Saturday, January 21, 2017

A Shadow Bright and Burning by Jessica Cluess

Henrietta is an orphan girl teaching students at the orphanage.  She's nothing special but there is something strange about her.  When her emotions come into play, she can produce fire.  She can use it as a weapon.  She can set herself on fire but it doesn't burn her or hurt her.  But she can't let anybody know that.  It's dangerous to have the skill and dangerous to show it.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review (thank you).  It has been published.

This is a fascinating fantasy with sorcerers and magicians, the Ancients who are otherworldly monsters, and a sorcerer's school.  When a sorcerer discovers she's the one behind all the small fires at the school, he takes her away.  She's going to sorcerer's school.  She won't go without her friend, so the sorcerer takes him, too, even if he is unclean.

They think she fulfills a prophecy.  She's not even sure what her skills are.  As she learns she finds out the outer world has its share of problems, too.  Not all the sorcerers are nice.  Even her classmates are against her because she's a girl and because she has power.  She meets a magician who tells her she's partly magician, too, because her father was.  They'll kill her if they find out.  And find out, they do.

There is a magnificent battle with an ancient one and she and her unclean friend fight together with the sorcerers to stop him.  This one is stopped but not without other deaths.  And there are six more so it's not over yet.  Henrietta also has found out her father isn't dead.  I don't even want to imagine what he's turned into.

This is the first book in the Kingdom of Fire Series.  It's exciting, eventful and keeps your attention to the end.  I'm sure the others will be new stories at the same pace.  Read this one and see what you think.

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