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The Celestial Trilogy #1
A Spark of White Fire
In a universe of capricious gods, dark moons, and kingdoms built on the backs of spaceships, a cursed queen sends her infant daughter away, a jealous uncle steals the throne of Kali from his nephew, and an exiled prince vows to take his crown back.
Raised alone and far away from her home on Kali, Esmae longs to return to her family. When the King of Wychstar offers to gift the unbeatable, sentient warship Titania to a warrior that can win his competition, she sees her way home: she’ll enter the competition, reveal her true identity to the world, and help her famous brother win back the crown of Kali.
It’s a great plan. Until it falls apart.
Inspired by the Mahabharata and other ancient Indian stories, A Spark of White Fire is a lush, sweeping space opera about family, curses, and the endless battle between jealousy and love.
Raised alone and far away from her home on Kali, Esmae longs to return to her family. When the King of Wychstar offers to gift the unbeatable, sentient warship Titania to a warrior that can win his competition, she sees her way home: she’ll enter the competition, reveal her true identity to the world, and help her famous brother win back the crown of Kali.
It’s a great plan. Until it falls apart.
Inspired by the Mahabharata and other ancient Indian stories, A Spark of White Fire is a lush, sweeping space opera about family, curses, and the endless battle between jealousy and love.
311 pages, Hardcover
First published September 4, 2018
About the author
Sangu Mandanna
19 books3,562 followersSangu Mandanna was four years old when an elephant chased her down a forest road and she decided to write her first story about it. Seventeen years and many, many manuscripts later, she signed her first book deal. Sangu now lives in Norwich, a city in the east of England, with her husband and kids.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 385 reviews
June 9, 2021
This is objectively one of the worst books I have ever had the pleasure of reading, in my life.
The fact this sucked was incredibly surprising, because literally ALL OF MY GOODREADS FRIENDS besides two gave this four or five stars. As stated by May, I am apparently the odd one out.
It’s just incredibly disappointing, because I had the highest expectations for this novel. I mean, ownvoices!! Indian!! Space opera!! But nope. In reality, this was just a cesspool of plot holes, inconsistencies, and lack of character building.
If this book didn’t have so many flaws, I think I would’ve managed to actually enjoy this, because once I regained my comprehension (for some reason I was really struggling to read the first half), I kind of enjoyed it. I might actually read the second book too, because I kind of want to know what happens next.
Alas, it had a lot of flaws. But for the first time ever, I will actually be trying to write my thoughts in a divisive and organized matter. Because there is a lot to shuffle through. Including a cousin love interest. Which, of course, has its own separate point.
edit: for the first time ever MY REVIEW IS TOO LONG FOR GOODREADS I had to edit it
A Spark of White Fire follows Esmae, a young servant girl who's secretly the princess of the planet Kali. Her brother, Alexi, was originally heir to the throne, when their uncle usurped the throne. He is a “usurper king,” as the book very often and frequently calls him.
The novel starts with a competition to win the spaceship Titania, which is an incredibly powerful warship and honestly probably my second favorite character in the entire ship. Unfortunately, she got literally two lines.
Anyways, Alexi is about to win the competition— but wait! Who is that in the distance! It’s Esmae, the Main Character! And because she is the Main Character, she steps up to bat and strikes home run and WINS THE SPACESHIP because despite her not being on the list of competitors, the spaceship CHOOSES HER.
Because apparently the spaceship knows who she is, despite them never coming in contact or anything!!!
And this leads me into my next point.
Esmae’s real plan is to ally with Alexi and help him to regain the throne that he “deserves.” And obviously the first step in this plan is to jump into a competition that he’s about to win, and take his prize, a warship that would greatly help him in war, away from him.
Obviously. Have you never done this before?
But no, it “makes sense,” because Esmae is actually planning to serve as a spy for Alexi by pretending to side with the uncle, King Elvar.
Except… GIRL you don’t even know any of them!!! Why are you picking sides so soon!! Because of blood relations? YOU ARE LITERALLY BLOOD RELATED TO BOTH OF THEM.
And when Alexi first learned that she won the competition, this is his reaction (from my uncorrected arc):
First of all, I looked it up and the phrase “clenching and unclenching” is used literally at least 20 times in the novel!
This is also a trait that both Esmae and Alexi do, and supposed to be proof they're related??
IS FIST CLENCHING GENETIC OR SOMETHING?
I don’t have a major in biology, but ma’am, I do not believe so.
Secondly, what a rude person! He is supposed to be a “golden boy,” incredibly graceful and loved by the gods, but he was so mean to someone just because she looks like a servant.
And yet she plans to support him?
Why is who she supports based off of siblinghood, rather than, uh, who actually rules well? There is literally zero mention of the way that Elvar rules. (Also, Esmae’s only moral conflict with supporting Alexi is the fact that King Elvar is kind to her. NEWSFLASH, he can be kind and also be a terrible ruler. )
Listen, I understand her fantasies about reuniting with her long-lost brother, but also, the fact that it turns into a full-fledged plan to support him is so wild to me.
And Esmae is portrayed as someone incredibly smart for planning this all her life, but she is... not smart??
A war goddess Amba even states that Esmae can “plot whole wars out like a game of Warlords,” (Warlords = chess. JUST SAY CHESS) and I’m like.
WHERE???/
WHERE ARE HER SMART ACTIONS?
Because what even is her plan to spy for Alexi? How is she planning to contact him? She has planned for NOTHING except for the competition.
And THAT leads into my NEXT point.
Literally everything falls into her lap.
Her first activities at Kali include talking to her old friends from Wychstar (the other planet she used to live on) and you know, frolicking about the temples and such. Nothing spy-related.
Her Big opportunities to glean secret knowledge are because her grandmother randomly invites her into the war council, because she "needs someone to vote with her,” and Esmae literally protests against it. Also, there is literally NO mention of when her grandmother actually does that!!!
This is literally just a convenient plot development!!! That she takes no action to accomplish!!
Her one chance to speak with Bear (her other brother) and confess that she’s secretly on their side is when Bear literally drives over in his spaceship to talk to her.
What would she have done if Bear & Alexi just noped out of her life and refused to speak to her?? Quietly suffered in silence??
And her literal only other instance of communicating with Alexi and Bear is when she is invited to a wedding and they just happen to be there!! Also this was at 60% of the novel!
What a spy!! Amazing!! Wow, is this secretly an England spy novel? I’m so impressed!
To add on about their skillful spy endeavors, after they rendezvous at the wedding, their plan is to say after that they were “arguing” for an hour alone at the wedding.
I really didn’t know that the main part of being a spy was looking angry and saying “don’t ask” whenever people question you. That’s so easy, because to look angry all I have to do is think of this book!
To conclude this section, if it is not clear, basically nothing happens for the entire first half of this novel. It is excruciating, and it is painful.
(cred to May for part of the title)
Esmae feels frequently ashamed around her mentor, Rickard, the man who taught her the skills she needed to win the competition. He’s staying with King Elvar at Kali, and Esmae feels afraid that he will be disappointed in her for betraying her brother during the competition.
Um?? He’s literally in King Elvar’s palace? So Rickard literally betrayed her brother as well?? (And he kind of tries to talk around this by saying that he’s not loyal to anyone, only loyal to Kali, but man… if you are in the palace, you are complicit.)
It makes no sense!!
Also, while she is staying at the palace, a guard hired from the outside attempts to attack her, and she almost dies if not for another warrior intervening. A warrior from a squadron that she criticized for not being strong enough.
Hmm… this would be fine, if Esmae wasn’t characterized as a badass warrior who’s stronger than both of her brothers!!
(Ex. when she’s hanging out with them, Bear offers to spar with her, but Alexi stops them because he’s afraid Bear will get hurt.)
And yet… she gets knocked out by this rando warrior? Phew, if the family is all this weak, Alexi and his army do NOT stand a chance.
It’s pretty clear that she’s only knocked out for the sake of plot progressing!
Anyways, the finale consists of her getting challenged to a duel by her brother, and her friend Rama disguises as her and gets killed by Alexi.
Rama has literally had like, two sentences devoted to him total, so??? I am not that invested in him?? The only reason that I actually cared was because he was kinda funny and literally the ONLY character I didn’t want to burn 5ever.
The reason that she's challenged is because she proposes an idea for Elvar & Alexi to share the throne, aka each ruling for three years at a time (a dumb idea btw), and that makes Alexi upset.
But Max apparently has the foresight that Alexi will challenge her, and for some reason?? he chooses not to tell her??
Well, Max, if you don’t break Esmae’s heart, then Alexi will be breaking it by shoving his arrow into her chest and killing her! I feel like the pros and cons of each situation are pretty easily weighed!
And finally, when Rama is dueling with Alexi (which only works because Esmae OVERSLEEPS and is late, something I think is very representative of this book as a whole), Esmae is in the audience watching them, and I am just like… literally, if you just YELLED and caught Alexi's attention, MAYBE your friend wouldn't die.
By no means was this "fate." Ugh.
I cannot believe that before reading this novel, I had no idea that the love interest in this novel was… the main character’s cousin.
NONE OF YOU BOTHERED TO TELL ME?
Yes, he is adopted, so he is not blood-related, but I still felt incredibly uncomfortable in their every interaction.
I mean, that relation was a CHOICE.
A CHOICE.
I feel like you can easily write around it, and maybe make him like, the right-hand-man of King Elvar, who is then going to be his heir because King Elvar doesn’t have any children.
But no… he had to be the cousin.
FURTHERMORE, a major plot point of the story is the fact that Max, the love interest, is constantly Othered by his father, who points out that he is not related.
Do you- do you WANT him to feel like “one of you”?
This novel also felt campy.
Here is a quote about a side character when they travel to the wedding (from the uncorrected arc):
What a quirky character, who would prefer to be at an event where someone literally died than go to a wedding. Middle school and slightly emo me would have loved this.
This is another quote from the wedding, with the same character, after Alexi pretends to kiss Esmae’s cheeks.
(1) Again with being campy. Who laughs so hard tears fill their eyes? I understand the tears filling the eyes part, because I tear up from pain just looking at this quote, but from laughing?
(2) SYBILLA IS TALKING ABOUT ALEXI. She is joking about Esmae cozying up to another prince, who is HER BROTHER, when her lover, her COUSIN, is only a few paces away.
I like historical accuracy, but not like this!!!
This is also at the wedding, and Alexi says:
Sir, this is a Chili’s.
I wonder how long Esmae was waiting for him to finish speaking?
Anyways, I have almost no space left, so to conclude: do not read this book.
> buddy read with my link text
///
update AGAIN: i have finished the novel and well, it's not the WORST book i've read in my life. still very bad though!!! some preliminary thoughts to preface the very salty review that i will soon be writing:
- the plot holes, guys... phew! there are more holes in the fabric of this book's plot than in my window screen. and that's saying a lot, because i've been opening my window to freshen up the air during the spring and lots of ants have been coming into my room. i've actually been pretty miserable because of it. today during class one was crawling up my arm and i literally screamed. please let me know if you know someone i can consult to resolve this issue
- CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW THE LOVE INTEREST IS THE MAIN CHARACTER'S COUSIN? THAT'S SOMETHING THAT I'M NOT A BIG FAN OF. he's adopted, but still??? you couldn't have written a way to make him not... her cousin?????????????
- the main character is not smart. or strong. everyone says she is, but i'm just like??? girl you got beaten up by this RANDOM GUARD & also she has done nothing.......
anyways. i hate everything but mostly this book
will still read the sequel though. what can i say, i'm a masochist! but also vaguely intrigued because of the ending
///
update i'm 60% through so far and this is one of the worst books i've read in my life. i do not have unknown powers and in fact i feel very disillusioned with life right now
scathing review to come, once i finish this book
///
(pre-review)
i downloaded this randomly on edelweiss but then it turned out that like ALL my friends gave it five stars... so in conclusion i have unknown powers
The fact this sucked was incredibly surprising, because literally ALL OF MY GOODREADS FRIENDS besides two gave this four or five stars. As stated by May, I am apparently the odd one out.
It’s just incredibly disappointing, because I had the highest expectations for this novel. I mean, ownvoices!! Indian!! Space opera!! But nope. In reality, this was just a cesspool of plot holes, inconsistencies, and lack of character building.
If this book didn’t have so many flaws, I think I would’ve managed to actually enjoy this, because once I regained my comprehension (for some reason I was really struggling to read the first half), I kind of enjoyed it. I might actually read the second book too, because I kind of want to know what happens next.
Alas, it had a lot of flaws. But for the first time ever, I will actually be trying to write my thoughts in a divisive and organized matter. Because there is a lot to shuffle through. Including a cousin love interest. Which, of course, has its own separate point.
edit: for the first time ever MY REVIEW IS TOO LONG FOR GOODREADS I had to edit it
— WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT
A Spark of White Fire follows Esmae, a young servant girl who's secretly the princess of the planet Kali. Her brother, Alexi, was originally heir to the throne, when their uncle usurped the throne. He is a “usurper king,” as the book very often and frequently calls him.
The novel starts with a competition to win the spaceship Titania, which is an incredibly powerful warship and honestly probably my second favorite character in the entire ship. Unfortunately, she got literally two lines.
Anyways, Alexi is about to win the competition— but wait! Who is that in the distance! It’s Esmae, the Main Character! And because she is the Main Character, she steps up to bat and strikes home run and WINS THE SPACESHIP because despite her not being on the list of competitors, the spaceship CHOOSES HER.
Because apparently the spaceship knows who she is, despite them never coming in contact or anything!!!
And this leads me into my next point.
— LITERALLY WHO IS ESMAE
Esmae’s real plan is to ally with Alexi and help him to regain the throne that he “deserves.” And obviously the first step in this plan is to jump into a competition that he’s about to win, and take his prize, a warship that would greatly help him in war, away from him.
Obviously. Have you never done this before?
But no, it “makes sense,” because Esmae is actually planning to serve as a spy for Alexi by pretending to side with the uncle, King Elvar.
Except… GIRL you don’t even know any of them!!! Why are you picking sides so soon!! Because of blood relations? YOU ARE LITERALLY BLOOD RELATED TO BOTH OF THEM.
And when Alexi first learned that she won the competition, this is his reaction (from my uncorrected arc):
Alexi’s gaze finally snaps to meet mine. I watch his fists, clenching and unclenching on top of the table. I’m not sure he knows he’s doing it. “Why you?” he asks.
“What?”
“Why you? You’re no one. I’m sorry, I know that’s rude, but it’s the truth.”
First of all, I looked it up and the phrase “clenching and unclenching” is used literally at least 20 times in the novel!
This is also a trait that both Esmae and Alexi do, and supposed to be proof they're related??
IS FIST CLENCHING GENETIC OR SOMETHING?
I don’t have a major in biology, but ma’am, I do not believe so.
Secondly, what a rude person! He is supposed to be a “golden boy,” incredibly graceful and loved by the gods, but he was so mean to someone just because she looks like a servant.
And yet she plans to support him?
Why is who she supports based off of siblinghood, rather than, uh, who actually rules well? There is literally zero mention of the way that Elvar rules. (Also, Esmae’s only moral conflict with supporting Alexi is the fact that King Elvar is kind to her. NEWSFLASH, he can be kind and also be a terrible ruler. )
Listen, I understand her fantasies about reuniting with her long-lost brother, but also, the fact that it turns into a full-fledged plan to support him is so wild to me.
And Esmae is portrayed as someone incredibly smart for planning this all her life, but she is... not smart??
A war goddess Amba even states that Esmae can “plot whole wars out like a game of Warlords,” (Warlords = chess. JUST SAY CHESS) and I’m like.
WHERE???/
WHERE ARE HER SMART ACTIONS?
Because what even is her plan to spy for Alexi? How is she planning to contact him? She has planned for NOTHING except for the competition.
And THAT leads into my NEXT point.
— THE LACK OF CHARACTER DRIVE, AND ALSO PLOT, AND ALSO WORLDBUILDING (minor spoilers)
Literally everything falls into her lap.
Her first activities at Kali include talking to her old friends from Wychstar (the other planet she used to live on) and you know, frolicking about the temples and such. Nothing spy-related.
Her Big opportunities to glean secret knowledge are because her grandmother randomly invites her into the war council, because she "needs someone to vote with her,” and Esmae literally protests against it. Also, there is literally NO mention of when her grandmother actually does that!!!
This is literally just a convenient plot development!!! That she takes no action to accomplish!!
Her one chance to speak with Bear (her other brother) and confess that she’s secretly on their side is when Bear literally drives over in his spaceship to talk to her.
What would she have done if Bear & Alexi just noped out of her life and refused to speak to her?? Quietly suffered in silence??
And her literal only other instance of communicating with Alexi and Bear is when she is invited to a wedding and they just happen to be there!! Also this was at 60% of the novel!
What a spy!! Amazing!! Wow, is this secretly an England spy novel? I’m so impressed!
To add on about their skillful spy endeavors, after they rendezvous at the wedding, their plan is to say after that they were “arguing” for an hour alone at the wedding.
When we return to the feast, it’s difficult to watch Alexi’s face shift into a more mutinous expression as soon as eyes of others can see us, but it’s necessary and I keep my posture just as stiff. [...]
Sybilla raises her eyebrows at me. “That went well, then? Nice bit of family bonding?”
“Don’t ask.”
I really didn’t know that the main part of being a spy was looking angry and saying “don’t ask” whenever people question you. That’s so easy, because to look angry all I have to do is think of this book!
To conclude this section, if it is not clear, basically nothing happens for the entire first half of this novel. It is excruciating, and it is painful.
— MORE PLOT CONVENIENCES / HOLES AND STUFF THAT JUST MADE NO SENSE!!! (major spoilers)
(cred to May for part of the title)
Esmae feels frequently ashamed around her mentor, Rickard, the man who taught her the skills she needed to win the competition. He’s staying with King Elvar at Kali, and Esmae feels afraid that he will be disappointed in her for betraying her brother during the competition.
Um?? He’s literally in King Elvar’s palace? So Rickard literally betrayed her brother as well?? (And he kind of tries to talk around this by saying that he’s not loyal to anyone, only loyal to Kali, but man… if you are in the palace, you are complicit.)
It makes no sense!!
Also, while she is staying at the palace, a guard hired from the outside attempts to attack her, and she almost dies if not for another warrior intervening. A warrior from a squadron that she criticized for not being strong enough.
Hmm… this would be fine, if Esmae wasn’t characterized as a badass warrior who’s stronger than both of her brothers!!
(Ex. when she’s hanging out with them, Bear offers to spar with her, but Alexi stops them because he’s afraid Bear will get hurt.)
And yet… she gets knocked out by this rando warrior? Phew, if the family is all this weak, Alexi and his army do NOT stand a chance.
It’s pretty clear that she’s only knocked out for the sake of plot progressing!
Anyways, the finale consists of her getting challenged to a duel by her brother, and her friend Rama disguises as her and gets killed by Alexi.
Rama has literally had like, two sentences devoted to him total, so??? I am not that invested in him?? The only reason that I actually cared was because he was kinda funny and literally the ONLY character I didn’t want to burn 5ever.
The reason that she's challenged is because she proposes an idea for Elvar & Alexi to share the throne, aka each ruling for three years at a time (a dumb idea btw), and that makes Alexi upset.
But Max apparently has the foresight that Alexi will challenge her, and for some reason?? he chooses not to tell her??
”You don’t see, do you?”
“See what?”
“I don’t know how to say it,” he says. “I don’t know how to be the one to break your heart. I’m sorry. I can’t.
Well, Max, if you don’t break Esmae’s heart, then Alexi will be breaking it by shoving his arrow into her chest and killing her! I feel like the pros and cons of each situation are pretty easily weighed!
And finally, when Rama is dueling with Alexi (which only works because Esmae OVERSLEEPS and is late, something I think is very representative of this book as a whole), Esmae is in the audience watching them, and I am just like… literally, if you just YELLED and caught Alexi's attention, MAYBE your friend wouldn't die.
By no means was this "fate." Ugh.
— I WOULD FEEL WRONG IF I DIDN’T TALK ABOUT THE ROMANCE
I cannot believe that before reading this novel, I had no idea that the love interest in this novel was… the main character’s cousin.
NONE OF YOU BOTHERED TO TELL ME?
Yes, he is adopted, so he is not blood-related, but I still felt incredibly uncomfortable in their every interaction.
I mean, that relation was a CHOICE.
A CHOICE.
I feel like you can easily write around it, and maybe make him like, the right-hand-man of King Elvar, who is then going to be his heir because King Elvar doesn’t have any children.
But no… he had to be the cousin.
FURTHERMORE, a major plot point of the story is the fact that Max, the love interest, is constantly Othered by his father, who points out that he is not related.
Now I see who makes him feel like he’s not one of us. Not quite enough. It’s never been the people of Kali...
Do you- do you WANT him to feel like “one of you”?
— OTHER THINGS
This novel also felt campy.
Here is a quote about a side character when they travel to the wedding (from the uncorrected arc):
She’s come with us under duress, reluctant to let us go without extra protection, yet simultaneously irked because she despises celebrations. Funerals, she claims, are more to her taste.
What a quirky character, who would prefer to be at an event where someone literally died than go to a wedding. Middle school and slightly emo me would have loved this.
This is another quote from the wedding, with the same character, after Alexi pretends to kiss Esmae’s cheeks.
”I could see you both whispering. Don’t worry, I won’t tell.”
“Why not? What if I were plotting against Max?”
She laughs so hard that tears actually fill her eyes. “I wish you would. I’d like to see that. [...] And while we’re on the subject,” she says with a wicked grin, “I’m not convinced it’s polite to be cozying up to other princes when your lover is only a few paces away.”
(1) Again with being campy. Who laughs so hard tears fill their eyes? I understand the tears filling the eyes part, because I tear up from pain just looking at this quote, but from laughing?
(2) SYBILLA IS TALKING ABOUT ALEXI. She is joking about Esmae cozying up to another prince, who is HER BROTHER, when her lover, her COUSIN, is only a few paces away.
I like historical accuracy, but not like this!!!
This is also at the wedding, and Alexi says:
”You’re my twin sister, the other half of me. I don’t think I ever noticed the emptiness where you were supposed to be before I knew to look for it, but I can’t not see it now. I’ve rewritten my entire life with you in it. It’s what I do when I can’t sleep. I try to picture what it would have been like if Mother had never sent you away. Would we have become warriors together? Would you have teased Bear with me, or would you have taken his side? Would Max have betrayed us if he’d known you? Would Elvar have hesitated if there had been three of us to contend with instead of just two? I think of birthdays, banquets, my first day of training, my first day in the schoolroom, the first time I ever kissed a girl, the first time I ever kissed a boy, the first time I held a sword, the first time I won a fight, and I think of how it might have all been if you had been right there with me.
Sir, this is a Chili’s.
I wonder how long Esmae was waiting for him to finish speaking?
Anyways, I have almost no space left, so to conclude: do not read this book.
> buddy read with my link text
///
update AGAIN: i have finished the novel and well, it's not the WORST book i've read in my life. still very bad though!!! some preliminary thoughts to preface the very salty review that i will soon be writing:
- the plot holes, guys... phew! there are more holes in the fabric of this book's plot than in my window screen. and that's saying a lot, because i've been opening my window to freshen up the air during the spring and lots of ants have been coming into my room. i've actually been pretty miserable because of it. today during class one was crawling up my arm and i literally screamed. please let me know if you know someone i can consult to resolve this issue
- CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW THE LOVE INTEREST IS THE MAIN CHARACTER'S COUSIN? THAT'S SOMETHING THAT I'M NOT A BIG FAN OF. he's adopted, but still??? you couldn't have written a way to make him not... her cousin?????????????
- the main character is not smart. or strong. everyone says she is, but i'm just like??? girl you got beaten up by this RANDOM GUARD & also she has done nothing.......
anyways. i hate everything but mostly this book
will still read the sequel though. what can i say, i'm a masochist! but also vaguely intrigued because of the ending
///
update i'm 60% through so far and this is one of the worst books i've read in my life. i do not have unknown powers and in fact i feel very disillusioned with life right now
scathing review to come, once i finish this book
///
(pre-review)
i downloaded this randomly on edelweiss but then it turned out that like ALL my friends gave it five stars... so in conclusion i have unknown powers
February 21, 2020
4.5 stars.
A Spark of White Fire is an example of political intrigue done right in YA, and one of the best YA books set in space I've ever read.
I don't know if it's right to call A Spark of White Fire "science fiction". This Mahabharata retelling is a genre-bending gem - which isn't as common as it should be in YA - because it's set in space, but it reads like a high fantasy novel.
There are gods, talking spaceships that are just the space version of fantasy talking dragons, a beautiful city floating near a nebula, magical weapons blessed by the gods, and people fighting over a throne. A Spark of White Fire doesn't even try to feel like a sci-fi novel; the space setting is just there for the aesthetics. And you know what? The descriptions in this book are beautiful and the aesthetic was worth every time the thought of people fighting with bows and arrows in space broke my suspension of disbelief.
A Spark of White Fire follows lost princess Esmae, who is now ready to reveal her identity and fight for Titania, the sentient, unbeatable spaceship blessed by the gods. Winning Titania will help her win back Kali's throne, which was stolen from her brother Alexi by their uncle Elvar and his adopted son Max.
It's a story about a torn family and complicated loyalties, and I loved how it played out - so much that I didn't mind that some parts of it were predictable, because Esmae's character arc was surprisingly subversive and went exactly in the direction I wanted it to go.
One thing I don't like about political intrigue in YA is that there's often a good side and a bad side - sometimes the side you thought was the good one turns out to be the bad one, but that's as far as plot twists usually go. Here, there's not a "good" side, and if you can argue one is better than the other, you can't ignore the fact that, in some way, everyone is wrong and has been wronged. I love complex political situations and I love competent heroines who know how to exploit them (...even if sometimes they fail).
Another thing I really appreciated was the way in which the focus switched from "let's take the throne back to the rightful owner" - which is a trope I hate, especially when the supposedly right person is a teenager - to "let's prevent a war, we don't want millions to die because you hate your cousin".
And preventing wars is more difficult than starting them. Sometimes, the hate you feel for your cousin is more dangerous than the cousin himself.
This book wasn't flawless - why have a step-cousin romance when you could... not have a romance (at least there wasn't a lot of it?) - but it surprised me just how much I enjoyed it. I didn't think I would ever love a story about a lost princess in space, but this book did something new with this trope.
Another thing I could have done without was Esmae's comment that people who don't date are afraid of happiness - which was especially surprising because she had just said that dating wasn't a priority for her, but of course she ends up falling for a boy a few chapters later.
(At least there's a side character who is a girl who like girls and I love her.)
A Spark of White Fire is an example of political intrigue done right in YA, and one of the best YA books set in space I've ever read.
I don't know if it's right to call A Spark of White Fire "science fiction". This Mahabharata retelling is a genre-bending gem - which isn't as common as it should be in YA - because it's set in space, but it reads like a high fantasy novel.
There are gods, talking spaceships that are just the space version of fantasy talking dragons, a beautiful city floating near a nebula, magical weapons blessed by the gods, and people fighting over a throne. A Spark of White Fire doesn't even try to feel like a sci-fi novel; the space setting is just there for the aesthetics. And you know what? The descriptions in this book are beautiful and the aesthetic was worth every time the thought of people fighting with bows and arrows in space broke my suspension of disbelief.
A Spark of White Fire follows lost princess Esmae, who is now ready to reveal her identity and fight for Titania, the sentient, unbeatable spaceship blessed by the gods. Winning Titania will help her win back Kali's throne, which was stolen from her brother Alexi by their uncle Elvar and his adopted son Max.
It's a story about a torn family and complicated loyalties, and I loved how it played out - so much that I didn't mind that some parts of it were predictable, because Esmae's character arc was surprisingly subversive and went exactly in the direction I wanted it to go.
One thing I don't like about political intrigue in YA is that there's often a good side and a bad side - sometimes the side you thought was the good one turns out to be the bad one, but that's as far as plot twists usually go. Here, there's not a "good" side, and if you can argue one is better than the other, you can't ignore the fact that, in some way, everyone is wrong and has been wronged. I love complex political situations and I love competent heroines who know how to exploit them (...even if sometimes they fail).
Another thing I really appreciated was the way in which the focus switched from "let's take the throne back to the rightful owner" - which is a trope I hate, especially when the supposedly right person is a teenager - to "let's prevent a war, we don't want millions to die because you hate your cousin".
And preventing wars is more difficult than starting them. Sometimes, the hate you feel for your cousin is more dangerous than the cousin himself.
This book wasn't flawless - why have a step-cousin romance when you could... not have a romance (at least there wasn't a lot of it?) - but it surprised me just how much I enjoyed it. I didn't think I would ever love a story about a lost princess in space, but this book did something new with this trope.
Another thing I could have done without was Esmae's comment that people who don't date are afraid of happiness - which was especially surprising because she had just said that dating wasn't a priority for her, but of course she ends up falling for a boy a few chapters later.
(At least there's a side character who is a girl who like girls and I love her.)
June 1, 2021
update: while I liked this, I did not love it and now I have trust issues with myself!
if I don’t love this book I think I will have trust issues with myself, actually, because how could I not love a book about gods and sentient spaceships
short review to come
if I don’t love this book I think I will have trust issues with myself, actually, because how could I not love a book about gods and sentient spaceships
short review to come
// buddy read with the fast reader :(
May 12, 2018
I'm totally biased, but I love this book. I loved every minute of writing it and I can't wait for you guys to meet Esmae. I so, so hope you love this as much as I do.
November 25, 2023
Full review is up on my blog, The Quiet Pond.
I don't say this often, so listen up: THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING FROM START TO FINISH AND IS ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I'VE READ.
My goodness, this book is brilliant. An effortless new all-time favourite book.
- The book follows Esmae, the twin of an exiled prince, who longs to reunite with her family and help them win back their kingdom. Until, of course, this plan falls apart and she's met with obstacles she could never have anticipated.
- This is the sort of space-opera I've always wanted to read about: sentient ships with attitude; divine intervention and gods pitting their favourites against each other; celestial weapons; kingdoms built on spaceships.
- The worldbuilding is gorgeous, put together by a simple but elegant system of gods and technology.
- The plot is brilliant, and I was honestly entertained throughout. There's political intrigue, an organic romance, betrayal, fighting fate, and complex family dynamics.
- Ok but like... my favourite character was Titania, the sentient warship. I adore her.
Trigger/content warning:
I don't say this often, so listen up: THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING FROM START TO FINISH AND IS ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I'VE READ.
My goodness, this book is brilliant. An effortless new all-time favourite book.
- The book follows Esmae, the twin of an exiled prince, who longs to reunite with her family and help them win back their kingdom. Until, of course, this plan falls apart and she's met with obstacles she could never have anticipated.
- This is the sort of space-opera I've always wanted to read about: sentient ships with attitude; divine intervention and gods pitting their favourites against each other; celestial weapons; kingdoms built on spaceships.
- The worldbuilding is gorgeous, put together by a simple but elegant system of gods and technology.
- The plot is brilliant, and I was honestly entertained throughout. There's political intrigue, an organic romance, betrayal, fighting fate, and complex family dynamics.
- Ok but like... my favourite character was Titania, the sentient warship. I adore her.
Trigger/content warning:
August 8, 2019
"Battles explode and then they end. Wars are always temporary. And the smoke and ashes they leave behind will blow away eventually."
This book was an unexpected epic saga of twisted politics, magical space wars, and much angst. To say I love this is a drastic understatement, okay, because I LOVE this. This is such a strong, well-balanced, cleverly plotted story that it just made my heart full of happiness. I live to read stories like this. I loved how this swept me up into an aesthetic world of space cities and conniving immortals with mortal love in their hearts. I was on the edge of my seat more than once, got stabbed with feels, and didn't want this book to end. And when it inevitably ended, I wanted to go back and read it all over again to dive further into the tangled web of intergalatic-kingdom politics and family strife.
A N Y W A Y S
'From the moment they walked in here, they saw only what they expected and missed the truth.
They saw the pawn.
And missed the queen.'
This story is inspired by Indian epics, primarily Mahabharata, but being someone with absolutely no clue (something I need to fix asap) about any of those, I read this with no retelling expectations. Still, this was clearly written by someone with a passion for sprawling, grand epic tales in fantastical worlds and that love shows in the masterful plot. The beautiful writing is also a huge factor, and while a few times I was caught a bit off-guard by the use of modern phrases/words (the prime example being "heck" uhhhhhhh hahaha okay) it was still quite excellent.
"Watch as one act leads to another after that. Watch the trees pass white flames on. Watch the forest burn."
Now while the plot is the major strength of this book, the characters are the secondary driving power.
There is a huge cast of characters, but the key characters I noticed were Esmae the MC, her best-friend Rama, her adopted cousin Max, the goddess Amba, and of course Esmae's twin brother Alexei. There was a plethora of other supporting characters, all full fleshed-out with their own strong arcs and importance to the plot. And while a few characters got lost for me in the large cast, I was happily able to keep up with the many names and different connections.
"You have a fierce, roaring lion heart. It believes in hope and love today, but will it always?"
Esmae is the voice through which the story is told, the eyes through which events are viewed. She is the forgotten princess of a kingdom at strife, and though she is sure which side she stand with, as she learns more about herself and the kingdom she wants to love, those lines grow shaky and blurred. She was such a fascinating character and I absolutely loved her toughness, the way she moved deftly through the political machinations all around her, and of course the ferocity of her unwillingness to give up on those she cared about. Of course, in such a book like this, affections are played like instruments of war, and she inevitably has to learn to guard her heart . . . but I still loved how, even knowing the risks, she still chose to care. And also she's a bit of a bad-ass when it comes to fighting and her tactician mind was a joy to read.
"You're not required to be useful to anyone."
Max was the wildcard character at first for me. Kinda thought he was gonna play a main villain role, then kinda wondered if there would be a Dramione vibe (hoo boy yes please??) going on . . . although I was still a bit leery of the "cousin" status he had. But then it was proven that he really wasn't viewed as part of the family bloodline, his wit was perfect, he had the just-right amount of brooding angst, family loyalty, and then the fact that he was more on a neutral side of the brewing storm of war instead of choosing a particular side? Also, he read books and was more on the awkward introvert side of anti-social?? Hi, I love you.
"This may be news to you, Esmae, so brace yourself: You are not the wedding of a princess I've never met. I can muster a tiny bit more effort on your behalf."
Rama was the heart of the cast. A loveably, complaining heart who tried to shirk as many duties as possibly . . . but someone who loved deeply. The platonic love between him and Esmae truly touched my feels and oddly enough didn't even give me one SCRAP of shippy feels. And since I am normally one who automatically ships long-time-besties, that was a surprise! But he is just so big-hearted and brave and hilariously lazy that it was impossibly not to love him.
"If you remember only one thing when I go, Esmae, remember this: you are beloved by gods you don't trust and will be betrayed by mortals you do."
Amba was another character I was initially unsure about. Gods mixed into a space world?? Yikes, how many things can be mixed into here before it comes too much and ends up being a badly-executed mess? Ah, how lovely it was to be proven wrong!! This goddess is the oldest immortal in the universe and, despite her prickly attitude, she carries such love towards certain characters. She may be the goddess of war, but towards Esmae she is always viewed in a motherly light. She is one of the most interesting side characters, yet one upon whom so much of the plot relies on.
"Our lives were taken from us. Our futures were taken. I'm not just going to let that go."
Alexei is a complicated kind of character. He is just as driven as his twin sister, but while Esmae is more open to the bigger picture, he is focused on past hurts and driven by revenge and refuses to change. I foresee much sibling angst in the future and while it's gonna hurt cause this is just so well-written, I'm here for every single moment.
bonus character thoughts:
"I was made for war, but I don't have war in my heart."
Titania as a sentient warship wasn't the character I expected, but was 100% the character we deserved. She is quiet and thoughtful, a true character in her own standing as much as the flesh-and-blood ones. I definitely want more of her and I love the faint traces of sass in her programming that began to crop up.
And there is also a plot/character element that really reminded me of something from LOTR okay?? but unlike with Aurora Rising this was more of a good homage/inspiration instead of a blatant copy/blueprint hahahaha
'There's a frightened king on the throne and a sly, cruel man whispering in his ear.'
Also, while I dearly love the characters, I can't ignore the world-building, okay??? Because it is truly an epic universe crafted here where spaceships and god-blessed swords and bows work in harmony together, along with planet-bound and space kingdoms. It's not an aesthetic I ever thought I'd be faced with, but now that I've been introduced to the concept I WANT MORE.
'The constant hum doesn't bother me. On a spaceship kingdom, noise means all is well. Silence is far more frightening.'
'The kingdom doesn't look like it's built on top of a space station. It looks no different from the kingdoms on planets, which was a deliberate choice to make the first citizens' transition to life on a ship that much easier.'
But the first strength of this book really is THE PLOT Y'ALL!!! It's so good, seemingly slow at first with a few parts that had me confused . . . until it all began to piece together bit by bit into a picture I marveled at. There were many obvious foreshadows towards a certain twist near the finale, but I didn't really get it until the part actually came about. And then all came crashing together while falling apart at the same time, and I actually had to close the book for a second to compose myself because I WAS NOT OKAY WITH SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED . . . while also being quite impressed with the choice of twist and the way it was, ha ha ha, executed.
The twist also made me quite upset with a certain character because HOW DARE!! First of all, broken promises are to be expected BUT STILL UNCOOL and also YOU HURT MY HEART HOW DARE YOU VERY UNCOOL!!
Finally, at the end of this long review, I shall talk about the romance.
"He's not quite the monster I expected," I say cautiously.'
Look, I'm gonna admit that I really didn't read the blurb and so I DIDN'T know Alexei and Esmae were blood-relatives . . . twins, in fact. So I assumed they were gonna be the main romance, and even when Max made an appearance I was like "ah yes another angst character I'm gonna love but who is gonna probably lose out to the main golden boy" AND THEN the twin bomb dropped and I laughed because wow I DID NOT expect that!! Tbh, there's a lot I didn't expect with this book, and this was one of the first things ahahaha
But then when the definition "cousin" kept being used in reference to Max, I was a bit hesitant to ship, although my shippy vibes were starting up. But, I'd shipped something a little more closer up the step-relative ladder in The Accident Season with an ex-stepbrother . . . plus, in ye olden days people still got with their actual blood-related cousins so, eh, I let it slide. Plus, the two branches of the family couldn't even be further apart PLUS the adoption part of it?? Yeah, it's a bit odd at first but not as bad as I thought it might have gotten.
every time Esmae realizes she still technically calls Max her cousin
B U T complicated relative status aside this was a well-done romance that I really liked. It didn't take over the plot, no major plot elements hinged upon it. It was just two characters longing to have a place in their world, to be noticed . . . and who end up noticing each other the most and developing feelings out of that.
"Sometimes, I wonder if I'm still the same," he says. His other hand slides to the back of my neck. My heart gives a jolt. He waits to see if I want him to stop, but I don't. "Times like now. When I remember what it's like to be brave."
And also, they're super funny together??? Their budding relationship is part enemies-to-lovers but also begrudging-rivals-to-more and I'm really here for that, okay?
Far too good to lose to the other side? Flattery won't help."
"Telling you how skilled you are is hardly flattery. You just announced it to the entire world." He smiles suddenly, lopsided. "Flattery would be me telling you we don't need your knowledge or your skill because your smile alone would turn attacking armies to dust."
So, all in all: if the length of this review doesn't say it enough, I absolutely LOVED THIS BOOK!! It promised and it delivered me space politics, epic battles, complicated plot, intriguing characters . . . and then some!!
"Mortals make their own choices, and we can't control them, but they inevitably lead themselves to their own fates - their own fixed points. And those points, in time, will happen. One way or another, they will happen. They already have happened."
This book was an unexpected epic saga of twisted politics, magical space wars, and much angst. To say I love this is a drastic understatement, okay, because I LOVE this. This is such a strong, well-balanced, cleverly plotted story that it just made my heart full of happiness. I live to read stories like this. I loved how this swept me up into an aesthetic world of space cities and conniving immortals with mortal love in their hearts. I was on the edge of my seat more than once, got stabbed with feels, and didn't want this book to end. And when it inevitably ended, I wanted to go back and read it all over again to dive further into the tangled web of intergalatic-kingdom politics and family strife.
A N Y W A Y S
'From the moment they walked in here, they saw only what they expected and missed the truth.
They saw the pawn.
And missed the queen.'
This story is inspired by Indian epics, primarily Mahabharata, but being someone with absolutely no clue (something I need to fix asap) about any of those, I read this with no retelling expectations. Still, this was clearly written by someone with a passion for sprawling, grand epic tales in fantastical worlds and that love shows in the masterful plot. The beautiful writing is also a huge factor, and while a few times I was caught a bit off-guard by the use of modern phrases/words (the prime example being "heck" uhhhhhhh hahaha okay) it was still quite excellent.
"Watch as one act leads to another after that. Watch the trees pass white flames on. Watch the forest burn."
Now while the plot is the major strength of this book, the characters are the secondary driving power.
There is a huge cast of characters, but the key characters I noticed were Esmae the MC, her best-friend Rama, her adopted cousin Max, the goddess Amba, and of course Esmae's twin brother Alexei. There was a plethora of other supporting characters, all full fleshed-out with their own strong arcs and importance to the plot. And while a few characters got lost for me in the large cast, I was happily able to keep up with the many names and different connections.
"You have a fierce, roaring lion heart. It believes in hope and love today, but will it always?"
Esmae is the voice through which the story is told, the eyes through which events are viewed. She is the forgotten princess of a kingdom at strife, and though she is sure which side she stand with, as she learns more about herself and the kingdom she wants to love, those lines grow shaky and blurred. She was such a fascinating character and I absolutely loved her toughness, the way she moved deftly through the political machinations all around her, and of course the ferocity of her unwillingness to give up on those she cared about. Of course, in such a book like this, affections are played like instruments of war, and she inevitably has to learn to guard her heart . . . but I still loved how, even knowing the risks, she still chose to care. And also she's a bit of a bad-ass when it comes to fighting and her tactician mind was a joy to read.
"You're not required to be useful to anyone."
Max was the wildcard character at first for me. Kinda thought he was gonna play a main villain role, then kinda wondered if there would be a Dramione vibe (hoo boy yes please??) going on . . . although I was still a bit leery of the "cousin" status he had. But then it was proven that he really wasn't viewed as part of the family bloodline, his wit was perfect, he had the just-right amount of brooding angst, family loyalty, and then the fact that he was more on a neutral side of the brewing storm of war instead of choosing a particular side? Also, he read books and was more on the awkward introvert side of anti-social?? Hi, I love you.
"This may be news to you, Esmae, so brace yourself: You are not the wedding of a princess I've never met. I can muster a tiny bit more effort on your behalf."
Rama was the heart of the cast. A loveably, complaining heart who tried to shirk as many duties as possibly . . . but someone who loved deeply. The platonic love between him and Esmae truly touched my feels and oddly enough didn't even give me one SCRAP of shippy feels. And since I am normally one who automatically ships long-time-besties, that was a surprise! But he is just so big-hearted and brave and hilariously lazy that it was impossibly not to love him.
"If you remember only one thing when I go, Esmae, remember this: you are beloved by gods you don't trust and will be betrayed by mortals you do."
Amba was another character I was initially unsure about. Gods mixed into a space world?? Yikes, how many things can be mixed into here before it comes too much and ends up being a badly-executed mess? Ah, how lovely it was to be proven wrong!! This goddess is the oldest immortal in the universe and, despite her prickly attitude, she carries such love towards certain characters. She may be the goddess of war, but towards Esmae she is always viewed in a motherly light. She is one of the most interesting side characters, yet one upon whom so much of the plot relies on.
"Our lives were taken from us. Our futures were taken. I'm not just going to let that go."
Alexei is a complicated kind of character. He is just as driven as his twin sister, but while Esmae is more open to the bigger picture, he is focused on past hurts and driven by revenge and refuses to change. I foresee much sibling angst in the future and while it's gonna hurt cause this is just so well-written, I'm here for every single moment.
bonus character thoughts:
"I was made for war, but I don't have war in my heart."
Titania as a sentient warship wasn't the character I expected, but was 100% the character we deserved. She is quiet and thoughtful, a true character in her own standing as much as the flesh-and-blood ones. I definitely want more of her and I love the faint traces of sass in her programming that began to crop up.
And there is also a plot/character element that really reminded me of something from LOTR okay?? but unlike with Aurora Rising this was more of a good homage/inspiration instead of a blatant copy/blueprint hahahaha
'There's a frightened king on the throne and a sly, cruel man whispering in his ear.'
Also, while I dearly love the characters, I can't ignore the world-building, okay??? Because it is truly an epic universe crafted here where spaceships and god-blessed swords and bows work in harmony together, along with planet-bound and space kingdoms. It's not an aesthetic I ever thought I'd be faced with, but now that I've been introduced to the concept I WANT MORE.
'The constant hum doesn't bother me. On a spaceship kingdom, noise means all is well. Silence is far more frightening.'
'The kingdom doesn't look like it's built on top of a space station. It looks no different from the kingdoms on planets, which was a deliberate choice to make the first citizens' transition to life on a ship that much easier.'
But the first strength of this book really is THE PLOT Y'ALL!!! It's so good, seemingly slow at first with a few parts that had me confused . . . until it all began to piece together bit by bit into a picture I marveled at. There were many obvious foreshadows towards a certain twist near the finale, but I didn't really get it until the part actually came about. And then all came crashing together while falling apart at the same time, and I actually had to close the book for a second to compose myself because I WAS NOT OKAY WITH SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED . . . while also being quite impressed with the choice of twist and the way it was, ha ha ha, executed.
The twist also made me quite upset with a certain character because HOW DARE!! First of all, broken promises are to be expected BUT STILL UNCOOL and also YOU HURT MY HEART HOW DARE YOU VERY UNCOOL!!
Finally, at the end of this long review, I shall talk about the romance.
"He's not quite the monster I expected," I say cautiously.'
Look, I'm gonna admit that I really didn't read the blurb and so I DIDN'T know Alexei and Esmae were blood-relatives . . . twins, in fact. So I assumed they were gonna be the main romance, and even when Max made an appearance I was like "ah yes another angst character I'm gonna love but who is gonna probably lose out to the main golden boy" AND THEN the twin bomb dropped and I laughed because wow I DID NOT expect that!! Tbh, there's a lot I didn't expect with this book, and this was one of the first things ahahaha
But then when the definition "cousin" kept being used in reference to Max, I was a bit hesitant to ship, although my shippy vibes were starting up. But, I'd shipped something a little more closer up the step-relative ladder in The Accident Season with an ex-stepbrother . . . plus, in ye olden days people still got with their actual blood-related cousins so, eh, I let it slide. Plus, the two branches of the family couldn't even be further apart PLUS the adoption part of it?? Yeah, it's a bit odd at first but not as bad as I thought it might have gotten.
every time Esmae realizes she still technically calls Max her cousin
B U T complicated relative status aside this was a well-done romance that I really liked. It didn't take over the plot, no major plot elements hinged upon it. It was just two characters longing to have a place in their world, to be noticed . . . and who end up noticing each other the most and developing feelings out of that.
"Sometimes, I wonder if I'm still the same," he says. His other hand slides to the back of my neck. My heart gives a jolt. He waits to see if I want him to stop, but I don't. "Times like now. When I remember what it's like to be brave."
And also, they're super funny together??? Their budding relationship is part enemies-to-lovers but also begrudging-rivals-to-more and I'm really here for that, okay?
Far too good to lose to the other side? Flattery won't help."
"Telling you how skilled you are is hardly flattery. You just announced it to the entire world." He smiles suddenly, lopsided. "Flattery would be me telling you we don't need your knowledge or your skill because your smile alone would turn attacking armies to dust."
So, all in all: if the length of this review doesn't say it enough, I absolutely LOVED THIS BOOK!! It promised and it delivered me space politics, epic battles, complicated plot, intriguing characters . . . and then some!!
"Mortals make their own choices, and we can't control them, but they inevitably lead themselves to their own fates - their own fixed points. And those points, in time, will happen. One way or another, they will happen. They already have happened."
October 14, 2019
Remember all the times you watched the sky and saw the stars, thinking how cool it must be to live among them and then your science classes came and ruined all your dreams to dust? Well, fret not, because this book is an amazing blend of science and fantasy, set in space, has great characters and a thriller of a plot that makes you feel like you’re sitting at that space ride in your nearest planetarium but even better because it has a sequel!
Well, away from my meaningless rant, here’s what the book is about -
Esmae lives in Wychstar, a realm in space, but all her life, she’s spent studying the royal family and history of Kali, the neighboring realm. Alexi Rey, the crown Prince has just been thrown away along with his younger brother Bear and mother Kyra. When King Darshan holds a competition for the prized indestructible warship Titania knowing Alexi would win because he’s the best warrior in the universe, he’s in for a surprise. Esmae has a tough year with horrifying prophecies, being away from her best friend Prince Rama, forming alliances with people who she thought were her enemies, and discovering new loyalties.
▪ Can we appreciate how this book is inspired from Mahabharatha, aka Indian mythology and has mostly brown characters? Thanks.
▪ The space world is absolutely amazing and unique and I loved every inch of it, I mean talking spaceships and ground-breaking tech? Please. I’m in. Also, special mention to Titania for being an amazing softball of a warship.
▪ The characters are lovely and makes you root for them.
▪ The Esmae-Max tension gave me goosebumps and also, hi new otp!
▪ Look, I never trusted Alexi from the beginning, and he delivered, but I still have mixed feelings on him. He’s supposedly the best warrior in the world, but we get no proof of it, you know? No action, actual wars, just relentless telling of how good he is, (and Esmae too)
▪ Rama. Just, umm, idk how to tell you this without giving away spoilers, but I hate that he’s such a dispensable character. I loved him, but he’s barely there and gone. I wanted more.
▪ Complex sibling relationships and mother-child relationships and just amazing family dynamics which is also too messed up but also, so good. Uff.
▪ I mean, I’m not surprised given his name, but I need a teddy bear named Bear because Bear was a a cuddly baby bean I stan him.
▪ I totally enjoyed the story, but why is this not a five star? I thought the characters needed a bit more development especially because their character arc turns from one to the other without ANY warning like, mean to nice, nice to rude, or love to hate - all of a sudden, like, wait, was I supposed to catch up? Also, I NEED MORE ACTION PLEASE, thanks
P.S. I started the next book already.
Well, away from my meaningless rant, here’s what the book is about -
Esmae lives in Wychstar, a realm in space, but all her life, she’s spent studying the royal family and history of Kali, the neighboring realm. Alexi Rey, the crown Prince has just been thrown away along with his younger brother Bear and mother Kyra. When King Darshan holds a competition for the prized indestructible warship Titania knowing Alexi would win because he’s the best warrior in the universe, he’s in for a surprise. Esmae has a tough year with horrifying prophecies, being away from her best friend Prince Rama, forming alliances with people who she thought were her enemies, and discovering new loyalties.
▪ Can we appreciate how this book is inspired from Mahabharatha, aka Indian mythology and has mostly brown characters? Thanks.
▪ The space world is absolutely amazing and unique and I loved every inch of it, I mean talking spaceships and ground-breaking tech? Please. I’m in. Also, special mention to Titania for being an amazing softball of a warship.
▪ The characters are lovely and makes you root for them.
▪ The Esmae-Max tension gave me goosebumps and also, hi new otp!
▪ Look, I never trusted Alexi from the beginning, and he delivered, but I still have mixed feelings on him. He’s supposedly the best warrior in the world, but we get no proof of it, you know? No action, actual wars, just relentless telling of how good he is, (and Esmae too)
▪ Rama. Just, umm, idk how to tell you this without giving away spoilers, but I hate that he’s such a dispensable character. I loved him, but he’s barely there and gone. I wanted more.
▪ Complex sibling relationships and mother-child relationships and just amazing family dynamics which is also too messed up but also, so good. Uff.
▪ I mean, I’m not surprised given his name, but I need a teddy bear named Bear because Bear was a a cuddly baby bean I stan him.
▪ I totally enjoyed the story, but why is this not a five star? I thought the characters needed a bit more development especially because their character arc turns from one to the other without ANY warning like, mean to nice, nice to rude, or love to hate - all of a sudden, like, wait, was I supposed to catch up? Also, I NEED MORE ACTION PLEASE, thanks
P.S. I started the next book already.
April 18, 2021
Despite being heavily influenced by the ancient epic Mahabharata and other Indian lore, there is nothing quite like Mandanna’s novel – A Spark of White Fire is an absolutely unique, genre-defying gamechanger in YA.
- Perfectly seamless blending of fantasy and science fiction elements!
- Intricately developed world-building nicely integrated with Indian mythology!
- Meddlesome gods and goddesses, and celestial weapons blessed by them!
- Flawed, morally ambiguous characters of color!
- Family complexities and character relationships!
- Compelling plot with political scheming and fighting against the tides of destiny!
- A thrilling, satisfying conclusion that sets up the sequel very nicely!
Overall, A Spark of White Fire is wonderfully imaginative, culturally rich, and fascinatingly complex. It goes without saying that I absolutely enjoyed it! With a flawed heroine who grows stronger in the face of adversity, complex characters that are more than what meets the eye, a compelling plot with themes of family politics, betrayal, and loyalty, A Spark of White Fire is a brilliant space opera no one should miss out on.
Trigger/Content warning:
Disclosure: I received a physical ARC of A Spark of White Fire from Samantha Shannon from Twitter. Thank you so much!
Rating: 5 stars
* Read the rest of this review in my natural habitat!
October 19, 2018
Something you should know about me - I absolutely love and adore the Mahabharata since childhood. I've read so many versions of the epic by different authors in multiple languages and I keep continuing to do so even now. So, when I got to know about this book, I knew I was going to read it, despite the fact that I don't enjoy science fiction and never read books set in space. I just couldn't imagine not reading a YA novel based on the Mahabharata and I had very high expectations right from the beginning and I'm so so glad to say that this one didn't disappoint. I'm very happy to have read this amazing novel and upset that I have to wait a long time for the sequel. And thank you so much Nandini for reading this along with me, it's always fun discussing with you.
The first thing to keep in mind is that this book doesn't really read like traditional science fiction. You have your spaceships, space travel among stars, different planets and advanced technology - but you also have immortal gods and goddesses who enjoy interacting with mortals and meddling in their lives (albeit indirectly), boons and curses and destinies and prophecies, traditional warfare with bows and arrows and swords and celestial weapons, and kingdoms rife with political intrigue in a power struggle for the throne of Kali. The author does a wonderful job of combining science fiction with epic fantasy and that's what impressed me the most. The world building is lush and vibrant and very easy to understand and I loved the descriptions of the various kingdoms, the differences between the planets vs kingdoms on spaceships and how traditional warfare works in such a technologically advanced world.
The characters are definitely the main strength of this story. Esmae is what we would expect from a YA protagonist - strong, compassionate, loyal to her cause and family. What's surprising is that despite being abandoned by her family after her birth, she loves them a lot and wants to do everything in her power to restore her brother to his rightful throne. She has always hated her evil uncle, the usurper king and his son and makes plans and counterplans to gain their trust and to destroy them from within. But as she spends more time at home and gets to know them better, she realizes that no one is black and white and everyone has wronged or been wronged. Despite being a trained warrior, she is not a warmonger and wants her brother as King but not at the cost of thousands of innocent lives. All the side characters are well fleshed out and play important roles in the progression of the plot. Every single action has very unintended consequences and despite Esmae's meticulous planning and Max's efforts to stop the war, things don't always work out the way they want them to.
The writing is very easy to follow and probably even simple, but I really loved that. I got through this very quickly and in a single sitting, didn't want to put it down at all because it was very fast paced and action packed and I couldn't wait to read what happened next. The themes of importance of family - both blood and found, about destiny vs free will and how much control can anyone exert over their future when there are gods who have their own agendas, the justification of war and collateral damage in the grand scheme of things - all form the crux of this book and give us a lot of food for thought, while making us empathize with all the characters, whether we initially thought them as good or evil. The story is also full of twists and turns and just when you think you have figured out where the story is going, the author takes it in a very different direction and it shook me with all the emotional upheaval. The ending broke me because I just did not see that coming and it just raises the stakes in staggering ways for the sequel. A good thing is that this book doesn't end in a cliffhanger, but the story is nicely setup for a much explosive second book.
Obviously I couldn't stop myself from comparing every single action and character in the book to the Mahabharata and I had hell of a lot of fun doing it. There are lots of similarities but differences too and the best part is figuring out who is who. Resemblances to characters like Bhishma, Shakuni, Dhritarashtra and Gandhari are uncanny, but the fun is when I can't decide who Esmae and Max and Alexi or even my favorite sassy spaceship Titania represent - they are a mix of both the Pandavas and the Kauravas and I think it will be more fun to see where they go next in the upcoming books. The way the author blended Indian mythology with fantasy and science fiction is brilliant and I am so thankful to Sangu for writing this book. It just gave me so much joy that I can't describe and that's why this review of mine is pretty incoherent.
If you love space operas or fantasies with royalty and political intrigue, then this book is for you. If you enjoy stories of love, loss, family and betrayal, then this is for you. If you like reading about complex characters whose intentions are not always clear and not everything is as it seems, then this is for you. If you love the Mahabharata like me, then I promise you will love this book. What can I say - I recommend this gem of a book to anyone who loves a great story with awesome characters.
The first thing to keep in mind is that this book doesn't really read like traditional science fiction. You have your spaceships, space travel among stars, different planets and advanced technology - but you also have immortal gods and goddesses who enjoy interacting with mortals and meddling in their lives (albeit indirectly), boons and curses and destinies and prophecies, traditional warfare with bows and arrows and swords and celestial weapons, and kingdoms rife with political intrigue in a power struggle for the throne of Kali. The author does a wonderful job of combining science fiction with epic fantasy and that's what impressed me the most. The world building is lush and vibrant and very easy to understand and I loved the descriptions of the various kingdoms, the differences between the planets vs kingdoms on spaceships and how traditional warfare works in such a technologically advanced world.
The characters are definitely the main strength of this story. Esmae is what we would expect from a YA protagonist - strong, compassionate, loyal to her cause and family. What's surprising is that despite being abandoned by her family after her birth, she loves them a lot and wants to do everything in her power to restore her brother to his rightful throne. She has always hated her evil uncle, the usurper king and his son and makes plans and counterplans to gain their trust and to destroy them from within. But as she spends more time at home and gets to know them better, she realizes that no one is black and white and everyone has wronged or been wronged. Despite being a trained warrior, she is not a warmonger and wants her brother as King but not at the cost of thousands of innocent lives. All the side characters are well fleshed out and play important roles in the progression of the plot. Every single action has very unintended consequences and despite Esmae's meticulous planning and Max's efforts to stop the war, things don't always work out the way they want them to.
The writing is very easy to follow and probably even simple, but I really loved that. I got through this very quickly and in a single sitting, didn't want to put it down at all because it was very fast paced and action packed and I couldn't wait to read what happened next. The themes of importance of family - both blood and found, about destiny vs free will and how much control can anyone exert over their future when there are gods who have their own agendas, the justification of war and collateral damage in the grand scheme of things - all form the crux of this book and give us a lot of food for thought, while making us empathize with all the characters, whether we initially thought them as good or evil. The story is also full of twists and turns and just when you think you have figured out where the story is going, the author takes it in a very different direction and it shook me with all the emotional upheaval. The ending broke me because I just did not see that coming and it just raises the stakes in staggering ways for the sequel. A good thing is that this book doesn't end in a cliffhanger, but the story is nicely setup for a much explosive second book.
Obviously I couldn't stop myself from comparing every single action and character in the book to the Mahabharata and I had hell of a lot of fun doing it. There are lots of similarities but differences too and the best part is figuring out who is who. Resemblances to characters like Bhishma, Shakuni, Dhritarashtra and Gandhari are uncanny, but the fun is when I can't decide who Esmae and Max and Alexi or even my favorite sassy spaceship Titania represent - they are a mix of both the Pandavas and the Kauravas and I think it will be more fun to see where they go next in the upcoming books. The way the author blended Indian mythology with fantasy and science fiction is brilliant and I am so thankful to Sangu for writing this book. It just gave me so much joy that I can't describe and that's why this review of mine is pretty incoherent.
If you love space operas or fantasies with royalty and political intrigue, then this book is for you. If you enjoy stories of love, loss, family and betrayal, then this is for you. If you like reading about complex characters whose intentions are not always clear and not everything is as it seems, then this is for you. If you love the Mahabharata like me, then I promise you will love this book. What can I say - I recommend this gem of a book to anyone who loves a great story with awesome characters.
September 28, 2019
This book was such a pleasant surprise!
Premise
Esmae is stuck living in the shadows of her world with so much to offer and yet her value is unnoticed. She’s a servant, with only a select few who know that she's a princess in hiding, and decides to claim her stake in the politically shifty landscape when she publicly wins a contest for the most powerful warship in existence. Tired of being undervalued, she enacts her plan to win back her brother’s crown and reclaim her place within the family who threw her away.
The setup:
This story makes me think of Greek mythology in space. Gods exist in her world, though they try not to intervene but act more as viewers to the story. Kind of like the Greek gods in their douchy indifference to the plights of puny humans. They basically pick their favorites and sit by with popcorn, though at least our heroine has one that actually cares for her. The gods are supposed to be references to Indian stories, but since I'm unfamiliar with Indian mythology, it reminded me instead of the Greeks.
Esmae has been watched over her entire life by Amba, the war goddess. Amba tries to guide Esmae away from trouble, but Esmae is tired of being without a family and living as a nobody. She wants the spotlight. She wants people to see her potential. She’s been trained in secret, so skill-wise, she’s a badass. Her primary skill is her aptitude for strategy, and she’s confident she can win the war that’s brewing. She ignores Amba's advice and throws herself into the political game.
Warning, spoilers ahead!
The girl and the politics:
Esmae wins the contest for the sentient warship Titania and uses it as leverage to implant herself in her uncle’s household as a double agent. Her uncle took the crown that should’ve belonged to her brother, and then exiled her family. He’s universally hated. But the situation isn’t as black-and-white as it seems. Her uncle was unjustly denied his own birthright, and so he believes he deserves the crown — his claim isn’t entirely wrong, but her brother Alexi still has an equally valid claim.
Even though her uncle is paranoid and anxious, and really wasn’t built for the responsibilities required as a ruler, it’s hard not to be sympathetic towards him when he welcomes Esmae back home and gives her the family she’s always wanted. Though she enters her uncle's house determined to win the crown for her brother, she can't help seeing the gray areas of the situation and tries to find the middle ground. Turns out the "good guys" aren't entirely good, and the "bad guys" aren't straightforward either. Yay, complexity!
I like Esmae, but she has so much room for growth. Initially, it feels like she's a child playing dress-up. She imagines herself in a bigger role, and ignores the advice of those around her to push herself into the big leagues. She's strong, but she's overconfident. She's not ready for the game she's playing. This does make her relatable, though. She's a mixed-bag character. Too cocky, too naive, but also skilled and clever; it's a great initial heroine recipe. I think she'll grow into the main-player role and become that fierce contender, and I'm looking forward to it.
The boy:
And the adopted son of her uncle, Max isn’t what he appears either. He’s known as the jealous prince who helped his father usurp the throne, and he’s just as hated. But he loves his parents, and without his intervention, things would be much worse for Esmae’s brothers. Like Esmae, he’s been overlooked his whole life — hence the jealousy he has for Esmae’s brothers — but he’s trying for the best outcome for the most people as well. I love the gray-ness of his character.
This is kind of a stretch, but he reminds me of Cardan from The Cruel Prince. Not as dark, but the "jealous prince" descriptor first implanted that thought, and the fact that he's so misunderstood just cemented that comparison in my head even further. He's an underdog, but still in a position of power. And the protag hates him. Just to disclose my bias, I will read ANYTHING where there's a character that can be compared to Cardan.
The romance:
There’s a hate-to-love arc for Esmae and Max that has a teensy bit of steam and a lot of future potential. This is one of my favorite tropes, so by default, I can't help but root for this ship. There’s a deeper story to Max which is pretty easy to figure out on the hints they give you. Not exactly in romance territory yet, but it's headed there (it has to be!).
The plot:
This book has a spiral shape to it –– Esmae is essentially swirling down the path she’s created, and though she’s warned what will happen, she’s determined to prove the gods wrong and forge a happy ending. There is definitely some negative foreshadowing for the future books, and it seems that the story will get a lot darker before there’s some light, but I’m looking forward to watching it all unfold.
Esmae's story brings up the destiny versus free will debate. The gods are telling her that if she makes the decisions that she wants to make, the outcome will be disastrous. But she is determined to make a different outcome. It's a tad frustrating watching her play into the hands of fate, and at times she seems presumptuous for believing that she can achieve her goals, but at the same time you're still rooting for her to prove destiny wrong.
In the end, Esmae is betrayed by those that should love her, though still beloved by the gods who watch her story. Even though the gods favor her, it doesn't really help her get what she wants. She's not place her on a pedestal; she works for her recognition. Though she tries to overcome her moral compass to win back her family, she sees the gray areas on both sides, and tries to come to the best solution.
But when she’s surrounded by people that don’t care about those that’ll be sacrificed in a gigantic war and just want power, it’s inevitable that she’ll be hurt in the process. They don't want the best solution; they want her to choose a side, and want to use her for what they can do for her. Her good intentions end up isolating her, but it also brings out her strength. She goes from naive optimist to betrayed and defiant heroine, and I love it. When those that are supposed to love her betray her, it *sparks a white fire* that will burn the universe (title drop!).
I'm so excited to read the future novels! This feels like a great beginning; unfinished, but promising.
Premise
Esmae is stuck living in the shadows of her world with so much to offer and yet her value is unnoticed. She’s a servant, with only a select few who know that she's a princess in hiding, and decides to claim her stake in the politically shifty landscape when she publicly wins a contest for the most powerful warship in existence. Tired of being undervalued, she enacts her plan to win back her brother’s crown and reclaim her place within the family who threw her away.
The setup:
This story makes me think of Greek mythology in space. Gods exist in her world, though they try not to intervene but act more as viewers to the story. Kind of like the Greek gods in their douchy indifference to the plights of puny humans. They basically pick their favorites and sit by with popcorn, though at least our heroine has one that actually cares for her. The gods are supposed to be references to Indian stories, but since I'm unfamiliar with Indian mythology, it reminded me instead of the Greeks.
Esmae has been watched over her entire life by Amba, the war goddess. Amba tries to guide Esmae away from trouble, but Esmae is tired of being without a family and living as a nobody. She wants the spotlight. She wants people to see her potential. She’s been trained in secret, so skill-wise, she’s a badass. Her primary skill is her aptitude for strategy, and she’s confident she can win the war that’s brewing. She ignores Amba's advice and throws herself into the political game.
Warning, spoilers ahead!
The girl and the politics:
Esmae wins the contest for the sentient warship Titania and uses it as leverage to implant herself in her uncle’s household as a double agent. Her uncle took the crown that should’ve belonged to her brother, and then exiled her family. He’s universally hated. But the situation isn’t as black-and-white as it seems. Her uncle was unjustly denied his own birthright, and so he believes he deserves the crown — his claim isn’t entirely wrong, but her brother Alexi still has an equally valid claim.
Even though her uncle is paranoid and anxious, and really wasn’t built for the responsibilities required as a ruler, it’s hard not to be sympathetic towards him when he welcomes Esmae back home and gives her the family she’s always wanted. Though she enters her uncle's house determined to win the crown for her brother, she can't help seeing the gray areas of the situation and tries to find the middle ground. Turns out the "good guys" aren't entirely good, and the "bad guys" aren't straightforward either. Yay, complexity!
I like Esmae, but she has so much room for growth. Initially, it feels like she's a child playing dress-up. She imagines herself in a bigger role, and ignores the advice of those around her to push herself into the big leagues. She's strong, but she's overconfident. She's not ready for the game she's playing. This does make her relatable, though. She's a mixed-bag character. Too cocky, too naive, but also skilled and clever; it's a great initial heroine recipe. I think she'll grow into the main-player role and become that fierce contender, and I'm looking forward to it.
The boy:
And the adopted son of her uncle, Max isn’t what he appears either. He’s known as the jealous prince who helped his father usurp the throne, and he’s just as hated. But he loves his parents, and without his intervention, things would be much worse for Esmae’s brothers. Like Esmae, he’s been overlooked his whole life — hence the jealousy he has for Esmae’s brothers — but he’s trying for the best outcome for the most people as well. I love the gray-ness of his character.
This is kind of a stretch, but he reminds me of Cardan from The Cruel Prince. Not as dark, but the "jealous prince" descriptor first implanted that thought, and the fact that he's so misunderstood just cemented that comparison in my head even further. He's an underdog, but still in a position of power. And the protag hates him. Just to disclose my bias, I will read ANYTHING where there's a character that can be compared to Cardan.
The romance:
There’s a hate-to-love arc for Esmae and Max that has a teensy bit of steam and a lot of future potential. This is one of my favorite tropes, so by default, I can't help but root for this ship. There’s a deeper story to Max which is pretty easy to figure out on the hints they give you. Not exactly in romance territory yet, but it's headed there (it has to be!).
The plot:
This book has a spiral shape to it –– Esmae is essentially swirling down the path she’s created, and though she’s warned what will happen, she’s determined to prove the gods wrong and forge a happy ending. There is definitely some negative foreshadowing for the future books, and it seems that the story will get a lot darker before there’s some light, but I’m looking forward to watching it all unfold.
Esmae's story brings up the destiny versus free will debate. The gods are telling her that if she makes the decisions that she wants to make, the outcome will be disastrous. But she is determined to make a different outcome. It's a tad frustrating watching her play into the hands of fate, and at times she seems presumptuous for believing that she can achieve her goals, but at the same time you're still rooting for her to prove destiny wrong.
In the end, Esmae is betrayed by those that should love her, though still beloved by the gods who watch her story. Even though the gods favor her, it doesn't really help her get what she wants. She's not place her on a pedestal; she works for her recognition. Though she tries to overcome her moral compass to win back her family, she sees the gray areas on both sides, and tries to come to the best solution.
But when she’s surrounded by people that don’t care about those that’ll be sacrificed in a gigantic war and just want power, it’s inevitable that she’ll be hurt in the process. They don't want the best solution; they want her to choose a side, and want to use her for what they can do for her. Her good intentions end up isolating her, but it also brings out her strength. She goes from naive optimist to betrayed and defiant heroine, and I love it. When those that are supposed to love her betray her, it *sparks a white fire* that will burn the universe (title drop!).
I'm so excited to read the future novels! This feels like a great beginning; unfinished, but promising.
October 4, 2018
“Watch as one act leads to another after that. Watch the trees pass white flames on. Watch the forest burn.”
A Spark of White Fire reminds me of bacon with ice cream. A mixture of two incredible things that are shockingly even more pleasing when mixed together! I’ve never before had the great fortune of reading a novel that perfectly blends elements from so many genres in a seamless manner. The juxtaposition of Indian Mythology in a vivid outer space setting, stirred up with wonderfully complex characters and fantastic politic intrigue, is a recipe for a brilliant story. All the characters are unique, with their own motives and hidden agendas. The story spirals down numerous twists and turns, making it challenging to discover who is trustworthy. A thrilling adventure from start to finish!
Space operas are quite new to me. I am not overly familiar with this genre, and haven’t read many novels with similar settings. Nevertheless, I thought that Mandanna beautifully paints a vivid universe, filled to the brim with originality. Having known before hand that this novel combines aspects from both fantasy and science-fiction, made me a tad skeptical. However, these doubts proved to be futile, because all the elements tie together in a believable and practical manner. The inclusion of mythological gods and prophecies is also a lovely addition to the world. How the gods interact with and form relationships with humans is so intriguing, and explained well. I particularly admired the bond between Esmae and Amba, the War Goddess.
A lovely protagonist! Esmae, herself, has righteous intentions, but her perception of others is incessantly being altered. The faith and hope she places in people is a dangerous game that she is merely a pawn in. How she forges a path amidst this chaos is so enticing. At her core, she is self-less and possesses a desire to protect all those she loves. This is such an inspiring trait to have in a leading character, and is quite noteworthy considering how she hasn’t experienced much love and sacrifice in her childhood. Rather than act with hostility and distrust towards others, she opens her heart and helps in any way she can. Although this is ultimately a character-driven story, the plot is fairly fast-paced at times, and will certainly keep you at the edge of your seat.
I love the moral ambiguity of many of the characters. It’s no secret that I adore characters whose moral compasses are askew. A Spark of White Fire has such a brilliant cast of characters, all of which have understandable intentions, but questionable means to achieve their goals. Alexi and Max are both mysterious in their own ways, and I love how their backstories and true personas gradually reveal themselves in time. The forbidden romance between Esmae and Max progresses naturally and I truly did enjoy it. My favorite character from the whole bunch, is surprisingly Rama – the childhood friend of Esmae’s who is incapable of conjuring a foul thought. His repulsion to do anything physically exerting, cracked me up, and he is honestly the sweetest little bean in the world.
This novel truly was a delightful surprise. The lone reason I didn’t rate this novel five stars, is because I found the King to be unrealistically immature, and the plot to drag at a few periods. Despite this, the hodgepodge of genres mixes together flawlessly, and the complex characters work in accordance with the wonderfully intricate world to produce a fantastic story. I can imagine A Spark of White Fire being enjoyed by fans of any genre, and think it’s a marvelous example of why Young Adult novels are so successful in this day and age. I can’t wait to read the next installments in this trilogy!
I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review!
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September 28, 2018
I received an e-ARC from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. Review and blog tour can be found at 29/9 on *Milky Way of Books*
This story left me in a breathless heap of emotions, astonishment and fangirling. If this book doesn't get fanart then you're all doomed.
A world where sci-fi, fantasy, gods and kingdoms are living together is the themes in A spark of white fire. I would say that you take Game of Thrones, pull it into space, making it into a retelling of the Mahabrahata, and you have an unforgettable story!
I loved Esmae and Max and all the characters. The anguish, the feelings, the descriptions! I also adored Titania, the sentient godly ship with the freaky amazing powers. I am surely going to read the rest of the series too!
This story left me in a breathless heap of emotions, astonishment and fangirling. If this book doesn't get fanart then you're all doomed.
A world where sci-fi, fantasy, gods and kingdoms are living together is the themes in A spark of white fire. I would say that you take Game of Thrones, pull it into space, making it into a retelling of the Mahabrahata, and you have an unforgettable story!
I loved Esmae and Max and all the characters. The anguish, the feelings, the descriptions! I also adored Titania, the sentient godly ship with the freaky amazing powers. I am surely going to read the rest of the series too!
May 3, 2021
05.02.2021: Still heartbreakingly amazing the third time.
Re-read in August 2019: I absolutely loved it more the second time, even though I knew it was going to break me and I am a blubbering mess.
This a world where the gods can form relationships with humans and boons are offered for great feats made. One such boon resulted in the building of a near unstoppable and sentient spaceship named Titania, which will be gifted to the warrior who bests the challenge. Esmae's plan is to win Titania, but when she does she sets down a path the gods have warned her about.
Excellent worldbuilding that is done throughout the book without ever feeling like an infodump. The world is vast, as are the characters within it, and I absolutely cherished this tale! We all know that I love complex characters, especially villains that are not strictly evil. This is definitely a tale where Esmae's perceptions of people are constantly being challenged by her interactions with those she has villified in her head, and she cares so much for her family and the people of Kali that her feelings come off the page and wiggle their way into my heart. There is also lgbt rep with a side character that I hope we see more of in the rest of the trilogy!
This book is not without its faults. Some readers may be bothered by Esmae's portrayal as "The Chosen One," but in this case for me it didn't bother me since it is common in Indian mythology. I found King Elvar's childlike behavior annoying to the point that it at times ruined my enjoyment of the book. I understand that being a usurper king that is blind and reliant on others would be stressful, particularly when you have a power-hungry ally that uses fear to control the throne and opposition that is beloved by the people; however, throwing tantrums when you are a full-on old man is just uncomfortable.
While I have read the Mahabharata and countless other Indian myths as part of my undergraduate education, this story is not one that requires knowledge of the original myths as the themes fit so well into the young adult sff genre: kingdoms, betrayal, ascension to rule, family politics. Free will versus destiny and every action you take leading you unwittingly toward prophesy. The story is accessible and enjoyable for all, but will be especially enjoyable to those familiar with the source material. As a note, I did struggle a bit with having a main character with the name of Rama because my first association always is with The Ramayana - and considering most of the character names weren't mythology inspired, I found it a little distracting.
Overall I really enjoyed this book: you will find a vast fantasy world inspired by Indian myths with strong and complex characters that are not as they seem, devotion, sacrifice, betrayal. I love when my characters are put through the ringer and come out stronger and I cannot wait for what is in store for them. I am happy to say that the book does not end with a giant cliffhanger. It wraps up some things and sets up others for the next installment and I am excited to see where Mandanna goes next! When I first caught wind of this book earlier this year, I was so excited and I am so pleased to say that it did not disappoint. I hope you give this gem of a book a try because it is wonderful.
Many thanks to the publisher for providing me an electronic advanced reader copy of this book via Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review. Quotations taken from an uncorrected proof and may change upon final publication.
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Sci-fi based on the Mahabharata?! This is everything I never knew that I needed before this moment! Will sell my soul for an arc! 🌟
5/18/2018: Cover reveal!!! Check out more information and the exclusive cover reveal at Paste Magazine.
Re-read in August 2019: I absolutely loved it more the second time, even though I knew it was going to break me and I am a blubbering mess.
"Your arrow was a spark. A spark of fire so hot and white that no one will be able to put it out. And even a spark of fire can consume an entire forest if it can jump from tree to tree...Watch as one act leads to another and then to another after that. Watch the trees pass white flames on. Watch the forest burn."If you enjoy political intrigue, space operas, complex characters, and amazing worldbuilding A Spark of White Fire is for you! This is one of my most anticipated releases in a year with a large number of young adult releases focused on the politics of rule, and I am happy to say that this book did not disappoint! This is a genre-bending retelling of the Mahabharata that is easily accessible to YA fantasy readers and I cannot wait for you to fall in love with Esmae, Rama, and the rest of these characters!
"Do you like to read?"This book is told from our heroine Esmae's perspective and is an action packed and fast-paced read that I absolutely devoured. The synopsis of the book is an excellent primer to this story's plot and Esmae's backstory, and in the interest of spoilers I will not be delving deeper into the characters as I typically do; just know that they are each wonderful in their own way and complex.
"Yes."
"Why?"
This seemed a very foolish question. "Why not?"
The kingdom doesn't look like it's built on top of a space station. It looks no different from the kingdoms on planets, which was a deliberate choice to make the first citizens' transition to life on a ship that much easier.While A Spark of White Fire is set in space, I would classify this book more as fantasy than science fiction. The setting merely sets the stage and adds an interesting dimension to the worldbuilding.
This a world where the gods can form relationships with humans and boons are offered for great feats made. One such boon resulted in the building of a near unstoppable and sentient spaceship named Titania, which will be gifted to the warrior who bests the challenge. Esmae's plan is to win Titania, but when she does she sets down a path the gods have warned her about.
"Mortals make their own choices, and we can't control them, but they inevitably lead themselves to their own fates - their own fixed points. And those points, in time, will happen. One way or another, they will happen. They already have happened."A running theme of this tale is how much control do we have over our own destiny and being the pawn in a cosmic game in which you (seemingly) have no control. In a world where words uttered by mortals favored by the gods turn into curses, characters are forced to lived with the consequences of another's actions. These are themes that are common in YA fantasy but done so well here as these themes are prevalent in Indian mythology as well; this story reads true to the Indian myths that helped inspire the story.
Excellent worldbuilding that is done throughout the book without ever feeling like an infodump. The world is vast, as are the characters within it, and I absolutely cherished this tale! We all know that I love complex characters, especially villains that are not strictly evil. This is definitely a tale where Esmae's perceptions of people are constantly being challenged by her interactions with those she has villified in her head, and she cares so much for her family and the people of Kali that her feelings come off the page and wiggle their way into my heart. There is also lgbt rep with a side character that I hope we see more of in the rest of the trilogy!
This book is not without its faults. Some readers may be bothered by Esmae's portrayal as "The Chosen One," but in this case for me it didn't bother me since it is common in Indian mythology. I found King Elvar's childlike behavior annoying to the point that it at times ruined my enjoyment of the book. I understand that being a usurper king that is blind and reliant on others would be stressful, particularly when you have a power-hungry ally that uses fear to control the throne and opposition that is beloved by the people; however, throwing tantrums when you are a full-on old man is just uncomfortable.
While I have read the Mahabharata and countless other Indian myths as part of my undergraduate education, this story is not one that requires knowledge of the original myths as the themes fit so well into the young adult sff genre: kingdoms, betrayal, ascension to rule, family politics. Free will versus destiny and every action you take leading you unwittingly toward prophesy. The story is accessible and enjoyable for all, but will be especially enjoyable to those familiar with the source material. As a note, I did struggle a bit with having a main character with the name of Rama because my first association always is with The Ramayana - and considering most of the character names weren't mythology inspired, I found it a little distracting.
Overall I really enjoyed this book: you will find a vast fantasy world inspired by Indian myths with strong and complex characters that are not as they seem, devotion, sacrifice, betrayal. I love when my characters are put through the ringer and come out stronger and I cannot wait for what is in store for them. I am happy to say that the book does not end with a giant cliffhanger. It wraps up some things and sets up others for the next installment and I am excited to see where Mandanna goes next! When I first caught wind of this book earlier this year, I was so excited and I am so pleased to say that it did not disappoint. I hope you give this gem of a book a try because it is wonderful.
Many thanks to the publisher for providing me an electronic advanced reader copy of this book via Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review. Quotations taken from an uncorrected proof and may change upon final publication.
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Sci-fi based on the Mahabharata?! This is everything I never knew that I needed before this moment! Will sell my soul for an arc! 🌟
5/18/2018: Cover reveal!!! Check out more information and the exclusive cover reveal at Paste Magazine.
October 24, 2020
A Spark of White Fire ★★★★★
A House of Rage and Sorrow ★★★★★
July 06, 2020: A Spark of White Fire is a Mahabharata (Indian mythology) inspired science fiction set in space that incorporates fantasy elements too. It follows Esmae, a young adult female who wants a family, her family, and walks on this path that then leads to all the bittersweet chaos in this galaxy where gods and mortals coexist and things are much more complex than they might seem.Consider reading this review over on my blog!
Representation: Indian mythology, inspiration from Hindu epics.
Ownvoices reader as: an Indian, desi.
Trigger warnings: family abandonment, murder, attempted killing, heartbreak, rage, war possibility.
If you're on a time crunch:
☛ Complex family dynamics
☛ Redefining relationships
☛ OTP (one true pairing): step-cousin romance
☛ Independent, strong, young female
☛ Different planets as kingdoms
☛ Great genre-mixing: science fiction + fantasy
☛ Diverse representation
☛ POC characters, Indian mythology inspiration
☛ Gods & Goddesses
☛ Celestial weapons and spaceships
☛ Morally grey characters
☛ Political intrigue in YA
☛ Genre-bending
☛ Queer side character
☛ Character with disabilityWhat is world if not grey.
Reading a story inspired by Indian mythology is every desi's dream so it shouldn't be a surprise that I loved it simply for what it represented. Mahabharata is classic folklore that is often seen to be taken up and crafted into retellings, but the best part about A Spark of White Fire is the inspiration it takes from the mythology instead of piecing it together as it historically is. The characters aren't morally driven according to the classic tale and that's exactly what impressed me the most. No character is absolutely right or wrong, each character is affected by the decisions they took and that, in turn, affects the decisions they're going to take. Full points to the complexity!The twists are going to leave you surprised.
Esmae is a lost princess and if you think that was a spoiler, you have no idea what twists and turns are thrown in the latter parts of the story. Her want for a family, for a mother who had to give up her daughter, is intense and drives her motive through the book. I'm always immensely impressed by strong female characters especially in YA and Esmae gives me everything in that aspect. She makes independent decisions and hard choices to get wherever the story takes her. Which means not everything she does is right but that's what brings her even more alive to me.Everyone is connected and that makes everything more complex.
The family dynamics and the tear between so many relationships increases the complexity of this book and I'm all here for it because what can be more realistic than that. There's the focus on a throne and a war that's almost here, but the way it wasn't displayed in a stereotypical manner made me so happy. The young characters are given as much say and credit for their intelligence as the elders sitting around the tables. The love, respect, and honor that is gradually built for each character are pleasantly surprising.The gods are as flawed as humans.
Incorporating gods with mortal universes is a tricky thing for me, but the way it was done in this book is so good. The gods aren't strikingly superior to the mortals. Sure, they have powers and they have their favorites but they aren't writing every turn of this story. They're, in fact, a part of it. And not many stories give you that! They're fully supportive of the ones they want to side with but they are also as much vulnerable and the author doesn't let us forget that.Meet the very many characters!
🚀 Titania : sentient spaceship built by gods; can never be defeated or destroyed.
👸 Esmae Rey : Princess of Kali, daughter of King Cassel and Queen Kyra; the strong young female who will make decisions she loves or regrets.
🤴 Max Rey : Crown prince of Kali, adopted son of King Elvar and Queen Guinne; commander of Hundred and the One army; the guy you don't want to like but why do you not want to like him???
💏 Elvar and Guinne Rey : King and Queen of Kali; former is blind while latter wears a blindfold; adoptive parents of Max.
👴 Rickard : Elvar's trusted advisor, head of Kali's army; one of the greatest warriors; teaches only the royal children.
👦 Alexi Rey : apparently the rightful ruler of Kali; the golden prince, finest warriors, archer .
💁♂️ Rama Karn : youngest prince of Wychstar; Esmae's best friend.
🧝 Amba : war goddess; loves Esmae and favors her.
🧝 Kirrin : god of tricks, Amba's brother; likes Esmae but loves Alexi.
July 7, 2019
“And so the House of Rey will crumble into a house of rage”
Wow! An amazing Desi space epic fantasy which is a mahabarata retelling too!
A no one , a pawn , when furious and ambitious has the capability to make the world burn. How much will she do , how far will she go ?
Esmae , with her tragic past and secretive abilities decides to get home and reuniting her family. Seemingly simple plan becomes really complicated with morally grey characters and hasty decisions.
Kali and Wychtstar were beautifully built with their unique differences which gets closer with the people living there. The characters and the challenges faced are unique and unpredictable.
If you like contemporary fantasy of space fantasy , go ahead and pick it up. You will not regret it.
I loved Esmae from the very first page . A young girl who has been ignored her entire life wanting to make the world notice her. If you get reminded of a specific Mahabarata character , yes you're right. And the family Dynamics , gods and their interventions , limitations and expectations clashing. It was a fun ride from beginning to end. It's a really fulfilling read and surprisingly , the cliffhanger isn't as killing as it is.
Wow! An amazing Desi space epic fantasy which is a mahabarata retelling too!
A no one , a pawn , when furious and ambitious has the capability to make the world burn. How much will she do , how far will she go ?
Esmae , with her tragic past and secretive abilities decides to get home and reuniting her family. Seemingly simple plan becomes really complicated with morally grey characters and hasty decisions.
Kali and Wychtstar were beautifully built with their unique differences which gets closer with the people living there. The characters and the challenges faced are unique and unpredictable.
If you like contemporary fantasy of space fantasy , go ahead and pick it up. You will not regret it.
I loved Esmae from the very first page . A young girl who has been ignored her entire life wanting to make the world notice her. If you get reminded of a specific Mahabarata character , yes you're right. And the family Dynamics , gods and their interventions , limitations and expectations clashing. It was a fun ride from beginning to end. It's a really fulfilling read and surprisingly , the cliffhanger isn't as killing as it is.
May 2, 2022
Full review to come. These sorts of books remind me how terrible a hereditary monarchy is as a system of government and how democracy would have prevented all the book problems from happening. This criticism also applies to The Lion King and Frozen. It was an engaging story, with a neat world/setting. Characters came off a bit stiff and shallow, even the enjoyable ones but the book kept my attention throughout.
September 5, 2019
So the blurb calls this a sci-fi retelling of the Mahabharata. Some things to know:
—Don't get caught up in the “sci-fi” part of the description there. The author puts the setting in space with warships and spaceship kingdoms and apparently deems that Good Enough.
The fun little sci-fi details you always see in this genre aren't present here at all. There's a bit of genre bending going on I guess with the swords, etc making it feel more like a fantasy setting (although the explanation as to why they have all the high level tech but fight with swords is kinda lame if you ask me), and the addition of the gods in the world might work for some people, but for me, having everything mushed together like that just made for more explaining the author had to do as to why certain things were the way they were (which actually could have opened the door for some really awesome world-building) but unfortunately the explanations that ended up being given always seemed a bit half-assed to me.
—Don't get too excited about the cultural aspect. If you think you'll be reading a book with a rich Indian inspired culture and setting, you'll be super disappointed.
—This thing is pretty heavy handed with the telling instead of showing.
—The writing style is very…YA-ish. I can't really explain to you what I mean by that, but if you understand what I'm saying then good!
—There's some romance in here if that's important to you. I didn't think it needed it and I sure wasn't into it but hey it's there if you want it.
—I know snarky sentient warships always sound like a good idea, but you need to be able to pull it off for it to actually BE a good idea.
This thing kinda ended on a sort of cliffhanger but I'm not sure if I care enough about what just happened to make a point of reading the next book.
I get the feeling that I was supposed to feel all emotions and stuff from what happened at the end but it fell pretty flat to me and Esmae’s inner monologuing just seemed kinda cheesy.
Anyway. This was pretty disappointing to me, but it wasn't all bad. Maybe like 2.5 stars
EDIT:
Ok so I just took a look at some other reviews and I am apparently TOTALLY in the minority on this one. Most people seem to have loved this. So as always, take what I say with a grain of salt and of course please still go read this book if you've been wanting to and don't mind me 😁
—Don't get caught up in the “sci-fi” part of the description there. The author puts the setting in space with warships and spaceship kingdoms and apparently deems that Good Enough.
The fun little sci-fi details you always see in this genre aren't present here at all. There's a bit of genre bending going on I guess with the swords, etc making it feel more like a fantasy setting (although the explanation as to why they have all the high level tech but fight with swords is kinda lame if you ask me), and the addition of the gods in the world might work for some people, but for me, having everything mushed together like that just made for more explaining the author had to do as to why certain things were the way they were (which actually could have opened the door for some really awesome world-building) but unfortunately the explanations that ended up being given always seemed a bit half-assed to me.
—Don't get too excited about the cultural aspect. If you think you'll be reading a book with a rich Indian inspired culture and setting, you'll be super disappointed.
—This thing is pretty heavy handed with the telling instead of showing.
—The writing style is very…YA-ish. I can't really explain to you what I mean by that, but if you understand what I'm saying then good!
—There's some romance in here if that's important to you. I didn't think it needed it and I sure wasn't into it but hey it's there if you want it.
—I know snarky sentient warships always sound like a good idea, but you need to be able to pull it off for it to actually BE a good idea.
This thing kinda ended on a sort of cliffhanger but I'm not sure if I care enough about what just happened to make a point of reading the next book.
I get the feeling that I was supposed to feel all emotions and stuff from what happened at the end but it fell pretty flat to me and Esmae’s inner monologuing just seemed kinda cheesy.
Anyway. This was pretty disappointing to me, but it wasn't all bad. Maybe like 2.5 stars
EDIT:
Ok so I just took a look at some other reviews and I am apparently TOTALLY in the minority on this one. Most people seem to have loved this. So as always, take what I say with a grain of salt and of course please still go read this book if you've been wanting to and don't mind me 😁
July 17, 2020
Link to Twitter Thread Where I Talk About Book: https://twitter.com/ardentlyaarya/sta...
I can’t believe more people aren’t raving about this. It’s absolutely wonderful and I tore through it in three hours. It’s a Mahabharata-inspired space opera, but you don’t need any prior knowledge of Hindu myths to know what’s going on. As someone who grew up with the Mahabharata, I loved finding all the allusions and parallels - but also loved the surprise plot twists that diverged from the original. Just FYI: this is NOT a retelling. It takes common themes and the family warfare conflict, but is *very different* than the actual epic. There is a minor but satisfying romantic element, and I can’t wait to see it move forward in the sequel. I loved this book so much that even though I originally read it on overdrive, I’m planning on purchasing a copy of my own.
It’s weird because even though it’s technically a space opera and more science-fictiony, it *felt* like a fantasy at times. So much of the worldbuilding relies on gods/goddesses and draws upon mythology, so that’s why it felt like a true hybrid between SF and fantasy. I’ve never quite read anything like this before.
Some of my favorite allusions/nods to the original:
- The inspiration of Karna for Esmae’s backstory and characterization
- The scene with Kirrin, Esmae, and the blue flower reminded me of Karna and Indra
- Author really nailed character dynamics of the blind king. He felt *exactly* like the original in so many ways
- How selfish the “Kunti” character was here (same with “Arjuna” tbh). They’re the good guys in the original epic but I’ve always thought they were extremely selfish in their actions
- The One Hundred and One. The interpretation from the original made me laugh
- All the constant tapas (meditation/spiritual practice) and the importance of boons
- The fish/arrow challenge
- Really pleased that the author included the “Drona” backstory plot with the king
- And many, many more
I’m also dying for the next one. That ending was terrific and I have no idea how I’m supposed to wait for the next one. I highly, highly recommend this.
I can’t believe more people aren’t raving about this. It’s absolutely wonderful and I tore through it in three hours. It’s a Mahabharata-inspired space opera, but you don’t need any prior knowledge of Hindu myths to know what’s going on. As someone who grew up with the Mahabharata, I loved finding all the allusions and parallels - but also loved the surprise plot twists that diverged from the original. Just FYI: this is NOT a retelling. It takes common themes and the family warfare conflict, but is *very different* than the actual epic. There is a minor but satisfying romantic element, and I can’t wait to see it move forward in the sequel. I loved this book so much that even though I originally read it on overdrive, I’m planning on purchasing a copy of my own.
It’s weird because even though it’s technically a space opera and more science-fictiony, it *felt* like a fantasy at times. So much of the worldbuilding relies on gods/goddesses and draws upon mythology, so that’s why it felt like a true hybrid between SF and fantasy. I’ve never quite read anything like this before.
Some of my favorite allusions/nods to the original:
- The inspiration of Karna for Esmae’s backstory and characterization
- The scene with Kirrin, Esmae, and the blue flower reminded me of Karna and Indra
- Author really nailed character dynamics of the blind king. He felt *exactly* like the original in so many ways
- How selfish the “Kunti” character was here (same with “Arjuna” tbh). They’re the good guys in the original epic but I’ve always thought they were extremely selfish in their actions
- The One Hundred and One. The interpretation from the original made me laugh
- All the constant tapas (meditation/spiritual practice) and the importance of boons
- The fish/arrow challenge
- Really pleased that the author included the “Drona” backstory plot with the king
- And many, many more
I’m also dying for the next one. That ending was terrific and I have no idea how I’m supposed to wait for the next one. I highly, highly recommend this.
October 12, 2023
Plot holes you can drive big trucks through.
Supposedly brilliant people making dumb ass decisions.
Why do they live on spaceships but fight with swords and bow and arrows? Wouldn't, IDK, lasers or light sabers, or something scifi appropriate be what high tech space dwellers would use?
Kill off the only character that is moderately interesting.
The absurd and absolutely unnecessary romance with her COUSIN. IDC that he's adopted, it's weird. Are we in some futuristic space setting or back in the olden days when prince and princesses married to keep the line pure?
It's painfully YA, and reads like it was written by a teen.
I'm honestly baffled that this book got so many good reviews. It's not even a matter of taste, this is a terrible book.
TLDR - Book = Bad
Supposedly brilliant people making dumb ass decisions.
Why do they live on spaceships but fight with swords and bow and arrows? Wouldn't, IDK, lasers or light sabers, or something scifi appropriate be what high tech space dwellers would use?
Kill off the only character that is moderately interesting.
The absurd and absolutely unnecessary romance with her COUSIN. IDC that he's adopted, it's weird. Are we in some futuristic space setting or back in the olden days when prince and princesses married to keep the line pure?
It's painfully YA, and reads like it was written by a teen.
I'm honestly baffled that this book got so many good reviews. It's not even a matter of taste, this is a terrible book.
TLDR - Book = Bad
March 14, 2018
So grateful I got to read an early copy! This is a super addictive, captivating read. I love the way Sangu blends fantastical elements with sci-fi and the Indian mythology inspiration is rich and unique. A heroine you’ll root for from from page 1 and a fast-paced plot with so many twists and surprises. Loved it!!
September 3, 2020
read on my blog
rep: ownvoices Indian-inspired world and characters; lesbian side character, bisexual side character
A Spark of White Fire was a bit of a surprise to me. I've been in such a reading rut, such that I reread books constantly and when I do read something new, I'm not entirely in love with it. However, this book escaped that luckily! You won't be able to put A Spark of White Fire down.
Esmae is such a great protagonist; she really only has one goal: to go home. And she's willing to do whatever it takes to do so. You really feel the ache she feels, an ache to return to her family despite the fact that she's never met them. Along the way, Esmae discovers that not all issues are so black and white. The uncle who stole her brother's throne isn't entirely evil, nor is his son. Of course, this puts a wrench in her plans as she starts liking her life with them and as she gets to know her brothers.
I'm not really familiar with the Mahabharata, so I don't know much about the appearances of gods in those stories. I did like them in this story; their presence adds a lot to the world building in a subtle way, as well as reassurance for Esmae.
A Spark of White Fire is more of a fantasy within a science-fiction background. There's a sentient warship that is unbeatable, there are different planets, there's a struggle for the rightful ruler to the throne. The world building is so well thought out with all the different planets and their monarchies. I also loved the writing. I can't really explain why, but something about it just feels right to me.
I even liked the romance, even though (slight spoilers) I dislike anything remotely close to incest. Technically they're not related and they didn't grow up together, so it doesn't cross a line for me. It is a little borderline, but I don't know . . . I just like them together. Also! there's a secondary sapphic character as well as a prince who likes girls and boys. These are just mentioned in passing, but that actually made it better for me, normalizing LGBTQ+ relationships in a fantasy/sci-fi novel.
With lovable characters, a thrilling plot, and exquisite writing, A Spark of White Fire shot an arrow into my heart. Really. I adored this book, and I can't wait for the sequel!
original review:
I’m so in love!!!
rep: ownvoices Indian-inspired world and characters; lesbian side character, bisexual side character
A Spark of White Fire was a bit of a surprise to me. I've been in such a reading rut, such that I reread books constantly and when I do read something new, I'm not entirely in love with it. However, this book escaped that luckily! You won't be able to put A Spark of White Fire down.
I leave the lonely dark of the shadows. I am in the light. Bow in hand. A pawn in a Warlords game.Do you know what happens when a pawn gets all the way across the board?She becomes a queen.
Esmae is such a great protagonist; she really only has one goal: to go home. And she's willing to do whatever it takes to do so. You really feel the ache she feels, an ache to return to her family despite the fact that she's never met them. Along the way, Esmae discovers that not all issues are so black and white. The uncle who stole her brother's throne isn't entirely evil, nor is his son. Of course, this puts a wrench in her plans as she starts liking her life with them and as she gets to know her brothers.
I'm not really familiar with the Mahabharata, so I don't know much about the appearances of gods in those stories. I did like them in this story; their presence adds a lot to the world building in a subtle way, as well as reassurance for Esmae.
You are loved by gods too, Esmae, even if you don't yet know it . . . You are more than your flaws and mistakes. You are more than the sorrows of your past. Your heart is as fierce as a lion's. You are loved by gods, just as your brother is. Remember that.
A Spark of White Fire is more of a fantasy within a science-fiction background. There's a sentient warship that is unbeatable, there are different planets, there's a struggle for the rightful ruler to the throne. The world building is so well thought out with all the different planets and their monarchies. I also loved the writing. I can't really explain why, but something about it just feels right to me.
I even liked the romance, even though (slight spoilers) I dislike anything remotely close to incest. Technically they're not related and they didn't grow up together, so it doesn't cross a line for me. It is a little borderline, but I don't know . . . I just like them together. Also! there's a secondary sapphic character as well as a prince who likes girls and boys. These are just mentioned in passing, but that actually made it better for me, normalizing LGBTQ+ relationships in a fantasy/sci-fi novel.
With lovable characters, a thrilling plot, and exquisite writing, A Spark of White Fire shot an arrow into my heart. Really. I adored this book, and I can't wait for the sequel!
original review:
I’m so in love!!!
![Profile Image for laurel [the suspected bibliophile].](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/users/1645808644i/7494844._UX200_CR0,6,200,200_.jpg)
Shelved as 'dnf'
May 30, 2019DNF at 20%
This is entirely a me issue.
I feel like this is probably a good book, but I'm just not feeling it right now.
I haven't snapped into the story, and while there are elements that make it different, there were a couple of scenes that just felt so YA cookie cutter (villain's son is a mysterious, broody boi with feelings who approaches MC heroine who is a god-touched hidden princess) that I'm just not interested.
Right now. That is the key phrase.
I might come back to this one, because the source inspiration is fascinating and I want to see how it ties into this world more—and because the concept of sentient ships and kingdom-worlds built on the backs of spaceships with gods and goddesses with fascinating...but I'm feeling too lazy to cut through the stereotypical YA chaff to get to the glittering wheat.
This is entirely a me issue.
I feel like this is probably a good book, but I'm just not feeling it right now.
I haven't snapped into the story, and while there are elements that make it different, there were a couple of scenes that just felt so YA cookie cutter (villain's son is a mysterious, broody boi with feelings who approaches MC heroine who is a god-touched hidden princess) that I'm just not interested.
Right now. That is the key phrase.
I might come back to this one, because the source inspiration is fascinating and I want to see how it ties into this world more—and because the concept of sentient ships and kingdom-worlds built on the backs of spaceships with gods and goddesses with fascinating...but I'm feeling too lazy to cut through the stereotypical YA chaff to get to the glittering wheat.
August 27, 2018
*Source* Publisher
*Genre* Young Adult Fiction / Science Fiction / Space Opera
*Rating* 4.0
*Thoughts*
A Spark of White Fire, by author Sangu Mandanna, is the first chapter of a major new trilogy with everything you want: complicated family dynamics that could rip the universe asunder, exhilarating action aboard an epic warship, swoony romance that will have readers begging for more. The story itself was pitched as Red Rising meets An Ember in the Ashes. It is a multicultural YA space opera inspired by the Mahabharata.
*Full Review @ Gizmos Reviews*
http://gizmosreviews.blogspot.com/201...
*Genre* Young Adult Fiction / Science Fiction / Space Opera
*Rating* 4.0
*Thoughts*
A Spark of White Fire, by author Sangu Mandanna, is the first chapter of a major new trilogy with everything you want: complicated family dynamics that could rip the universe asunder, exhilarating action aboard an epic warship, swoony romance that will have readers begging for more. The story itself was pitched as Red Rising meets An Ember in the Ashes. It is a multicultural YA space opera inspired by the Mahabharata.
*Full Review @ Gizmos Reviews*
http://gizmosreviews.blogspot.com/201...
September 17, 2018
From the moment they walked in here, they saw only what they expected and missed the truth.
They saw the pawn.
And missed the queen.
✰✰✰ (more like 3.5 though)
A Spark of White Fire follows Esmae, a lost princess who is ready to reveal her true identify fighting for Titania, an unbeatable spacesip blessed by gods, and help his brother Alexi to win back his throne in Kali, which was stolen by their uncle Elvar.
Indial mythology in space + political intrigue? I was sold when I hear about it, and to be honest I wasn't disappointed with what I got.
The best part is the political intrigue, there's not a good/bad side because in some way everyone is wrong and has been wronged and one side isn't better that the other. While Esmae wants to return to her family in Kali, she discovers that her evil uncle who stole her brother's throne isn't entire evil, which isn't the best thing to found out when you're trying to take his throne to give it to the rightful heir.
My main problem is, I didn't feel really connected to the characters, I only liked Esmae and the gods but the rest? To be honest I don't care at all about them and 100% think the romance isn't necessary at all (why you make your already complex mc fall in love with her step-cousin?)
But also, that ending, I needed the second book yesterday. I'm here for Esmae crushing everyone in the universe.
July 30, 2022
#2) A House of Rage and Sorrow ★★★★☆
#3) A War of Swallowed Stars ★★★☆☆
➸ Trigger warnings for .
▷ Representation: Indian cast & inspired-world; blind sc; sapphic & achillean scs.
Blog • Trigger Warning Database • StoryGraph
July 25, 2019
sangu mandanna, the entire book: yeah, alexi's gonna betray esmae
me: okay good i'm prepared
narrator's voice: she was not prepared
Rep: South Asian inspired characters and setting, bi side character, wlw (lesbian?) side character
me: okay good i'm prepared
narrator's voice: she was not prepared
Rep: South Asian inspired characters and setting, bi side character, wlw (lesbian?) side character
October 1, 2018
YALL DESERVE A COPY OF THIS BOOK
10/1/18
I loved every aspect that there is in this novel!
The atmosphere of the world building is more than what I had anticipated, space opera with the blending of Indian mythology of Mahabharata. It was filled with vivid imagery. What blows me away is the mixture of modern technology, the presence of ships, advanced even for that matter. And the rich cultural beliefs and its weaponry choices. I adore the blending of both science fiction and fantasy in here.
The characters' was another story. They are filled with complexities and each is driven by the goal they are hoping to achieve. They are flawed both the mortals and even the gods and goddesses.
Each relationship in the characters got me thinking who's going to betray who? Or will they really? Okay, the grayness in this specific one but then maybe she's right? It certainly gave that effect on me.
The trope usage was well handled too. From the premise alone there is a lot to spot in there, I thought it'll be just another normal but the effect of A Spark of White Fire is the complete opposite. Behind these tropes are twisted that was genre-bending, blown me away goodness!
The plot and that literary ending are high, highly loved. I was beginning to worry what could top those events unfolded... then Sangu Mandanna gave us that ending. Phew!
The writing, yes, I loved it. Prior beginning to read this I had no background whatsoever with the mythology, I have read some basic summaries over it to get in sync. Upon continuation, it isn't that really hard to grip and continue. For the way it was laid out for the reader was all I needed.
I am excited how the series will go!
See more A Spark of White Fire here
10/1/18
I loved every aspect that there is in this novel!
The atmosphere of the world building is more than what I had anticipated, space opera with the blending of Indian mythology of Mahabharata. It was filled with vivid imagery. What blows me away is the mixture of modern technology, the presence of ships, advanced even for that matter. And the rich cultural beliefs and its weaponry choices. I adore the blending of both science fiction and fantasy in here.
The characters' was another story. They are filled with complexities and each is driven by the goal they are hoping to achieve. They are flawed both the mortals and even the gods and goddesses.
Each relationship in the characters got me thinking who's going to betray who? Or will they really? Okay, the grayness in this specific one but then maybe she's right? It certainly gave that effect on me.
The trope usage was well handled too. From the premise alone there is a lot to spot in there, I thought it'll be just another normal but the effect of A Spark of White Fire is the complete opposite. Behind these tropes are twisted that was genre-bending, blown me away goodness!
The plot and that literary ending are high, highly loved. I was beginning to worry what could top those events unfolded... then Sangu Mandanna gave us that ending. Phew!
The writing, yes, I loved it. Prior beginning to read this I had no background whatsoever with the mythology, I have read some basic summaries over it to get in sync. Upon continuation, it isn't that really hard to grip and continue. For the way it was laid out for the reader was all I needed.
I am excited how the series will go!
See more A Spark of White Fire here
August 12, 2019
Publishing can have a fairly short memory. If an author disappears for more than a year or two (and they’re not John Green), name recognition will go down, and it will likely be harder to sell more books, on top of whatever made it difficult to not follow the every year or every other year plan. I read Sangu Mandanna’s debut novel back in 2012, The Lost Girl, and I really liked it, but I honestly don’t remember anything about it. Don’t read too much into that, because it was six years ago, and I’ve read well over 1000 books since that time. You probably wouldn’t remember either. Still, I remembered that and, when I saw this egalley, I requested it (even though tbh I normally wouldn’t go for Sky Pony) because the concept sounded boss and I had some trust already in Mandanna. And, hey, guess what?! Mandanna’s new series opener did not disappoint.
Initially, I’ll admit I was a little bit unsure. The opening of the book is a bit rocky and a lot confusing. If you start this, I’d make sure to give it at least until Esmae gets to Kali before deciding it’s not for you. There’s a bit of a learning curve here. If I hadn’t had Jessie’s word for how good this was, I might have DNFed and missed out on a great and inventive book, which is why I want to make sure you too are so informed.
The reason the book’s a bit slow out of the gate is because there’s a lot of back story to this world and, rather than info dumping at the start, Mandanna basically dumps you into the world and expects you to learn to swim. (Pretend this metaphor works for me, okay?) After a few chapters, things will start to make more sense, but at first it’s jarring because A Spark of White Fire isn’t like any other science fiction or fantasy, so you can’t lean on knowledge of similar stories (even I can’t and I read A LOT).
The world building of A Spark of White Fire is my favorite aspect of this book, because it’s so unique and creative. First off, it’s a blend of science fiction and fantasy, which has happened before certainly but I’ve never seen it like this. A Spark of White Fire takes place in space, with the cast all on spaceships. Normal. However, add to the tradition science fiction about warring monarchies a massive pantheon of gods and goddesses who like to interfere in the lives of their favorite people. Think Illuminae meets the Mahabharata or The Iliad (if, like me you’re unfortunately not knowledgeable about the Mahabharata) and you’ll be pretty close to the vibe of A Spark of White Fire.
Mandanna makes great use of all of this, and the gods really throw the traditional sci fi rules out of the window in this really fascinating way. The heroine, Esmae, wins an unbeatable spaceship at the outset, a gift from a god. She also received her own gift: a flower that protects her from physical harm. Another character has a bow that fires arrows that never miss their target. All of this is on top of all the methods of violence humans can dream up, and it takes an already complicated political situation and makes it ridiculously complex and dangerous. The way that Mandanna plays with prophecy is fun too, which is saying something because I usually hate fantasy with prophecies.
The plot is very strong overall, though admittedly the pacing can be a bit uneven. When it first opened, I expected the story to be largely about the competition for the unbeatable spaceship, and Mandanna subverted my expectations immediately. The story drifts a little bit after that as Esmae goes to Kali and gets to know the people on the chessboard. At many points, the plot evolved in ways I didn’t expect and characters reacted to things in unstereotypical ways, so that was fantastic. Even the fact that Esmae is royalty doesn’t get played for a plot twist, which is amazing because that trope is so overdone.
Esmae’s a strong character, and I bonded with her right off. The moment she felt too awkward to go talk to her twin brother in the first scene and instead made things more difficult and dramatic, I was like ‘yeah, I get that.’ Esmae has both physical fighting skills and mental ones, and I love that, though she won a competition about battle skill, she has no interest in war. All she wants is love and family. Her emotional arc works very well too, with her being torn between her brothers, who she wanted to aid in retaking the throne, and the usurpers, who she expected to hate but who turn out to be nice people.
The characterization of the secondary characters did let the fantastic foundations down somewhat. My heart goes out to Max the most of the rest of the cast, but, even with him, I don’t feel like I know him particularly well. I enjoyed Esmae’s outspoken great grandmother, who would absolutely be played by Maggie Smith. Everyone else ran a bit flat, particularly Esmae’s brothers and Rama.
With that intense ending, I need book two something fierce. I recommend A Spark of White Fire to readers of SFF who are feeling tired of traditional tropes and want something unique and inventive that’s diverse af with many powerful female characters.
Initially, I’ll admit I was a little bit unsure. The opening of the book is a bit rocky and a lot confusing. If you start this, I’d make sure to give it at least until Esmae gets to Kali before deciding it’s not for you. There’s a bit of a learning curve here. If I hadn’t had Jessie’s word for how good this was, I might have DNFed and missed out on a great and inventive book, which is why I want to make sure you too are so informed.
The reason the book’s a bit slow out of the gate is because there’s a lot of back story to this world and, rather than info dumping at the start, Mandanna basically dumps you into the world and expects you to learn to swim. (Pretend this metaphor works for me, okay?) After a few chapters, things will start to make more sense, but at first it’s jarring because A Spark of White Fire isn’t like any other science fiction or fantasy, so you can’t lean on knowledge of similar stories (even I can’t and I read A LOT).
The world building of A Spark of White Fire is my favorite aspect of this book, because it’s so unique and creative. First off, it’s a blend of science fiction and fantasy, which has happened before certainly but I’ve never seen it like this. A Spark of White Fire takes place in space, with the cast all on spaceships. Normal. However, add to the tradition science fiction about warring monarchies a massive pantheon of gods and goddesses who like to interfere in the lives of their favorite people. Think Illuminae meets the Mahabharata or The Iliad (if, like me you’re unfortunately not knowledgeable about the Mahabharata) and you’ll be pretty close to the vibe of A Spark of White Fire.
Mandanna makes great use of all of this, and the gods really throw the traditional sci fi rules out of the window in this really fascinating way. The heroine, Esmae, wins an unbeatable spaceship at the outset, a gift from a god. She also received her own gift: a flower that protects her from physical harm. Another character has a bow that fires arrows that never miss their target. All of this is on top of all the methods of violence humans can dream up, and it takes an already complicated political situation and makes it ridiculously complex and dangerous. The way that Mandanna plays with prophecy is fun too, which is saying something because I usually hate fantasy with prophecies.
The plot is very strong overall, though admittedly the pacing can be a bit uneven. When it first opened, I expected the story to be largely about the competition for the unbeatable spaceship, and Mandanna subverted my expectations immediately. The story drifts a little bit after that as Esmae goes to Kali and gets to know the people on the chessboard. At many points, the plot evolved in ways I didn’t expect and characters reacted to things in unstereotypical ways, so that was fantastic. Even the fact that Esmae is royalty doesn’t get played for a plot twist, which is amazing because that trope is so overdone.
Esmae’s a strong character, and I bonded with her right off. The moment she felt too awkward to go talk to her twin brother in the first scene and instead made things more difficult and dramatic, I was like ‘yeah, I get that.’ Esmae has both physical fighting skills and mental ones, and I love that, though she won a competition about battle skill, she has no interest in war. All she wants is love and family. Her emotional arc works very well too, with her being torn between her brothers, who she wanted to aid in retaking the throne, and the usurpers, who she expected to hate but who turn out to be nice people.
The characterization of the secondary characters did let the fantastic foundations down somewhat. My heart goes out to Max the most of the rest of the cast, but, even with him, I don’t feel like I know him particularly well. I enjoyed Esmae’s outspoken great grandmother, who would absolutely be played by Maggie Smith. Everyone else ran a bit flat, particularly Esmae’s brothers and Rama.
With that intense ending, I need book two something fierce. I recommend A Spark of White Fire to readers of SFF who are feeling tired of traditional tropes and want something unique and inventive that’s diverse af with many powerful female characters.
October 2, 2018
4 stars
Mandanna really does not beat around the bush, and I really appreciate that.
Right from the start you're thrust into the action and stakes, and although it was a little surprising and took a chapter or two to understand and get used to, it was so worth it and far better than the alternative info dump.
Although there's no formal prologue or introduction etc., it was easy to adapt to the idea of gods and the science fiction aspects, even as someone unfamiliar to the Indian mythology, which I really appreciated. I don't really know a lot about Indian mythology or gods, but the way Mandanna wrote it made it accessible to people like me without sacrificing the integrity or other aspects of the novel.
Her writing style is straightforward, yet lush in her descriptions and worldbuilding, and it creates a very engaging fantasy world. I found the entire world to be really well built, yet easily understood, which was almost really surprising because I usually struggle a bit with fantasy terminology, especially when there's a lot of places etc.
But the royal family dynamics (which did get a little tangled) all made sense, which is more than I can say for a lot of other books. And I liked how, even though it's a bit tropey in the idea that Esmae is the lost princess etc., we're letting POC have their time as lost princesses and other "outdated" tropes.
The family dynamics though were definitely some of my favorite parts of the book, and I like how, after all these years, Esmae is finally reunited with her family, and it makes for a very interesting story.
There's a lot of struggle with loyalty as there's a struggle for power between each side, and I think that's what really hooked me with this story, as I wanted to find out the why and who would prevail (or, how they'd reach a truce). It ended up being very spicy figuring out, and I'm excited to read the next installment!
Honestly, this book qualifies a little better as fantasy than science fiction, but I ended up not minding in this case, because the sci-fi aspects were still decently heavily featured and there was a lot of space stuff. But, along with the space stuff, were things like gods and their interference in the life of mortals, so it ended up balancing out.
I thought the way Mandanna interwove both elements made this book very comprehensive, so I really enjoyed that.
But, looking back, I do feel a little bit like some of the plot points were a bit weak. Like, the reason some things happened (especially the ending) felt like a lot of luck and fate and due to small technicalities and things that could have easily gone differently. I kind of wanted something larger and more twisty and more foreshadowed in a way, but I don't think this takes too much away from the story as Mandanna still does a good job of making the pieces work together.
Plus, A Spark of White Fire was just entertaining. I was engaged and I wanted to keep reading. All throughout the book I had inklings about what would happen and the various machinations that were potentially going on that Esmae didn't know about.
Some inklings came true, others didn't, but overall it made the story a lot more entertaining.
Although I feel like the last 50 pages were a lot better and more action-packed than the rest of the novel, I still feel like A Spark of White Fire did a good job in engaging the reader overall.
(Though, the ending was heartbreaking and I really wanted to throw something.)
I just love how we're getting more POC in SFF and reading this was such a fun story that I definitely enjoyed! Not only is there a gorgeous space cover on this book, but there's also all sorts of fun, mythical and science-y elements that make it an engaging read.
If you're looking for an engaging space opera featuring Indian mythology that creates a gorgeously detailed world, definitely check out A Spark of White Fire! Or, if you're just looking for something good to read, pick this up too.
Thank you so much to Sky Pony Press, Edelweiss, and The FFBC for providing me with a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review!
Blog | Instagram | Twitter
Mandanna really does not beat around the bush, and I really appreciate that.
Right from the start you're thrust into the action and stakes, and although it was a little surprising and took a chapter or two to understand and get used to, it was so worth it and far better than the alternative info dump.
Although there's no formal prologue or introduction etc., it was easy to adapt to the idea of gods and the science fiction aspects, even as someone unfamiliar to the Indian mythology, which I really appreciated. I don't really know a lot about Indian mythology or gods, but the way Mandanna wrote it made it accessible to people like me without sacrificing the integrity or other aspects of the novel.
Her writing style is straightforward, yet lush in her descriptions and worldbuilding, and it creates a very engaging fantasy world. I found the entire world to be really well built, yet easily understood, which was almost really surprising because I usually struggle a bit with fantasy terminology, especially when there's a lot of places etc.
But the royal family dynamics (which did get a little tangled) all made sense, which is more than I can say for a lot of other books. And I liked how, even though it's a bit tropey in the idea that Esmae is the lost princess etc., we're letting POC have their time as lost princesses and other "outdated" tropes.
The family dynamics though were definitely some of my favorite parts of the book, and I like how, after all these years, Esmae is finally reunited with her family, and it makes for a very interesting story.
There's a lot of struggle with loyalty as there's a struggle for power between each side, and I think that's what really hooked me with this story, as I wanted to find out the why and who would prevail (or, how they'd reach a truce). It ended up being very spicy figuring out, and I'm excited to read the next installment!
Honestly, this book qualifies a little better as fantasy than science fiction, but I ended up not minding in this case, because the sci-fi aspects were still decently heavily featured and there was a lot of space stuff. But, along with the space stuff, were things like gods and their interference in the life of mortals, so it ended up balancing out.
I thought the way Mandanna interwove both elements made this book very comprehensive, so I really enjoyed that.
But, looking back, I do feel a little bit like some of the plot points were a bit weak. Like, the reason some things happened (especially the ending) felt like a lot of luck and fate and due to small technicalities and things that could have easily gone differently. I kind of wanted something larger and more twisty and more foreshadowed in a way, but I don't think this takes too much away from the story as Mandanna still does a good job of making the pieces work together.
Plus, A Spark of White Fire was just entertaining. I was engaged and I wanted to keep reading. All throughout the book I had inklings about what would happen and the various machinations that were potentially going on that Esmae didn't know about.
Some inklings came true, others didn't, but overall it made the story a lot more entertaining.
Although I feel like the last 50 pages were a lot better and more action-packed than the rest of the novel, I still feel like A Spark of White Fire did a good job in engaging the reader overall.
(Though, the ending was heartbreaking and I really wanted to throw something.)
I just love how we're getting more POC in SFF and reading this was such a fun story that I definitely enjoyed! Not only is there a gorgeous space cover on this book, but there's also all sorts of fun, mythical and science-y elements that make it an engaging read.
If you're looking for an engaging space opera featuring Indian mythology that creates a gorgeously detailed world, definitely check out A Spark of White Fire! Or, if you're just looking for something good to read, pick this up too.
Thank you so much to Sky Pony Press, Edelweiss, and The FFBC for providing me with a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review!
Blog | Instagram | Twitter
July 10, 2018
Edelweiss granted me this ARC in exchange for an honest review. And honest is what I will offer you.
4.999999999/5 Blueflower Jewel Stars
I fell in love with this story. And it utterly destroyed me.
And as the minutes tick down, the pieces move into place.
A usurper king.
A heroic exile.
A jealous prince.
An old warrior.
A cursed mother.
A war goddess.
And a girl.
Who knew such a girl would become A Spark of White Fire that would burn the whole world down? A girl who was just a pawn became a queen. An emotional but intelligent, calculated, loving, passionate, loveable, and utterly badass queen. (not literally a queen, don't think this is a spoiler because it is not.)
This book is a journey I couldn't possibly leave. It had me screaming in disbelief and sheer amazement, and it had me crying from grief. I can't remember the last time a book took me on an adventure of emotions this tremendous and left me to pick up the pieces, craving for more destruction. Tell me, how does one grow attached emotionally to a ship? Idk. Read this book and you tell me how it happened to you.
Moving on ;)
This book is a masterpiece of calculation.
The plot is chess, the characters all have secrets vital to the world building, every bit of information is important to remember, and most of all LOVE AND DEATH AND SECRETS AND LIES AND BATTLES AND SPACE TRAVEL AND A SASSY SPACESHIP.
Originally, I simply sampled the kindle ARC and a few pages later I realized this was no sampling. This was a cannon ball/Olympic dive straight in. This is the start of a series done right. I begged this book to stop destroying me. It did not listen. Everything I've ever wanted in a book was in here. AH! I have become The Hype Queen of Books because of this story.
Several Indian epic poems influenced the book and it was as apparent as the extra creativity used to make this world all its own. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata were definitely evident and executed very spectacularly. This book in general is spectacular.
I'm so frazzled by what happened that I can't put it into words. From cover to cover, spoilers are on each page so I can't even speak to the events of the story otherwise they won't suck you in and spit you out like they did to me. (And I am gasping for more more more)
SO! There's not much else to say. Just, if you are the kind of reader to want to be destroyed by a book, love space and world conquering, enjoy political intrigue, feel connected to emotional characters, or just crave a damn good character driven book with plenty of action and adventure for any YA Fantasy THIS IS YOUR BOOK!!
(It is missing less than 0.000001 stars because of this one super cheesy line that might end up getting edited out so I ain't holdin it against this masterpiece)
I was made for war, but I don't have war in my heart.
Never has an emotional character been done so right, in my opinion. Esmae is picturesque. I adored every single character: good, evil, and neutral. Everyone was cherished. Everyone had background and was thoroughly characterized, given positives and negatives. They were real people. That's why this book destroyed me. I grew attached and one of my attachments slipped away. Other attachments betrayed me, and some attachments grew even closer to my heart.
IN A MESSY CONCLUSION
There were times I knew exactly what twist was being sewn in what moment. But I never knew what those seeds would reeped?! AND there were a plethora of hundreds other twists and turns and truths revealed that I'd never guessed coming, but they made sense! AH! Just read it. I can't stop talking about it. I loved it.
You may just love it too. So give it a shot, please. Now excuse me while I go preorder the hardcover, the paperback, the next two books, and hope for the best that I can live in these pages.
If you remember only one thing when I go, Esmae, remember this: you are beloved by gods you don't trust and will be betrayed by mortals you do.
Damn. That about sums up this book. And it has been added to my favorites shelf along with my Dump-The-Slump shelf!!
All quotes used in this review are a part of an ARC and may be subject to change prior to release date.
4.999999999/5 Blueflower Jewel Stars
I fell in love with this story. And it utterly destroyed me.
And as the minutes tick down, the pieces move into place.
A usurper king.
A heroic exile.
A jealous prince.
An old warrior.
A cursed mother.
A war goddess.
And a girl.
Who knew such a girl would become A Spark of White Fire that would burn the whole world down? A girl who was just a pawn became a queen. An emotional but intelligent, calculated, loving, passionate, loveable, and utterly badass queen. (not literally a queen, don't think this is a spoiler because it is not.)
This book is a journey I couldn't possibly leave. It had me screaming in disbelief and sheer amazement, and it had me crying from grief. I can't remember the last time a book took me on an adventure of emotions this tremendous and left me to pick up the pieces, craving for more destruction. Tell me, how does one grow attached emotionally to a ship? Idk. Read this book and you tell me how it happened to you.
Moving on ;)
This book is a masterpiece of calculation.
The plot is chess, the characters all have secrets vital to the world building, every bit of information is important to remember, and most of all LOVE AND DEATH AND SECRETS AND LIES AND BATTLES AND SPACE TRAVEL AND A SASSY SPACESHIP.
Originally, I simply sampled the kindle ARC and a few pages later I realized this was no sampling. This was a cannon ball/Olympic dive straight in. This is the start of a series done right. I begged this book to stop destroying me. It did not listen. Everything I've ever wanted in a book was in here. AH! I have become The Hype Queen of Books because of this story.
Several Indian epic poems influenced the book and it was as apparent as the extra creativity used to make this world all its own. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata were definitely evident and executed very spectacularly. This book in general is spectacular.
I'm so frazzled by what happened that I can't put it into words. From cover to cover, spoilers are on each page so I can't even speak to the events of the story otherwise they won't suck you in and spit you out like they did to me. (And I am gasping for more more more)
SO! There's not much else to say. Just, if you are the kind of reader to want to be destroyed by a book, love space and world conquering, enjoy political intrigue, feel connected to emotional characters, or just crave a damn good character driven book with plenty of action and adventure for any YA Fantasy THIS IS YOUR BOOK!!
(It is missing less than 0.000001 stars because of this one super cheesy line that might end up getting edited out so I ain't holdin it against this masterpiece)
I was made for war, but I don't have war in my heart.
Never has an emotional character been done so right, in my opinion. Esmae is picturesque. I adored every single character: good, evil, and neutral. Everyone was cherished. Everyone had background and was thoroughly characterized, given positives and negatives. They were real people. That's why this book destroyed me. I grew attached and one of my attachments slipped away. Other attachments betrayed me, and some attachments grew even closer to my heart.
IN A MESSY CONCLUSION
There were times I knew exactly what twist was being sewn in what moment. But I never knew what those seeds would reeped?! AND there were a plethora of hundreds other twists and turns and truths revealed that I'd never guessed coming, but they made sense! AH! Just read it. I can't stop talking about it. I loved it.
You may just love it too. So give it a shot, please. Now excuse me while I go preorder the hardcover, the paperback, the next two books, and hope for the best that I can live in these pages.
If you remember only one thing when I go, Esmae, remember this: you are beloved by gods you don't trust and will be betrayed by mortals you do.
Damn. That about sums up this book. And it has been added to my favorites shelf along with my Dump-The-Slump shelf!!
All quotes used in this review are a part of an ARC and may be subject to change prior to release date.
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