Heart of Flames

In Heart of Flames, sequel to the popular Crown of Feathers, ( www.cmreviews.ca/node/776 ) author Nicki Pau Preto follows her characters into a world balanced on the edge of war. Successful in the recent battle against the oppressive Empire, Veronyka and her fellow Phoenix Riders struggle to rebuild their stronghold and survive a threat to their very existence. The legacy of war between sisters, 17 years before, leaves the country in turmoil and sweeps the characters along, buffeted by forces beyond their control.

The feisty Veronyka, now 17, has shed her boy’s disguise and trains hard to qualify as a Phoenix Rider, but she yearns to fly patrols on her phoenix as well as find out who she really is. Tristan, the commander’s son and now a Master rider, rails against father’s cautious approach to the threat of attack. Sev is sent to spy on the empire, but maintaining his cover might mean attacking his own kind. Veronyka’s former sister, Val, now revealed as the reincarnated bloodthirsty “feather queen”, Avalkyra, uses her shadow magic to control all those around her, both human and animal. She will do anything to regain her power and destroy her enemies, and she wants Veronyka onside.

The action shifts with the point of view among five main characters. Veronyka and Tristan, drawn together by a magical bond, fly with patrols to protect defenseless villagers. After Veronyka discovers her true identity, she recognizes the strength of her bond with Avalkyra and suppresses it to protect those she loves. Sev hides not only his allegiance with the Phoenix Riders but also his deep attraction to Kade. Through him, readers see Empire troops attack villagers and stir up conflict. Avalkyra seeks to dominate all those around her and to draw Veronyka into a battle for the empire – on her side.

Like its predecessor, Heart of Flames takes place in a fully realized fantasy world. Imagined historical manuscripts, including academic mythology, letter exchanges, official documents and certificates, are inserted between character chapters. This provides background, but does require persistence to return to the narrative at hand.

The sequel maintains many of the elements that contributed to the success of the first book in the series: Veronyka is a feisty, emotional and magic-powered protagonist whose impulsive (if good-hearted) decisions create problems for her friends and sometimes chaos in the kingdom. Readers will relate to her search for her identity as well as her yearning to be out on patrol rather than back in the training compound. Her romance with Tristan is marked by heated glances and burning touches, a sign of their growing but forbidden magic bond. Readers will also love to hate the evil lord, Rolan, who tries to sow conflict in order to justify a full-scale invasion of the Phoenix Riders’ territory, leaving his own path to the throne clear. Action-packed, bloody battle scenes, complete with swooping, flaming phoenixes, bring to mind the wildest CGI movie special effects.

The phoenixes are central to the appeal of the novel. Magically connected to their riders from the moment of hatching, they communicate telepathically and protect their bond-mates at any cost, bursting into flame and swooping from the sky to attack enemies or save their riders. Xephyra, Veronyka’s phoenix, is powerful and somewhat capricious, the mark of a superior phoenix. Her relationship to Xephyra keeps Veronyka connected, and, at this point, it the closest thing she has to a family.

Also central to the novel is Veronyka’s difficult bond with her former sister. At the end of Crown of Feathers, Val proves her ruthlessness, and Veronyka vows to shut her out forever. But, over and over again, in Heart of Flames, Veronyka gives in to Avalkyra, following her into battle and discovering her own thirst for blood. Veronyka’s willingness to trust her former sister reveals her belief in others and her yearning for family connection. Unfortunately, Veronyka’s circular reasoning becomes repetitive. Avalkyra proves that she is willing to kill even Veronyka to get her way, and her loyalty to Veronyka is clearly meant to manipulate her. Despite evidence that Val is not trustworthy, Veronyka trusts her repeatedly and puts innocent people and animals in danger as a result. Readers could be forgiven for feeling impatient with Veronyka’s gullibility.

Veronyka’s refusal to move forward reflects one of the difficulties with this sequel – its lack of momentum. Despite several gory and action-packed battle scenes, the narrative moves slowly. Romantic relationships, such as those between Veronyka and Tristan, as well as between Sev and Kade, inch along without making much progress. Hints about past dark events are left undeveloped, and complicated struggles for power do not always seem logical. A plan to seize the throne by forced marriage and another to sway a council vote by killing those who would oppose it push the boundaries of credibility. The next instalment in the series may resolve some of these issues, but the book suffers somewhat from over-complexity. At over 600 pages, it also feels overly wordy, with too much exposition.

However, devoted fans of Crown of Feathers will be more than satisfied with another visit to a complex fantasy world, with wild flights on flaming creatures and characters driven by dark desires and forces beyond their control.