The Memory of Fire

The Memory of Fire by Callie Bates

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

Once again my rating is a compromise. The plot, pacing and general presentation rate a five. The principle character was sufficiently annoying to receive a one.

Every author puts something of himself or herself into each work. Frankly I'm not sure it's possible not to. If you like the author's world-view, or ideology if you prefer the word, then you'll enjoy that part of the book. In this case the author and I could never spend more than about 30 seconds locked in a room without being at one another's throat. The principle character, Jahan, is a mass of neuroses and contradictions. Constantly second-guessing himself, he bounces from situation to situation without ever really acting against his enemies. I found his brother Rayka - technically a supporting character - to be worthy of being the protagonist.

Consider. You're in a war. People are trying to kill you. You have magic at your disposal and can fight back in earnest.

'The siege towers have collapsed - not only collapsed, but exploded. A tangled mass of wood, metal, and the meaty red of bodies lies below us.

The top of my head seems to combust. "I told you to defend us. You were supposed to keep us safe, not massacre them."

Rayka's jaw sets. He jumps down from the parapet. "It's war."

Those are our own people."

"I won!"

"All the gods, Rayka, you didn't damned win! This isn't about winning, this is about everyone, in all of Ida, all of Palidis ..." I see how he stares at me; I throw my hands up. "You know what? Never mind."

We need to strategize but right now I'm so angry I can't even think. '


Rayka has just saved the sorcerers from being annihilated and this is Jayhan's response. This is the sort of thing we find throughout the book.

Another quote:

"I would be interested in seeing your argument for why secondary citizens should not enjoy the full rights of citizenship," I say. "I can't imagine it occupies any solid moral ground."

Now, I'll concede a majority of readers will love this stuff. I'm not one of them. I read the entire book and enjoyed much of it, but these little bits of preaching left me cold.

I fully intend to read volume three of this trilogy if only because the pandemic has closed the libraries and I took out these three books beforehand. I expect I'll enjoy much of it and find some parts nauseating if it follows the pattern laid out in books one and two. For those of you who like modern liberalism, I think you'll enjoy this trilogy. Those who are more conservative in nature can read and enjoy much of them but you should be prepared for some frustration.




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