Child of Fire

Twenty Palaces #1

by Harry Connolly

This edition contains excerpts from Harry Connolly's Game of Cages and Twenty Palaces.Ray Lilly is living on borrowed time. He’s the driver for Annalise Powliss, a high-ranking member of the Twenty Palace Society, a group of sorcerers devoted to hunting down and executing rogue magicians. But because Ray betrayed her once, Annalise is looking for an excuse to kill him–or let someone else do the job. Unfortunately for both of them, Annalise’s next mission goes wrong, leaving her critically injured. With the little magic he controls, Ray must complete her assignment alone. Not only does he have to stop a sorcerer who’s sacrificing dozens of innocent lives in exchange for supernatural power, he must find–and destroy–the source of that inhuman magic.

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Fiction, Paranormal, Magic, Mystery, Horror

368 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Felicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

NO ROMANCE YEAH!!! I took a left turn and went straight urban fantasy for this book and YES I really really really enjoyed it! Here's the tale of an ex-con sucked into guarding a sorceror who's part of a secret society to oppress bad magicians from popping up in the world abusing magic (the bad guys have very Lovecraftian overtones). The book is set in a creepy small town they're investigating where children are dying in horrible ways but everyone is magicked into not knowing. I have to say, the creepy parts of this book kept me REALLY glued to the page. It's a dark and gritty read that couldn't put down.

I LOVED the lead character's boss Annalise (who hates his guts and wants him to die) and how creepy she is and how she sustains her magic, how NOT interested in protecting innocent people she is (and she's a redhead, I totally wanted to play this character as I read her haha). Sad to have heard that the author wasn't renewed after the third book, but I'll read all three because I loved the world so much!!

[carol. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Making your way in the world today takes everything you got... Making my way through the UF canon takes everything I got...

Jim Butcher and Laurell K. Hamilton have a lot to answer for, specifically, for achieving a level of commercial success that has spawned a host of imitators. Child of Fire is one of the later entries into the urban fantasy field, first in a short-lived series of three books.

Dresden is the obvious comparison here, but not for the reasons you might think. On the surface, not too much is similar between main characters. Harry Dresden, wizard for hire; Ray Lilly, ex-convict. Harry, practicing wizard; Ray, strictly normal, no magic but a stolen glyph made into a knife. Harry, connected to a community; Ray, isolated in service to Annalise. But the basic characterization reminds me of early Dresden in the eye-rolling chivalry, the emotional over-emphasis on "innocents," particularly children, the mental/verbal reluctance to fight that never seems to translate into preventing violence. Ever notice how often they always say "I was pushed into it"? The token guilt at causing violence and death? ("They made me!") It's a clear emotional resonance.

On the positive side, there was a creepy Stepford town, an under-powered hero, an intimidating woman (made oh-so-vulnerable), a cool knife and interesting villains. Well, not the cats' paws; the real powers behind them were fascinating. Connolly does a decent job of developing a tone of dread in a remote Washington town and it's strange inhabitants, and the background magic seems interesting.

Plotting moves along in fits and starts. It felt a little uneven--although Ray and Annalise are heading into town to investigate and remove the source of the illicit magic, the pair barrel into situations without forethought, letting it sort itself out. Ray eventually comes up with an insufficient cover story that only serves to heighten townies' suspicions. The poorly conceived strategy doesn't really work for either characters' motivation, Ray's theory of protecting innocents or Annalise's intention to destroy evil, but whatever, I guess. I've been told not to be so picky. Further picky notes include a supposed 'secret society' that seems to think nothing of mass murder and a 'burn it all down' mentality. No reader explanations needed! The narrator himself admits he "doesn't know how it all happened." Convenient! And, as long as I'm being picky...

Characterization also felt uninspired. Our hero was poor and abused! The cops are jerks and abuse power! A sinning preacher! A relentless newspaperman! A scary madam with lots of power disproportionate to real life! A guy that does evil with the intention of doing good! Henchman that may or may not be able to use guns! Even important characters are puzzling. There's a lady that stalks the narrator--but Ray might be a little turned on. He's been in prison, after all! Annalise orders him to sleep with her. He doesn't want to now that he's ordered to! But the lady initiates, so he does! But then the lady says, not again--it was too intense! Wow! So he's left with the residue of hot, intensive sex and no future entanglements! Honestly, I'm not sure what purpose it played in the narrative. Her character was just whatever the author wanted. But it did maybe make his boss just a little jealous!

But I still can't stop reading UF! Or using exclamation points! I read even when this felt like a first book! Trope-heavy with prosaic peripheral characters and writing that is focused on action scenes, which seems to be where Connolly's vision is the clearest. After finishing, I discovered Connolly intentionally refrained from filling out a number of details regarding the Twenty Palaces Society and general world building, but unfortunately, I'm not sure he manages to intrigue as much as convince us that the side of the angels is a bunch of jerks that don't deserve our attention.

Recommendations are always hard for me, given that I want to play match-maker and fit the right read to the right person. I certainly won't add it to my shelves, but if you liked early Dresden and don't mind an uneven, action-focused writing style, you might enjoy it.

Two and a half to three standard stars.

Cross posted at http://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2013/0...

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started off strong -- I wanted to find out more about the backstory, what the Twenty Palaces were, how Ray became entangled with them, what Annalise's story was, why the kids were being burnt into worms of smoke -- but kind of sagged when they got to town and had repetitive encounters with the locals. Similarly, I liked that Connolly created the opportunity for ethical questions to be raised, but then was disappointed that not much was done in regards to those issues.

Reasonably entertaining light read falling somewhere on the spectrum between Midnight Riot and Already Dead, but not as good as either.

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well....what can I say? A good read, not the best I've read and with some things that bugged me a bit, but all in all just this side of excellent.

Which is a bit depressing as the series has already been cancelled. I'm planning on ordering the next 2 (used) tomorrow.

The thing is that I was unaware of this series of books when it was "looking for buyers". Sad I suppose.

Anyway...the book. Our hero (Ray) has a problem. See he's a crook, or maybe an ex-crook and in the life he did some time, established a police record (partly of course that record is for doing what he had to) but aside from all that, he made an enemy of Annalise, who's just waiting for a chance to kill him. She could do it easily.

The only thing that keeps Annalise from killing Ray is that her superiors in Twenty Palaces Society have ordered her not to...not to unless he crosses them, disobeys an order or fails in his job as a wooden man.

What's a wooden man? That would be telling, a sort of spoiler, you'll need to read the book for that one.

What's the Twenty Palaces Society? Well, we'll find out little enough of this super secret society of sorcerers and sorceresses. We know they're pretty touchy about folks using magic. We know that apparently they're the only ones keeping extra-plainer predators (from outside) from killing everyone, destroying the world/universe and eating everything and everyone.

Cool huh?

You see Ray cast a spell and peeked...he saw all these creatures outside our reality simply jonesing for a nice juicy reality/universe like ours with plump, scrumptious things like us to eat.

So anyway, that's enough, don't want any spoilers. I'll just say that this is a pretty good to very good book. I hope the next 2 are as good....

Who knows, maybe I'll be another one who writes a useless letter to Del Rey? Could be....

Recommended, enjoy.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a Romance Novel reader, I love the mushy, gushy, touchy, lovey stuff, which none of this is included in the book. This book had me running around like a chicken with my head cut off for the fist hundred pages, I just couldn't figure it out, which of course made me want to read more and one by one the pieces were placed in to give you a little taste just enough to keep you wanting more. It was so surprising to me how well written and fast pased this book was. When I first signed up for the give away I was sure that I wasn't going to like it but I wanted to try something new and different. I am so glad I was chosen to receive an advance copy. Because I loved this book. It was action packed and thrilling and I found myself more than once biting my nails. The Main character was so relatable which is funny because nothing in my life would ever or could ever be compared to Ray Lilly's life but still he was easy to understand, his reasoning was real and complicated and muddled just like anyone's would be. I was the most surprised by how much I loved Annalise, I know her character was written to be mysterious and to keep you wondering, and well to be honest she was kind of heartless, but I just seem to be drawn to any and everything about her. It was like she is this deep well that we haven't even begun to know how deep it goes. I recommend this book to any one who likes to read and loves strong characters. I would and will read more if given the chance.

[Lisa Reads & Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the first couple of scenes I nearly put the book away thinking it would be senseless schlock. That may sound a bit cruel, but really - a child bursting into flames, and worms, and a fight with a couple in a station wagon, with a baby in the back, may foreshadow an action-packed story, but I was in the mood for something more interesting.

Needless to say, thankfully, I kept reading. 4.5 stars. Ray, the main character turns out to be quite introspective, and funny as hell. He is the woodman for Annalise, who a super hero villain type woman who never relents, yet, has a heart in there somewhere. Their adventure unfolds as a tale masterfully told, and the background story enriches the action rather than dragging it down. I laughed, I shuddered at the violence, and was intrigued with the situation. Best of all, I watched the story in the my cranial movie house - all signs of a gifted writer with a thrilling story to tell. Good read for lovers of urban fantasy mixed with some horror.

[BG Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read a number of poor to mediocre fantasy books recently (Dresden files, game of thrones) and this book is everything they are not. Well thought out interesting characters. A cool, plausible and well built world. An interesting engaging plot. And to top it off the book is well written and actually makes you feel things.

Before I read this novel I was beginning to think no one was even interested in writing good fantasy anymore. I cannot recommend this book enough.

[Kati · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great book. It had me on the edge of my seat more than once. Fast paced action, original plot and interesting characters, spells and werewolves, shoot-outs and strange supernatural forms... Though I did feel like I was missing a prequel to this story, there was much hinted at and never explained. Hopefully, Connolly will rectify that in the next book in his series. I'll be definitely buying it!

[Danielle The Book Huntress · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another series to be added to my reading list. Ray Lilly is a refreshing hero, and the storyline is pretty different for UF. It's dark, pretty dark, but Connolly has the noir vibe down perfectly. I'll keep reading this series for sure. Full review to be posted on the Bitten by Books website: http://bittenbybooks.com.

[Andrea]

Really enjoyed this one. I was a bit worried to start out with, because the description made it sound like Annalise would be a negatively-portrayed bitch-on-wheels character but, though she's undoubtedly incredibly hard-bitten, this isn't a story about how awful she is.

Instead, we have Ray, an ex car thief drawn into a world of monster hunting by good intentions and a bad friend, and serving as a 'wooden man' for a powerful monster hunter who hates him for getting her best friend killed. He doesn't have much hope of surviving the week.

Then he sees the first child die, and his priorities shift from survival to stopping any more deaths. He and Annalise head to a small town that has a hell of a lot of problems.

There were multiple things to like about the story. Ray is logical, strong but completely human. He actively avoids injury, and he goes out of his way to save by-standers from harm, even those who are technically on the other side.

There is a lot of harm in this novel - it's a very dark world, but not gratuitously portrayed. And it has sixty year old women who, when the badness of the town means they're facing imminent death, make conscious decisions to go out fighting.

Good narrator for the audiobook, too, though there sadly doesn't seem to be any others in the series available in that format (to me). Will continue with the series.

[Christopher Valin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finally finished reading Harry Connolly's Child of Fire (I'm a slow reader), and I can definitely see why Publisher's Weekly named it one of the best books of 2009. This story grabs you by the throat on page one and doesn't let up for a second. The characters and setting are rich, the story is suspenseful and exciting, and the Twenty Palaces world Harry has created is fascinating and mysterious. I can't compare it to the Dresden books like a lot of people have since my entire Dresden experience is limited to one episode of the short-lived series on Sci Fi, but I can't imagine a similar series being much better than this. I will, without a doubt, be picking up this entire series. In fact, I almost wish I didn't read the first chapter preview of the next book at the end of this one, because I feel like I just watched a cliffhanger seaseon finale of my favorite TV show and now I have to wait for next season.

[Andi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perhaps I am like the other readers, expecting something like the Dresden Files. It is silly to make me feel that the book series is the ‘be-all, end-all’ of Urban Fantasy. So, when GoodReads recommend this book, I jumped at a chance to read it. The summary and the accolades by a screen writer (Terry Rossio) and author (Jim Butcher) had me thinking that this would be enjoyable.

Child of Fire is a very, very difficult book to write a review about. I think the biggest problem with the book is character development and the authors’ consistent pleasure of ‘withholding’ information. You are given two characters and by the end of the book, you find out not much about them as you did in the first chapter. What is the back-story on the Twenty Palaces? How did Ray and Annaliese first meet? What is Annaliese? You never find out any of this, and I truly think this hurts the characters. Some books are able to get away with details like this, but that’s only if you know a good deal about who the characters are and how they interact in the world. Annaliese and Ray were two shells that were supposed to be ‘main characters’. By the end of the book, Ray ends up being more of a main character than Annaliese (doing most of the crime solving, ass-kicking, shagging, etc.). What’s the point?

Another problem is something that another reader brought up and explained in their review. You feel as though you missed the first book or a book about these characters somewhere down the line. ‘Child of Fire’ is the first book of the series, so how could you miss anything? So, again, I blame it on the lack of character development and information ‘withholding’.

Maybe this isn’t important, but you are given no physical description of Ray anywhere in the story. Perhaps I missed it, and I would be grateful for a point out. The only thing I knew about Ray was the type of clothes he was wearing and the tattoos on his forearms and back. So, I took the cover art as a ‘basis’ for what he could resemble.

Lastly, Ray is a bit of a perfect hero. He hardly ever gets hurt, hardly ever gets ‘stumped’, hardly ever gets ‘mislead’. Everything happens to him is precise, perfect and at no point do you feel as though he is in any danger. For someone who isn’t a trained magician, and is always relying on his ‘ghost knife’, he shouldn’t be that skillful.

I really, really wanted to like the book. I guess I’m just too picky. Maybe down the line, I’ll give the second book a chance. As of right now, I’m not looking forward to continuing on.

[Иван Величков · Rating 5 out of 5]

Добре, много добре, даже отлично. Къде теглим чертата между мрачно градско фентъзи и хорър? „A Gathering of Crows“ на Брайън Кийн беше точно от другата страна на оградата, но тук с Хари Конъли могат да си стиснат ръцете през нея. Единственото, което измъква „Дете на Огъня“ от съседния жанр е симпатичният и емпатичен главен герой.

Рей Лили (мда) е бивш крадец с бедняшко криминално минало. По някаква случайност е попаднал в радара на занимаващите се, по-точно отстраняващите, магията в нашата реалност и то от лошата страна. Единственият начин да запази живота си е да се съгласи да е „дървен човек“ на Аннализа – една от „благородните“ грижещи се за щастливото неведение на човечеството за световете отвъд и гадовете пълзящи из тях. Рей обаче, отказва да е просто пионка и когато отговарящата за него е отровена жестоко, поема нещата в свои ръце.

Книгата е разкошна, дори ми се прииска да се върна назад и да сваля с по една звезда всички ърбъни, които съм оценил тук дотук. Магичната система е много добре избарана, а нещата които авторът ни казва и не ни казва (и за света, и за миналото на героите), държат читателя на тръни през цялото време. Всичко това е гарнирано с мрачна ноар история в малко щатско градче и няколко наистина гнусни гадини.
Единствено мога да измрънкам, че си личи от километри, че това е начало на поредица. Честно, понякога ми липсва Зелазни с неговите мимолетни, но пълнокръвни фантазии, в наши дни всичко се прави за конвейра. Все пак почнах и втората и е изненадващо, хем подобна, хем различна.

А магията, магията боли и изисква, а когато ти трябва помощ, цената ѝ плаща цялото човечество. И едно леко цитатче по въпроса:

„Веднъж, преди не много време, пробвах магия от открадната книга със заклинания, за да надзърна в грандиозните пространства между здрача и тъмнината. Празнините. Дълбините.
Там видях хищници, движещи се през бездната: Титанични змии, огромни огнени колелета, струпвания от търкалящи се канари, които си пееха едни на други и сменяха посоката си на движение като ято птици. Всички те търсеха живи светове за поглъщане.
В последствие се сблъсках лице в лице с хищник, който беше дошъл тук, в нашия свят. Беше паразитираща твар с размерите на домашна котка и огромен глад за човешка плът. Ако не я бях спрял, щеше да призове остатъка от рояка си, за да се тъпчат като скакалци.
Преди да разбере истината за мен, Аннализа ми разказа малко за тях. Не бяха демони или дяволи, с тризъбци и рога, и договори, които да подпишеш с кръвта си. Бяха просто същества ловуващи храна – хищници – и ние бяхме храната.“

[k reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review first appeared at So I Read This Book... at http://www.soireadthisbook.com/2011/11/review-child-of-fire-by-harry-connolly.html#more

There's something exciting about discovering a new series that already has several books out. No anxiously awaiting for the next book to be released - it's already been published and if you want to go on a glom - you can! That's how I feel about Harry Connolly's Twenty Palaces series. I'd never paid much attention to the series before. I thought it was an action/crime drama or something but at Comic Con, I saw it displayed on the Del Ray table with all the other urban fantasy and took a closer look. I walked out of there with a copy and I'm glad I did.

This is a tightly paced story with some sharp writing. Well-crafted and plenty of action. I was impressed with how vividly drawn the two main characters were from the get go, done in a spare style that avoided info dumping and kept the story moving at a brisk pace yet managed to animate the characters distinctly without an overabundance of description. Listed as an urban paranormal, in some ways, Child of Fire read more like horror.

Recently released ex-con Ray Lilly and his new boss Annalise are on their way to the small town of Hammer Bay. Something is killing the children of the town in a way that is both gruesome and horrific. The victims burst into flame, burning until all that is left is a mass of squiggling, squirming, white worms which burrow off into the ground. It’s not often that you read something like that – especially when it involves children - but don’t worry, it doesn’t actually hurt the victims. One child even laughs, as if being tickled by the flames... before his head bursts apart. As if that wasn’t strange enough, the death of each victim eradicates all memory of them from the townsfolk. It is as if the children never existed. Something evil is going on and it is up to Annalise, as a member of the Twenty Palaces Society, to kill the perpetrators. (Not stop but kill. Annalise is totally badass.) When Annalise is magically injured, Ray must step in to solve the mystery while keeping both himself and Annalise alive.

Ray is one of my new favorite characters. A former conman and all around tough guy, Ray categorizes the people he meets as either predators or victims, a byproduct of his previous profession. When he needs to be, he is violent with no hesitation, doing what he must in the moment. But there is something decent about him all the same. He may not be your typical good guy but he is also not a douche. For whatever reason and despite his past, he still tries to do the right responsible thing. He is not swayed by emotions but that doesn’t mean he is unfeeling. Unlike Annalise, he is aware of the cost and tries to avoid collateral damage when he can, knowing that sometimes it is unavoidable.

As for Annalise…… I. Love. Her. Holy crap, do I love her. She is tough, brutally hard, heartless even, and incredibly powerful – magically as well as physically. In fact, she may not even be human. She is a force to be reckoned with. In her uncompromising view, there are only predators and collateral damage. She will do whatever she must to destroy those misusing magic. The needs of the many outweigh the few.

She also has a real hard-on for Ray, for reasons hinted at but never fully explained. Suffice to say, she blames Ray for the death of her friend, although it is unclear if he is truly responsible. Fortunately for Ray, their mutual bosses, the Twenty Palaces Society, have forbidden Annalise to kill him. Unfortunately, part of his job is to act as Annalise’s “wooden man”, which means he's the cannon fodder that draws attention away from Annalise and enables her to launch sneak attacks. So he could still die at any time.

There is a lot we don’t know. We don’t know what the Twenty Palaces Society is beyond that it is their mission to eradicate the monsters who prey on humans. We have a vague idea of what Ray did that brought him to the society’s attention and earned him Annalise’s hatred. But none of it matters because Connolly writes skillfully enough that we understand who these characters are, even if we don’t know the specifics of why they are the way they are. And it is all written in a clear, clean manner, with hints that tantalize but never confuse.

My only quibble - and really this was minor - was the abrupt ending. It was really abrupt. I would have like to have seen a little more of the aftermath. I cared about these characters and I wanted to see at least some of the fallout.

You can probably tell that I really liked this book. The voices of the characters are clear and believable and the plot moves swiftly, with not a moment wasted. I can't wait to read the next book in the series and have only been puttting it off because my TBR pile is so crazy-assed large, I feel like I can't buy another book until I at least make a dent in it. In the meantime, Child of Fire is going on my keeper shelf.

[Lightreads]

Ex-con acts as dogsbody and general cannon fodder for an operative hunting magical threats, which takes them to your usual small creepy town.

This never would have crossed my radar (publisher dropped the series, didn't get any traction with my friends) but the gf liked it. I guess I did too – the magic was creative and interesting, and the unfolding of the central mystery was genuinely creepy. But this book squandered a whole lot of things. The set-up is 70% of the way to some effective semi-gothic genre-bending, but that didn't get developed because we were too busy having gunfights. The protagonist and his boss have one of those relationships that could only be worse if one were actively trying to murder the other, and arguably that does come up. Their dynamic (not romantic, thank you!) was one of the best things about this book. But Connolly deliberately chooses to minimize their shared page time over and over and over again in favor of – you guessed it – solo gunfights.

Also, I can't get over how terrible the title is. I thought it was just generic fantasy blah blah until it emerged that the book centrally features a number of children who spontaneously combust and burn to death. And then it was just terrible.

[John Bogart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It hit so many of my buttons just right:

From the first paragraph, we get a fascinating relationship between Ray (the POV character) and Annalise. She wants to kill him but isn't allowed to. A back story why she hates him is hinted at without being explained (it's covered in the prequel, Twenty Palaces, though I'd recommend reading Child of Fire first). What would typically be a mentor/student relationship is instead handled as a grudging, hostile relationship in which she tells him even less than he strictly needs to know.

Which brings me to how exposition is handled in this book (and throughout the series). There are no info dumps. Things get shown as they occur and conversations that give details are always in character and make sense. There's never a sense of details being explained for the reader's benefit alone. Even though Ray is pretty new to the supernatural, he never gets a Supernatural 101 course (in part because Annalise, the Peer he works for, hates him and partly because his role is to be expendable cannon fodder and he's expected to die soon anyway).

Speaking of dying, this is a dark setting. Innocents die, including children (in fact, I've had to warn several people about that when recommending the books). Ray is the first-person POV character, so you're pretty sure he won't die. No one else feels safe. The supernatural world is dark, dangerous, and frightening. Magic is frightening. And the mundane world and characters are done in noir tones.

Speaking of the magic, this is hands-down my favorite magic in any book series I've ever read. Like I mentioned above, details are given out sparingly, so the details are magic are peeled back layer by layer throughout the series. (I've heard others complain that it's explained too slowly -- I don't agree, but I'll mention that in case it's something that bothers you.)

There are also consequences of magic and of violence. Ray and Annalise use violence. Ray tries to avoid it, but by the end he kills people. And he pays for it. Even though it's the right thing to do, he doesn't get a pass. It affects him (and that is carried through in the next book, Game of Cages).

The Twenty Palaces Society are the organization that Annalise and Ray (though he knows almost nothing about it) belong to. They're arguably the "good guys". They're also sociopathic killers and, mostly, real assholes. As you watch the toll the fighting the monsters takes on Ray, you start to get an idea of why they're like that. Annalise (in her her rare revealing moments) gives even more insight to the choices they make and the costs. But despite giving you glimpses of understanding into the Twenty Palaces Society, the books never let you settle comfortably into thinking of them as the good guys. They're not.

Another thing that I really appreciated, though I'm sure not everyone shares my opinion, is that there isn't romance. I'm not opposed to romance in principle, but it's so common it usually feels obligatory.

I love this series. It's one of my favorites. However, I don't recommend it to everyone I know. I have to think whether I think they'll like it. If I think they will, I gush about it and tell them they have to read it. But there are plenty of people (including my wife) that I haven't recommended to read it. The main reason is that it is very dark.

One other thing I want to mention is that the series isn't finished and probably never will be. There are four books in the series: The first three books (starting with Child of Fire), plus a prequel (Twenty Palaces). There's also a short story. But (with the possible exception of more short stories) that's probably all there will be. The series is officially cancelled.

Harry Connolly has a blog post about why the series was cancelled here. The short version is that sales weren't that great and each book had less sales than the book before. The fans of the series (like me) are very enthusiastic, but for a full-time author, he needs to focus on finding more readers. I, for one, am very disappointed we won't see more (especially since the last books hints at what would have come next). I mentioned how much I liked the slow reveal of information, but that also means there's so much that's only been hinted at so far that I really want to know. However, I understand his reasons and support him. I understand that knowing it isn't finished will be a turn-off for many people, but I heartily recommend reading them anyway. Each book is a self-contained story and while you'll be left wanting more, you get four great complete novels and a short story.

(Speaking of supporting Harry Connolly, his new epic fantasy series has just been released. Check out the first book in the series: The Way Into Chaos. You can see my thoughts on the first book here.)

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really have no idea how to review this book. I would never have known of it, but for the UF Geektopia Challenge, and I probably wouldn't have finished it either.

I started to read the prequel novella but felt lost and assumed that it was a novella written for people who had already read the series and wanted to retrospectively know how it all began. I think I was wrong, that is just the way Harry Connolly writes.

Ray Lilly is the driver for Annalise. Annalise is barely human anymore, she hunts the predators that stupid humans summon from the Other Side and destroys them, frequently alongside the humans. Her protections come from her spell book, her enspelled ribbons, and her tattoos which cover much of her tiny body. Ray was somehow responsible for the death of someone Annalise cared about and he has been released from prison solely to act as Annalise's wooden man (he doesn't know what that means until later in the book). Theirs is not a friendly working relationship. Ray lives in expectation that Annalise will kill him, even though the Twenty Palaces Society has expressly forbidden it. The Twenty Palaces Society appears to be a society which eradicates predators from the Other Side. Annalise is a member of the society.

At the start of the book Ray is driving Annalise while she searches for a predator, when her sensors are set off by a passing car Ray goes in hot pursuit. When they catch up to the car at a campsite Ray is horrified to see a young boy step out of the back seat of the car and go up in flames, as the flames die down the boy's body disintegrates into worms which wriggle off into the earth leaving a scorched, black smoke stain on the ground. A few seconds later the boy's terrified parents have no recollection of having a son and seem oblivious to all the physical evidence (car seat, toys etc) that he existed.

When Ray and Annalise follow up on the family's home in Hammer Bay they see lots of similar black scorch marks on the ground and more evidence that children have mysteriously disappeared, but it seems as though the entire town instantly forgets the child ever existed. Clearly there is some kind of predator at work twisting people's perceptions and possible feeding off the children. Ray and Annalise struggle to find out who summoned the predator whilst they simultaneously mistrust each other, struggle with small town prejudices, and combat corrupt local police.

This is dark urban fantasy, very dark. Ray is a former criminal, responsible for his best friend's death, he finds it difficult to stop seeing people as potential victims. Annalise's job has desensitised her to humanity: she truly believes that she does what she has to do to protect the millions, so what if ten innocents are collateral damage? She also threatens to kill Ray on a regular basis (and not in a joking kind of way). Throw in dead kids and hostile townspeople and this is not a feel-good kind of book.

I think this book suffers from a serious lack of world-building. OK, I didn't read the prequel novella but some background to the Twenty Palaces Society and Annalise would be nice, ditto the tattoos and spell books. Also I had zero liking for either Annalise or Ray, I get that it makes a nice change for the two key characters not to be devastatingly attractive (even if in a quirky way) and drawn to each other despite their mutual antipathy but I think I should feel some liking for someone in the book. The only person who came across as likeable was, maybe Arlene?

And yet, I am intrigued to see what happens in the next book ...

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Dark urban fantasy about a guy, freshly out of prison, who's working for a powerful spellcaster as she tries to find the source of a magic that's killing kids in a small Oregon town.

[Joshua Palmatier · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book in the Twenty Palaces series by Harry Connolly and is his debut novel. And I thought it was pretty good. The basic premise is that Ray Lilly has done some rather bad things in his past and is now indebted to Annalise Powliss as her "wooden man," basically as her decoy. She sends him in to distract the bad guys and to stir things up, while she takes the bad guys down or sorts through the debris for whatever it is they're looking for. In this case, they've come to the town of Hammer Bay in order to take back the spell book of a rogue magician . . . and eliminate anything magical they find as well. What they encounter is a town with so much unauthorized magic going on that it's nearly impossible to sort out what's going on.

But that, of course, is their job. *grin*

My main issue with the book is that the beginning third is rough. There IS a lot going on in Hammer Bay and for a while what they two run into doesn't make any sense at all, a bunch of seemingly disparate incidents thrown at the reader without any explanation or connection between them. There was enough that I began to wonder if they WOULD ever get explained.

But eventually the author settled into the town and the situation and the plot kicked into gear. Instead of searching randomly, Ray and Annalise begin DOING things and this is where the book took off. Things began to make sense, and once the reader was given something to focus in on--a plot thread that was clear and easy to follow--it drew me in and kept me reading. I write the slight confusion at the beginning of the book off as "first-book syndrome," and would encourage readers to continue reading because everything does smooth out and become clear after that.

One of the best aspects of the book is that--even though there is a good chunk dedicated to a "standard" urban fantasy creature--the main plot revolves around something completely different. Harry Connolly has set up something I haven't seen in any other urban fantasies out there: creatures that come from a void and have nothing to do with earth or traditional "bad guys." These predators, as he calls them, seek out our dimension and our life in order to annihilate it. And these powerful creatures can be summoned to our world by magicians. It begins to sound like these are demons, but there aren't any religious connotations assigned to them, and the one we encounter in this book isn't anything like any demon I've ever read before.

So, a good first novel, enough that I plan on reading the second novel, Game of Cages. Definitely not like the majority of the urban fantasy out there, and I'm looking forward to seeing where Harry Connolly takes us.

[Donna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really more like 2 1/2 Stars

When I first read about Child of Fire by Harry Connolly, I just knew I had read this book and immediately put it on my wish list. So when I won a copy of it on Twitter, I was pretty psyched about reading it. Plus, the majority of reviews I had read were raving about Child of Fire. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case for me.

Child of Fire reads like a gritty, supernatural crime novel. Ray Lilly is not a super being, just an ex-con artist trying to make amends for past mistakes. Mistakes that you find out about very slowly. One of the best attributes of this novel, is knowing Ray was against powerful magic without much help besides his own wit and a tiny bit of magic. For the most part, he just rolls with punches as they came at him because he seems to have a nose for trouble and it always seemed to be right around every corner waiting for him. Annalise, though she is one of the good guys, has a bad guy's cold-blooded
demeanor about her. It's also her attitude in how she views everything  and everyone around her. It gave her an air of mystery and made me want
to know about what made her this way. But for the most part she remained a
mystery as much as the Twenty Palace Society that she belonged to and you don't really get
know much about either. Maybe more will be revealed in the next novel.

While I liked the premises of the world created by Harry Connolly and characters themselves, for the most part Child of Fire didn't keep me intrigued and kept falling flat. I felt like I was one step ahead of the story's mystery throughout most of the book so it didn't hold many surprises for me. In the end, I felt like I really didn't get know the main characters as well as I would've liked. Will I read the next novel? I'm really not sure because I feel the characters of this series deserve another shot.

[Tammie · Rating 2 out of 5]

It seems a lot of people compare Child of Fire to The Dresden Files. Really the only similarity I saw was the noir type feel to the book.

I really wanted to like this book, but there was something about it that was just off putting to me. Maybe it was that it had a kind of Lovecraftian feel about it. I'm really not a fan of that type of horror at all. I usually go for the creepy ghost stories or psychological thrillers. Maybe it was the type of gore, or maybe it was that I just didn't really connect with any of the characters or find any of them all that likeable.

Every time I would start to like Ray he would just annoy me in some way. He would worry way too much about the moral consequences of killing someone who was trying to kill him and had killed a lot of other people. Self-defense isn't murder. Or maybe it was because there were so many people coming after him with .38s. It was even made into a joke in the book. And how many times does a guy in a book have to get kidnapped by people with .38s before it's completely redundant?

Anyway, whatever the reason, this book just left me feeling empty and not at all compelled to read the next one in the series. I'm glad I bought the Kindle version for just 99 cents. Needless to say, I will not be reading any more of this series.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good addition to the urban fantasy shelf. The author comes up with some inventive depictions of magic, such as Annalise's ribbons and Ray's ghost knife.
Annalise is a hell of a fierce character; my mouth literally dropped open during her first battle scene. It's a good thing Ray is the first-person point of view character, because I don't think I'd want to be inside Annalise's head--even if she did get a teeny bit more sympathetic toward the end of the story. I liked Ray; he's trying to be a good guy and overcome his checkered past. I appreciated the chivalrous element of his character and liked that the single sex scene wasn't graphic. There were moments when he was trying to get information out of someone or fighting during which he was a little scary, but that made sense. There are only a couple of ways to survive prison, and it's pretty clear which one Ray chose. But he's also the kind of guy who likes to read a book to unwind.
Maybe it's because I've been watching a lot of Doctor Who lately, but certain very weird things characters did struck me as things that would be right at home in a Doctor Who plot--not a bad thing.

[Maggie K · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a lot to like about this book, creepy villians, a stepford town, greater-good arguments......
but there was also a lot of stuff that was hard to swallow. I know, I know, its urban fantasy, youre supposed to go along for the ride....but people need to stay in character, their decisions need to at least seem to make sense.

The action and the nt-so-happy ending kept it in the positive for me though. 3.5 stars

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

For awhile, I’ve had an urban fantasy low light . I bought this on the recommendation of some GR urban fantasy mavens. They recommended it for its noirishness, horror and somewhat gritty look ‘n feel, but cautioned me that the author still needs a bit of seasoning. I found their recommendation to be true.

Prose was OK. Its workman-like. Dialog was better than descriptive prose. The author does a good job at the old-fashioned noir of the Dashell Hammett/Raymond Chandler style with the protagonist’s badinage. This included a tasteful use of profanity. The author does include an extraordinary amount of backstory. Action scenes were well handled. In addition, I did not detect any continuity errors—magic fixes little problems like that. Although, there was an annoying amount of repetition in the descriptions.

For example, obese antagonists could be categorized by the amount of “flab” they carried.

There is both sex and violence in this story. The sex is not graphic, although it is vigorous. Violence is moderately detailed. It’s, edged weapons, firearms and physical. Most of the physical violence is Horror-related. Body count is moderately high. Note there is violence against children in this story.

A peculiarity of this story was the amount of backstory in this first-in-the-series book. It was almost two books, an origin-story and this one, which could properly be considered Book 2. Since this book was published, Twenty Palaces ( the real origin story) has been published.

Characters were OK. There is a single POV in the story. The protagonist is Ray Lilly a habitual offender. He's a somewhat smart good guy gone bad through no real fault of his own-- a victim of society. He’s conscripted and given some magical abilities to be the Step and Fetch of the badass sorceress Annalise Powliss. Annalise is a like a magical Terminator. She's also just about that emotional. (I liked her character.) There are a number of minor characters but they amount to townsfolk NPCs and the evil or complicit members of the town’s first family and their supernatural retainers.

Plotting was a by-the-numbers western Clean Up the Town plot. The town has a Southern Gothic and Company Town flavor to help with the magic and horror genres. Lilly proves himself to be a resourceful, street-wise minion to his mistress and instrumental to her success. The long-plot is obviously Lilly’s developing role is as the Sorceress’ Apprentice.

World building isn’t bad, although it’s not terribly original. At its heart is a Magocracy (The Twenty Palaces) keeping magic out of the hands of Muggles with extreme prejudice. Annalise is one of the Twenty Palace's "fixers". Use of magic is well within familiar tropes, with a noir, gothish flavor.

This story is lightweight and derivative. It very much reminded me of a grittier version of The Dresden Files . Thankfully, Lilly doesn’t have any cute pets or a wheezing VW Bug. There is actually nothing cute in the story. It’s a western crossed with a vaguely Raymond Chandler-esque noir story-- plus magic and a dollop of horror. While there wasn’t anything exceptional about it, all the parts of this story were in harmony. I found it to be a quick and easy to slip into read. I suspect as the series gets longer; the author’s prose will become more polished.

I’ll likely be reading the real first book in the series: Twenty Palaces. This series ought to help top-up my craving for urban fantasy.

Readers who are interested in this type of story and haven’t read it already should checkout Storm Front.

[Elisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun book! I really enjoyed. A magic book, but there are different things here. Our hero is a gun fodder, and an ex-con, but he means well (that type) but all the stuff that happens surprised me, so I really enjoyed the ride. Looking forward to the other two books.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

A major adrenaline rush from beginning to end, but someone else's adrenaline--it's like being next to a person in crisis mode. And I think that's because I couldn't really identify with the main character, Ray Lilly, but this action-packed story was hard to put down anyway. The physical descriptions are detailed even though the writing moves at a brisk pace, so I did feel I was right there all the way...just a little more detached than I usually am when I read an adventure.

Two main things kept me from getting fully into the scenes. One was the excessive violence, and I tolerate a good deal of that, but this novel is full of killings, lots and lots of killings, innocent children and adults along with the usual bad guys, and many of the adversaries our heroes (?) killed were acting under magical compulsions, so perhaps it's better to call them semi-innocent.

If the magical killing of children is a trigger for you, you'd better think twice about the book. You'll know right away, because it happens in the very first scene: a boy bursts into magical flames, saying with surprise that it doesn't hurt (thank you, author), as his body parts explode one after another and turn into finger-sized worm-like things that wiggle into the ground leaving only a black scorch mark, after which a "wave" hits his frantic parents and they suddenly forget their son ever existed (they don't even see his effects when they're looking right at them, and this oblivion about the murdered children affects everyone in the town of Hammer Bay who doesn't have the special magical protection that Ray and Annalise have).

A second trigger of this type may be the mysterious "Twenty Palaces," a society of sorcerors that deals with this sort of thing by killing the spell-casters who summon the other-worldly entities that do the damage. These creatures from the "Empty Spaces" aren't evil, they're just predators who feed on humans as you might feed on fish, but the humans who bring them into our world are seeking some sort of advantage or revenge. The trigger is that the "peers" of the Twenty Palace Society, represented here by Ray's boss, the mysterious Annelise, will also kill anyone who gets in the way of their mission: no concern for collateral damage while they're saving humanity.

Annalise only cared about one thing: she searched for people who cast magic spells, especially those that summoned predators, and she killed them. Nothing else mattered to her. Certainly not innocent bystanders. They were expendable.

The other thing that made me struggle to lift the rating of this exciting, can't-put-it-down adventure all the way up to three stars is my frustration with what one reviewer called "information withholding." (See Andi's review on page one.) Instead of the Dreaded Info Dump we have an Occasional Info Drip that never even gets halfway to giving us a full picture of what's going on. Ray's first-person past tense narrative (and the blurb for the sequel) confirm that he survives, but he expects Annalise to kill him when this mission is over unless the enemy gets him first. He's an ex-con and has a past with Annalise and the Society, but all we know about that is what Annalise tells him in chapter two:

"You lied to me and betrayed me. I attacked a peer because of you, and the closest friend I have ever had in my long life is dead. Because of you."

Ray says she "forced" him to come with her on this mission as her "wooden man" but he doesn't know what that is till halfway through the book it's a sacrificial decoy to keep the enemy occupied; he does know from the beginning that the higher-ups won't let her kill him during the mission unless he misbehaves. But she refuses to answer most of his questions, saying there's no reason to because he's going to be dead "very, very soon."

Annalise has magical superpowers (and longevity?), but when her hands are injured in combat she has to rely on Ray more than she intended to. A saving grace of this story is that Ray, shocked by that initial child death, gradually becomes more and more ethical in his motives and decisions, often going against his injured boss's wishes as the killings pile up and he seeks more than just his own survival--he is really trying to stop the horror.

[Ranting Dragon · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://www.rantingdragon.com/child-of...

Magic, supernatural powers and spell books. Rogue magicians and otherworldly predators—not to mention a secret society of sorcerers devoted to hunting them down. And ex-convict Raymond Lilly, right in the middle of it all—as a driver to one of the Twenty Palaces Society members, Annalise, who wants nothing more than to kill Ray herself. But when Annalise is incapacitated, Ray must complete her assignment on his own—armed with nothing but a single spell and his nearly nonexistent knowledge of the world he’s stepped into. Welcome to the world of author Harry Connolly’s debut novel, Child of Fire.

Gritty and dark
One of the things that impressed me the most about this book is the world Connolly brings to the table. It’s a sinister setting, one where everything can be dangerous—even in the face of magic. The plot is dark and twisted, with malevolent forces lurking in every shadow. The violence is so gritty that you can feel it, almost as if you might get something in your eye just by reading it. It’s an engaging ride that you just can’t get enough of.

A fresh face in an expanding genre
Urban fantasy is one of the fastest-growing genres today. However, in the flood of new authors, and even among those who are established in their careers, Harry Connolly stands out. His world is one of the most compelling I’ve read in a long time, and it sticks out for its sheer amount of grittiness. Another thing that really appeals to me about his writing is that Connolly is totally unafraid of putting his protagonist through hell, and he really makes us connect with Ray Lilly.

As good as the premise and delivery of his story is, it is still apparent that this is Connolly’s first novel. The tone and mood of the book are impeccable, but at times, Connolly’s prose felt stilted to me. It didn’t bother me enough to distract me from the story, but it happened enough to make me blink a couple times. However, despite the little bumps in the tracks, the roller coaster of a tale keeps you engaged—and does it well.

An antagonistic protagonist
As good as the worldbuilding and story are, the true value of Child of Fire lies in the protagonist, Ray Lilly. An ex-convict, he has no qualms about violence and illegalities; he just doesn’t want to go back to prison. As a protagonist, he isn’t so much flawed as cracked. He’s not a white knight, and he knows it. On top of all that, Ray is probably the most morally ambiguous protagonist I’ve seen in an urban fantasy novel to date. When given the choice between what’s right and what’s best for himself, Ray’s decisions are sometimes surprising, but never without thought. Connolly gives us a beautifully crafted character with imperfections so genuine that Ray truly feels real to a reader.

Why should you read this book?
This novel is an exhilarating addition to the urban fantasy genre. Between the world and the plot, the little bumps in Connolly’s writing are barely noticed. Add in the beautifully flawed protagonist of Ray Lilly, and you’re given a winning combination for a fantastic read. This novel is one for fans of Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files or for any fantasy enthusiast who enjoys a tale of gritty realism, action, and suspense.

[Maria Schneider · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent five star read. More review to come! From my blog post:

I purchased Child of Fire: A Twenty Palaces Novel by Harry Connolly when it was on sale this summer (it’s still 99 cent and I highly recommend it if you like UF) and finally got around to reading it. It’s urban fantasy and on the dark side. It’s a fairly unusual urban fantasy in my opinion. It’s told from the point of view of the side-kick rather than the amazing kick-ass heroine. Ray is “just a driver” whose task is to help a woman who just so happens to want him dead. Too bad for her that she’s not allowed to kill him.

Annalisse is essentially an enforcer, a woman who hunts down rogue magic users and puts the world out of their misery. In short, she’s an assassin since it doesn’t seem that the council who goes after rogue magic users believe they can be saved. Or at least she seems to think they deserve to die. :)

I sensed, perhaps incorrectly, that the heroine was badly misused in the past (trust broken kind of thing) and was forced to make some hard choices, which have turned her into what she is today. She starts out pretty rude and untouchable, but she grows during the book, so that is for the good. Ray is no angel; he used to be a car thief, but strangely, he cares a lot about people, and he provides the heart of the book.

The mystery itself is nicely plotted with lots of evil characters and many a pitfall. There are plenty of twists and turns. Ray has very little magic; in fact he only has some basic protection provided by his boss, Annalisse, and a magic knife. He hates guns. Bad things have happened to him in the past concerning guns so he’s just not partial to them.

His lack of magic and lack of personal power (when the book starts, he has no money and not even a change of clothes) makes him quite an interesting character. He too grows a lot during the book and this is what makes the book. There is no gentle romance with this book; this is a thriller, tough guy kind of book. It’s edgy and very fast paced, but the characters display enough emotion and humanity to make it a very good read.

My only complaint, and it is minor, is that things got a tad bit high on the “not very plausible” near the end. The damage to some characters could have been backed off to be more believable if these characters were going to carry on and live (both bad guys and good guys.) I mean seriously, if a guy’s head is ripped off or someone is burned to death, it’s okay, just leave’m dead or have them be headless, mindless zombies after that. Or just don’t let them get injured quite so horribly. Or maybe if their head isn’t COMPLETELY ripped off and thrown into the parking lot…still it did create some interesting scenes. Minor complaint.

I recommend for thriller readers. If you are looking for romance, don’t bother. This is way too violent for a cozy reader.

[Nicole Prestin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book that I found fairly entertaining with some interesting ideas, but rather flawed in execution.

The Good:

One of the refreshing things about this novel was that while this story falls under the urban fantasy spectrum, it pushed the border almost into a horror novel. The monsters were different than the typical vampires and werewolves and such and I liked the underlying idea of this book. I actually liked both of the main characters, Ray and Annalise, and I especially liked how they interacted, or rather... didn't interact. In the beginning of the book, they hate each other and it shows. There isn't witty banter between them, they actually treat each other realistically, which is so much better than the wise cracking sass that you usually see. And it was cool to watch the two come to some sort of mutual respect.

The Bad:

The problem for me was that while the overall idea was strong and the characters were interesting, a lot of times the execution didn't live up to the story's potential. The characters spend 90% of the time dicking around on a sub plot that doesn't have a hell of a lot to do with the actual big bad, other than they're in the same small town. Even worse was that this really read like a first novel. A lot of the narrative was clunky as hell, often the descriptions were absolutely terrible to the point that I was literally wincing when it came time to read them. Frankly, parts of the descriptive narrative were so bad that I was shocked that this book made it into print without having to go through a few more rounds of hardcore rewrites. Finally, the end of the story ends on such a weak note - not really plot wise or even character wise - but because the prose is just so simplistic and wooden that it just feels like the author randomly chose to stop typing there instead of trying to find an elegant way to wrap it all up.

Overall, this really reads like a first novel. Which, oddly, is a good thing. The ideas here are really solid and the characters are interesting enough that even with the not so good prose, I'm willing to give this series a second shot and read on to the next book with the hope that the author learned a ton with his first novel and improved his prose and description skills.

[Beausephus · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm on a binge of hard-boiled/fantasy novels these days. Charlie Huston is the reigning champ in my opinion, but there are far more heirs to his throne than I had originally thought. Mike Carey's Felix Castor series are enjoyable, but not as hard boiled or crime fiction inspired. Richard Kardrey's Sandman Slim character is promising but I need to read the second of that series in order to see if the flaws of the first book are ironed out and worth continued attention. The best of these types of mash-ups is CHILD OF FIRE. A newcomer to the writing world the author knows his fantasy and crime fiction. His main character Ray Lily is sympathetically flawed anti-hero, but he's not the one-against-all-badass in the Lee child crime model, or the titular character of the Sandman Slim series. Lily is thrown into a world where he's just learning the rules of magic and he's essentially a driver and decoy that real magicians (The 20 Palace Society) use in their quest to rid the world of illegal spell books and uncontrolled magic that pulls Lovecraftian "predators" onto our world. It sounds over-the-top and ridiculous, but Harry Connolly refutes logic and handles the various genres and scenarios like a deft pro instead of the rookie that he is. That fact alone, the polish and craft that rings true throughout CHILD OF FIRE, makes the book feel ike something more. The world Connolly has created is dense and full of possibilities. Ray Lily, is not a "chosen one" hero, or a tough guy who can take anything the world dishes out. he is afraid, but determined, and he is flawed and sympathetic enough to walk the line between valiant anti-hero and noirish-protagonist.
This is a deft move in genres where all-powerful protagonists reign supreme. Ray Lily is a breath of fresh air, as is the world that Connolly creates. I am taking a break from this genre for a bit, but when I return, Harry Connolly's books are at the top of my list.