Book Reviews

Lightning & Ember

W.A. Stanleyby
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No expectations—no chance for disappointment. Akina de Kitamura had long given up hope that Volandrian nobility would come to accept her and her identical twin sister, Miki. Four years at the Academy, Volandria's most prestigious military school, hadn't changed her opinion. They were bastard children, the product of a Volandrian nobleman's tryst with a Solterrean commoner. Even the favor of famed commander Marquis Genji de Kitamura, their uncle, couldn't spare them from scorn. Her engagement to her childhood friend Cassius d'Etrius's older brother compounded the sentiment when the former heir to the duchy fled in the dead of night after murdering his family. She hated that her sister and her friend saw the exposition at the end of graduation as their chance to force the haughty nobles to acknowledge them. The event brought the best and the brightest from military schools across the Four Kingdoms. It also brought along increased pressure to perform. All eyes would be on the Academy graduates to deliver as this year's hosts, and Cassius and Miki had no intention of letting the opportunity slip by for any of them, even if it meant dragging Akina along with them. However, when an unexpected intruder brings about shocking revelations concerning the past, the trio realizes nothing ever goes quite as planned. With their wits and training to guide them, they race to adjust to the changing landscape and protect one another from harm.
Lightning & Ember
Written by E.B. Repetto

If you think of a genre, I can guarantee you that it has, at some time, intersected with young adult stories. You can probably apply that to any setting within that genre. Fantasy and its fantastical worlds are no different in this regard, as E.B. Repetto demonstrates with Lightning & Ember, the first book in their The Goddess Maker series (look for a review of the second book, Blazing Sun, in the next couple of days). When young adult stories cross genres, these books will often lean towards one genre more than the other. Lightning & Ember leans more heavily into its young adult tropes more than its fantasy trappings. While the book is full of its fantastical elements, its story is likely to appeal to people looking for a young adult book more than a fantasy one.

This is exemplified by the book’s protagonists and point of view characters Akina and Miki (along with a third point of view character for a small portion of the book, Cassius), as well as the characters surrounding them. Lightning & Ember‘s characters are predominantly teenagers with teenage problems. They live within a fantasy world that bleeds magic and must contend with dark revelations about the past, but at its core, this is a novel about children.

Readers of a similar age to the characters, as well as YA fiction fans of all ages, will delight in the tropes used throughout the book. This is a coming of age story (or, more precisely, the beginning of one) about characters who feel like outsiders—and in many ways, they are. This leads to the two lead characters, them both bastards, or half breeds, as they are called, enduring bullying. With some budding romance thrown in (romantasy fans will also find plenty to enjoy), Lightning & Ember hits the pleasing notes that fans will enjoy. One thing this book won’t do, however, is challenge the reader. Young adult books can present a world that raises questions for its young audience, but this book prefers to take a safer approach.

Writing characters for a young adult audience is a tricky balance. The author needs to make these characters feel like teenagers in the way they act, the way they interact, and the way they talk. In a fantasy setting, this requires even more balancing, as they need to feel as though they belong in a world that is different to our own. The author succeeds with this, making the characters feel naturally young. However, characters in young adult stories work best when they demonstrate a level of maturity that helps endear the reader to them and their plight, but this maturity is lacking. The characters throughout this novel are immature—whilst it works from a level of accuracy, it doesn’t endear the reader to them.

The characters’ immaturity is on display throughout the book’s prose. With the chapters being written from the point of view of these characters, it makes it inescapable. As immature as the characters are, though, each perspective is written wonderfully. The writing inhabits the characters, and each perspective is distinct. Whilst the book makes the entirely correct decision to state whose perspective each chapter is told through, after a few chapters, readers can easily identify the perspective by its prose. That these chapters are written wonderfully, with clear prose that is easy to follow and adds character to the narrative, really accentuates the strength of this.

With multiple protagonists in a book written in the first person, juggling the point of view between the characters becomes a balancing act. Lightning & Ember works to give both Akina and Miki equal airtime. But in balancing how much time the reader spends with each of these characters narrating, the book has some jarring shifts between perspectives. In these instances, they don’t serve the story, and instead add a layer of confusion in service to the characters. The reader can pick up the threads, but it does interrupt the story’s flow.

At 414 paperback pages (or an estimated 416 pages on your favourite eReader), Lightning & Ember is a substantial read. Whilst some younger readers may struggle with its length, it flows in a way that doesn’t feel as long. It’s also a fitting length for its fantasy elements. I have dedicated most of this review to the young adult elements, but the fantasy world is fully formed, and the use of its magical elements fit this world, setting and story nicely. It won’t satiate fans looking for a heavy fantasy story, but it complements the book’s tone nicely.

As I noted at the beginning of this review, Lightning & Ember is the first book in the Goddess Maker series. The cover and blurb make no mention of this, but I note the series title is included in the Amazon listing, so most people will be aware before adding it to their cart. Although the book has a strong beginning, middle and ending, and feels like its own story, it does close on a note that lets the reader know there’s more to come, and wills them to continue reading the story. Anyone who is after a fully self-contained story might want to be aware.

Lightning & Ember weaves a charming young adult story with many of the tropes readers enjoy, but doesn’t step outside of the mould. Although its characters lack a level of maturity that would endear them to many readers, the expertly written prose places the reader inside the book’s well developed fantasy world, as seen by these characters..

Favourite Passage

My mana responds to my call like a string does to being plucked, flooding my core with warmth. White lines, vein-like in structure, emerge on the bare skin of my arms. With the glow from the surge of power, my brown eyes would appear golden, a white ring in the center of the iris. With the tap of my heel to the ground, the mana pulsates outward, blanketing the area in a haze of divine power.

Lightning & Ember, Chapter 17

Lightning & Ember was provided by the author for the purpose of an honest review.

Lightning & Ember is available in paperback from book retailers (including—but not limited to—Amazon), and Kindle, exclusive to Amazon.

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Interested in purchasing Lightning & Ember?

Please find a link below; please note I do not collect any proceeds from the sale.

Lightning & Ember (The Goddess Maker Book 1)

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