William Ray reviewed Fire Eye Refugee by Samuel Gately
Review of 'Fire Eye Refugee' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
An exciting combination of fantasy, detective yarn and spy thriller.
I picked this one up after reading the reviews in SPFBO, and while it didn't make it to the finals, it sounded like my kind of story, and it is! The author carefully balances tight pacing, gradual character reveals, complex mystery and high stakes espionage.
Despite being the first book in the series, the overall feeling is like the finale of a longer tale. Characters and background elements gradually fill in as needed, without any room for exposition. In some ways, I can see how that might throw some off, because in the earlier parts of the story the pacing makes it feel like you should already know more. Those missing facts weave in as the tale progresses and the characters and setting reveal themselves, but there are moments early on where if feels like you've missed something. But then …
An exciting combination of fantasy, detective yarn and spy thriller.
I picked this one up after reading the reviews in SPFBO, and while it didn't make it to the finals, it sounded like my kind of story, and it is! The author carefully balances tight pacing, gradual character reveals, complex mystery and high stakes espionage.
Despite being the first book in the series, the overall feeling is like the finale of a longer tale. Characters and background elements gradually fill in as needed, without any room for exposition. In some ways, I can see how that might throw some off, because in the earlier parts of the story the pacing makes it feel like you should already know more. Those missing facts weave in as the tale progresses and the characters and setting reveal themselves, but there are moments early on where if feels like you've missed something. But then it's quickly on to the next thing, and the next, and by the end all those details have naturally filled themselves in.
There's an evil army somewhere beyond the horizon, but the plot centers around the politics of a walled city surrounded by refugees. It's definitely not high-fantasy, but low-fantasy often implies a sort of sword-and-sandals approach that isn't quite right either. It's a medieval-ish urban setting in a fantasy world, and while there is magic, it seems pretty rare and not well understood. The 'fantastic' elements of fantasy are muted but omnipresent; there are no dragons, but there's a magical seeming phenomena in the sky... there's an evil magician, but his wizardry is not really the focus of the tale, merely a part of it.
It's a short-ish book, at least for fantasy, but it feels very full. I could have enjoyed more ambient details about the city and the cultures there, perhaps clearer depictions of dress or architecture, but overall those felt like absent luxuries rather than overlooked necessities. The nice thing is, if it leaves you looking for more, the sequel is already available, and he's even got another, similar trilogy (which is maybe set in the same world? not sure).
Overall, I thought it was a really fun ride, and I'm looking forward to the next one!