SPFBO (Cassidy's Version)

Dom’s Youtube Review Click Here

Fire of the Forebears is the debut novel from author L.A. Buck, and is book one in the series Heritor’s Helm.

We follow two main characters on opposite sides: Kura, the daughter of a deserter-turned-farmer who finds herself rather more involved in a rebellion than she had perhaps anticipated, and Triston, the son of the king who is sent to quash said rebellion.

What we get here is a solid, epic fantasy—what I like to think of as ‘proper fantasy’ as it’s one of those books that has a bit of a classic feel but with a modern writing style.

There are plenty of epic fantasy staples here: rebellion, prophecy, reluctant heroes, magic swords, fantastic creatures, ‘good’ and ‘bad’ magic, created language… and they are all well done and fit nicely into the world that’s been created here.

One of the highlights for me is how these are all brought into the story in a way that is natural, they’re not just there for show, but at the same time, they’re absolutely not overdone or overused.

The first thing we see that really tells us about this fantasy world is a man riding a talking bear, which really did a good job of setting the scene for me. From that we learn about the nostkynna, which are essentially talking animals.

This isn’t Narnia though, nostkynna are known enough that they’re not a surprise, but they don’t interact with humans much, or at least, not that we see from the characters we follow. They’re also more like regular animals in appearance—not personified like many talking fantasy animals might be.

Then we have the saja—nostkynna who have devoted their soul to the Crux, amplifying their animalistic traits and giving us, for want of a better word, monsters.

There are also centaurs, and I like how they’re not just there as magical creatures in the background, but they’re named characters with history, family, and agency of their own. So overall, the fantastic creatures are a big plus point for the way they are developed and how well they fit in to the world and the story without being overbearing.

There’s a good bit of lore here as well, and get plenty of history organically delivered through the storytelling in this novel.

The magic is quite well done, and as mentioned before there are essentially ‘good’ and ‘bad’ sides of it. Like with the nostkynna who become saja, you also have humans who devote themselves to the Crux, becoming vojaks who can manipulate the elements. The opposite of the Crux is the Essence, and that has its own devotees, the Fidelis, who have elemental powers as well.

All that is secondary to the story though, which hinges on Kura’s desire to break her family free from under the yoke of King Dradge, who she sees as evil.

I really like how family plays an important part in this. Fire of the Forebears has the same sort of well-presented family togetherness that we see in Zack Argyle’s Threadlight series. Family isn’t just there to give us an inciting incident, it’s an ongoing theme in Kura’s story, and also in Triston’s, but to a lesser extent.

I thought the characters overall were quite well done. I definitely enjoyed reading about Kura, and while Triston was perhaps a little more formulaic, he was still interesting and had plenty of good moments.

There’s a good cast of supporting characters as well, nicely balanced with friends and enemies, and the interaction between the characters is generally well managed. Relationships and alliances seem quite organic, they’re certainly not rushed. There’s a bit of happy coincidence here and there, but in general, you can still see the threads that were weaving those coincidences into the fabric of the story.

Plenty of reviews talk about the romance in this book like it’s something that doesn’t belong. There are little hints here and there, but there’s no fully realised romance on show.

Love is a natural part of the world and it’s only right to see it now and again in these stories. Having the potential for a little love in the future against the backdrop of war in the here and now makes a story like this just that little bit more real. It adds heart without having to spell it out, and this book did a really good job at that.

Overall, you’ll find solid writing here and good, balanced pacing that keeps the pages turning. It has a really interesting world, characters, and story, with quite a satisfying conclusion, and it doesn’t just finish with a bang—you get a good bit of falling action as well. Because of that, I would definitely say it could be read as a standalone, but either way, it’s a very good read and a high recommendation.

Check out Rachel’s Instagram Review here

Fire of the Forebears by L.A. Buck

I am not a person who enjoys books described as ‘classic epic fantasy’. I want to have unique elements to books that have grounded worldbuilding and depth of character. Unfortunately, Fire of the Forebears went down the classic fantasy route which affected my enjoyment.

So what worked for me?

Worldbuilding: The author took classic fantasy items like talking animals and centaurs and enriched the world in which the books takes place. This for me breathes life into the genre.

What did not work for me?

Writing: The writing style was something that greatly affected my enjoyment of the book. One of my least favorite narrative styles is telling not showing in the plot because it takes me out of the story.

Similar Media?

I would compare this book to Of Blood and Fire by Ryan Cahill due to the tropes used and classic fantasy feel.

Score: 5.2/10

Character: 6

Plot: 5

World-Building: 7

Writing: 3

Enjoyment: 5

FIRE OF THE FOREBEARS by L.A. Buck follows two main characters set in a world at war. Kura is a young woman who has been raised outside of the political center of the world. As such she and her family are subject to the dangers of life outside of the walled cities, dangers including beasts which talk and attack. They must negotiate with local predators to keep safe and to allow them to leave their lives in rebellion to the crown. The rebellion believes she is their chosen one, but the reality is she is just trying to look out for her family. Triston is the heir to the throne, tasked with resolving the conflict. He is more inclined to find a way to end things peacefully, but there is his father’s legacy and crown also to protect.⁠

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This book had some good things going for it. It has the feel of a very classic fantasy story set in a world which had some interesting elements. I thought that the author brought together some interesting politics and religious aspects to the world which added intrigue for me. I did, however, struggle with how all of these elements slotted together with everything else.⁠

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I love a good magical creature in a book and this one was full of them, but at the same time there wasn’t a lot of cohesiveness to the world building. Everyone accepts that there are talking beasts in the world, but is absolutely shocked when other magical creatures like centaurs exist. It really wasn’t clear to me how no one knew of their existence when they didn’t seem to be going out of their way to hide from the humans they encounter. ⁠

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I enjoyed following Kura and Triston for the most part. I did get a pretty good feel for these main characters and their purpose. On the other hand, there are a good number of characters who aren’t around for long, but they feel flat and often aren't even given names. ⁠

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp26AXLpDvW/

I think the groundwork for a really cool story is here but it felt like a first draft to me. With a lot of clunky world building and some what bland characters. That being said I did enjoy the politics in this. And the interesting chosen one choice!

I read this for SPFBO Cassidy's version and theirs a whole vlog on my channel. With better in depth thoughts.

https://youtu.be/yeAVfoZmVkg

Sadly, this one just did not work for me. I did find the writing to be kind of clunky, especially in the dialogue, but that was easy to overlook. I just wanted a lot more depth from the story and characters. Everything was too easily forgettable. There was so much opportunity for world building and lore here, but we spent a lot of time with talking animals and such that had no bearing on the story. It is a very classic tale, and I definitely preferred Tristan's POV to the female. The potential was here, but the execution was not my favorite.

https://youtu.be/VhDGy1jXbH4

Sadly didn't really love this!

I read this for SPFBO (Cassidy's version). Watch my reading vlog with more thoughts here:

https://youtu.be/xFK7zjfW6AQ

https://youtu.be/yrOI9-DgnLQ