From Amazon.com
Australia is producing a flourishing crop of fantasy writers, including Isobelle Carmody, with her award-winning
Obernewtyn series; Garth Nix, author of
Sabriel, in which the heroine invokes magic by ringing handbells; and Jane Routley, with her debut novel
Mage Heart and its sequel,
Fire Angels. Routley creates a powerful character in Dion Holyhands, a strong-headed young woman who also just happens to be the most potent mage in the land of Moria. Exiled from Moria and estranged from her family, she is eking out a living as a healer in the neighboring country of Gallia. Her brothers come to beg her assistance in rescuing her older sister Tasha, who has been broadcasting terrifying dreams of possession by demons. Despite her fears of further persecution in Moria, Dion returns, only to become an unwilling pawn in the contest for Moria's throne.
Fire Angels combines an epic story with engaging characters and a passionate romance, and even leaves room for further sequels. The only objection, and it's a minor one, is Routley's confusing use of titles and names--more consistency and inventiveness ("Moria" will forever be associated with Tolkien, for example) would have been nice.
--Blaise Selby
From Publishers Weekly
An accomplished fantasy of maturity and depth, Routley's second novel (after Mage Heart) continues the story of Dion Holyhands, raised by a stern foster-father to develop her outstanding magical powers. Here, Dion is reintroduced to the extended family she had lost and continues her coming-of-age, including renewed battle against her lover and foe, the demon Bedazzer. Dion is a strong character, introspective but often misled by self-doubt and guilt. Aided by the gypsylike Wanderers, she finds that her magic has destined her for a central role in the government of her homeland, Moria. While many genre fantasies simply add magic to political intrigue, Routley's are noteworthy for the natural and inevitable intertwining of the two. Here, for instance, different countries prohibit and allow different magics, thereby controlling their citizens. Well-drawn backgrounds and characters add to the appeal, as Routley produces another fantasy that can be read for more than myth or pyrotechnics, accelerating her rise as one of the genre's bright new stars.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
