“Your heartbeat calls to me like lightning calls to distant thunder”

Being a skeptic of finding well-written fantasy, I become a complete sucker when I find a good one. I naively started reading Fire Within not realising how engrossed I’d become. Set against the backdrop of Hong Kong, Fire Within is an Urban Fantasy involving warring magicians and clans living amongst us. It is a somewhat intriguing and action-packed read.

Flame magician Fiona Ember is sitting in a prison cell after a failed assassination attempt on Water Clan Commander, Nicolas Demerais. Her Flame clanmates are dead, and she is waiting for her own inevitable execution. Nicolas is an enigmatic Water leader who sees visions of the future, he sees a possibility in Fiona’s if she lives. She’s given a choice – join Water or die.

She slips into an uneasy truce with Nicolas as he introduces her to her possible new life, where she’ll need to earn the trust of those around her. Fighting always between life and death, Fiona needs to measure whether or not what Nicolas is offering her is real, or if he’s just playing with a Flame prisoner before her inevitable execution. Leaning into this unsteady trust and going more deeply into the world of Water, Fiona begins to see the possibilities ahead of her.

“Magic was a drug. It caused pain, but it also eased it. It brought darkness but also light. It destroyed, but it also created. Heartache was the price, but no one minded paying it for the power they received in return”

Fire Within hooked me almost from the get-go. The magical system is intriguing especially as the reader comes to understand the unique experience of each clan magic. Knowing the volatile nature of Flame, I was curious about how Fiona would react to Water. I had suspicions early about what would happen here, and was eager to see her magic unfold.

Lee deals with the pacing and the build-up between all the characters well, not going too fast nor too slow. I really appreciated this, as I’m not the biggest fan of insta-love. The pace is well suited to what Fiona is dealing with, and the plot itself. This book is the first part to a series, and it gives you just enough to delve into the world more deeply in subsequent sequels.

What I really liked was how Fire Within dealt with the individual backstories of a lot of the main characters. There is an idea of rebuilding after trauma here, of picking up where you are and finding a new family and a new life. There is also an assurance that you’re allowed to do that, that you just need to be vulnerable enough take those first steps. We see Fiona hesitantly taking those first few steps throughout the book, and as a reader I loved seeing that unfold.

This is a solid first part to a series, especially if you’re a Fantasy reader who’s not looking for too heavy a read. I’m looking to pick up the sequel soon and can’t wait to see where Fiona goes next.