Synopsis:
Sekya has spent her life making herself small.
Raised in an orphanage alongside Khala, Riva, and Lio, she has done whatever it takes to keep her found family together — even if it means surviving in Silk House, a pleasure house in the fire dominion of Eratari.
On the world of Thyra, power belongs to the Taniva: rare shapeshifters who carry the blood of the first elemental creatures.
Sekya is not one of them.
Then one night, watching from the balcony, Sekya sees the Queen return in phoenix-drake form, her Taniva wings cutting through the dark, her wounded son carried on her back.
Then time just stops.
The city is motionless.
The Queen hangs suspended above the lake, her great wings caught in mid-beat. And on her back, wounded and dying, Prince Kairon lifts his head — and turns to find Sekya, as though he knows exactly who stopped the world.
From that moment, Sekya’s attempt to remain unseen becomes impossible. She begins to share dreams with Kairon, drawn into a connection neither of them understands and neither can ignore.
When the Queen comes searching for the girl from her son’s visions, she finds more than Sekya. She finds four young people who carry something she cannot name: a strangeness in them, a power she can feel but not identify. Whether they are the answer to saving her son, or a threat to him, the Queen does not yet know.
What follows will change everything they thought they were.
Khala holds fire.
Riva holds water.
Lio holds stone.
And Sekya — Sekya can hold time itself.
Four orphans. Four powers that should not exist. And a world of four dominions holding a peace none of them fully trust.
But the thread between Sekya and Kairon runs deeper than magic. Deeper than blood. Deeper than anything either of them knows how to name.
Some connections cannot be undone.
Some costs cannot be survived.
Favorite Lines:
“What I do know…is that you are not some mistake Silk House made. You and your family love each other fiercely. You protect each other. You are Eratari.”
“Last night, I had not wanted to become another thing a man wanted from me. I wanted to be seen. Wanting, on its own, was too easy. Men did it all the time.”
“You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. And you love me.”
“I only hope tomorrow finds us worthy of what comes after.”
My Opinion:
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.
Fire Breathes Stone and Storm is the kind of fantasy that throws you into a fairly expansive world but keeps the emotional center of the story surprisingly intimate. At the center of the story is Sekya and the family she has created with fellow orphans Khala, Riva, and Lio. They have grown up relying on one another, and I liked that the story establishes those relationships as something worth protecting before their lives begin changing. As Sekya discovers there is more to her own identity and abilities than she realized, the world around the four of them starts opening up as well. What begins as a more personal story gradually introduces elemental powers, divided dominions, political tensions, and a mythology that suggests their lives are connected to something much older and more complicated than any of them know.
I thought Sekya’s struggle with belonging was one of the more interesting parts of her character. She’s fiercely protective of the people she considers family, but she doesn’t always extend that same confidence or sense of worth to herself. Her growing connection with Prince Kairon complicates things further, especially as the line between dreams and reality becomes increasingly difficult to understand. There is romance here, but I appreciated that Sekya’s story isn’t entirely defined by it. Her bond with the other orphans remains an important part of who she is, and there is an underlying tension between the life and family she already knows and the unfamiliar world that seems determined to claim her.
The world itself has a lot of moving pieces, and this definitely feels like the first installment of a series that plans to keep expanding. The elemental magic is only one part of it. There are four dominions with their own histories and conflicts, strange creatures, the mysterious Shell, and questions surrounding a sleeping god and the characters’ origins. I was particularly interested in the way the story touches on what happens when a society’s understanding of its own history is incomplete. Ariki’s experiences add another perspective to that idea, bringing prejudice and cultural identity into a story that could otherwise have remained focused primarily on magic and political conflict. There are still a lot of questions left unanswered, but I get the sense that many of the smaller details introduced here will become more important as the series continues.
The pacing does take its time, particularly as the story works to establish both its characters and a fairly complicated fantasy world. There were places where I thought things could move a little faster, but I also understand why so much groundwork was necessary for what appears to be a much larger story. I found myself more interested in the mysteries surrounding the characters and their connections to this world than in having every answer immediately. By the end, it becomes clear that what happens in this book is really only the beginning, so readers should go in expecting the start of an ongoing story rather than something that wraps everything up neatly.
Summary:
Overall, I thought Fire Breathes Stone and Storm was an interesting introduction to a fantasy world with plenty of room to grow. For me, the strongest aspect was the idea of these four young people who have already chosen one another as family finding themselves pulled toward identities and destinies they never asked for. The magic and mythology create the larger mystery, but it’s the questions of belonging, identity, and what makes someone your family that give the story its emotional foundation. There is clearly much more waiting to be uncovered about the Shell, the characters’ powers, and the history connecting everything together, and I think readers who enjoy settling into the beginning of a larger fantasy series will find plenty here to make them curious about what comes next. Happy reading!
Check out Fire Breathes Stone and Storm here!