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Wings of Flame
Bitter Enemis, the nations of Deva and Vashti shared no history, no customs, no laws. They all worshipped the horse-god Suth, but the rituals and magic's of one people were the heresies of the other. Two nations that shared only one thing--the curse of the Nameless One. A demonic hatred that could destroy the lands of Suth. Now three people must confront the Nameless One. Prince Kyrem of young warrior, master of the great stallion Omber, and a hostage to peace. King Auron of last of his line, a pacifist magician and healer bound by his land, trapped by his priesthood. And an orphan born lower than a slave, with no past, no future, not true name, no hope--but bearer of an unknown legacy, and an unknowable destiny. To survive, they would have to find the love and magic to challenge the hatred of generations. And to save their world, they would have to find the strength to battle history, heaven and hell.
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
15 people are currently reading
229 people want to read
About the author
Nancy Springer
214 books2,351 followersBIO -- NANCY SPRINGER
Nancy Springer has passed the fifty-book milestone, having written that many novels for adults, young adults and children, in genres including mythic fantasy, contemporary fiction, magical realism, horror, and mystery -- although she did not realize she wrote mystery until she won the Edgar Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America two years in succession. DARK LIE, recently released from NAL, is her first venture into mass-market psychological suspense.
Born in Montclair, New Jersey, Nancy Springer moved with her family to Gettysburg, of Civil War fame, when she was thirteen. She spent the next forty-six years in Pennsylvania, raising two children (Jonathan, now 38, and Nora, 34), writing, horseback riding, fishing, and birdwatching. In 2007 she surprised her friends and herself by moving with her second husband to an isolated area of the Florida panhandle, where the birdwatching is spectacular and where, when fishing, she occasionally catches an alligator.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 11, 2012
read during my Social Work Years
I Remember: a flight through a rural countryside into a capital city full of strangeness & intrigue... a disguised heroine who remains quite loveable despite some often annoyingly passive behavior... a nonchalantly studly hero, a very ingratiating example of the type... a surpassingly hallucinatory ending... compelling mythology... despite all the good stuff, rather thin and occasionally frustrating... overall, high fantasy at its purest... features an intersexed character, what a rarity!
I Remember: a flight through a rural countryside into a capital city full of strangeness & intrigue... a disguised heroine who remains quite loveable despite some often annoyingly passive behavior... a nonchalantly studly hero, a very ingratiating example of the type... a surpassingly hallucinatory ending... compelling mythology... despite all the good stuff, rather thin and occasionally frustrating... overall, high fantasy at its purest... features an intersexed character, what a rarity!
July 2, 2020
Two warring nations worship the same horse deity, but their priests differ on how to worship. The warrior prince, Kyrem, is sent as a hostage to peace to be the guest of his enemy. An outcast girl, Seda, must masquerade as a boy, and befriends the prince when she saves his life from brigands on the road.
There were some things about this book that I really loved, and some things that were confusing, and some things that were just weird.
I loved the characters! Their relationships are complex and always changing. They all have secrets and inner turmoil that they have to resolve. I was so engaged in their character development and their emotional reactions.
The world-building was sometimes confusing. There are all these myths about ancient gods and horse deities, and there is a lot of magic concerning curses and healing powers. Some of the characters are seers, but they don't see the future, only the present. They can see around the land to know what is going on in other areas. Some of the magic was explained well and fit in with the plot, but other things like the magic of the gods didn't quite make sense to me.
And then there was the weird stuff. There is a bunch of magic and myths about twins, and how the gods can split into a good and evil version of themselves as if they were two deities, a god and a demon. It was never quite explained to my satisfaction. It makes sense on the surface, but the more I think about it, the more questions I have. Some of the magic gets pretty dark with the curses on people to bend their bones and rot their teeth, and the suffering is described in such a heart-breaking way. It's upsetting to read about sometimes.
Overall, an enjoyable read with some great characters, excellent writing, and an interesting plot. It's definitely imaginative, and quite different from anything else I've ever read. It's not my favorite book or anything, but I'm glad I read it.
There were some things about this book that I really loved, and some things that were confusing, and some things that were just weird.
I loved the characters! Their relationships are complex and always changing. They all have secrets and inner turmoil that they have to resolve. I was so engaged in their character development and their emotional reactions.
The world-building was sometimes confusing. There are all these myths about ancient gods and horse deities, and there is a lot of magic concerning curses and healing powers. Some of the characters are seers, but they don't see the future, only the present. They can see around the land to know what is going on in other areas. Some of the magic was explained well and fit in with the plot, but other things like the magic of the gods didn't quite make sense to me.
And then there was the weird stuff. There is a bunch of magic and myths about twins, and how the gods can split into a good and evil version of themselves as if they were two deities, a god and a demon. It was never quite explained to my satisfaction. It makes sense on the surface, but the more I think about it, the more questions I have. Some of the magic gets pretty dark with the curses on people to bend their bones and rot their teeth, and the suffering is described in such a heart-breaking way. It's upsetting to read about sometimes.
Overall, an enjoyable read with some great characters, excellent writing, and an interesting plot. It's definitely imaginative, and quite different from anything else I've ever read. It's not my favorite book or anything, but I'm glad I read it.
February 27, 2012
I am sure my opinion now that I'm older would change of this book. But when I was younger I loved this book and I am going to rate it by that first opinion.
August 23, 2023
The second I finished this book I said out loud; how in the heckity heck am I supposed to rate this!?
For the first half of the book we follow an interesting premise. An outcast, 'tainted' twin girl who is often mistaken for a boy and who sees herself as one (interesting!), riding along with a group led by a foreign prince who have conflicting views of her. A mystery of who this kid is? Who is after the prince? Stay with you that whole time and I couldn't put the book down for wanting to know.
Their bond was nice and sweet. Seda didn't become a weak, sniveling, fainting trope (thank goodness I hate that trope). Likewise the prince Kyrem was interesting to watch.
Other than the main two characters, everybody else seems to have short term memory loss and hot/cold emotions. The dad, sending his son who -according to Kyrem- barely cares about him, is now nearly bawling his eyes out for putting his baby boy in danger? What? The dad was the one who sent him as a sacrifice/hostage in the first place! And now both Kings are besties?
Man would it have been so cool if there was a twist like, it turns out Auron is actually Kyrem's mother! But that was not so.
Then the book gets... weird.
Do you like horses? And by like, I mean, are you obsessed with horses? To the point where you've got a full on section of your brain labelled Horse? Also, do you want to know EVERYTHING about a horse-religion where horse-manic people tell your zodiac by horse-movements? If the horse lifts its left foot you win a cruise, if it lifts its right, you are lucky. If it farts? I'm surprised I don't know because this book SURE AS SUGAR wanted to spell it all out for me!
Not that it was a bad thing per se, just a strange thing to really FIXATE on.
Also, how many times does Seda's lady bits get mentioned and why? Old fantasy, calm your.... (the joke is too easy)
The ending sort of spoiled it all though, what a cop out!
Up until maybe the last 50 pages this was going to be on my favourites list. It was so close to being a refreshing take on something like Green Rider or one of M. Lackey's works, but unfortunately a horse sneezed and my luck with this book ran out.
For the first half of the book we follow an interesting premise. An outcast, 'tainted' twin girl who is often mistaken for a boy and who sees herself as one (interesting!), riding along with a group led by a foreign prince who have conflicting views of her. A mystery of who this kid is? Who is after the prince? Stay with you that whole time and I couldn't put the book down for wanting to know.
Their bond was nice and sweet. Seda didn't become a weak, sniveling, fainting trope (thank goodness I hate that trope). Likewise the prince Kyrem was interesting to watch.
Other than the main two characters, everybody else seems to have short term memory loss and hot/cold emotions. The dad, sending his son who -according to Kyrem- barely cares about him, is now nearly bawling his eyes out for putting his baby boy in danger? What? The dad was the one who sent him as a sacrifice/hostage in the first place! And now both Kings are besties?
Man would it have been so cool if there was a twist like, it turns out Auron is actually Kyrem's mother! But that was not so.
Then the book gets... weird.
Do you like horses? And by like, I mean, are you obsessed with horses? To the point where you've got a full on section of your brain labelled Horse? Also, do you want to know EVERYTHING about a horse-religion where horse-manic people tell your zodiac by horse-movements? If the horse lifts its left foot you win a cruise, if it lifts its right, you are lucky. If it farts? I'm surprised I don't know because this book SURE AS SUGAR wanted to spell it all out for me!
Not that it was a bad thing per se, just a strange thing to really FIXATE on.
Also, how many times does Seda's lady bits get mentioned and why? Old fantasy, calm your.... (the joke is too easy)
The ending sort of spoiled it all though, what a cop out!
Up until maybe the last 50 pages this was going to be on my favourites list. It was so close to being a refreshing take on something like Green Rider or one of M. Lackey's works, but unfortunately a horse sneezed and my luck with this book ran out.
Read
October 23, 2025Bitter Enemis, the nations of Deva and Vashti shared no history, no customs, no laws. They all worshipped the horse-god Suth, but the rituals and magic's of one people were the heresies of the other. Two nations that shared only one thing--the curse of the Nameless One. A demonic hatred that could destroy the lands of Suth. Now three people must confront the Nameless One. Prince Kyrem of Deva: young warrior, master of the great stallion Omber, and a hostage to peace. King Auron of Vashti: last of his line, a pacifist magician and healer bound by his land, trapped by his priesthood. And Seda: an orphan born lower than a slave, with no past, no future, not true name, no hope--but bearer of an unknown legacy, and an unknowable destiny. To survive, they would have to find the love and magic to challenge the hatred of generations. And to save their world, they would have to find the strength to battle history, heaven and hell.
March 16, 2023
This was a gook book with a story that would have done better if it was longer at the end. I loved how the romance between Seda and the prince was written yet I would have loved it if the author developed Sula and her character a little bit more and I think that it would have made me care for her. Meanwhile I think that Seda was well developed and her arc was such a beautiful story and yet I did care for her and found her tale tragic.
May 22, 2020
Intressting
An intressting story that in my opinion are more a spiritul journy than classic sword and sorcery book.
Its an engaging story that is enjoyable but lacks the little extra to make itva 5 star book in my opinion.
An intressting story that in my opinion are more a spiritul journy than classic sword and sorcery book.
Its an engaging story that is enjoyable but lacks the little extra to make itva 5 star book in my opinion.
May 31, 2024
A truly beautiful epic.
May 21, 2025
such an odd, strange little book. I can’t really tell if I liked it but it will certainly stay with me.
December 17, 2025
This is a well-written story and I'll be disappointed if my two stars deters people from wanting to read it. This book just wasn't my personal cup of tea.
February 1, 2015
First, I love this cover. It is an awesome cover.
This is a book about meaning and not about character. To be blunt, Springer’s plot too isn’t quite as tight as it is the other work.
But the symbolism of this story, the philosophy, the idea of wholeness and being. Wow. And people think fantasy is just magic.
This is a book about meaning and not about character. To be blunt, Springer’s plot too isn’t quite as tight as it is the other work.
But the symbolism of this story, the philosophy, the idea of wholeness and being. Wow. And people think fantasy is just magic.
January 20, 2013
This is a simple little fantasy tale about princes and heroes, but of course with Nancy Springer's usual, "careless" play with gender roles.
There are horse birds and twin curses, and a pretty entertaining story.
It's nice enough. But, it's not her best.
There are horse birds and twin curses, and a pretty entertaining story.
It's nice enough. But, it's not her best.
March 12, 2016
Wings Of Flame
Springer, Nancy *
the book looks into the ideals of self confidence belief
Springer, Nancy *
the book looks into the ideals of self confidence belief
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews