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The Tale of the Five #1
The Door Into Fire: The Tale of the Five, Volume One
A sorcerous swordsmith desperate to achieve true power. His stubbornly nonmagical sword. His princely runaway lover. His hungry new fire elemental. Put them all together, and what can possibly go wrong?Herewiss is the only man in centuries to possess the Power of the blue Flame, but he can't use or control it - not even to help his friend and lover Freelorn, prince of Arlen, exiled from his native land and pursued across the Middle Kingdoms by the usurpers' allies. Invoking perilous sorceries and the even more dangerous assistance of the fire elemental Sunspark, Herewiss manages to rout the armies besieging Freelorn and his little band of followers, and free his loved. Together they flee east to seek temporary refuge in the mysterious lands near the edge of the world they know.But now Herewiss faces a devastating choice. His time to master the blue Fire is running out. Should he abandon his fruitless search and join Freelorn in his fight to regain his kingdom? Or should he seek out the ancient keep in the Waste where doors lead into other worlds-perhaps even the door whose use will teach him to control the Power that he must master or die?...The Door Into Fire, first novel set in Diane Duane's award-winning Middle Kingdoms universe, opens a fantastic saga of power, magic and friendship that has become a cult classic for its uniquely inclusive take on epic fantasy and its unforgettable characters.
274 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
52 people are currently reading
2149 people want to read
About the author
Diane Duane
167 books2,416 followersDiane Duane has been a writer of science fiction, fantasy, TV and film for more than forty years.
Besides the 1980's creation of the Young Wizards fantasy series for which she's best known, the "Middle Kingdoms" epic fantasy series, and numerous stand-alone fantasy or science fiction novels, her career has included extensive work in the Star Trek TM universe, and many scripts for live-action and animated TV series on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as work in comics and computer games. She has spent a fair amount of time on the New York Times Bestseller List, and has picked up various awards and award nominations here and there.
She lives in County Wicklow, in Ireland, with her husband of more than thirty years, the screenwriter and novelist Peter Morwood.
Her favorite color is blue, her favorite food is a weird kind of Swiss scrambled-potato dish called maluns, she was born in a Year of the Dragon, and her sign is "Runway 24 Left, Hold For Clearance."
(From her official website)
Besides the 1980's creation of the Young Wizards fantasy series for which she's best known, the "Middle Kingdoms" epic fantasy series, and numerous stand-alone fantasy or science fiction novels, her career has included extensive work in the Star Trek TM universe, and many scripts for live-action and animated TV series on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as work in comics and computer games. She has spent a fair amount of time on the New York Times Bestseller List, and has picked up various awards and award nominations here and there.
She lives in County Wicklow, in Ireland, with her husband of more than thirty years, the screenwriter and novelist Peter Morwood.
Her favorite color is blue, her favorite food is a weird kind of Swiss scrambled-potato dish called maluns, she was born in a Year of the Dragon, and her sign is "Runway 24 Left, Hold For Clearance."
(From her official website)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 102 reviews
June 20, 2016
This was a reread for me, since it’s been so long since I read it, and I want to get on and read the second and third book. (Although alas, I don’t know that the fourth book has progressed at all since I bought them.) It’s a refreshing world where, though people have a duty to provide an heir, sexuality isn’t tightly regulated and once you have provided a child, you can love whom you will — and polyamory is also an option. Despite that, it’s not idyllic: the characters don’t always accept their lovers’ choices, don’t always agree with their actions, do things to hurt one another, etc, etc. It’s not falsely optimistic: in fact, the way Herewiss and Lorn hurt each other is very real, and recognisable.
The fantasy elements are fun enough, if somewhat typical (though that might be partially familiarity with later fantasy). Herewiss has access to a power men can’t normally wield, and yet he can’t truly call it forth. Lorn is a king without a kingdom, exiled after usurpation. Segnbora is wandering with Bad Stuff in her past and an inability to use her abilities for other reasons. There’s a fire creature that might call to mind Calcifer at times for those of us who love Howl’s Moving Castle.
There’s all kinds of humanness amongst the fantasy elements, which is what makes good fantasy. I really enjoyed rereading this, because despite feeling typical in terms of the plot, it feels like a world with so much more potential than some other fantasy worlds I could name, because it allows for so much more — it isn’t bound by Christian morality or constrained by our history. It genuinely feels like a separate world with its own reality, and despite the fantasy elements, that’s partly because Herewiss and Lorn never have to worry about being hurt because they’re in love.
Originally posted here.
The fantasy elements are fun enough, if somewhat typical (though that might be partially familiarity with later fantasy). Herewiss has access to a power men can’t normally wield, and yet he can’t truly call it forth. Lorn is a king without a kingdom, exiled after usurpation. Segnbora is wandering with Bad Stuff in her past and an inability to use her abilities for other reasons. There’s a fire creature that might call to mind Calcifer at times for those of us who love Howl’s Moving Castle.
There’s all kinds of humanness amongst the fantasy elements, which is what makes good fantasy. I really enjoyed rereading this, because despite feeling typical in terms of the plot, it feels like a world with so much more potential than some other fantasy worlds I could name, because it allows for so much more — it isn’t bound by Christian morality or constrained by our history. It genuinely feels like a separate world with its own reality, and despite the fantasy elements, that’s partly because Herewiss and Lorn never have to worry about being hurt because they’re in love.
Originally posted here.
January 5, 2018
This is my third or fourth go at writing this review. I love this series, and I’m finding it incredibly difficult to put that love down in words. Every time I try to put something down, I end up thinking to myself, “But it’s not like this series is unique that way, so why do you love this one so much?”
This Is No MMORPG Sandbox, and That's a Good Thing
The setting, admittedly, is your fairly standard faintly Anglo-Saxon/Celtic medieval fantasy setting with mages (rodmistresses who wield Fire) and knights (well, people running around with swords and bows). And I always find it somewhat amusing that these fantasy series are always about an epic world-threatening disaster when the entire world that the characters actually encounter would fit quite nicely into an area the size of England. The furthest distance travelled to get from one capital city to another seems to take at most 20 days on a slow horse: about 200 miles. That’s about the distance from London to Edinburgh. We're not even talking continent-sized here, much less globe-sized. And as with typical medieval worlds, even the big cities never seem bigger than small village towns: Cardiff would be larger than the two capital cities in this series. Hell, given that the distance from town centre to battlefield out in the countryside seems to be less than an hour away by foot, Bath would be larger.
Of course, I think if fantasy series were to actually try to encompass a world on a truly global scale, the effort would sink the entire series. Which is why I think it’s a mistake to actually see fantasies as much different from fairy tales or myths. They are just that, only with a longer page count. This is not to damn with faint praise, since it forces us to remember that the attraction of these stories ultimately lies in the very human stories being told. And while I smile at the quaint tiredness of the faintly Anglo-Saxon/Celtic medieval fantasy setting, at least I didn’t feel like I was stuck in some endless textual version of Oblivion or Skyrim, giant sandbox RPGs with great scenery and kick-ass toys but no real people.
Because that’s what this series has in abundance: very real people with very human dilemmas. The smallness of scale is just right because that’s our scale: human size. So, the struggle to harness magical powers is as much about struggling to cope with personal fears and internal demons. The “fight against evil” is as much about the battle in ourselves against cowardice, avarice, possessiveness, and small-mindedness.
I'm Loving It, and They Are Too
The sub-title of the series is The Tale of the Five, and so we have a quintet of heroes: Herewiss, the first man in centuries to possess Fire; Freelorn, deposed prince of Arlen; Segnbora, a potential rodmistress with exceptional reserves of Fire; Sunspark, a Fire elemental; and Hasai, a dragon. The world this is set in is very much pan-sexual, and so they each have sexual relations with each other at some point (the pairings are Herewiss-Freelorn, Herewiss-Sunspark, Freelorn-Segnbora, and Segnbora-Hasai). Segnbora herself was also once the lover of the queen of Darthene, before the queen got married and had kids. Have I mentioned yet that this is a pan-sexual world?
All this loving that goes on is not simply for titillation but is part of the mythos that underpins the world. In brief, there is a Manichean conflict between the Shadow and the universe’s creator, the Goddess. The Shadow is death, entropy, and all that kills. The Goddess is, of course, life and love. And so there is much emphasis on loving in the series. Preserving life is another emphasis and several key plot sequences turn on our heroes’ refusal to kill enemies unnecessarily. Even the Fire that empowers Herewiss, Segnbora, and the rodmistresses is closely tied to sexual energy, life, and love.
And I think that’s why I love this so much. It’s treacly gooey comfort food but it has an edge, like an 87% dark chocolate bar. Herewiss has to grapple with his death-guilt before coming into his power; Segnbora has to cope with a traumatic childhood incident before tapping her own; and Freelorn has to confront his own fears as to death and kingship before being able to take the throne. There’s a fantastic sequence in the first book where Freelorn and Herewiss have this huge fight because Herewiss wants to stay on at a place of power and Freelorn opposes this because he’s scared that he’ll lose him. It’s the kind of fight that couples have where they say awful cutting truths that they know they’ll later regret having said.
It Doesn't Matter if the Last Book Doesn't Come Out
And I think that ultimately that’s what this series is about. There’s supposed to be a final book in the sequence: The Door into Starlight. It’s not out, and I hope Diane Duane doesn’t do a Robert Jordan on us. Even if it never materialises, however, the trilogy ends not on a cliff hanger but with a proper resolution of the fight with the Shadow. However, that the series is not supposed to end with that climax but is supposed to go on after that suggests to me that, interestingly, the fight with the Big Bad is not its point. The real fight is the one about loving each other despite fear, anger, and selfishness. That’s what makes this series so eminently enjoyable and readable for me.
I read it first when I was in my teens/tweens, and I recently re-read it when, after a lousy day at the office, I stumbled across it, picked it up, started reading, and rapidly felt so much less lousy. I’ve put this book on my “recommended-unreservedly” shelf and taken it off a few times now. Ultimately, I don't think I can recommend it unreservedly. There’re definitely elements that will really bother some people (), but speaking for myself, I’d agree with ambyr who in her review says, “the plot makes no. damn. sense… But I love it anyway.”
This Is No MMORPG Sandbox, and That's a Good Thing
The setting, admittedly, is your fairly standard faintly Anglo-Saxon/Celtic medieval fantasy setting with mages (rodmistresses who wield Fire) and knights (well, people running around with swords and bows). And I always find it somewhat amusing that these fantasy series are always about an epic world-threatening disaster when the entire world that the characters actually encounter would fit quite nicely into an area the size of England. The furthest distance travelled to get from one capital city to another seems to take at most 20 days on a slow horse: about 200 miles. That’s about the distance from London to Edinburgh. We're not even talking continent-sized here, much less globe-sized. And as with typical medieval worlds, even the big cities never seem bigger than small village towns: Cardiff would be larger than the two capital cities in this series. Hell, given that the distance from town centre to battlefield out in the countryside seems to be less than an hour away by foot, Bath would be larger.
Of course, I think if fantasy series were to actually try to encompass a world on a truly global scale, the effort would sink the entire series. Which is why I think it’s a mistake to actually see fantasies as much different from fairy tales or myths. They are just that, only with a longer page count. This is not to damn with faint praise, since it forces us to remember that the attraction of these stories ultimately lies in the very human stories being told. And while I smile at the quaint tiredness of the faintly Anglo-Saxon/Celtic medieval fantasy setting, at least I didn’t feel like I was stuck in some endless textual version of Oblivion or Skyrim, giant sandbox RPGs with great scenery and kick-ass toys but no real people.
Because that’s what this series has in abundance: very real people with very human dilemmas. The smallness of scale is just right because that’s our scale: human size. So, the struggle to harness magical powers is as much about struggling to cope with personal fears and internal demons. The “fight against evil” is as much about the battle in ourselves against cowardice, avarice, possessiveness, and small-mindedness.
I'm Loving It, and They Are Too
The sub-title of the series is The Tale of the Five, and so we have a quintet of heroes: Herewiss, the first man in centuries to possess Fire; Freelorn, deposed prince of Arlen; Segnbora, a potential rodmistress with exceptional reserves of Fire; Sunspark, a Fire elemental; and Hasai, a dragon. The world this is set in is very much pan-sexual, and so they each have sexual relations with each other at some point (the pairings are Herewiss-Freelorn, Herewiss-Sunspark, Freelorn-Segnbora, and Segnbora-Hasai). Segnbora herself was also once the lover of the queen of Darthene, before the queen got married and had kids. Have I mentioned yet that this is a pan-sexual world?
All this loving that goes on is not simply for titillation but is part of the mythos that underpins the world. In brief, there is a Manichean conflict between the Shadow and the universe’s creator, the Goddess. The Shadow is death, entropy, and all that kills. The Goddess is, of course, life and love. And so there is much emphasis on loving in the series. Preserving life is another emphasis and several key plot sequences turn on our heroes’ refusal to kill enemies unnecessarily. Even the Fire that empowers Herewiss, Segnbora, and the rodmistresses is closely tied to sexual energy, life, and love.
And I think that’s why I love this so much. It’s treacly gooey comfort food but it has an edge, like an 87% dark chocolate bar. Herewiss has to grapple with his death-guilt before coming into his power; Segnbora has to cope with a traumatic childhood incident before tapping her own; and Freelorn has to confront his own fears as to death and kingship before being able to take the throne. There’s a fantastic sequence in the first book where Freelorn and Herewiss have this huge fight because Herewiss wants to stay on at a place of power and Freelorn opposes this because he’s scared that he’ll lose him. It’s the kind of fight that couples have where they say awful cutting truths that they know they’ll later regret having said.
It Doesn't Matter if the Last Book Doesn't Come Out
And I think that ultimately that’s what this series is about. There’s supposed to be a final book in the sequence: The Door into Starlight. It’s not out, and I hope Diane Duane doesn’t do a Robert Jordan on us. Even if it never materialises, however, the trilogy ends not on a cliff hanger but with a proper resolution of the fight with the Shadow. However, that the series is not supposed to end with that climax but is supposed to go on after that suggests to me that, interestingly, the fight with the Big Bad is not its point. The real fight is the one about loving each other despite fear, anger, and selfishness. That’s what makes this series so eminently enjoyable and readable for me.
I read it first when I was in my teens/tweens, and I recently re-read it when, after a lousy day at the office, I stumbled across it, picked it up, started reading, and rapidly felt so much less lousy. I’ve put this book on my “recommended-unreservedly” shelf and taken it off a few times now. Ultimately, I don't think I can recommend it unreservedly. There’re definitely elements that will really bother some people (), but speaking for myself, I’d agree with ambyr who in her review says, “the plot makes no. damn. sense… But I love it anyway.”
June 18, 2019
ETA: I was NOT a fan of the second book and am not likely to ever finish the series, so, you know, heads up.
Re-read: This book definitely has a nostalgic feel to it - sex, drugs, and meandering plot (if you can even call that a plot). I could take or leave the drug trips, but the sex and meandering make for an entertaining, comfortable, low-intensity adventure that is very much to my tastes. I enjoyed reading it a second time, although I think I noticed more issues this time around. My biggest quibble was the occasional conflation of sex and love, and the over-emphasis on sex as an expression of love (really, everyone has sex with the Goddess at some point? or is there another way to share with her in love that this book doesn't discuss?). But I did appreciate how open this book was about sex, and I loved that "sharing" was used as a synonym/euphemism for sex. I know free love was a theme in quite a bit of sff from this era, but this is one of my favorite takes on it.
Original review: Classic fantasy with a super queer-normative setting. I really enjoyed this book. It's the kind of book I wish I'd had more of when I was first discovering adult fantasy novels. Even though it's no longer as ground-shaking as I think it once might have been, it's a solid read with entertaining characters and an interesting plot. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.
Re-read: This book definitely has a nostalgic feel to it - sex, drugs, and meandering plot (if you can even call that a plot). I could take or leave the drug trips, but the sex and meandering make for an entertaining, comfortable, low-intensity adventure that is very much to my tastes. I enjoyed reading it a second time, although I think I noticed more issues this time around. My biggest quibble was the occasional conflation of sex and love, and the over-emphasis on sex as an expression of love (really, everyone has sex with the Goddess at some point? or is there another way to share with her in love that this book doesn't discuss?). But I did appreciate how open this book was about sex, and I loved that "sharing" was used as a synonym/euphemism for sex. I know free love was a theme in quite a bit of sff from this era, but this is one of my favorite takes on it.
Original review: Classic fantasy with a super queer-normative setting. I really enjoyed this book. It's the kind of book I wish I'd had more of when I was first discovering adult fantasy novels. Even though it's no longer as ground-shaking as I think it once might have been, it's a solid read with entertaining characters and an interesting plot. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.
July 27, 2013
I can't believe how long this has been lingering on my to read pile. I've had Diane Duane recced to me so many times, and I have a ton of her books. I guess I was partly saving it so I had something awesome to look forward to, part afraid it wouldn't be awesome.
Well, it didn't bowl me over. I do love the characters, that they have their flaws and get things wrong and love and struggle and share. I love the fact that they're openly pansexual and polyamorous as a society, and that's done realistically too -- they still have those moments where someone will go with another person to hurt their main partner, someone will be overly possessive... I loved that relationships like that between Herewiss and Lorn weren't romanticised, that they could and did hurt one another -- and then made up.
There were things that felt less than original, a bit derivative: the whole pseudo-medieval setting, of course, and the Mother-Maiden-Crone thing. I come across that a lot in Arthuriana, and while I appreciate the power and rightness of the imagery, I'm not usually fond of it. But then on the other hand there's this world's creation myth, and the place of love within that creation, which somewhat redeems that to my mind.
At times it was too navel-gazing on Herewiss' part, at times it was a bit info dumpy -- but I read it all in one go, and had a horrible lump in my throat at the end of the story, so I don't think I could give it less than four stars. Now to make sure I get round to the other two books...
Well, it didn't bowl me over. I do love the characters, that they have their flaws and get things wrong and love and struggle and share. I love the fact that they're openly pansexual and polyamorous as a society, and that's done realistically too -- they still have those moments where someone will go with another person to hurt their main partner, someone will be overly possessive... I loved that relationships like that between Herewiss and Lorn weren't romanticised, that they could and did hurt one another -- and then made up.
There were things that felt less than original, a bit derivative: the whole pseudo-medieval setting, of course, and the Mother-Maiden-Crone thing. I come across that a lot in Arthuriana, and while I appreciate the power and rightness of the imagery, I'm not usually fond of it. But then on the other hand there's this world's creation myth, and the place of love within that creation, which somewhat redeems that to my mind.
At times it was too navel-gazing on Herewiss' part, at times it was a bit info dumpy -- but I read it all in one go, and had a horrible lump in my throat at the end of the story, so I don't think I could give it less than four stars. Now to make sure I get round to the other two books...
July 19, 2017
Sex. Drugs. And Rock... Color Purple. Very 70-ies.
What. A. Drag.
Never a straight (no pun) line in this book. I don't mind when a story gets from A to D via B, C and while at it detours through E and K. I do mind however, when the author goes through entire alphabet to connect A to B. Now imagine that alphabet being intense purple. It frigging haunts me in my sleep now.
One star.
And no, DD was not the one and only writing and publishing queer literature prior to 2001. No credit for that. Sorry, not sorry.
What. A. Drag.
Never a straight (no pun) line in this book. I don't mind when a story gets from A to D via B, C and while at it detours through E and K. I do mind however, when the author goes through entire alphabet to connect A to B. Now imagine that alphabet being intense purple. It frigging haunts me in my sleep now.
One star.
And no, DD was not the one and only writing and publishing queer literature prior to 2001. No credit for that. Sorry, not sorry.
October 4, 2019
Full review is here, on my blog!
This is the story of Herewiss, who is a sorcerer. He’s the first man in centuries to have the power of The Flame, which is a special type of magic that usually only women can wield. He can’t use it and hasn’t found the focus to control it, but he knows it’s there. Women use wooden rods as focuses, but Herewiss figures his focus could be a sword, so he becomes a smith, and he forges swords, hoping to make the perfect one, but he breaks every one of them.
One day, he’s minding his own business when he gets a message from Freelorn, the exiled Prince of the kingdom of Arlen, and Herewiss’ “dearest friend” as the blurb puts it. The note says Lorn is under siege, and to please, pretty please get him the hell out of there.
And so Herewiss jumps into action, immediately going on a solo quest to save his friend. But… his quest comes to a fork in the road once he and Lorn meet up again, and he must choose: help Freelorn regain his Kingship, or learn to master this rare and deadly power of his before it fizzles out forever. Dun Dun Dunnnnn.
This is a fairly straightforward fantasy, in terms of the main plot. Sorcerer goes on a quest to unlock his potential, outlaw king must take back his rightful place, probably because his bloodline protects the land from something Evil or because the person who usurped his place is a giant tool, and so on and so forth. What made it really unique to me, especially compared to other books that were around in its heyday… Herewiss and Freelorn are lovers. This isn’t skirted or played down either, except in the blurb. Herewiss actually full-on explains same sex relationships to a talking elemental horse at one point (which was exactly as amazing as that just made it sound, lol). In this world, everyone, male or female, is religiously obligated to bear/produce one child at the time they come of age, and after that Responsibility (capital R) is fulfilled, they are free to love whomever they wish. There appears to be no stigma in this world at all regarding sexuality. Bisexuality seems to be the natural state for just about everyone. There is also no apparent tradition of monogamy outside of marriage either, as several of these characters have chosen to have more than one lover of any gender at any given time.
So, I wasn’t really expecting that in my classic fantasy, but there it is. I wish that I had read this one when I was much younger, like in the early 90s. Young me who was just coming to terms with girls being just as cute as boys would have loved a fantasy world where bisexuality is just part of the norm and not at all abnormal.
Herewiss was an easy character to cheer for. He’s carefree and friendly a lot of the time. He is clever when he needs to get out of scrapes. He meets the aforementioned talking elemental horse along the way, who is in reality a fire elemental named Sunspark. He saves Sunspark from the rain, and in return, Spark travels with him until such a time that he can return the favor and save Herewiss’ life.
The prose was oftentimes lovely, and the book flowed well. This was quite a quick read, and I started it one morning at work only to find myself at 20% or so before I knew it. It was never boring, though also not full to the brim of action. I like to occasionally jump into an older book or series. They remind me of the fantasy I read when I was young, which is an often pleasant nostalgic feeling. This one gave me that feeling as well at times…
…though, like many classic fantasy has been known to, at times it made my eyes roll hard. For example: the woman-who-is-probably-more-than-she-seems, who in this case is an “innkeeper”. Described as something like the most beautiful woman ever (of course), who completely randomly declares that despite the fact that they have money to pay, she’ll trade sex with one of the seven adventurers wishing to stay at her random middle-of-nowhere (very convenient) inn for rooms overnight for all of them. Our group of adventurers go on to draw straws for who gets to sleep with this gorgeous random woman, including Herewiss and his boyfriend, who are both rather disappointed when neither of them draw the short straw.
Uhhh, okay.
Of course there was a deeper purpose to this character than being the random beautiful innkeeper of the random inn in the middle of nowhere. She is there to give Herewiss an important magical item (it’s drugs, lol) to help with his quest. Also because love is beautiful and so on, et cetera. So, you see she’s an important random beautiful lady, in the grand scheme of things. She is there for reasons. Not the least of which being because this is a fantasy book from the 70s and there needs to be a beautiful woman present to be naked on the cover. THOSE ARE THE RULES.
The last third or so of this book was… weird, to put it bluntly. Here are some highlights:
1. Herewiss and the fire elemental who does not understand love fall in love, and share themselves with each other. The elemental can change its shape to be a human male or human female (among other things). They try both, for science!
2. Herewiss takes a bunch of hallucinogens and has an out-of-body experience which he basically ends up using to watch his boyfriend bang someone else. He uses his drug-induced telepathy to read their minds and analyze their relationship while they’re at it.
3. Herewiss goes on another drug-induced dream vision quest, visits his dead brother in the afterlife for a chat, then goes back in time to witness his parents going at it, presumably before he was born. Comments on how in love they were somewhere around the time that his mom climaxes while he is still watching.
So, as you’ve likely picked up on, there is a lot of talk about love and the making thereof in this book, as a central theme is pretty much love and the sharing of oneself via it. There is a lot of sex in this book, and yet none of it is graphic or explicit, so for those adverse to explicit love scenes, this one doesn’t get in your face with it. It just got a little too odd for me in the latter half, and I’ll admit that it sort of soured the experience as a whole. I like sex in fantasy, and the idea of a world where there are very little boundaries in terms of love, but this one uses some very odd ideas at times to illustrate it and I found myself just rather disappointed when it got more weird than not. C’est la vie.
So, in the end, I think that I’d call this one a 6/10 stars. I’d recommend it to people into classic SFF. It’s tropey at times, while still being unique (at least, to me), and while it delves into the weird, it was still a quick, enjoyable read that I read in just short of 2 days. Unfortunately, I am going to cut it from the pile. Alas, it just wasn’t one of my favorites this year.
This is the story of Herewiss, who is a sorcerer. He’s the first man in centuries to have the power of The Flame, which is a special type of magic that usually only women can wield. He can’t use it and hasn’t found the focus to control it, but he knows it’s there. Women use wooden rods as focuses, but Herewiss figures his focus could be a sword, so he becomes a smith, and he forges swords, hoping to make the perfect one, but he breaks every one of them.
One day, he’s minding his own business when he gets a message from Freelorn, the exiled Prince of the kingdom of Arlen, and Herewiss’ “dearest friend” as the blurb puts it. The note says Lorn is under siege, and to please, pretty please get him the hell out of there.
And so Herewiss jumps into action, immediately going on a solo quest to save his friend. But… his quest comes to a fork in the road once he and Lorn meet up again, and he must choose: help Freelorn regain his Kingship, or learn to master this rare and deadly power of his before it fizzles out forever. Dun Dun Dunnnnn.
This is a fairly straightforward fantasy, in terms of the main plot. Sorcerer goes on a quest to unlock his potential, outlaw king must take back his rightful place, probably because his bloodline protects the land from something Evil or because the person who usurped his place is a giant tool, and so on and so forth. What made it really unique to me, especially compared to other books that were around in its heyday… Herewiss and Freelorn are lovers. This isn’t skirted or played down either, except in the blurb. Herewiss actually full-on explains same sex relationships to a talking elemental horse at one point (which was exactly as amazing as that just made it sound, lol). In this world, everyone, male or female, is religiously obligated to bear/produce one child at the time they come of age, and after that Responsibility (capital R) is fulfilled, they are free to love whomever they wish. There appears to be no stigma in this world at all regarding sexuality. Bisexuality seems to be the natural state for just about everyone. There is also no apparent tradition of monogamy outside of marriage either, as several of these characters have chosen to have more than one lover of any gender at any given time.
So, I wasn’t really expecting that in my classic fantasy, but there it is. I wish that I had read this one when I was much younger, like in the early 90s. Young me who was just coming to terms with girls being just as cute as boys would have loved a fantasy world where bisexuality is just part of the norm and not at all abnormal.
Herewiss was an easy character to cheer for. He’s carefree and friendly a lot of the time. He is clever when he needs to get out of scrapes. He meets the aforementioned talking elemental horse along the way, who is in reality a fire elemental named Sunspark. He saves Sunspark from the rain, and in return, Spark travels with him until such a time that he can return the favor and save Herewiss’ life.
Now Herewiss began for the first time to understand what an elemental was. This was one note of the song the Goddess sang at the beginning, when She was young and did not know about the great Death. One pure unbearable note of the song, a note to break the brain open through the ears and the burnt eyes—a chained potency looking for a place to happen, a spark of the Sun indeed, whose only purpose was to burn itself out, recklessly, gloriously.
The prose was oftentimes lovely, and the book flowed well. This was quite a quick read, and I started it one morning at work only to find myself at 20% or so before I knew it. It was never boring, though also not full to the brim of action. I like to occasionally jump into an older book or series. They remind me of the fantasy I read when I was young, which is an often pleasant nostalgic feeling. This one gave me that feeling as well at times…
…though, like many classic fantasy has been known to, at times it made my eyes roll hard. For example: the woman-who-is-probably-more-than-she-seems, who in this case is an “innkeeper”. Described as something like the most beautiful woman ever (of course), who completely randomly declares that despite the fact that they have money to pay, she’ll trade sex with one of the seven adventurers wishing to stay at her random middle-of-nowhere (very convenient) inn for rooms overnight for all of them. Our group of adventurers go on to draw straws for who gets to sleep with this gorgeous random woman, including Herewiss and his boyfriend, who are both rather disappointed when neither of them draw the short straw.
Uhhh, okay.
Of course there was a deeper purpose to this character than being the random beautiful innkeeper of the random inn in the middle of nowhere. She is there to give Herewiss an important magical item (it’s drugs, lol) to help with his quest. Also because love is beautiful and so on, et cetera. So, you see she’s an important random beautiful lady, in the grand scheme of things. She is there for reasons. Not the least of which being because this is a fantasy book from the 70s and there needs to be a beautiful woman present to be naked on the cover. THOSE ARE THE RULES.
The last third or so of this book was… weird, to put it bluntly. Here are some highlights:
1. Herewiss and the fire elemental who does not understand love fall in love, and share themselves with each other. The elemental can change its shape to be a human male or human female (among other things). They try both, for science!
2. Herewiss takes a bunch of hallucinogens and has an out-of-body experience which he basically ends up using to watch his boyfriend bang someone else. He uses his drug-induced telepathy to read their minds and analyze their relationship while they’re at it.
3. Herewiss goes on another drug-induced dream vision quest, visits his dead brother in the afterlife for a chat, then goes back in time to witness his parents going at it, presumably before he was born. Comments on how in love they were somewhere around the time that his mom climaxes while he is still watching.
So, as you’ve likely picked up on, there is a lot of talk about love and the making thereof in this book, as a central theme is pretty much love and the sharing of oneself via it. There is a lot of sex in this book, and yet none of it is graphic or explicit, so for those adverse to explicit love scenes, this one doesn’t get in your face with it. It just got a little too odd for me in the latter half, and I’ll admit that it sort of soured the experience as a whole. I like sex in fantasy, and the idea of a world where there are very little boundaries in terms of love, but this one uses some very odd ideas at times to illustrate it and I found myself just rather disappointed when it got more weird than not. C’est la vie.
So, in the end, I think that I’d call this one a 6/10 stars. I’d recommend it to people into classic SFF. It’s tropey at times, while still being unique (at least, to me), and while it delves into the weird, it was still a quick, enjoyable read that I read in just short of 2 days. Unfortunately, I am going to cut it from the pile. Alas, it just wasn’t one of my favorites this year.
November 13, 2015
SO I know it too me a long time to finish this one but it wasn't hugely captivating and so other things got in the way. I really wanted this book to be like The Fire's Stone but it wasn't and that made me sad. This book was comfort food like Huff's but while Huff's work really dragged me in this book had me skimming pages and missing paragraphs so that I could get to the action. I understand that this is the first book to a series of three but for me this book just felt like world building and I was glad it was only 300 words.
I did like the fact that the world was pan-sexual and how important of was to the religious aspect of the world and of course Freelorn and Herewis were great I would probably just read the next book just to see what happens to them, but then again I've heard it changes pov. So three stars and maybe I'll read the next one.
if you are running out of room on your to read list then I wouldn't recommend this one, I think there are better 1980's fantasy books out there.
I did like the fact that the world was pan-sexual and how important of was to the religious aspect of the world and of course Freelorn and Herewis were great I would probably just read the next book just to see what happens to them, but then again I've heard it changes pov. So three stars and maybe I'll read the next one.
if you are running out of room on your to read list then I wouldn't recommend this one, I think there are better 1980's fantasy books out there.
March 4, 2012
The Middle Kingdoms series has a bit of a reputation for "deviant sex", which might have been more true by 1979 standards, or perhaps in the later novels. Here, it boils down to everyone's bi, nobody's monogamous. Nothing's explicit, or even particularly suggestive, and for every page about sex there's about ten pages on relationship or religious implications. (The Middle Kingdoms religion is pretty sexual in nature.) Sex aside, this is straightforward personal story that ties into a larger arc, presumably covered in the subsequent novels. It's short on typical fantasy tropes, long on fresh re-imaginings of same, and rich in worldbuilding. Without careful study of the map some of the politics gets a bit tangled at first but the important bits eventually come clear. Definitely enjoyed the read and recommend giving it a shot.
July 2, 2009
This is a basic sword and sorcery quest, with a Patricia McKillip-style introspective main character. Herewiss contains powerful magic, but he cannot harness it, not even to save his beloved and best friend, an overthrown king. Two very interesting aspects of this book: 1)the culture accepts various sexualities without a blink of an eye (even fire elemental/human) and 2)readers of DD's later-written "So You Want to Be a Wizard" series will recognize threads of the same spiritual beliefs (most obviously, a shared fight against entropy). A good read.
September 24, 2015
I am rating this book based not on quality (it is soooooo delightfully shlocky) but on how much I enjoyed it, which was 5000%. A knight with Untapped Magic goes on a quest to save his best beloved, an exiled Prince? Everyone is bi? The goddess likes to show up and bang people for wisdom? There is also a fire horse? cats can talk? SIGN ME THE FUCK UP
October 29, 2023
Is the pacing sort of wild? Maybe. Did I still bawl like a baby? Absolutely I did.
July 20, 2019
To be totally honest, I considered giving this one star. By the end of this book, I was very much over it, but it started off ok, and I wasn’t actively unhappy while reading most of it, so... two stars. However, I have a few strong complaints about this book.
First, the author seems more interested in world building than story telling, and the entirety of this fictional universe hinges upon a sort of utopian, zen-hippie, freelove philosophy, which is delivered in such a way to be more narratorial than a natural extension of the plot. This also causes the story to exhibit an unusual preoccupation with sex that is totally devoid of sexiness or significance. For example, the female goddess appears to each and every adult at one point in their lives to...sleep with them. Even worse, the (ahem) climax of the book includes a time traveling vision quest in which the main character lovingly watches his parents conceive him...to conclusion...
This universe also presents an outdated and thus unsatisfying form of feminism/equality, including such gems as societally required procreation (which is both regardless of sexual orientation and unfair to women who must carry to term twice whereas men must just “perform” once) and a world in which women alone wield Fire, or true magic, and are unrestrained by gender norms, yet the hero is still a man who somehow accesses this and has more power than any of them.
This book also seems to share a flaw with the last fantasy novel I read, His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik, in that the protagonist doesn’t face any true obstacles—neither of these main characters is an underdog, there are no real villains, and all hardships are quickly overcome. I will say that part of this problem was exacerbated by Duane’s writing style, which rarely allows for the building of tension, drama, or even expectations. Often, battles and feats of magic are effortlessly achieved by Herewiss on the first try with little explanation and only after the fact are readers informed that this was a particularly difficult or dangerous task.
Lastly, the emotional tones of this book were off for me. Only rarely does Herewiss have reactions that aren’t conscientious and empathetic (he’s very... evolved?), and when he does have an outburst of emotion it comes off as melodramatic because there was no foundation built for it. For example, two times Herewiss seemingly out of the blue considers suicide, with no build up and no fallout afterwards. The klaxon-like refrain of LOVE LOVE LOVE throughout the whole novel was particularly saccharine and self-important. While other reviewers have described this a “almost too sweet,” I would go a little further and say that it is cloying and childish.
As you can see...this was almost a 1 star for me.
First, the author seems more interested in world building than story telling, and the entirety of this fictional universe hinges upon a sort of utopian, zen-hippie, freelove philosophy, which is delivered in such a way to be more narratorial than a natural extension of the plot. This also causes the story to exhibit an unusual preoccupation with sex that is totally devoid of sexiness or significance. For example, the female goddess appears to each and every adult at one point in their lives to...sleep with them. Even worse, the (ahem) climax of the book includes a time traveling vision quest in which the main character lovingly watches his parents conceive him...to conclusion...
This universe also presents an outdated and thus unsatisfying form of feminism/equality, including such gems as societally required procreation (which is both regardless of sexual orientation and unfair to women who must carry to term twice whereas men must just “perform” once) and a world in which women alone wield Fire, or true magic, and are unrestrained by gender norms, yet the hero is still a man who somehow accesses this and has more power than any of them.
This book also seems to share a flaw with the last fantasy novel I read, His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik, in that the protagonist doesn’t face any true obstacles—neither of these main characters is an underdog, there are no real villains, and all hardships are quickly overcome. I will say that part of this problem was exacerbated by Duane’s writing style, which rarely allows for the building of tension, drama, or even expectations. Often, battles and feats of magic are effortlessly achieved by Herewiss on the first try with little explanation and only after the fact are readers informed that this was a particularly difficult or dangerous task.
Lastly, the emotional tones of this book were off for me. Only rarely does Herewiss have reactions that aren’t conscientious and empathetic (he’s very... evolved?), and when he does have an outburst of emotion it comes off as melodramatic because there was no foundation built for it. For example, two times Herewiss seemingly out of the blue considers suicide, with no build up and no fallout afterwards. The klaxon-like refrain of LOVE LOVE LOVE throughout the whole novel was particularly saccharine and self-important. While other reviewers have described this a “almost too sweet,” I would go a little further and say that it is cloying and childish.
As you can see...this was almost a 1 star for me.
March 28, 2010
[These notes were made in 1990:]. Not a Star Trek novel. This is a swords-and-sorcery tale, the first part of projected four-parter which appears to have been abandoned after Part 2 (presumably when Duane discovered she could sell ST).[2010 note: my cynicism was apparently unwarranted - I see there are sequels dating from the '90s] What makes it unusual is that the central relationship is unabashedly (and uncomplicatedly) homosexual. Herewiss, the sorcerer-warrior, has fire-powers he can't control; Freelorn is the dispossessed ruler of his country. Two other elements are introduced into the emotional landscape: a fire-creature (capable of taking any shape, and immortal) called Sunspark, and a rather enigmatic woman also with untapped powers. The latter, named (unpronounceably) Segnbora, is here basically to set up part 2, which is her story. The characters are well realized, particularly the two men. And tho' I don't care much one way or the other for the metaphysics of this fantasy-world - they are vaguely Zimmer Bradleyish - I thought they were handled reasonably clearly. There were two scenes that stood out for me. The first, near the beginning, was Herewiss casting an illusion spell in order to rescue Freelorn from a castle (Hmmm - what did I used to call those Starsky & Hutch episodes? Princess in the Castle?) In order to cast the spell, he has to dig into his memories of their relationship - funny and a little sentimental; lovely. The second, near the end: Herewiss confronts his ghosts, literally. A trip to the world of the dead, in the best Greek epic tradition, where he meets the brother he accidentally killed when they were messing around with swords as kids. This is tapping right into the archetypes, and Duane handles it well. This one goes into the permanent collection.
January 6, 2013
I know I read this when I was young, possibly before I was 10. Was I really that clueless that I had no idea what was going on in the book? The only thing I remembered was a horse who wasn't a horse and the fact that at the end of the book it dawned on me that those two boys were in Love! From there my poor befuzzled brain spent weeks trying to figure out the logistics of boys and boys. It never did come up with anything remotely resembling reality, but this is the book that made me realize that love can come in many forms and all of them are good. It's taken me forever to rediscover this book as my poor brain had forgotten everything about title or author, so thank you internets for reuniting me with this gem. I was surprised that the creation myth for this world incorporated the normal Triple Goddess, but instead of giving birth to one consort She gives birth to twins. Those Twins then love each other as they love the Goddess, giving a nice nod to same sex love in the creation of the world. I just found out that this is the first in a series, so I now have other books in this world to look forward to!
June 13, 2022
This is a truly beautiful book.
The way romantic love and sexuality are depicted in this world is so pure and so healing - uplifting without sacrificing any complexity. Grief and guilt, too - this book has such emotional depth, without ever falling back on cynicism.
I would gush more but i just want to talk about how great every single thing in this book is, and I don’t want to rob you of the experience of being with these characters, in this world, yourself. I didn’t read this book as fast as I usually read because I found myself wanting to savor it, saving it for times when I wanted to be at peace, to reflect, to think deeply about how its themes pertained to my own life, and even to give myself some time to emotionally heal as I followed Herewiss’s story.
I was aware of this author from her So You Want to Be a Wizard YA series, and I’m so glad I heard about this book on Twitter or I never would have known about it.
The way romantic love and sexuality are depicted in this world is so pure and so healing - uplifting without sacrificing any complexity. Grief and guilt, too - this book has such emotional depth, without ever falling back on cynicism.
I would gush more but i just want to talk about how great every single thing in this book is, and I don’t want to rob you of the experience of being with these characters, in this world, yourself. I didn’t read this book as fast as I usually read because I found myself wanting to savor it, saving it for times when I wanted to be at peace, to reflect, to think deeply about how its themes pertained to my own life, and even to give myself some time to emotionally heal as I followed Herewiss’s story.
I was aware of this author from her So You Want to Be a Wizard YA series, and I’m so glad I heard about this book on Twitter or I never would have known about it.
June 2, 2010
Not quite as cool as I remember (not enough Segnbora), but still pretty cool. As with Alanna: The First Adventure, I was surprised by how episodic the narrative was; in my memories, I smoothed it out into something more flowing. The plot itself is fairly formulaic, and this volume doesn't have quite the crowning moments of awesome as the sequels. But the characters, oh, the characters. They are prickly and imperfect and oh so human, and they love the way people really do: sometimes giving, sometimes selfish, sometimes blind, and sometimes perceptive. And I adore the mythology and history of the world.
July 15, 2008
I was pretty young when I read this and my main memory is of the awful cover, which was really badly drawn and had some anatomically incorrect, inexplicably blue person on it (not the cover shown here). Otherwise I just recall it being about some people on a quest, with some bisexuality and goddess stuff thrown in. Duane does a good job eliding gender roles and depicting non-gendered/alternative behavior in a natural-seeming way, but I don't think I much cared about the characters or what they were doing.
December 30, 2011
This was just a really fun read. Don't be fooled by the cover - it's actually an excellent fantasy novel, with original worldbuilding and likable characters. It was also an extremely fast read, and in the end it isn't as gripping as some other fantasy books I've read, but I heartily enjoyed it and I'll pick up the next two in the trilogy as soon as I can.
September 22, 2017
IDK what to say about this except if you go in expecting early-80's sex positive goddess worshiping high fantasy written by and for women that went through a horse phase around age 12, then you get that in spades. It's kind of like the ending scene of Jupiter Ascending when Channing Tatum gets wings except a whole book.
August 15, 2021
(2.5)
Rep: bi mc, bi side characters
Rep: bi mc, bi side characters
February 21, 2018
This story takes place in a world that on the outside looks like a fairly standart fantasy world where lords, kings, gods, magic, dragons and the power of the True Name play big parts.
On the inside it's refreshingly different, though... cause you see, as long as you provide society with a child at some point in your young adult years (with a person of your choosing of course), you're allowed to love and have sex with whom you please afterwards. No one cares if that person is male or female or if there are even several people. You can even marry anyone you want.
Naturally that doesn't mean relationship problems or jealousy don't exist, but it's a pretty cool concept (even if a bit scary for someone like me, who doesn't want children).
Luckily this also means that our main character Herewiss, doesn't have the standart cliché fantasy romance with an elven maiden. Actually, at the start of this book his heart is already pretty much spoken for: He calls his childhood friend Freelorn his "loved" and is so steadfast in his devotion, that he keeps coming to bail him out of any bad situation he gets himself in, despite his magic not being what it should be.
Their relationship was one of my favorite parts of this story, because it's not perfect. They have some pretty bad fights in which both hurt the other, but they also communicate, own up to their mistakes and work on their relationship because they love each other and are friends first and foremost.
The other two characters who got a noticable amount of page time were a fire elementar usually in the form of a horse whose relationship with Herewiss sort of heats up over the cause of the story and Segnbora, who has the opposite problem of our protagonist: Too much magic that she can't really control.
Though, I have to mention that I got pretty fond of Herewiss' father from the two scenes or so he had.
The plot itself was sort of generic: A magician who can't access all his power no matter how hard he tries goes to rescue his boyfriend, who actually should be king but got usurped due to the lack of ancestral sword. He meets mystical creatures along the way and joins a merry band of misfits.
It's the little things that make the story so engaging. All the self doubt all the characters have to fight with, their relationship problems, the guilt they carry around with themselves and on the lighter side, the love they have for each other and the humor with which their approach some situations.
The writing style was enjoyable nice and easy to read, though there were a few boring pages here and there.
Looking forward to reading the next volume soon.
On the inside it's refreshingly different, though... cause you see, as long as you provide society with a child at some point in your young adult years (with a person of your choosing of course), you're allowed to love and have sex with whom you please afterwards. No one cares if that person is male or female or if there are even several people. You can even marry anyone you want.
Naturally that doesn't mean relationship problems or jealousy don't exist, but it's a pretty cool concept (even if a bit scary for someone like me, who doesn't want children).
Luckily this also means that our main character Herewiss, doesn't have the standart cliché fantasy romance with an elven maiden. Actually, at the start of this book his heart is already pretty much spoken for: He calls his childhood friend Freelorn his "loved" and is so steadfast in his devotion, that he keeps coming to bail him out of any bad situation he gets himself in, despite his magic not being what it should be.
Their relationship was one of my favorite parts of this story, because it's not perfect. They have some pretty bad fights in which both hurt the other, but they also communicate, own up to their mistakes and work on their relationship because they love each other and are friends first and foremost.
The other two characters who got a noticable amount of page time were a fire elementar usually in the form of a horse whose relationship with Herewiss sort of heats up over the cause of the story and Segnbora, who has the opposite problem of our protagonist: Too much magic that she can't really control.
Though, I have to mention that I got pretty fond of Herewiss' father from the two scenes or so he had.
The plot itself was sort of generic: A magician who can't access all his power no matter how hard he tries goes to rescue his boyfriend, who actually should be king but got usurped due to the lack of ancestral sword. He meets mystical creatures along the way and joins a merry band of misfits.
It's the little things that make the story so engaging. All the self doubt all the characters have to fight with, their relationship problems, the guilt they carry around with themselves and on the lighter side, the love they have for each other and the humor with which their approach some situations.
The writing style was enjoyable nice and easy to read, though there were a few boring pages here and there.
Looking forward to reading the next volume soon.
January 25, 2025
This novel is well-written and logically constructed. It is about two young lovers, Freelorn and Herewiss, on a quest for Freelorn to gain the confidence to one day rule his kingdom, and for Herewiss to learn to control his ability to use magic, starting with forgiving himself for a tragedy. The plot and the characters are all drawn well. The writing is deep and vivid. Readers who want to see gay relationships portrayed maturely will rejoice.
But the plot left this reader somewhat unimpressed. Was anything truly profound or worth the reading covered by its 237 pages? I think not. The novel was reasonably entertaining. Duane's wording and word choices and her writing style are sophisticated, above average. Yet, I wanted more. The Sunspark fire elemental character was well considered, but underdeveloped. The doors into other dimensions concept was used, but barely explored.
Well, I bought an omnibus edition with the second book of this series attached. So, we'll see if more comes in the next volume.
But the plot left this reader somewhat unimpressed. Was anything truly profound or worth the reading covered by its 237 pages? I think not. The novel was reasonably entertaining. Duane's wording and word choices and her writing style are sophisticated, above average. Yet, I wanted more. The Sunspark fire elemental character was well considered, but underdeveloped. The doors into other dimensions concept was used, but barely explored.
Well, I bought an omnibus edition with the second book of this series attached. So, we'll see if more comes in the next volume.
Read
January 29, 2023Intéressant roman de Fantasy avec un magicien en couple avec un autre homme et des réflexions sur la magie, la vie, les sortilèges, le pouvoir, les alliances, etc. Pas vraiment mon genre, mais je vois définitivement l'intérêt que ça peut avoir (et quand même un des rares couples gais, surtout dans les années '70, en Fantasy et dont l'établissement du couple est déjà pris pour acquis et où on est dans une autre étape de la relation).
July 18, 2022
I was really pleasantly surprised by this one and I can't believe that this series isn't huge on BookTok. Read about these queer polyamorous wizards OR PERISH
https://www.frowl.org/worstbestseller...
https://www.frowl.org/worstbestseller...
January 15, 2024
DNF’d at about 65%. Nothing much happens, and when it does, it’s not very captivating. It’s a love story rather than a fantasy adventure, which is fine, but not the reason I picked up the book. It’s nice to see some decent representation of same sex relationships given when the book was written, but beyond that, the narrative simply uses sex as a capstone for every romantic scene. On to other things!
June 25, 2017
Am I really giving a Diane Duane book two stars? Yes, I am.
Lots of purple prose, very slow to get into. If you haven't read anything by Diane Duane before then don't start here. It is good once it gets going but there's a lot to wade through first.
I do like having a fantasy where a gay relationship is emphasised and everyone seems to be bisexual and polyamorous. It's not explicit; 'sharing' is the euphemis for sex.
I'd actually read the other books in the trilogy years ago before finding this one. So I had an idea of where plot strands were going and if people would reappear in the next book.
(I can be harsh in my star ratings as I very rarely give five stars.)
Lots of purple prose, very slow to get into. If you haven't read anything by Diane Duane before then don't start here. It is good once it gets going but there's a lot to wade through first.
I do like having a fantasy where a gay relationship is emphasised and everyone seems to be bisexual and polyamorous. It's not explicit; 'sharing' is the euphemis for sex.
I'd actually read the other books in the trilogy years ago before finding this one. So I had an idea of where plot strands were going and if people would reappear in the next book.
(I can be harsh in my star ratings as I very rarely give five stars.)
April 25, 2012
It's enlightening to read this book, having started with the Young Wizards series, and seeing the seeds of the themes that are fully fleshed out in that series being tentatively explored in this earlier novel. It is endearing –to me anyway, there are others who aren't of the same opinion– in its first novel naivete and desire to fix the issues in our world in her own universe. It is particularly interesting to read the author's perspective on the book thirty years later.
The Door into Fire is a slightly silly happy fantasy book, where everything is okay and all the main characters have to worry about is some political intrigue and whether the other character loves them, all painted over with the acceptance of they fact they're just humans in a wide universe who will die one day and that too is fine. But all of that is fine as well, as I hardly think I'll ever get sick of the opinion that we're all just tiny but important pieces of the universe and that whatever we do, just as long as it is a positive action, contributes to its wonder.
Another part of why I like it despite the fluffiness is the variety of relationships shown, especially concerning Sunspark. It's very liberal in its approach, especially for the time it was published in. It's all very matter of fact though and I would hesitate to say outright that I recommend it as LGBTQA fantasy because it contains such elements, but I'd hand it to that fifteen year old teen questioning that they aren't an important part of the world or that their feelings are wrong anyway.
The Door into Fire is a slightly silly happy fantasy book, where everything is okay and all the main characters have to worry about is some political intrigue and whether the other character loves them, all painted over with the acceptance of they fact they're just humans in a wide universe who will die one day and that too is fine. But all of that is fine as well, as I hardly think I'll ever get sick of the opinion that we're all just tiny but important pieces of the universe and that whatever we do, just as long as it is a positive action, contributes to its wonder.
Another part of why I like it despite the fluffiness is the variety of relationships shown, especially concerning Sunspark. It's very liberal in its approach, especially for the time it was published in. It's all very matter of fact though and I would hesitate to say outright that I recommend it as LGBTQA fantasy because it contains such elements, but I'd hand it to that fifteen year old teen questioning that they aren't an important part of the world or that their feelings are wrong anyway.
June 7, 2010
Stylistically not the best of Duane's work (it's her first novel, I believe), but really interesting in terms of the relationships between the characters. In this society, people have "the Responsibility" to produce an heir, but after that, they may love whom they please, a number of the characters appear to be what we'd call bisexual and polyamorous, although the series doesn't get into whether anything like those identities exist in this society. Also notable [minor spoilers:] is that one of the characters gets involved with a fire elemental who takes a number of different forms-- it's clear that they interact in a sexual/romantic way when Sunspark appears as a female or male human, rather than an insistence on one or the other (not clear thus far whether any other forms are involved). The relationship with the elemental is considered unusual, but not offensive, thus far. Interesting stuff, and seems a more progressive and complex treatment of queer characters than, say, Lackey.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 27, 2018
What a marvelously weird story for so many reasons, not the least of which is the explanation for this Conanesque cover (which is not the cover of the edition I have). You might think it's sexy and exploitative, but in fact, and I hazard spoilers here, the strapping big lad there is gloriously bisexual, in love with another man and also with a fire elemental who takes the form of a fire-haired woman sometimes and a fire-haired, lithe young man at other times, but who is most often a red roan horse. I leave you to decide what you think about all of that.
The sexual liberation in the novel, the centrality of LGBTQ relationships, the appealingly flawed characters, the epic scope of the quest, the world-building, the weight of history...it's all remarkably thoughtful and refreshingly free. There's no effort here. It is what it is, like it or lump it.
I loved it and am eager to read the next in the trilogy.
The sexual liberation in the novel, the centrality of LGBTQ relationships, the appealingly flawed characters, the epic scope of the quest, the world-building, the weight of history...it's all remarkably thoughtful and refreshingly free. There's no effort here. It is what it is, like it or lump it.
I loved it and am eager to read the next in the trilogy.
Want to read
April 22, 2018It has come to my attention that (and I really shouldn't be surprised, given the sexist bias, present still in 2018, but I'm in a bit of a shock and frankly, I'm appalled,) women writers have essentially been systematically erased; forgotten.
Tor.com presents https://www.tor.com/2018/01/22/fighti...
In an attempt to bring awareness to this very important--and saddening-- issue, I thought I'd present them here. Maybe we can learn from the mistakes of the past and build a better future. That is my hope.
In Duane’s secondary world fantasy, The Door Into Fire, Herewiss struggles to master the Blue Flame in time to save his lover Prince Freelorn. Herewiss’ alliance with fire elemental Sunspark, a whimsical living WMD, may not prove entirely helpful. Modern readers might be surprised at how grimdark this is not, but readers back in the long long ago were more likely to notice Duane’s embrace of a range of sexualities.
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