Child of Fire (Twenty Palaces, #1)

Mar 07, 2013 Amanda rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: EVERYONE

Recommended to Amanda by: Goodreads Giveaway

Shelves: reviewed, set-series

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 g...more

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Oct 20, 2012 Callista rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy, magic-slingers, werecreatures

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 g...more

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Mar 30, 2013 Meggie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi, paranormal, shape-shifters, supernatural-mystery, fantasy

From the general point of view, I liked the main storyline, mostly because of Ray Lilly. He was well developed even created character. I'm sure there isn't a reader, who wouldn't like Ray. But Annalise, no way could I like her. As a character she was a total mess. I don't even get what was her part in this story? She treated Ray like he was a puppet. But compared to her beliefs, Ray was the one who done everything in this story. Annalise wasn't communicative, responsive even mildly friendly. I c...more

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Jan 17, 2012 BG Josh rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, urban-fantasy

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.

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Jan 05, 2010 Kati rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, in-english, het, urban-fantasy, work-reviews, look-for-more

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!

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Sep 15, 2011 Chance Maree rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, fantasy

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...more

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Nov 06, 2011 k reads rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: received-at-comic-con-2011, read-2011, awesome-sauce, reviewed, fav-2011, autoread-authors, series-i-love

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...more

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Jan 08, 2012 Cait rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Cait by: hradzka

Shelves: novel, currently-shelved-kindle

I put up four stars, which is my default for "really good book", but I might bump that up to five as I keep thinking about it. This definitely walks the science fiction/horror line in the way that I like, which is about the world-building and the dissonance from reality rather than the structure of the story itself. It's actually a bit of a horror structure as well, I think, but with science fiction characters. There were a few unexpected notes in the descriptions of bodies -- who is fat, who is...more

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May 09, 2013 Vetle rated it 4 of 5 stars

After reading a couple of Urban Fantasy books that left me somewhat less than satisfied, Child of Fire was nothing short of a breath of fresh air, which is in itself somewhat funny, considering how bleak the book is. The whole universe the book is set in seems to be an exercise in bad and worse. The Twenty Palace Society, or The Society for short are basically amoral vigilantes, who kill anyone dabbling in magic indiscriminately. On the other hand, they have good reasons to do so, as magic allow...more After reading a couple of Urban Fantasy books that left me somewhat less than satisfied, Child of Fire was nothing short of a breath of fresh air, which is in itself somewhat funny, considering how bleak the book is. The whole universe the book is set in seems to be an exercise in bad and worse. The Twenty Palace Society, or The Society for short are basically amoral vigilantes, who kill anyone dabbling in magic indiscriminately. On the other hand, they have good reasons to do so, as magic allows the summoning of Predators, creatures from other worlds that would like nothing more than snacking, or worse, on all of humanity. Similarly, Ray Lilly, the protagonist starts of in somewhat of a bind. His boss wants him dead, and some nebulous force is killing children and erasing the memory of them in the little town of Hammer Bay. Ray is told in no uncertain terms that he is little but cannon fodder, and he himself is seriously questioning if he deserves better.

Child of Fire reminds me a fair bit of the early Dresden Files books, both in the general feel of the setting, and in how hilariously outgunned the main character is. Ray seems to spend most of his time getting shot at, punched, mauled, and so on, the only thing that keeps him going seems to be how he knows he'll be dead soon anyway. It's also interesting to me how the main monster killer isn't the main character, he isn't the hyper-competent emotionally dead Batman, he is the Robin, and he is expecting his own personal Batman A Death in the Family any day now. It allows for a great deal of mystery to be preserved, and it helps keeping the mystery fresh. I wouldn't really call the story a whodunnit, nor a whydunnit, it's more of a whatdun, really. For the most part it works, had it not been for a bad guy getting in a lucky hit on Annalise, Ray's boss, the story probably would have been considerably shorter, and much heavier on craters and ominous stains in the upholstery, but the situation being what it is, it's more a case of Ray running damage control while trying to solve a problem way over his pay grade. The book quite effectively manages the tension, although I honestly think the climax is a bit brief, and could have played on the escalating tension a bit better.

As far as spectacle goes, the book favors action scenes, and for the most part, they work fairly well. Ray can take a good bit of punishment, but when the heavy guns, or fangs, come knocking, he still has to act fast and think on his feet. Admittedly, his one spell, The Ghost Knife, gets him out of more than one scrape, but it seldom feels like a cop-out, the knife works on a set of rules, so it works reasonably well. It is actually a bit of an effective contrast to Annalise's magic, which seems to be vast and scarcely limited, at least in comparison.

All in all, Child of Fire made me want to come back for a second helping, to the degree that I went right on to the next book. It's a well done and evenly written Urban Fantasy thriller, and if that sounds like your thing, jump in, you'll most likely enjoy it.(less)

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Apr 01, 2013 Matthias Thorn rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am still finding my way around this genre. While it's a genre I feel like I do enjoy, I also feel like, no matter who's writing it, too many things are the same across the various instances. I realize that genre fiction exists for people who want to know what to expect, but I still feel like there must be another way to do urban fantasy that isn't quite so limited.

If I'd read this before I'd read Mike Carey or even Larry Correia, I'd probably think more highly of it. Ok, no I take that back, I...more I am still finding my way around this genre. While it's a genre I feel like I do enjoy, I also feel like, no matter who's writing it, too many things are the same across the various instances. I realize that genre fiction exists for people who want to know what to expect, but I still feel like there must be another way to do urban fantasy that isn't quite so limited.

If I'd read this before I'd read Mike Carey or even Larry Correia, I'd probably think more highly of it. Ok, no I take that back, I still think Carey's Felix Castor stories are the best out there. I haven't read Jim Butcher yet, anyone besides who I've already mentioned here, but I actually think Connolly's addition to the genre is the weakest I've read so far. It's not BAD bad, but it never really grabbed me.

Ok, that's not 100% true. It grabbed me a bit, but in a teasing kind of way. There was a lot I was interested in finding out more about, but none of it was ever disclosed, mostly having to do with the "rules" of the magic in this particular universe. I wanted to know how it all worked, and who Twenty Palaces were and where they came from. I wanted to know more about the "predators" and more about the rules around what was magically possible. Lots of teasing here, little delivery, and little promise as to whether there'll be more disclosure in subsequent stories. I'm all for a long story arc, but, I'm sorry, I did want just a bit more gratification in this story.

Characters were not particularly interesting, except for the main female, but I can't tell if she was genuinely interested or merely inadequately explained. The main good guys were like the good guys in other urban fantasy, and the bad guys were silly caricatures.

Yes, I'm coming down on harshly on this, probably because I wanted so badly to like it. I loved what little I did see of the magic, I loved the wheel of fire, I loved the ghost knife and the implication that one little tiny piece of magic in the real world could have so much power in the hands of someone who knows how to use it. I liked how it was grittier than the admittedly sometimes-cartoonish world of Correia (but not quite as gritty as the world Felix Castor inhabits).

Yeah, if you like this genre's fiction and you don't mind that it never tries to be much more than genre fiction, you'll probably really really dig this.

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Feb 19, 2013 Lightreads added it

Shelves: fantasy, fiction, urban-fantasy

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-goth...more

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Aug 16, 2012 Erica Scott rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: genre

I am writing this review because I think it's a damn shame Del Rey didn't pick up more volumes of the series. Yes, I know everything's down to sales numbers, and if the sequels to this book didn't do too well commercially they have a leg to stand on, but still.

Seriously. If I become the kind of person who gives magazine interviews on what to read, even though it's not my favorite book I've ever read I WILL SAY IT WAS because I want to know what happens to m-fing Ray Lilly.

Child Of Fire is the fi...more I am writing this review because I think it's a damn shame Del Rey didn't pick up more volumes of the series. Yes, I know everything's down to sales numbers, and if the sequels to this book didn't do too well commercially they have a leg to stand on, but still.

Seriously. If I become the kind of person who gives magazine interviews on what to read, even though it's not my favorite book I've ever read I WILL SAY IT WAS because I want to know what happens to m-fing Ray Lilly.

Child Of Fire is the first in an unfortunately prematurely aborted urban fantasy series that is unlike any book in the genre I've read. Urban fantasy is tough - I'm drawn to the genre (I like fantasy but I'm not into dragons/wizards/LOTR rehashes) but it's so often the same story over and over, or romance is over-emphasized. Child of Fire doesn't do this. In addition, you don't get the endless exposition you see at the beginning of some fantasy books explaining the magical system, the characters relationships, the power struggles you're going to encounter - you learn things at the same time Ray does. He's just as clueless as you are, and you know what? That was really neat. Instead of feeling confused, I got immersed.

Basically, what's going on is this - Ray Lilly has just gotten out of prison and found himself in an arguably worse situation. He's stuck with a sort-of partner, Annalise, who is super powerful but who hates him. Worse, he doesn't know what the heck he's doing with her. He's agreed to be her "wooden man" but it's unclear to him what that means, except that he's going to get his ass kicked. A lot. He's basically a professional decoy. Annalise and Ray get sent to a sleepy little town in Washington to investigate some very strange occurrences... and I don't want to share any more than that, because part of the fun of the book is trying to understand the environment and learning things with Ray. Part of the uneasy ambiance is created by that not knowing, and the last thing I want to do is spoil things for you.

There were three things that stood out to me when reading this book.
1. It is pitch, pitch black. Like, dark. It's not self-indulgent, though, in the "my life is a dark pit of darkness, let me cry myself to sleep" kind of way. Instead, it's about a guy in a crap situation, and it doesn't shy away from just how crap that situation is. It's deeply violent, but it doesn't glorify violence. It's ugly, but it doesn't try to twist that ugliness into something perversely beautiful.
2. The magical system is unlike any I've encountered in a fantasy book, and that's GOOD. Urban fantasy books get really repetitive that way, rehashing the same mana/spellcasting/mutation/born with special powers tropes, and I love seeing someone use the freedom that comes with writing genre literature to create something new.
3. The monsters. I don't know exactly what Harry Connolly's inspirations were when he dreamed these bad boys up, but I saw the Book of Revelations (what amazing, bizarre, unfathomable monsters are in that part of the good book!) and Lovecraft as big influences. Again, everything comes down to that sense of unease, that not-knowing, that sense of something big and terrible and unknowable.

Honestly, here's the thing. This is one of those books that just stuck with me for some reason - really, the whole series did. I'm not sure if that's because it just pushes the right buttons for me or what, but what I do know is this - it's something DIFFERENT in a genre that's filled with a lot of the same. And if this little review gets a few other folks to read it, or a lot of other folks, maybe, just maybe, we'll find out what happens in the end.

If not, that's OK too. I'll just read whatever else the author writes and hope it hits me the same way.(less)

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Aug 10, 2012 VK rated it 5 of 5 stars

What do you get when you cross an evil child-burning alien, a kick a$$ wizard with a really disgusting way of healing her own injuries, and a tough-guy fresh from prison who knows better than to ever back down? A well-written, highly original urban fantasy that kept me interested and guessing right up to the end.

Annalisa (the wizard) doesn't think much of her new sidekick, Ray, but that's OK because she doesn't expect him to last long. Tough and resourceful Ray sets about proving her wrong. Wha...more

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Aug 07, 2012 David Walker rated it 5 of 5 stars

Harry Connolly really hit on something great with this book. I am constantly looking for new and different things in the urban fantasy/horror field which are light to devoid of romance, and this is one of the best books in the field.

On characters, there is a really fun dynamic between the two major characters, Ray and Annalise. I would call it love/hate, but there is no love. Ray is Annalise's "wooden man", which is code in this series for what should be a throwaway asset, someone to be used as...more

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Aug 05, 2012 Felicia rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-paranormal

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...more

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Jul 08, 2012 Jon rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fans of Urban Fantasy

Recommended to Jon by: io9.com

Shelves: urban-fantasy

I really enjoyed this book (and the other two in the series).

I like the take on the protagonist, Ray, in that he is a genuinely good guy who feels bad even when his enemies die, and he actively tries to avoid it to an extent you don't see in other series. It's a refreshing departure from the anti-hero often seen today.

The setting is very creative and interesting. Granted I wasn't terribly thrilled with how much of the world setting remains ultimately unexplained, but in the context of the story...more

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Jun 16, 2012 Jeffrey rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Jon Lewis

A fast paced tale of an ordinary guy who discovers he may not be so ordinary and, in the process, begins to uncover some of the secret history of the world. Think of it as a paranormal urban fantasy bildungsroman.

Connolly crafts exquisite characters - even his least sympathetic characters, including some of the good guys, have depth and enough substance to fill a room.

The story is told from a narrator perspective. Ray Lilly keeps us posted on what's going on, and jumps around in time and place...more

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May 18, 2012 Fangs for the Fantasy rated it 1 of 5 stars

The book opens with Ray Lilly driving Annalise Powliss who is a member of the Twenty Palace Society - a group dedicated to eradicating demons and stopping the use of magic in the world, towards a small town. Ray knows that when Annalise is finished using him as her wooden man that she intends to kill him. Though Annalise is the least powerful member of her society, there is no doubt that she can easily kill Ray.

The children in this town a disappearing and even more alarming, once they disappear...more The book opens with Ray Lilly driving Annalise Powliss who is a member of the Twenty Palace Society - a group dedicated to eradicating demons and stopping the use of magic in the world, towards a small town. Ray knows that when Annalise is finished using him as her wooden man that she intends to kill him. Though Annalise is the least powerful member of her society, there is no doubt that she can easily kill Ray.

The children in this town a disappearing and even more alarming, once they disappear no one remembers them, not even their parents. At the center of this mystery, is a strange doll factory that was created specifically to give jobs to the locals, because the mining industry has fallen apart. As with all small towns, the community is extremely tight knit and very protective of the Hammers who are the riches family in town. The police are completely corrupt and actually demand 100 dollars protection money a month from local businesses.

As Ray and Annalise investigate, it is clear that some sort of evil is at work in this town, but when Annalise gets horribly burnt, Ray is left to his own devices to solve the mystery and attempt to find a way to restore the children. He is armed with a magical knife made out of paper which has the ability to cut through anything, eradicate magic and comes to him on command. His body is marked with several tattoos that render him somewhat immune to harm.

Ray is a touch of a Gary Stu and regardless of what the situation is, or how fantastic the odds, he manages to escape. Interestingly enough though we are told that Annalise is the powerful one, it is Ray who ends up feeding her raw meat in an attempt to heal her, and it is Ray up ultimately saves her life. Ray also has a complete and utter aversion to guns, even when people are shooting at him, he refuses to fire back because, "someone might get hurt." No matter how many bullets the bad guys fire, Ray never gets shot. Uh huh...this is a pure action and adventure trope that is boring.

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May 17, 2012 Nate Warren rated it 4 of 5 stars

Love this series! Love it! Here's a world where "gritty and dark" aren't just catch phrases. Kids die, old people are murdered..
The characters are flawed beyond belief and when you say operating in a gray area.. this is it.
Hard, no holds barred action at it's best.

The main character isn't all powerful, but he's resourceful as heck. The powers he does have are pretty neat and way outside what we normally see in the magic books.. a paper knife? really? Yes, really.
The "Wooden Man" idea is sad,...more

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Mar 10, 2012 Jacey rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, fiction

This is a 'Twenty Palaces' novel, but we never quite find out what the Twenty Palaces society is other than a group of sorcerers who hunt and execute rogue magicians. Ray Lilly, one time car thief and small-tome magic user, is living on borrowed time. He's become the driver and 'wooden man' for Annalise Powliss, a high ranking member of the society and powerful magic user. She's been foirbidden to kill him, but she's looking for an excuse to let someone else do the job. Annalise and Ray head out...more

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Feb 10, 2012 Laurie K rated it 4 of 5 stars

When I first picked up Child of Fire by Harry Connolly, I wasn't sure it was my thing. I'm used to the amiable male protagonist like Harry Dresden, or a sarcastic, wise-cracking guy like James Stark. Ray Lilly is nothing like that. He's an ex-convict who realizes that the magic user he's working for would be absolutely thrilled if he died screaming. This fact understandably colors his judgement, overwhelms his personality and lends itself to a grim tone for a very dark story. And yet it's a hell...more

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Jan 08, 2012 Jack rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-urban

Is there an established sub-genre name for urban noir fantasy like the Dresden Codex series? Although I don't know enough about the Dresden books to cite similarities, the overall impression I've garnered is that the setting, tone, and general conceit match up pretty closely. That last point deserves some elaboration. Although almost any fantasy with a modern setting involves a protagonist discovering the hidden world of magic that coexists with ours, a subset of them have a hero who is some kin...more

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Sep 03, 2011 Dean Fetzer rated it 5 of 5 stars

Okay, if you don’t like anything fantastical or supernatural, my advice would be to look away now. But you’ll be missing good reads. Your loss.

There’s no vampires, werewolves or angels in these books, although there is quite a lot of magic. I read them right after finishing one of Charles Stross’s Laundry books and it seemed to fit right in.
Ray Lilly is a recently released, ex-con with interesting tattoos that protect him from a lot of violent things - and some magic. His boss, Annalise, is part...more

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Aug 01, 2011 Madame X rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: paranormal-urban-fantasy

I absolutely loved Child of Fire. It's definitely Dresden-esque, especially the early Dresden Files, following as it does the adventures of a down-on-his-luck male protagonist who's on the outs with the magical Powers That Be and hiding a few skeletons in his closet. It's also a well-paced page turner, full of action, written on a grand scale, and very original. There are obvious differences, too - Connolly isn't comic like Jim Butcher, so there's a lot less humor to lighten the mood. And the pr...more

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Dec 30, 2010 Karissa rated it 4 of 5 stars

I got this as an advanced reading copy (ARC) through the Amazon Vine program. This book is being targeted at people who love the Dresden Files and Simon Green's "Secret Histories" series. Given that and the description provided; I was excited to read it. This is the first novel in the Twenty Palaces series; so far three books in this series have been sold. The second one is titled "Game of Cages" and is scheduled for a May 2010 release. It was a very good book.

Ray Lilly has been in prison for a...more I got this as an advanced reading copy (ARC) through the Amazon Vine program. This book is being targeted at people who love the Dresden Files and Simon Green's "Secret Histories" series. Given that and the description provided; I was excited to read it. This is the first novel in the Twenty Palaces series; so far three books in this series have been sold. The second one is titled "Game of Cages" and is scheduled for a May 2010 release. It was a very good book.

Ray Lilly has been in prison for a while, he is released to serve as a driver for one of the members of the Twenty Palaces society, Annalise. The Twenty Palaces Society is a group of sorcerers that police rogue sorcerers and destroy any Predators they bring into the normal world. Ray and Annalise are sent to a small town to find out why all of their children are disappearing.

Overall this was a great book. The plot is well-put together, the action scenes are amazing, and the action is non-stop. While Ray and Annalise are not the most likable characters, they are characters that you grow to like as a reader and they have a lot of depth to them. Ray will remind in many ways of Harry Dresden, he takes a lot of beatings and still tries to do what he thinks is right. The world that this novel takes place in is also fascinating and in this book you don't learn a ton about the Twenty Palaces Society, just enough to make you want to learn more.

There is a lot going on in this book, no one is who they seem to be, and the action scenes fall one into the next. I guess that is my only complaint about this book. The action scenes were basically one on top of the other and they came at you so fast you never had time to catch your breath. I also think that the action scenes were so plentiful that, at times, they prevented us from getting to spend time actually learning more about the characters. I guess I have one other small complaint and that was that this story was very isolated to this one small town. You get glimpses of another world out there, but you never get to really take part in it...hopefully we will get to see more of this interesting world in future books.

I liked this book and am eager to read the next one. I think this has potential to be a really excellent series. A great read. I agree that if you like the Dresden Files, you will probably like this series also. (less)

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Jun 29, 2010 Text Addict rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy, california

Well. Unless and until I hear otherwise, I have to assume that Connolly either (a) played rather a lot of Call of Cthulhu during college, or (b) has spent a lot of time reading H. P. Lovecraft. Or both, I suppose – or else convergent evolution is at work here.

Regardless, if you understood what I just wrote, then the rest of this review is probably redundant.

If not, then please understand that this novel skirted very close to being too much like a horror novel for me. I can’t read most horror nov...more Well. Unless and until I hear otherwise, I have to assume that Connolly either (a) played rather a lot of Call of Cthulhu during college, or (b) has spent a lot of time reading H. P. Lovecraft. Or both, I suppose – or else convergent evolution is at work here.

Regardless, if you understood what I just wrote, then the rest of this review is probably redundant.

If not, then please understand that this novel skirted very close to being too much like a horror novel for me. I can’t read most horror novels; I’ve never even finished a Stephen King novel, because I just don’t want to know what horrible thing is going to happen next. Mind you, it’s plenty horrific, but having played a modest amount of Call of Cthulhu myself, I found it almost a homey, familiar sort of horrific. (Your mileage may vary.)

See, what’s going on is that the real modern world could contain lots of things that Man Was Not Meant To Know. Usually it doesn’t. But of course various fools decide they Need To Know anyway, and so unleash nameless horrors into the world. And the Twenty Palace Society (this the first “Twenty Palaces Novel”) goes around cleaning up these problems, often in a bloody and violent fashion.

Ray Lilly got mixed up in Twenty Palace business awhile back, and as a result he’s stuck as driver, sidekick, and punching bag for Annelise Powliss, Twenty Palace enforcer and serious, dangerous hard case. They’re visiting the town of Hammer Bay, Washington, to investigate otherwordly activity and eliminate it … and anybody else who even accidentally gets in the way, actually, as far as Annelise is concerned.

It takes some fumbling around, but at a certain point the fire-spitting clerks kind of give away who the main villain really is. Then they just have to find and eliminate him, and it would’ve been nice if that went easily, wouldn’t it? Well, actually that would make for a boring novelistic climax, so of course it’s very hard, and being the actual main character, Ray gets to take center stage.

This novel is not recommended for people who can’t tolerate reading about the death of children. It is recommended for anyone who’s interested in a good novel with a hard-boiled mystery, eldritch horrors, character development, and incidental werewolves.

Also, I’d gladly play in a Cthulhu campaign using this setting. Anybody up for organizing that?(less)

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Mar 27, 2010 Danielle Parker rated it 4 of 5 stars

I’ve recently joined “Broad Universe”, an organization of female speculative fiction writers. And we just had a discussion on why women focus so much on romance in their writing, even in speculative fiction. Female authors dominate urban fantasy, mostly with a heavy dosing of (guess what!) romance. And I’m talking romance as graphic descriptions of birds and bees getting it on, not Romance in the sense of the Romantic Age of literature, or in the Three Musketeers grand adventure sense. So is it...more I’ve recently joined “Broad Universe”, an organization of female speculative fiction writers. And we just had a discussion on why women focus so much on romance in their writing, even in speculative fiction. Female authors dominate urban fantasy, mostly with a heavy dosing of (guess what!) romance. And I’m talking romance as graphic descriptions of birds and bees getting it on, not Romance in the sense of the Romantic Age of literature, or in the Three Musketeers grand adventure sense. So is it as simple as sex sells? Or something more?
In any case, I’m rather glad to see new male authors take up the sex-soaked urban fantasy genre and send it in a new direction. Child of Fire is Harry Connolly’s first novel in his “Twenty Palaces” series, and it’s refreshingly action-oriented. Sex gets a nod here, but thank goodness it’s not the be-all, end-all of the protagonist’s existence. I get heartily sick, some days, of those lust-at-first-sight, gorgeous man-sexy-woman, only-bad-boy-for-me clichés.
Ray Lilly’s got a real job to focus on, and it’s a nasty one. Ray is an ex-con, and a magic user. Magic’s not a nice thing in this world. The secretive Twenty Palaces Society pulled Ray’s feet out of the fire, and now that’s he’s out of prison, they own him. The Twenty Palaces Society kills off magical invaders (predators), destroys spell books, and offs any imprudent human who call them into existence on the human plane. But The Twenty Palaces Society doesn’t exactly belong with the good guys, either.
Ray’s an expendable “wooden man” (decoy) in their brutal war, put out front to draw enemy fire. His boss, Annalise, hates his guts. She’d even answer his questions if she didn’t think he was beneath her contempt. She’s not worried about collateral damage to bystanders, innocent or not—including Ray. Given the Twenty Palaces Society supplied the lawyers that finessed Ray out of prison, not to mention the fact he now owns no more than the clothes he stands in, he’s got little choice but do as told.
Ray and Annalise are sent to investigate a backwoods Pacific Northwest town where children have disappeared. Corrupt police, mysterious killer dogs, the civic-minded local madam (supporting the local economy during tough times), and the local toy factory grandee feature as lively villains.
The action’s pretty non-stop and unusually well done. But there’s a more serious theme of how war brutalizes all players in this book. Ray the ex-con makes a sympathetic and all-too-human protagonist learning lessons the hard way.
Fans of Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series will enjoy this fast ride. I liked it enough myself I’ve placed the upcoming second in the series, Cage of Fire, on order. Keep them coming, Mr. Connolloy!

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Mar 12, 2010 Fiction State Of Mind (Kai Charles) rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Child of Fire is the first book in Twenty Palaces series by debut author Harry Connolly. This is another great ARC I got at San Diego comic-con last July.I actually got to meet Harry as well which was lots of fun. Now on to the review:

"Ray Lilly is living on borrowed time. He's a driver for Annalise Powliss, a high-ranking member of the Twenty Palace Society..But because Ray betrayed her once,Annalise is looking for an excuse to kill him... or let someone else do the job" cover blurb.

One of the...more

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Jan 28, 2010 Yael rated it 5 of 5 stars

Ray Lilly is the driver for Annalise Powliss, a strange, dimunitive woman who seems much younger than her real age -- and is a high-ranking member of the Twenty Palace Society, a group of wizards dedicated to hunting down and eliminating wildcatting sorcerers misusing Magick in dangerous ways. But because Ray was responsible for the death of an ally of Annalise's, she is looking for an excuse to kill Ray -- or find someone else to do the job.

When Annalise's next mission goes wildly wrong, leavin...more

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Dec 27, 2009 Mardel rated it 4 of 5 stars

I bought Child of Fire because I read a few very good reviews of Child of Fire. BTW, Good reviews of a book usually plays a small part in my decision to read a book because sometimes professional reviewers will rave about a book that I think is so very, very boring - or I end up having completely different tastes than the reviewers.

This book interested me from the first page. I liked the main character, who seems to be "living on borrowed time" (from the book blurb). Any minute he could die and...more

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Child of Fire (Twenty Palaces #1)

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