03
Nov
Posted By: JMom // Category:
Books,
Fantasy
Title: Flesh and Fire
Author: Laura Ann Gilman
Release Date: October 2009
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 384
ISBN-10: 1439101418
ISBN-13: 9781439101414
Summary
Once, all power in the Vin Lands was held by the prince-mages, who alone could craft spellwines, and selfishly used them to increase their own wealth and influence. But their abuse of power caused a demigod to break the Vine, shattering the power of the mages. Now, fourteen centuries later, it is the humble Vinearts who hold the secret of crafting spells from wines, the source of magic, and they are prohibited from holding power.
But now rumors come of a new darkness rising in the vineyards. Strange, terrifying creatures, sudden plagues, and mysterious disappearances threaten the land. Only one Vineart senses the danger, and he has only one weapon to use against it: a young slave. His name is Jerzy, and his origins are unknown, even to him. Yet his uncanny sense of the Vinearts’ craft offers a hint of greater magics within — magics that his Master, the Vineart Malech, must cultivate and grow. But time is running out. If Malech cannot teach his new apprentice the secrets of the spellwines, and if Jerzy cannot master his own untapped powers, the Vin Lands shall surely be destroyed.
In Flesh and Fire, first in a spellbinding new trilogy, Laura Anne Gilman conjures a story as powerful as magic itself, as intoxicating as the finest of wines, and as timeless as the greatest legends ever told.
About the Author
Laura Anne Gilman was born in 1967 in suburban New Jersey. She has Liberal Arts education from the Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York. She started her career in publishing as an editorial assistant in NYC. After publishing several short stories (Her first professional fiction sale was 1994 to Amazing Stories), some media tie-ins, and a job as an Executive Editor she published her first original novel Staying Dead a “Cosa Nostradamus”-universe “Retrievers” book. Gilman continues to write and sell short fiction. She currently lives in New York City, where she also runs d.y.m.k. productions.
My Thoughts
I haven’t read this book yet because my daughter snatched it up and has been engrossed in it. So what I write is based on my interview with her. The first impression of this book is that it reminds her of her favorite author, Tamora Pierce, who also writes fantasy novels where magical power is harnessed from forces of nature. She says there are strong parallels between this book and the Pierce books which she is enamored with.
This was a nice and easy read for her, she is 17 years old, and she said that she couldn’t put it down once she got started. She liked the background information on wine making woven throughout the story; again, much like how Pierce gives great information on crafts like glass making and glass blowing in her novels. My daughter loved this book so much that she asked to keep it with her collection of books.
I told her she can keep it but I get to borrow it 
Read more…
Title: Tell Me Something True
Title:
