REVIEW: An Inkling of Flame by Z.B. Steele
The universe needs more grimdark novellas, and Z.B. Steele delivers in spades with An Inkling of Flame. Although the novella can be read as a standalone volume, it also serves as a gateway to the author’s A Song of the Damned series. An Inkling of Flame tells the story of Layne, a soldier conscripted to fight in service of a deity known as the Fox.
The influence of Anna Smith Spark runs deep throughout An Inkling of Flame, especially in the latter part of the novella. One of the main characters is even named after our beloved Queen of Grimdark. Like much of Anna Smith Spark’s work, An Inkling of Flame takes the perspective of everyday soldiers as they are forced to fight in someone else’s war. A particular highlight of the novella is the camaraderie that forms among Layne and his fellow soldiers, which lends a comforting found family feel to this grimdark world.
An Inkling of Flame is a very well written novella, with carefully polished prose that delivers grimdark grit interspersed with moments of levity coming from the banter among characters. An Inkling of Flame is compulsively readable—I couldn’t put it down and finished the whole novella in a single session.
Z.B. Steele also makes effective use of a framing narrative as Layne recounts his story to an inquisition in the aftermath of battle. Although the framing story appears at first to be superfluous, its importance becomes clear during a few well-placed interludes and the gut-wrenching conclusion of the novella.
An Inkling of Flame establishes Z.B. Steele as a rising star in grimdark as he pays homage to classic grimdark tales while offering a fresh new story with surprising emotional depth. A Song of the Damned continues with Whispers of the Storm, the first full-length novel in the series.
Read An Inkling of Flame by Z.B. SteeleThe post REVIEW: An Inkling of Flame by Z.B. Steele appeared first on Grimdark Magazine.
