Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst is a whammy of a debut novel, and I cannot wait to read the sequel when it comes out in 2019 (although Inkmistress is on my list for 2018).
Princess Denna has been betrothed since she was a small girl to the prince and heir of the Mynaria empire. Born and raised to be a queen for a nation she’s never seen from her cold, sheer mountain castle, Denna excels at book learning, but that’s not the only thing she’s good at…
She has also been afflicted with an ability to control fire from a young age, something her mother has forbidden her from telling or showing anyone, and for good reason. There is a growing movement against magic users, even those suspected of supporting them, especially in Mynaria.
Denna has been successful at suppressing her fire for years, but when she arrives in Mynaria to meet her future husband, something starts to go wrong. Denna’s abilities are growing stronger, and her thin control over them is failing her. Adding to her struggle, she discovers she must learn how to ride a horse in order for her future subjects to respect her, and Mynaria’s best horse master (who also happens to be her betrothed’s sister) Mare is not pleased with the idea of taking on a student as pathetic as Denna.
A sudden assassination of a close friend brings Mare and Denna closer together to solve the murder, and when sparks start flying, it’s not just from Denna’s abilities. War is brewing, and so is romance… but not with who she thought she’d be falling for…
Of Fire and Stars was a delightful debut fantasy novel that is largely character-driven. The world is less important and less fleshed out than the characters at times, making my search for a definitive “mood” photo difficult. Ultimately it comes down to horses, magic, and a little romance.
Well… not a little romance. This book is gay. Hella gay. Like, if you weren’t sure by page 24 and the casual male-male dancing couple that should have been the biggest clue didn’t tip you off, this is me saying it: this book is gaaaaaay. The romance takes over the plot a bit, and in my opinion, even slows it down, but doesn’t take away from the story one iota. Girls loving girls without having to play as gal pals makes my heart so happy.
The horse nomenclature in the book can feel a little exclusionary at times, so those people that know riding terms will probably have an added level of enjoyment when it comes to reading this book. That being said, not knowing the terms doesn’t detract from the story in the least, but does offer great characterization of Mare.
Mare is one of my favorite characters from this book, and she has some of the clearest complications. She loves Denna, but Denna is engaged to her brother Thandi; cue the never ending guilt. It would have been easy to leave Mare one-dimensional, but Coulthurst didn’t. Instead, Mare is a fully fleshed out character with her own dreams, friends, and desires, something that each character is given which makes up for the lack of world building.
The other thing that Coulthurst does which not a lot of fantasy (or YA fantasy) accomplishes, especially when it involves a magic/religious system, is keep her characters together in the same geographical place. A majority of this story occurs in the castle, or within a day’s ride of the castle. There really isn’t a lot of this world that the characters explore(the city excluded), although the culture of Mynaria is infused throughout the story, which leaves me with high hopes for the sequel that we’ll get to experience lands/cultures other than Mynaria. I wouldn’t have minded a bit more exposition on the part of describing the land though within this book.
I also found myself happy to put down Of Fire and Stars, not because it was grating or terrible, but because I wanted to make it last longer and savor it. Towards the end, though, it did slow down a lot as chapters are devoted almost entirely to characters expressing love to each other, but also somehow supposed to be in solitary confinement? It was a little messy, but necessary, I just wish there had been more outside plot happening during that time to keep the action going.
Coulthurst’s dedication to characters and their perception of time shows how well she handles writing time jumps. The story slips between events with ease despite them occurring weeks apart in the characters’ perception, so she doesn’t bog down the story unnecessarily. She also manages to weave elements of court intrigue into the story without derailing the main plot.
[spoilers:] The climax, felt a tad bit…. underwhelming in my opinion. We have Denna somehow just…. “getting” how her magic works after an encounter with another magic user? One who tells her it takes a lot of training and experience to do what she accomplishes, almost with ease? The imagery of Denna calling down stars is fanastical, but doesn’t seem realistic given her aversion to using magic as well as her lack of practice and experience. (And I understand the irony of calling something unrealistic in a fantasy novel). If Denna had only been seriously practicing or something in her confinement, I would have bought it more and had the fist-pumping reaction the author wanted to induce… but I didn’t. It felt almost as a cop out that Denna’s power only makes sense when she admits her love for Mare, and there’s a false equivalency that understanding this one part of her identity means that she suddenly understands herself in her entirety. It just doesn’t work like that, and love doesn’t solve all your problems. [/spoilers]
Overall, this is a great read to recommend for readers (grade 8+) who enjoy LGBT romances, character-driven plots, and for those who enjoy court intrigue. It’s a savory story with well-rounded characters and it excels at balancing dialogue and action.
The Little Book Witch 
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