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Fantasy Review: Incendiary


This weekend I read Zoraida Córdova's Incendiary, the first in a new duology set in a magical version of Andalucia.

I have to say upfront that the only thing I disliked about this book is that the sequel isn't out yet and as far as I know doesn't have a release date yet. I! Need! The next book!

The setting in this story was absolutely magical. Córdova somehow created multiple cities, multiple cultures, a palace with distinct areas, all without any noticeable exposition that took you out of the story. The information I needed to picture the scene was sprinkled throughout the whole book. This is a masterwork in world building. I might just read this again this month to study it.

The next thing that left an impression was the Voice - although this is a new series, a new set of characters, this book felt like a Zoraida Córdova book. I'm still looking for the language to describe this, and I have no idea how she does it. But every book of hers I've read, on top of the voices of the characters, is a sense of sinking in to a hug. Reading her books is like falling in to this world where you know you're going to be safe, even as the characters are dashing about.

And the plot! This book was a wonderful example of using secrets to move the plot along. Maybe all books have some variation on this structure: a character has a goal and motivation based on how they see the world, and then as they move through the world they learn they were wrong about something, which shifts their goals and motivation.  In Incendiary, Córdova takes that formula and twists it, and twists it further, so that the character is constantly learning new world-changing truths. A few of them are predictable, but that doesn't take anything away from the emotional punch when Renata learns each piece of the truth. This is another aspect of this novel I think would be good to study from a writer's perspective.

The verdict: 5 billion stars. Give us the next one soon, please!!

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