Smokeless Fire, Scorched Skies & Borrowed Ember
- by Samantha Young
Overall series rating: 4 out of 5
Wow, I had not expected the surprise of really liking the Fire Spirits book series!
Truth is I probably enjoyed this story more than I should have. That said, horray for a new sort of supernatural (the Jinn) to read about! Oh, and also the main protagonist Ari Johnson is loyal, and just pleasantly normal. Which I liked. She is accompanied by her two screwed up (but “hot”) counterparts Jai Bitar, and Charlie Creagh.
The setting is modern world with Ari having no knowledge of any of these creatures; she’s just a girl living in a house, with an absentee father, a poltergeist, and a screwed up best friend. And then things come crashing down around her ears in a fairly hard and real way. We eventually are introduced to the world of the Jinn, and learn of a place called Mount Qaf (the realm of the Jinn). Once you enter the world of the Jinn first thing you find that they are alien, callous, and always with an agenda. I suppose to me they read how faeries are depicted through out history: very powerful, and manipulative. The author does an fantastic job at writing how detached they are from nearly everything human. And they aren’t afraid to use whatever means to get what result they want. This effectively creates an actual, threatening group of antagonists for our heroes to come up against.
I loved the protagonists because their lives were not perfect pictures of sunshine from the get-go. I sort of reveled in the dysfunctional dynamic they all had with one another, bordering on the realistic in some cases. Especially in regards to despair, sex, and substance abuse, jealousy etc… There is a more self indulgent feel with the characters in some regards, but I didn’t feel it was horribly over done. Though only one character really languishes in his world of misery, it’s a plot point and one that makes sense for him. While another character tries hard to battle through their damage shoving it all down, but really learning that they are truly screwed up from an abusive past. All of these characters, even Ari, are damaged in some way which to this reviewer makes sense, as I’ve never met a person without their own “issues.” Yeah, I suppose it’s a little melodramatic, but for some reason this didn’t bother me in the least. It all made sense to the characters, no out of the blue behaviors, I admire the author for making good calls and sticking with her creations established personalities. Some times this lends to disappointment, but that’s quite all right.
I was caught up in the story, and the characters so well however that I bought the next available two books and gobbled them up just as fast as the first! Do I really need to wait until Fall to read the next part in the series? Ack!
This is definitely a recommended series for you all here.
I’ll have to see how it ends if I am going to bump it to a 5, because I am a sucker for a happy ending. Not that I’m holding it hostage or anything…
-♕ GoblinQueen ♕
