Child of Fire: A Twenty Palaces Novel

Twenty Palaces Series, Book 1

By: Harry Connolly

Narrated by: Daniel Thomas May

Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

Ray Lilly is living on borrowed time. He's the driver for Annalise Powliss, a high-ranking member of the Twenty Palace Society, a group of sorcerers devoted to hunting down and executing rogue magicians. But because Ray betrayed her once, Annalise is looking for an excuse to kill him - or let someone else do the job.

Unfortunately for both of them, Annalise's next mission goes wrong, leaving her critically injured. With the little magic he controls, Ray must complete her assignment alone. Not only does he have to stop a sorcerer who's sacrificing dozens of innocent lives in exchange for supernatural power, he must find - and destroy - the source of that inhuman magic.

©2009 Harry Connolly (P)2020 Tantor

Surprisingly wonderful

I came into this blind on author Jim Butcher's suggestion. This is great urban fantasy. it's much more gritty and brutal than others in the genre but told extraordinarily well in all the ways that count.

All time favorite

Amazing book, the whole series is awesome. Dark and compelling storytelling with complex and memorable characters

people will know Ray Lilly,like Harry Dresden !!!!

get book 0 first it makes this one make more sense. great first book

Excellent Book from a Brilliant Series

Harry Connolly's Twenty Palaces series contains some of my favorite books, and this is one of the best. The whole concept which runs through these novels is unique and very compelling. Being an avid reader and being especially attracted to stories with some sort of paranormal twist, I can't overstate how exciting it is on the exceptionally rare occasion when I actually find something which feels genuinely new. But not only does Child of Fire feel fresh and new, it's also uber exciting and well written. Despite the original order of publication, Child of Fire is best read as the second novel in the series (after Twenty Palaces). It won't ruin it if you switch the order, but it's best that way. There's so many new ideas and the characters are unconventional (yet sympathetic) that I don't want to say too much and ruin the fun. Just know that this book is a mile a minute thrill ride which is gripping literally from page one. The audio book is very well done, too; I've read this book in print multiple times and the moment it was available in audio, I got it and have already listened to it half a dozen times at least. Granted, I do tend to replay audiobooks as I play them at bedtime, but this one I've legitimately listened to from start to finish multiple times...And it was fun every time. This book and the Twenty Palaces series...get it...read or listen to it...and next time a friend asks you for a good book recommendations you will have such a fantastic ace up your sleeve! Because, for reasons I will never understand, as of yet these books are a bit of a precious little secret. I've gifted or recommended these books a few times now and they always go over gangbusters. I can't recall the name of the actual accolade, but Child of Fire won awards for new fiction when it was released, and when you read it you will understand why. If I had my way, there would be a multitude of Twenty Palaces novels and I would absolutely own every single one.
***Update....Please please please release The Twisted Path on Audio!?!

Unique and interesting

As I've said in my other reviews, I'm a big fan of Harry Connolly's writing. Amazingly, no matter how many times I revisit his stories, they still suck me in at the first word and effortlessly sweep me into a fantastic world that's unique and interesting.

I'm reluctant to give too much detail about Child of Fire, not wanting to undermine the richness of the experience. It's safe to say there's never a dull moment in the story and quite often it takes a left turn into the bizarre. There's no cardboard characters here. Everyone is three dimensional, well rounded and believable. As in all the Twenty Palaces stories, there's moments of shock and awe that'll blow your mind away as well as disturbing, horrifying situations. Daniel Thomas May's narration is very enjoyable, making all the characters vivid and stepping off the page.

Definitely check it out. Well worth the credit.

The Characters Need More

Well the world building and setup of how magic works is pretty great and extremely creative. That being said, the characters all kind of feel flat. All of the female characters seem fairly unrealistic, especially the late 60s small town seamstress who out of nowhere declares a desire to die in combat, ignoring all of her described personality traits in order to fit the narrative for like 10 seconds.