Review of "Kingdom of Fire" by Melissa Widmaier

Score: 91+/100 (9.1+ out of 10)

Kingdom of Fire is the enchanting third installment of the Realm of Light series by Melissa Widmaier!

We're going to start this off with one of our favorite takeaways from this book: what Marl now comes to represent. We've come to know Marl as a bit of a troublemaker, a "pain in the ass" who just so happened to be a Ganwin and to be the Wind Spirit's favorite child. To see him now grown and become the ruler of Artnaus is extraordinary and quite special. He has truly become a good and mature man (and now king).

But that's not all. We think this book was trying to say something quite beautiful, and we think we know what it is: FIRE doesn't just burn or destroy, FIRE also provides light--hope and healing--to people. So, while Marl is often credited as being some sort of "Fire King", he is also a healing king, having light-healing abilities (such as when he heals Nal and Pas Piler). We thought that was quite poetic and beautiful.

Having read the two previous books in the series (The Wind at Oak Hollow and
A Crow in the Canyon) with mixed opinions, we can at least say that the Realm of Light series is imaginative, amibitious, dense, and complex--for better or for worse.

This is one of those series which arguably falls into the "world-building trap" we've so often talked about. These tend to be books that spend so much time building the world in excruciating detail--the magic system, the politics, the family drama/dynamics--that it often feels plodding, overly-long, aimless, and meandering. We've experienced this before, not just with the Realm of Light series but also with the Jaralii Chronicles, Kindred of the Unseen, Shadows of Caranth, and other works (usually fantasy and sci-fi books). These books also tend to feature HUGE, sprawling casts of characters, often excessively so. And the author seems to expect you to keep track of and care about who all of them are.

It often seems like everyone is trying to follow the Tolkien model. The problem is that Tolkien wrote at a very specific time, back when people had much longer attention spans and far fewer forms of entertainment to compete for attentions. You could sit down and read a near-700-page book like this back in the day because what else were you going to do that week? Listen to the radio? Go to the cinema? Listen to swing music?

Tolkien didn't have to compete with on-demand streaming services, the internet, social media, or even the widespread use of television.

In the modern age of literature, you better hook your audience FAST and keep the pacing and flow going. Avoid start-and-stop, speed-bump traps like fixating on too many details, descriptions, or perspectives. Those things kill momentum. And one of the toughest things about this particular book in the series, even though it's one of the best and becomes a lot more action-packed/tense later on, is that the opening chapters felt flat to us.

The first third of this book seemed like it was just (re)introducing us to the cast of characters including the now-King Marl, his family (the Ganwins, who always exasperated us like a bunch of uncooperative in-laws since book one), and a new point-of-view character named Nal Sinbel, the "Bear Slayer", who at least gives us a fresh perspective of what's going on in Marl's kingdom, Artnaus, and the Wastes beyond the Wall.

Nal is quite interesting because he was actually mentored and partially raised by the main villain of the novel, Rej Corraidhin (who is really THE highlight of the book).

Anyway, going back to the Ganwins...

The Ganwins really remind us of the the Madigans, the magical family from Madigan Chronicles series, in that you're either going to buy into following them and being engaged with all their drama or you're not. That singular mental decision is borderline going to make or break your impression of this book and series because the Ganwins are all over the dang place. There have always been times when it seemed like some of the Ganwins were weighing down or slowing down the plot. Some of them just seem superfluous.

In this book, there's even more of them to keep track of because Marl now has two kids: Princess Aia (adopted) and infant Prince Fyn. Aia, in particular, always seems to be around for better or for worse. And, like a lot of the Ganwins, she kinda comes across as more to think or worry about or great, another one of you to keep track of. There are times when she seriously seems to just pop in and out of scenes. There's a certain childlike charm to that, but it can get annoying after a while.

Ok, so we established that we weren't really excited about the first third of this book (and that we thought it was flat).

However, this book REALLY picks up when Rej gets more involved and actually starts taking hostages including some of the kingdom's girls--even Sitra and Sinnie (yeah, you'll get to know them too!).

Seriously, this really changed the book for the better because it actually gave us stakes and characters whose fates we cared about.

Oh, and there's another interesting aspect of this book. Rej seems to be circumventing the natural/nature magic laws of the realm (which is element-based) via a powerful Black Rock that runs by its own rules. It works because the Black Rock is a cheat code for evil. It lets Rej rot wells, foul the air, and slip past the elemental rules that everyone else must obey. The feud becomes an existential threat. The focus narrows to rescues, escapes, and hard choices. Chapters tighten. Decisions land. Nal steps out of confusion and into purpose. Marl is pushed to use his Light in the open. Simara and Nojhi move from planning to doing. From there the book turns into a tense run through ash and fire with real consequences. The opener still feels slow, but the payoff is sharp, human, and memorable, and it sets up the next installment with real heat.

You know what the Black Rock reminded us of? The Black Materia from Final Fantasy VII. It's like the one materia that operates outside the rules of the others.

We'd also like to credit Queen Simara as being a good partner for Marl in the rulership of the kingdom. Simara is a Dasha, a very influential group in this world, governing the canyon. There are still references to Hereu, Marl's first wife (from the first book). It's great to see that he still loves and remembers her ("Long Lost, Much Remembered"). Her memory and loss/murder haunts him, also motivating his blood-feud with Rej. Speaking of which... the curse that Hereu laid on Rej's house actually plays a big role in the events of this book, so it's nice to have that continuity.

It's also nice to see Nal's budding romance with Sinnie, the chandler's daughter, as it reveals that Nal--despite his dark past and rough background--has a good/soft/loving side.

One last thing we loved about this book was the inclusion of Nerwi, the powerful Wind Spirit, who was our favorite character from the first book. She's kinda an antihero/antivillain. Heck, she even seemed like a villain in the first book. She's kinda this creepy, possessive spirit who is fixated on Marl. But now that Marl is king with the fate of the realm in his hands, Nerwi is in an interesting predicament. Does she abandon her sworn oath of non-intervention? And how would her actions alter the realm?

Check it out on Amazon!