Her Hidden Fire

This book had me hooked from the description, fantasy, Irish mythology and above all else, dragons.  But was it going to be as good as I had hoped?   Well, the answer is yes, it has turned out to be an exciting, magical romantasy that is going to win a lot of fans.  The heroine Eadha is a servant in one of the ruling magical houses, but she is hiding a secret that puts her very life at risk.  She has the ability to channel the magic and when her friend, the son of the house seems to be non-magical, she uses her power to help him.  She manages to be chosen as a Keeper (one who looks after the channeller) and joins Ionain in the training camp.  This leads to a complex situation in which the future of our protagonists is at stake, especially after Eadha becomes aware of the deadly secrets behind the channellers’ powers.

This is a fantastic story about the misuse of power and the way that some people will do anything to hold on to their position and way of life, even if it means the death of those they consider to be inferior to them.  It is also a story of human relations, with Eadha willing to take huge risks in order to support Ionain, but without letting him know that she is doing it.  This leads to tensions which are further exacerbated as Eadha finds herself attracted to another trainee Keeper, Gry, creating a romantic triangle.  The story itself is multi-layered, the author has created a world in which dragons are hunted as an enemy and the elite families nurture their magical abilities by taking from ordinary people, called by the derogatory term ‘fodder’.  This world is somewhere that we can believe in, even though we would not want to live in such circumstances, and there are lessons to be learnt about human relationships, both personal and societal.  As the first in a trilogy this is a brilliant start, and I can’t wait to read the following titles as they appear.