Heightened action combined with Scarlet Pimpernel-esque cleverness will keep readers eagerly turning pages, while the romantic tension between the two leads adds juiciness to the plot. This blend of magic, gender-bending disguise, and self-sacrificial longing will satisfy fantasy lovers.
Sherry Thomas’s The Burning Sky is a marvelous, magical adventure set in a beautifully imagined world. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.
Thomas weaves a lush, intricate fantasy world around a gorgeous romance that kept me riveted until the very last page. What a breathtaking journey!
A rich, captivating world, full of intrigue, romance, and magic. The Burning Sky is truly unique and unlike anything else I’ve read!
The Burning Sky combines one of the most creative magical systems since Harry Potter, with sizzling romance and characters who will win your heart.
★ 08/12/2013
Thomas, who’s built a strong reputation in historical romance, turns to YA fantasy with aplomb in the first installment of the Elemental Trilogy. Sixteen-year-old Iolanthe Seabourne is an elemental mage with a gift for fire; she has trained in obscurity with her drug-addicted mentor for as long as she can recall. When their quiet life suddenly turns to chaos, he’s coherent enough to help fling her out of danger but into a world she does not know—late 19th century London, a “nonmage” society that coexists with the rival mage realms of Atlantis and the Domain. Rescued by the Domain’s young master, Titus Elberon, and disguised as a boy attending Eton College, Iolanthe has to learn who and what to believe. Titus will do anything to overthrow Atlantis; Iolanthe dreams of becoming a mage scholar. Only one of them knows that death is imminent. As expected, Thomas’s romantic touch is sure, but she is just as adept with fantasy world-building, carrying the banners of Anne McCaffrey and Caroline Stevermer, among others, in a wonderfully satisfying magical saga. Ages 14–up. Agent: Kristin Nelson, Nelson Literary Agency. (Sept.)
Before her death, Princess Ariadne recorded a vision foretelling the precise time, but not the date, when her son, Prince Titus, would stand on the palace balcony to witness the event that would change his world forever. Nearly a decade later, Titus watches as a massive, magical lightning strike appears in the distance and springs into action. For all his careful planning, he failed to consider this rare elemental mage might be a girl his own age. Now, Titus must find a way to misdirect the attentions of Atlantis and the Inquisitor, both equally eager to find such a prize of raw power, while adapting his own approach to this strong-willed and endlessly fascinating young woman. The first page of this novel creates an exciting sense of mystery and mayhem, even specifically stating that the reader should expect magic. After this first promising page, things quickly become confusing when random details contradict the main ideas, key elements are only partially explained (perhaps to build suspense), and the overall story progression is fairly predictable. Luckily, readers will also find the Crucible, a book that becomes a three-dimensional training ground for advance magic skills once entered, as well as learn more of Prince Titus's private burdens, his personal losses, and his overwhelming sense of responsibility for his subjects. The first book of a planned trilogy, teens who love fantasy are likely to overlook the trouble areas while racing to enjoy the potions and mythical beasts. Reviewer: Stacy Hayman
09/01/2013
Gr 9 Up—When her guardian purposefully ruins her meticulously prepared potion to prevent her from performing a rite at a local wedding, 16-year-old Iolanthe Seabourne tries to revive it by bringing down a bolt of lightning and instead brings down a load of trouble. Turns out, Iolanthe has been kept hidden her whole life because of a prophecy that she would destroy the Bane, a powerful mage and tyrant who rules the Realm. The teen would be happy lying low, but Prince Titus has spent his life training to avenge his family and restore power to his throne, and he is determined that she fulfill her destiny. The fun begins when Titus brings Iolanthe to London-real, nonmagical London-and pressures her to enroll in Eton College with him disguised as a boy named Arthur Fairfax. Though Iolanthe is initially furious at Titus, romance quickly begins to crackle as they plot how to save the Realm. This first book in a trilogy thankfully lacks a cliff-hanger ending, instead promising more adventures in a vividly realized fantasy world.—Eliza Langhans, Hatfield Public Library, MA
An award-winning adult romance author's debut for teens bids fair to be the next big epic fantasy success. Iolanthe Seabourne's quiet life as an elemental mage of middling power explodes when she summons lightning from the sky. Suddenly the 16-year-old is on the run from villainous Inquisitors. That same lightning bolt galvanizes the carefully nurtured schemes of Titus, the teenage figurehead prince, to free his realm from domination by Atlantis. The only problem is that the great mage whom seers foretold Titus will sacrifice his life to protect was supposed to be a boy….Multiple tropes--of heroic quest, gaslamp fantasy, fractured fairy tale, school story and doomed romance--are gracefully braided into a hefty but ravishing narrative. In its two alternating viewpoints, three worlds and four distinct magical systems are all masterfully delineated through delicate prose and subtle characterization. Iolanthe may be excessively perfect--beautiful and powerful and brilliant--but her prickly independence and wry self-awareness give her depth; Titus' status, talent and stunning magnificence is less compelling than his boyish vulnerability and tortured determination. Too often in fantasy, when prophecies are both accurate and specific, characters can seem mere puppets of fate. Here, the conflagrant climax is true to their choices, with a satisfying happy-for-now resolution that whets delicious anticipation for inevitable sequels. It caters to very specific tastes, but teens and adults in the target audience will devour it. (Fantasy. 12 & up)
