eBook Review: Child of Fire

Sorry to have disappeared; work got a hold of me and I spent a week living on planes. It did give me time to read a lot of Kindle Singles...

I really enjoyed Harry Connolly's Child of Fire: a Twenty Palaces Novel -- it is a witty and fast-paced urban fantasy in the genre of 'Whoa! I've got magical powers!'

Ray Lilly is a convict an ultra-mysterious secret society called Twenty Palaces springs from jail to investigate some no-goodery going down in the Pacific Northwest! His boss Annalise is pretty tough and has a penchant for raw meat; seeing as Ray doesn't know much about the Twenty Palaces society and she doesn't seem to want to tell him much, a mystery unfolds.

I'm actually back on a plane later today and looking forward to reading Game of Cages, Connolly's second in the series. Warning, however, the price goes up to $4.99 from .99 once you're addicted (as I am.)

Harry Connolly's Child of Fire: a Twenty Palaces Novel

• [Thad Boyd]

  I first heard of these when Connolly guest-blogged for Charlie Stross about a year ago.  I’ve devoured the first two but haven’t picked up the third yet.  At any rate, seconding the recommendation.

• [Thad Boyd]

  …and hell’s bells,  apparently I missed the part where the series was canceled due to low sales.  Disappointing; I’m hoping press like this can move more copies (whether ebook or paper) and either get the publisher to reconsider or another one to pick it up.

  • [Don Whiteside™]

    Thankfully Connolly leaves things at a very palatable place with the third and final book. It’s a good stopping point and his self-published fourth Ray Lilly book (which is actually a prequel) does a good job fleshing things out and providing a little more insight. 

    The fact that there’s not going to be any more in the near future shouldn’t turn anyone off from reading them.

    • [Thad Boyd]

       Good to hear, and I certainly wouldn’t discourage anyone from reading them in any case; as I say, I quite enjoyed them and will continue to recommend them.

  • [Jason Weisberger]

    Thats sad. I hope the prequel — which I just bought — generates enough interest for him to keep writing the series e-Only if nothing else.

    • [Frank H Woodward]

      Here’s a trailer for all three books Connolly wrote.  Perhaps, along with the prequel, it will also generate some interest in the series.

      http://youtu.be/iAk8M5wLTGs

• [Maximilian Paul Zadow]

  This was my fave series of any type for a long time. I genuinely have tears in my eyes because I heard it got cancelled. We have the three books at least, and I’m envious of those who haven’t read them yet; such pleasure to come. On the other hand, how can crap like the Dresden files prosper and quality urban fantasy pulp like this go down? The Universe is not fair.