A DARKNESS FORGED IN FIRE - CHRIS EVANS

[drosdelnoch]

Chris is a new author who's been nominated for his first book in his Iron Elves series. Why do you like Chris' work? Why do you think he should be the winner? Whats magical about Chris' writing?

[Alli]

A Darkness Forged in Fire was an enjoyable book that kept me interested right through to the end. This is a debut novel which does offer a new twist to the standard quest fiction fayre although doesn't stray too far from the familiar (except perhaps the squirrel slingshot!). The usual elements are all in there - the hero with inner turmoil, his love interest (you can tell they like each other as they keep fighting), comedy dwarf with sidekick, quest to find an item of power before the evil enemy (who wants to take over the world) does, etc, however, there are enough new concepts to make this worth reading. As I said before, this is a debut novel and is not perhaps as polished as other books in the shortlist, however, I'll certainly be watching out for the next instalment.

[Deborah J Miller - Award Administrator]

Thanks Alli - it's great to get your feedback, as I haven't heard much about this novel, or the author, as yet!

[Greyweather]

I found this to be very much your generic epic fantasy story with only one new idea thrown in to spice it up. If the book wasn't written as well as it was, it would have been hard to take it seriously. As it stands though, Evans managed to produce an entertaining, if not exactly thought provoking, book. It is an excellent example of what some of my friends like to call bubblegum fantasy.

Hopefully his next Iron Elves novel will deviate from the stock fantasy formula, because I think Evans has a lot of potential as an author.

[Crisp]

The squirrel elf mage beginning did prompt an inward groan but after the shaky start I found myself engrossed by the story. The standard of writing made it a joy to read - it was "old school" enough to make me feel comfortable but had enough new concept to be worthwhile.
Not in my top ten but I want to know what happens next.

[Catiri]

have to agree with Greyweather was not very impressed with this one. Having seen some reviews of it i did expect more. I thought the writing was not that brilliant and the book as a whole to me was just a 'fantasy filler', nothing amazing or gripping about it, which is a shame as i really wanted to like it.