sawyl | Cold Magic and Cold Fire (Reply)

Thanks to another of Liz Bourke's recommendations on Tor, I've been reading Kate Elliott's enjoyable Spiritwalker novels. And not having time to write them up in detail, I'm going for a short twofer which doesn't really do them justice. Sorry.

Cold Magic imagines an Earth where the Roman Empire fell late, where magicians are able to manipulate fire and ice, and where the spirit world really exists. The story begins when Catherine Hassi Barahal, a young woman of Phoenician background, is forceable married off by her guardians, her aunt and uncle, in place of her cousin. Cat's new and unwanted husband Andevai, an arrogant and powerful cold mage, returns with her to his House only to be humiliated when his master tells him he has married the wrong Barahal daughter. Felling both to protect herself and her beloved cousin Beatrice, Cat travels escapes into the spirit world where she learns something disturbing about heritage.

Cold Fire follows directly on from Cold Magic with Catherine trying to come up with a way to prevent her cousin from being carried off by the Wild Hunt. In desperation Cat makes a bargain with powerful spirit, only to wake up on a beach halfway round the world having lost several months during her transit. Upon discovering that the island is a plague ghetto, Cat throws in her lot with a slippery fire mage and escapes to the free city of Expedition. Here she bumps into her husband, who seems to be working as a carpenter but who actually appears to have been sent by his master to foment trouble for a rogue general. Separated from his house and his constant need to prove himself, Cat comes to realise that not only does Andevai care for her but that she has also come to care for him.

Both the novels are enjoyable, but things really takes flight in Cold Fire when the action shifts to the Caribbean. The three principal characters — Andevai, Catherine, and Beatrice — are strong, well rounded, and the women are convincing and autonomous in a way that so many female fantasy characters aren't — something Elliot discusses in depth in a piece SF Signal. The world building, meanwhile, despite being somewhat eclectic — with elements from steampunk, celtic mythology, Napoleonic history, and even the odd zombie — works to create a compellingly interesting and consistant alternate Earth.