Fantasia Reviews Spark of Defiance

Spark of Defiance by Autumn Birt

Genre – Epic Fantasy

Published 3/30/2016

Ages 13+

About the Book – Spark of Defiance, Beautiful from Start to Finish

“Six months after a tragic war, the world of Myrrah has found peace. But many of the heroes have not.

Wandering to avoid memories of lost friends and past actions, Zhao reluctantly returns home to fulfill a promise to his sister. And to proclaim to the elders of his people that their treatment of Air Elementals is wrong. His homecoming is met with hostility but not for the reason he expects. It is far worse.

To protect his gifted niece from a life of hardship and subjugation like the one he endured, Zhao must rescue his sister. Even if she doesn’t wish it. Quickly caught once again in events greater than he can handle alone, Zhao struggles to prevent a personal conflict from erupting into a larger battle. But friends are distant, and more than a few are wrestling with new problems of their own.

Welcome BACK to the world of Myrrah full of elemental magic and epic fantasy adventure! A new trilogy begins in Games of Fire with book 1, Spark of Defiance.” – Publisher’s Blurb

The Review – A fantastic beginning to a new trilogy

Here’s a bit of honesty, we have never read a book by Miss Birt before, which means we picked this up without reading the previous trilogy. In retrospect, it may have been wise to read the other books first to get a better feel for the events and the world in which they were set. With that said, on to the review.

Miss Birt wows us with the first entry into her Games of Fire Trilogy. With a colorful cast of defined characters and a well-built world, we have little else but praises for the work here. We love Zhao, who quickly became one of our favorite characters, not simply from this book, but maybe from any book, we have read. Before we go any further, let’s talk about the importance of names.

Miss Birt knows how to name a character, she does her research and gives names with depth. Even a short name like Zhao, a traditional Chinese name, says volumes about this wandering character, a character who is searching and finding. These traits define the character, and the definition comes from the name. The author does this over and over again, defining her characters by their names and their actions. This provides much insight throughout her work, and we love it. (Yes, we’re name junkies. Your character’s name should say something about them. Don’t just choose a name because you like it. That’s silly and narcissistic.)

Perhaps our only gripe, as outlined previously, is that we had a little trouble getting our bearings early on. Who, what and where were a bit confusing. It was easy to lose track of characters in this wide and colorful cast. That being said, once we got the pieces locked into place, it was a fantastic read.

The Bright Side – Good Characters & Great Dialogue make Spark of Defiance great

When you have deep and defined characters, the whole book is improved. The lines of dialogue are crisp and pithy. They don’t sound like letters on a page, but words from a mouth. We see that here. Strong characters and a beautiful world hold up a fine story. We love Miss Birt’s work, we only wish we had found her sooner.

The Review – Solid A

What more can we say? Do you like well-written stories with amazing characters set in a fun and interesting fantasy world? Well, there’s a good chance that you do. If so, then Autumn Birt and her works are definitely worth your time. If this book is any indication of the quality of her other works, then we look forward to reading those as well. Before continuing this trilogy, however, we may jump back and read the first one first.

Do you want to read Spark of Defiance? You can find it here.