[Review] A Darkness Forged in Fire (Iron Elves #1), by Chris Evans

Evans’ debut novel A Darkness Forged in Fire—the first instalment in the Iron Elves Trilogy—shows off Evans’ passion for military history and fantasy, by joining the two in a gritty, imaginative marriage where army life and Napoleonic era tactics coexist with fantasy staples. The trilogy continues with The Light of Burning Shadows and will be completed by Ashes of a Black Frost, due for release in summer 2011.

Konowa Swift Dragon has led his regiment into shame and exile: he murdered a Viceroy and now the honour of the Iron Elves is as bloodied as his hands. A shamed regiment, stripped of everything—including their leader—the once glorious elves are but a stain on the Calahrian Empire’s colours. Konowa, court-marshalled and banished, has had plenty of time to dwell on his predicament as he wanders the dense forests he despises so fervently, with only his loyal bengar, Jir, to keep him sane.

But with a darkness on the horizon blacker than Konowa’s mood, the former commander is wrenched from his misery and thrust back into the fray. With a new draft of soldiers to fill his beloved Iron Elves—and not a single elf amongst them—Konowa must face not only the rising elf-witch, the Shadow Monarch, as she vies for domination, but also himself. Deep in the forest, ordered to find the scattered original Iron Elves, under the constant scrutiny of an inexperienced, adventure-seeking prince, charged not only with defeating the rising evil with which his destiny intertwines, but restoring order throughout the Empire, Konowa will soon realise that his black ear-tip—the Shadow Monarch’s mark on her chosen soldiers—along with his fate, cannot be forgotten.

For the Empire

Whilst it is the grander scheme of the Shadow Monarch that underpins the series thus far, without the innovative and insightful details into the Iron Elves as a living, breathing branch of the Imperial army, the notion of a powerful sorceress bent on world destruction would come across too clichéd. Instead, the Calahrian Empire’s struggle to maintain order as she struggles to promote her own brand of progress—as equally important as defeating the Shadow Monarch—coupled with the raw mechanics of a regiment on the move, actively fighting the forces of the elf-witch, whilst dealing with its own problems, brought by injury, death and obligation, present the old cliché in brand new colours: the colours of the Imperial army. Everything is in the name of the Queen, whether Konowa and his men like it or not.

Dwarves need not apply

A regiment smells, and A Darkness Forged in Fire captures this scent in every page. The soldiers of the Iron Elves are diverse and it is through them that the regiment is given life: a religious zealot, a single grudge-bearing elf of the original Iron Elves, a sly trouble-maker and a mismatched pair whose camaraderie invites the reader deeper into the unit.

Reluctantly sworn into the Iron Elves, is Alwyn; a bespectacled young man, whose eyesight is as bad as Yimt’s manners (a veteran dwarf whose stories will make your hair curl) and whose courage is always shaken, but never shattered. Together, Alwyn and Yimt—the only dwarf in the unit and sworn in by pure cheek alone—pull the reader to the level of the soldiers, away from the lofty, tense world in which Konowa—at the side of the prince—exists in the unit, and through their friendship a real taste of what their life in the cursed Iron Elves is like is offered.

Green magic

As a counterpart to the grit of the Iron Elves, the side of those opposed to the Empire is given, though not as the Iron Elves’ adversaries, rather, as companions and allies. Visyna Tekoy—high-born noble from Elfkyna, sent to drag Konowa from exile—wields a gentle magic and even gentler respect for nature that clashes with Konowa’s strong detestation of the forests of his birth, despite the seeds of turbulent romance planted between the two. Another female seeks to balance out the thick macho cast—or would, if she weren’t brasher than most of the men combined. Rallie, official reporter for the Queen, is a cigar-smoking old crone, who whilst she is more than she first seems, remains a constant oracle, doling out guidance and advice to Konowa and to the unit, delivering both wit and wisdom as she sketches her way through trouble, chain-smoking all the while. Although brash, Rallie’s subtle gentility and mysterious powers make her a close confidant for Visyna and a solid pillar to which to wine about Konowa and the Empire.

 Marching narrative

The style is straightforward, without droning on, and whilst details about the setting are presented, they’re not as important to Evans’ as the plot. The setting is explained as the story progresses, and little time is devoted to the background of the situation: enough is divulged and explained meticulously to allow the reader to continue happily and immerse themselves in the world, although readers expecting a military-standard, encompassing description of the Empire’s rise will find themselves disappointed.

Keep it moving

The weakest point of the book is movement, especially during battles: it appears at times that Evans’ has completed forgotten to move his characters as they fight. This is especially true of the final battle of the book, where it seems Konowa and another officer observe the fight from stationary places, like cardboard cut outs, when in fact, the narrative and dialogue suggest they actively participate. Furthermore, the descriptions of both the elf-witch’s magic and its effects, especially during battles, bring down the overall excellence of the book, as sometimes it is just too difficult to grasp precisely what is transpiring, and the reader needs to grasp at the following narrative to understand the resulting situation.

Why should you read this book?

A Darkness Forged in Fire is a different take on commonplace fantasy elements, combining both sorcery and military conquest, with classic sword-clashing and a struggle to save the world from death and darkness. It is a vivid and gripping debut, by an imaginative and strong writer, whose strengths far outweigh his weaknesses, and whose original, vibrant characters bring the world to life in place. If you’re a fan of elves, but fancy something grittier, something different, then give Konowa and his Iron Elves a try.

4/5

[Review] The Light of Burning Shadows (Iron Elves #2), Chris Evans

The second instalment of Evans’ Iron Elves (you can read my review of the first, A Darkness Forged in Fire over at The Ranting Dragon) sees him further explore the world he created in the first of the trilogy, taking the story to an entirely different geographical region, and push the concept and use of magic in his setting and plot.

His characters not only grow and evolve as people, but as instruments of the plotline, too, which progresses to a deeper level in this second sitting, paving the way for the third and final instalment—Ashes of a Black Frost—later this year (2011).

Konowa Swift Dragon—formerly banished, then reinstated to lead (under royal supervision) the Iron Elves—has a problem. Several problems, in fact.  With another star on the horizon, and a rising shadow that threatens to destroy the Empire and everything else that stands in its path, the Iron Elves had better get marching.

Forced by circumstance, Konowa adds his father and mother—formerly a shape-changing squirrel, and powerful witch respectively—to the company he must travel with. Insomuch as his father is tolerable, his mother’s constant ‘motherness’ is wearing him to the nerve. As if one controlling female wasn’t enough, his decisions and actions are constantly questioned by the closest thing he’s had to a ‘love interest’ in years, in the shape of another witch—Visyna—whose tongue bites deeper than he’d like to admit.

With two female witches flanking him, it’s little surprise that Konowa could do without the Queen’s reporter, Rallie, still dogging his regiment’s steps. She’s supposedly there to report all that transpires back to Her Majesty, but of course, even the Major knows he needs the mysterious old woman. Her memory about her own past and age is as sketchy as the magically imbued drawings she produces in times of need, and her wisdom and advice might grate, added to the constant tirades from the other two witches, but Rallie’s proven she’s twice as competent as any of Konowa’s “Iron Elves.”

Adding insult to injury, his superior in the regiment he used to head is an adventuring princeling, still focussed more on adding artefacts and knowledge to his collection, than defeating the dark evil spreading across the land. With Prince Tykkin comes a higher station, and having ventured to the very desert lands his original Iron Elves were banished to, Konowa is less than pleased having to play politics. He should be out there, hunting the Shadow Monarch down.

Although that in itself is easier said than done, when Konowa himself still feels her power, senses her call. The acorn his father stole from her mountain has become both a point of power and comfort; with it, he believes he’s able to use the power imbued in him by being born with her mark—his shorn-off black ear tip—but control it, rather than succumb to it.

With the Shadow Monarch’s power spreading, along with her black forest, and with the curse hanging over the regiment’s collective head, time is of the essence to find the original Iron Elves before they fall into the hands of their enemy. The Major knows to hope is futile, yet deep down he hopes once recovered, the elves he used to fight with will rejoin his ranks.

But if Kritton is anything to go by, when they find the elves, they’d probably sooner stick him with a bayonet, than look at him.

                      

A further complication arises within Konowa’s own ranks. Since his brush with death, Ally has been acting strangely, and since their arrival in the desert, stranger yet. Touched deeper by both the curse, and something unexplained, Ally’s power is great. Plagued constantly by the pain in his leg, and warned of an evil in the desert, his mind is not where it should be—it is fading. But to where, even Alwyn doesn’t yet know. With the notion of burning shadows, and white hot pain in his mind, the deeper into the desert they venture, the more restless Ally becomes, until events come to a head, in a more terrifying fashion that anyone could imagine.

As an old evil—as old as the Shadow Monarch herself—is awakened from beneath the sand and monsters of a different sort thwart the regiment’s attempts against the Shadow Monarch, things begin to look bleak. Living as he has been, already somewhat detached from the regiment and the “Ally” he used to be, constantly drawn to the cursed Darkly Departed soldiers, Alwyn undergoes a devastatingly terrible transformation that sees him change forever. The old Alwyn might soon be gone.

Evans’ marching narrative was one of the best parts of A Darkness Forged in Fire, and although The Light of Burning Shadows sees the story move to a different continent, and spends more time travelling by boat than foot at first, the excellently paced narrative remains. The regiment is still “marching” onward, despite being afloat, and then stationary for a time. The relentless pace of the narrative mimics a regiment—constantly moving at a steady, yet determined pace. Obviously this can pose problems when battle descends, as the narrative must either break rhythm, or remain slow and cumbersome during fast-pace skirmishes. This is where Evans’ issue with ‘movement’ in battle likely comes from. Just as in A Darkness Forged in Fire, Evans struggles to convey clarity when describing actions and events during battle; characters don’t move as much as they should, and what actually happens can be confusing to discern. Often during longer battle scenes, re-reading entire paragraphs is necessary to truly understand what is happening. This is especially true of the use of magic.

As we saw in the first of the trilogy, Evans’ use of magic is somewhat unique, in that his antagonist possesses some of her power through a somewhat cancerous forest that spreads across the land. This, mixed with the new magic Evans introduces in the desert, married with Rallie, Visyna’s and his mother’s magic, becomes somewhat messy and strained. If all these magics could co-exist clearly and be understood next to one another, there would be no issue. This doesn’t happen; especially when in the thick of battle and more magics than in the final battle of a Dungeons & Dragons game are flying about. The descriptions and clarity of the black forests are not comprehensive enough for Evans to toss the new magic relevant to the desert, as well as all other characters’ magics into the fray.

Why should I read this book?

Because it’s an excellent follow-up to A Darkness Forged in Fire, and is a good step forward in the Iron Elves trilogy. It has its failings, yet none are detrimental enough to simply put the book down and walk away. True enough, this is somewhat of a let-down after the mesmerising start to the trilogy; it’s simply not as good, and the content—in places—crosses a little too close to cliché-land. All of this book’s problems are in the desert. It feels as though Evans’ got a little lost in his own plot, by introducing such a large plot point—another old magic—in the desert, whilst the regiment is merely searching for the previous Iron Elves. Understanding that the Iron Elves is to be a trilogy, and having read the synopsis for the third book—which seems to completely brush aside events of book two, retaining only what happens with Alwyn—it’s difficult to praise The Light of Burning Shadows as part of the series. The plot, issues and events in book one set the tone and the world, as well as the tone of things to come; for Evans’ to seemingly stray so far from the initial point of the trilogy seems a little distressing. Most of what made A Darkness Forged in Fire an excellent read, is missing here, replaced instead by clichéd monsters and a climax that—if not for the appearance of a dragonlike thing—would be better placed in The Mummy films. It just didn’t work for me.

That said, I did enjoy the book: the characters keep the reader there. Konowa, with all his imperfections and inner and outer conflicts keeps the reader glued to the page, wondering how he’ll overcome the Shadow Monarch. The regiment as a whole, with its unique and interesting characters, keeps the reader wondering what will happen to them, the cursed regiment. Characters and characterisation keeps the reader interested, and the very last page of the book does more to keep the reader glued to the trilogy than any other point of the book, rectifying some of the ‘damage’ done by the lack of clarity and awkward last battle.

Not fantastic, but perhaps a necessary step in the trilogy. The third, and final book, should invariably be much better.

3.5/5