Firestorm is a strong end to Lucy Hounsom’s Worldmaker trilogy.
It is always a pleasure to follow the development of a character as the series grows, and Firestorm delivers Kyndra’s growth as a person and in her skills. The dragon’s traits and mannerisms are captivating at times. Hounsom builds the personality of her characters with such grace, despite or even because of the emotional ride, it’s a delight to be a part of.
The Blurb
To protect her future, she must defend her past Kyndra has finally mastered her cold Starborn powers – but is it too late?
A faction of assassins, who can manipulate time, plan to rewrite the history of Acre.
These Khronostians will ensure the Sartyan Empire was never founded. And in this new narrative, Kyndra is never even born.With her ally Char, and the rogue Khronostian Ma, Kyndra resolves to enlist the help of the dragons, banished long ago.
They must find them first, but together they could generate a huge amount of power.
It could propel Kyndra far back in time, to avert the ending of an era.
However, Kyndra will be heading towards a terrible confrontation – one that has shaped and will shape the future of her world.
Like Starborn and Heartland, Firestorm gives the reader a deep and challenging read. The complexity and attention to her world building kept me gripped. Hounsom drives the plot with her characters, and her world is seen through them. When I heard that Time travel plays a part I was, like many I know would be, a little wary. Yet, she confidently deals with the dangers of paradoxes and other pitfalls so that time doesn’t unravel the world, or jar from the wonderful Fantasy Hounsom has created.
Kyndra’s strength is revealed in how she deals with the cosmosethic energy (the fabulous name for ‘magic’ in this series) that she has struggled to accept. In doing so it takes her away from the person she was, to the woman she becomes by embracing her powers. For me one of the best aspects of the series is how Hounsom underlines quite clearly the ‘strong female’ hero doesn’t need to be a blade-totting kick-ass, with no measure of weakness. And yes I’m focusing a lot on that, it’s a rare and precious thing, all the more so to see the male and female cast of a book given equal strengths and checks. The consequences of Kyndra’s choices are felt deeply and none of the characters, male, female or dragon emerge from the tale unscathed. The feeling of loss merges with the marvel of achievement for all of her characters and again underlines Hounsom’s finesse with words.
This has to be one of the most underappreciated series available, and it shouldn’t be. For anyone looking for a complete Fantasy arc, the Worldmaker trilogy is a must read. The first in the series, Starborn, was covered by Mark Yon for SFFWORLD here. The series offers so much more than what is expected for ‘regular and familiar’ readers, with the loved quest tropes stretched and reshaped to fit a new and unique journey.
Or, you could simply read Firestorm as a standalone, it does work as one. Personally I think you’d be robbing yourself of a brilliant series as the whole journey is worth investing in, so just add the entire Worldmaker trilogy to your collection.
You can learn more about Lucy’s inspirations for the Worldmaker trilogy in her interview with Mark Yon here. You might also want to check out Breaking the Glass Slipper, a podcast she co-hosts with Charlotte Bond.
Author Website: http://lucyhounsom.co.uk/
Twitter: @silvanhistorian
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Published: December 2017
Availability Kindle, Kobo and Paperback.
Review copy courtesy of the publisher
© Shellie Horst – SFFWorld.com March 2018
