of course it doesn't and the end...it felt very rushed. After chapters of detail given to a lot of things, the ending goes too quickly and under done. Without giving away too much Nik's secret is revealed and this leads to some interesting developments for his relationship with Fern. Which was fine, but the execution was off. It's a big huge deal, but its only given about fifteen pages max to wrap up everything.
Overall for just over 100 pages, this makes for a fun, intriguing read. The ending is almost a deus ex machina, but the story is worth reading for the world it sets up. I hope that Howson has a sequel planned, because I know I'm looking forward to learning more about what happens next for Fern and Nik.
June 17, 2018
This was a pretty good book. I enjoyed reading it quite a bit. Fire and Shadow is about a girl who upon turning 18 discovers she's a fire starter. She leaves her family home to go and learn how to control her newfound abilities and falls in love with an older man. They call him a magician, but really he's something quite peculiar... An odd type of shifter.
My copy also had several other short stories included. All of which were pretty great. All in all, I'd say Imogen Howson is quite the talented writer.
*I received a copy of this book for free. The review is my own, honest, and unsolicited.
My copy also had several other short stories included. All of which were pretty great. All in all, I'd say Imogen Howson is quite the talented writer.
*I received a copy of this book for free. The review is my own, honest, and unsolicited.
September 6, 2011
Fire and Shadow was a fantasy that I wasn't expecting. I originally thought going in that this was about a fire starter in real life but it turned out to be a fantasy world. Shadows are evil creeping phantoms that are killing and taking villagers away. No one is sure if they die or are absorbed. Just a single touch from a shadow will freeze and seemingly kill whatever part of the body it touches. All of the land is being affected and anywhere light cannot permeate isn't safe. The swamps and dense forest are all enought to bring the shadows out in day light. Light must be kept on at all times to keep people safe from them. Children are growing up in fear of the dark.
Some develop special abilities during adolesence which can be uncontrollable at first.
Fern is a late bloomer and develops firestarter capabilities on her 18th birthday and makes the journey to a special house where the gifted can work on controlling their powers. As the sun sets and the shadows chase Fern and her brother up the hill to the house, she meets Nik who rescues them and escorts them into the house. Nik is older than most of the kids and works on inventions and solving patterns to fight against the shadows. He instinctively realizes that Fern's power is the one thing that can kill the shadows and heal those who have been touched by the shadows. Nik begins to work daily with Fern on her ability. At first, Nik and Fern can't stand each other as Nik knows her powers are provoked through anger, but soon Fern's feelings change.
This was a great story but the romance felt a little rushed. It was only about 102 pages on ebook and I felt that the author could have expanded on the interactions between Fern and Nik. A couple of more scenes would have done a world of good for the story. I did enjoy this read and most who enjoy fantasy blended with paranormal romance will like the story. The story is creative and fresh and worth the read for the price.
Some develop special abilities during adolesence which can be uncontrollable at first.
Fern is a late bloomer and develops firestarter capabilities on her 18th birthday and makes the journey to a special house where the gifted can work on controlling their powers. As the sun sets and the shadows chase Fern and her brother up the hill to the house, she meets Nik who rescues them and escorts them into the house. Nik is older than most of the kids and works on inventions and solving patterns to fight against the shadows. He instinctively realizes that Fern's power is the one thing that can kill the shadows and heal those who have been touched by the shadows. Nik begins to work daily with Fern on her ability. At first, Nik and Fern can't stand each other as Nik knows her powers are provoked through anger, but soon Fern's feelings change.
This was a great story but the romance felt a little rushed. It was only about 102 pages on ebook and I felt that the author could have expanded on the interactions between Fern and Nik. A couple of more scenes would have done a world of good for the story. I did enjoy this read and most who enjoy fantasy blended with paranormal romance will like the story. The story is creative and fresh and worth the read for the price.
July 2, 2017
I find Imogen Howson an intriguing writer. She has the ability to put new slants on story themes that have been done before to make for fascinating reading. From this collection, I particularly liked the story, "Falling", where the well-to-dos' live in high-rise apartments up where the air is fresh and clean while the lesser-offs live down amongst the pollution below. It's the story of a young girl and a young boy, one from the upper classes, one from the lower, each with their own special, secret talent, finding love in each other. A common enough theme in books, but Howson's setting and background, her ability to create real characters, and then what she puts these characters through, with great plot twists and turns, made for gripping reading, I found.
The novella 'Fire and Shadow' that this collection is based on is at its core a 'coming of age' story, yet as for "Falling", it's what the author does with the world and characters she has cleverly created that makes it such an interesting read. The main character, Fern, journeys from her home so that she can be taught to best use her unusual talents. She falls for a young man called Nik who isn't what he seems. Again, it's the author's dedication to presenting likeable, well formed characters, and her care in showing the readers the background to this story as well as the author's unique way of looking at the problems of the worlds she's created that made reading these stories and the entire collection a really enjoyable experience for me.
The novella 'Fire and Shadow' that this collection is based on is at its core a 'coming of age' story, yet as for "Falling", it's what the author does with the world and characters she has cleverly created that makes it such an interesting read. The main character, Fern, journeys from her home so that she can be taught to best use her unusual talents. She falls for a young man called Nik who isn't what he seems. Again, it's the author's dedication to presenting likeable, well formed characters, and her care in showing the readers the background to this story as well as the author's unique way of looking at the problems of the worlds she's created that made reading these stories and the entire collection a really enjoyable experience for me.
March 31, 2009
A short read (novella length perhaps), but sweet -- magic and heroism and innocent romance all rolled together. I wish it had been full book length, and had sequels!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews