Rebecca Bapaye has beautifully envisioned a world drenched in magic, dark history, and epic quests with Legacy of Flame, her impressively detailed debut fantasy novel.
In this exciting and expansive new fantasy realm, romance, violence, betrayal, and power collide in a fast-moving, character-driven story, which boasts a creative magical scope that will enthrall old-school fantasy lovers. Elia is a richly imagined protagonist, an ice queen who is anything but a damsel in distress, and is given as much character depth as Syllian, her fire priest antagonist.
While readers will recognize certain themes and tropes from high fantasy, there are also threads of Celtic symbolism, Scandinavian influences, and completely original elements that make this adventurous novel feel quite special. In a saturated genre that is filled with derivative novels, Bapaye has architected a wildly creative world that begs to be explored, pulling readers in immediately.
Though the story is undeniably good, and patiently unfurled, there are some inconsistencies in the execution, such as the idiomatic language that feels a bit too contemporary to our modern world. While the dialogue is meticulously authentic, and rarely feels like it’s forcing exposition in unnatural ways, some of the narration is choppy, with an excess of paragraph breaks and an attempt to create impact via formatting.
These are nitpicking critiques for a deeply ambitious novel that thrills, captivates, and transports from start to finish – key ingredients for a successful author in any genre, but particularly epic fantasy.
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