Etched in Fire

by Beth Hudson

Content Warning: Rape

Just as a barge enters Kaelennar, the city is attacked by an army of bloodthirsty esch. To protect fourteen-year-old Maelen Saltbearer, Gannet dresses her as a boy, and they take refuge with another family. Maelen wants to fight—she has some untested magical powers—but instead the children are to flee the city.
The occupation of Kaelennar continues, and the children eke out a meager existence, unable to better their lot against the esch . . . until one day Maelen Saltbearer is caught, along with her friends, while smuggling children from the city. Tortured and left for dead, Maelen snaps.
Torn between personal revenge and saving her people, Maelen has a decision to make . .

Genres: Fantasy

544 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2015

About the author

Inspired by authors such as J.R.R. Tolkien, Lloyd Alexander, and Madeleine L’Engle, Beth determined to become a writer when she was still in grade school. That path meandered through an attempt at astronomy, a linguistics degree, and a brief flirtation with anthropology, but during it all, she worked on her writing, producing numerous short stories, and even completing two (unpublished) novels while in high school and college. Since deciding to focus on her writing, she has published a number of fantasy short stories (and a lone science fiction piece) in various magazines and anthologies. "The Herd Lord", a novella about a war among centaurs, was published in 2011, and her first full-length novel, "Etched in Fire" was released in 2015. Beth’s ideas are sparked by music – Celtic folk, classical, and classic rock – and she sings, plays guitar and harp, and writes songs as well as dabbling in jewelry-making and other assorted crafts. But it is her sons, Dylan, David, and Alex, who keep her striving for excellence, so that she can make them proud of her.

Reviews

[Michael Koogler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ll start off by saying simply; this is not your typical fantasy adventure. While it does have very interesting fantasy races, there are no hobbits and elves and dwarves traipsing through a fantasy story on a grand adventure. This is a story of the brutal and violent occupation of a peaceful city by an enemy as wicked and perverted as you can imagine. The story focuses on the shock and horror of the primary characters as enemy troops defeat the standing army of Kealennar and move into the city; to their nearly hopeless struggle for survival in the bleakest of conditions during the occupation. The story draws many parallels to the Nazi occupation of Poland during WW2 and is very well told.

The author is very good and painting the scenic picture, too. The descriptive pieces are well written, but not overdone. The character development is excellent, too. The characters are believable and they come alive in the story, and the wickedness of the antagonists is palpable and even depressing. The author does a nice job working with the emotions of the reader. The main protagonist of this story, a young girl named Maelen, is as much a head-strong teenager as an unwilling heroine, and you find yourself alternating between cheering for her and wanting to shake her, asking her what the heck she’s thinking! Again, a very believable teenager.

While the story’s main focus is on the protagonists, specifically Maelen and her family and friends, the wicked conqueror and his very Hitler-esque speeches is touched on enough to give you a reason to really hate the antagonists and want to see them soundly defeated in the end. If I found myself wanting anything more of the story, it was only that I wanted a little more background and participation from the main antagonists, the demon, Thwlcwr and his handler, Cir. I hated them, but I was morbidly curious to find out more about them.

I won’t give anything away about the ending, but suffice it to say that the ending is believable and does pay off, but there is always loss in war. I definitely recommend Etched in Fire for fantasy readers. Go into this with the understanding that while it’s a dark and emotional tale, it’s very worth the read.

[Catherine Schaff-Stump · Rating 3 out of 5]

Before I begin my review, a caveat. If you are a fantasy reader, if you like reading European Medieval/Renaissance fantasy, this is probably a book you will enjoy. If I were that reader, I might have given this book 4 stars.

Hudson's book is terribly graphic in the middle section, wherein lies her strongest writing. It is truly disturbing in the middle section, which means the author has succeeded in evoking uncomfortable emotions. The first part of the book seems like it just wants to get to the second part, and the last part seems so surreal to me after the middle part that I have a hard time latching onto it.

The characterizations are fairly good, although I do find issue with that old chestnut of love during starvation and war. How many people fearing for their lives have sex? That never works for me. It is a trope in the fantasy genre and I can see why Hudson uses it.

If you are a fan of this kind of fantasy, give this one a try.

[Eleanor C · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Occupation From the Inside

This book has a real taste of horror in it, but it is not a horror novel. It is a fantasy, full of magic, dark enemies, desperate people, and bravery.

Those who read the book thinking that having a teen protagonist (Maelen Saltbearer) makes it a children's book will be very upset. It is about a teen girl becoming a woman through the struggle to survive a terrible enemy, and if you understand that, it becomes a very fulfilling book.

Maelen and her family of traders arrive in the city of Kaelennar, which is almost immediately attacked by the esch, a terrible, brutal people. In this moment we first see the author's decision to remain with the point of view of the young woman. Instead of showing the grand scale of the war and the following occupation, Hudson chooses to focus down acutely on what the "ordinary" (Maelen is nothing ordinary, but more on that later) person in an occupied city knows, and what they must endure.

Nevertheless, the author shows us some of the larger picture, through the Nazi-like speeches of the occupying leader, through word-of-mouth among the occupied peoples, through the ever more dangerous trips to the market square to trade for dwindling food supplies.

At this point you may be saying--looks too grim for me, or too depressing. It can be grim and depressing, because war and terrorizing a population are those things, but that is nothing like all there is to it. Maelen is a strong, determined teenager at the beginning, an even stronger woman as she finds ways to fight back against the invaders, filled with intense determination to right wrongs. Spiritual survival, more than physical, is the focus of the novel, and that is this writer's intention, I am quite sure.

But I promised magic, and magic there is. Suffusing the story, used for good and for ill, in predictable and unusual ways, it weaves itself naturally throughout the novel. And here, I think, the author most shines. You *feel* the magic when Hudson describes it. You *see* it when she shows it to the reader. (And could Maelen herself be developing a little of her own?)

So, what are the shortcomings of the book? In the first place, I am frustrated by the copy editing, or the shortage of it. Punctuation, occasional spacing issues, and several other concerns weaken the read, because they bounce you out of the author's voice. They are not large issues individually, I could just wish more had been done to clean them up.

I also find the choice to stick entirely to what Maelen herself knows occasionally gets in the way of the readers learning what *they* need to know about the circumstances surrounding this occupation. I love (hate) the villains of the piece, but I want to know more about *why* they are doing what they are, and more about who the ruling individuals are. Often the author finds ways to show us these things, but sometimes I think Hudson struggles to fit the answers to these questions into the tight point of view focus in which she writes. Still, I would rather a tight focus than a sloppy, confusing story with multiple points of view, and I find the limitations it places on the author are worth it for the clear picture that it gives of Maelen's character. You always know what the character is thinking and feeling, and that makes you care about her.

This is the author's first full-length novel, and I am eagerly awaiting a sequel to Etched In Fire.

[Dylan Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Etched in Fire is a fantastic but rather dark story by Beth Hudson. It starts off relatively cheerfully, with a young girl going into the city for the first time, but quickly turns into the grim story of being trapped inside a city when it is invaded by a hostile force. The story has a number of scenes dealing with death, including personal characters. It also has two rape scenes including one with the protagonist.

I really liked this story. The author really demonstrated the fear and uncertainty of not knowing if one day would be last. It also tied nicely into the crushing despair of being in unfamiliar oppression. Scenes of hiding food or lying really set the story and caught my attention.

Likewise, I felt that the author did a good job of showing different personalities. There were some who were violent and struggling to fight against the attackers while others quietly suffered. The responses to when a loved one died was also well done and I liked how they evolved over time.

One of the best aspects of the story is the twist. Honestly, the beginning of the story set up a lot of the conditions and I thought the story would take one way but it ended up going another. I liked it. It wasn't as heroic and "epic" but it was appropriate and a much more solid ending. It was personal and detailed.

The author's style is pretty smooth to read. Near the end, I told my spouse that I was staying up to finish it, regardless of a so-called "bed time".

The biggest complaint I had was with the sneaking (I don't want to spoil things). It happened a lot, but I didn't really get the impression that they were that much in danger or that the roads should have been completely empty and they would have been caught. Overall, it broke my suspension of disbelief a number of times.

I did not like the rape scenes. They were telegraphed far too in advance and came off as "they are bad guys, of course they rape." That part didn't really advance the plot. It was acceptable that the main character suffered some longer-term struggles from her rape, but I felt that it was quickly pushed away and ignored for the bulk of the story after that event. It really came off as "bad guys rape" instead of being a significant plot elements.

I read the Smashwords version of this book. The forming had a number of font issues that made it harder for me, mainly because I zoom text larger than normal and there were blocks that remained at the smaller size.

Overall, I would recommend this story for those who want a good and thoughtful story.

[Alex McGilvery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maelen arrives in Kaelennar with her trader parents a properly naive thirteen year old girl on her first big trip away from home. Her biggest worry is the history her mother keeps teaching her. That is intended only the Esch under the leadership of demons takes the city and begins a reign of terror.

Warning, this is not a children’s book. On the other hand, it is a brilliantly written book for adults and the occasional mature young adult reader. It isn’t that any particular scene, the sex scenes are much less voyeuristic than many YA books I read. It isn’t the violence either, again it is handled with a deft touch which many YA authors could learn from. What makes it adult is the unremitting realism of the emotions and reality of her portrayal of invasion, love, loss and courage.

There are few books that not only were hard to put down, but hard to keep turning the page. Etched in Fire will stay with you for a long time after the ending which left me bereft and satisfied. The book clearly leaves room for a sequel, and likely more. I would have no hesitation buying the next book in the series, because Beth Hudson does what all too few series authors do–prove she knows how to create a riveting conclusion.

I highly recommend this book to epic fantasy lovers, to people who want gritty tales of what life in wartime is like, to people who want a book to move them. In all the years I have been reviewing books, this is one of very few I wish I could give a six star rating.

[Littoface · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic book that's dark and brutal in parts, and entirely satisfying. I kept expecting the book to fall into tropes, and it never did. I fell in love with Maelen and hope to see more of her!