The Flame and The Flood by Shona Kinsella
I would like to thank Fox Spirit for an advance copy of this novella in exchange for a faor and honest review
Publisher – Fox Spirit Books
Published – Out Now
Price - £5.99 paperback £2.99 Kindle eBook
In Slyvo, one child in a hundred is born with an affinity: a magical link to an element, able to shape and use it as they choose. If they are lucky they will become a master craftsman, able to command high prices; if they are unlucky, the factories always demand new wielders, kept as slaves and worked to exhaustion.
Talis and Almoris are free wielders, dedicating their lives to helping wielders leave the country for better lives abroad. But not everyone believes in their mission, and not everyone can be trusted - when Almoris takes in a runaway, they find themselves pulled into a mission that puts their lives in danger and threatens both their loyalties and their love.
Fantasy should be about making our imaginations work a little harder than in everyday life. Look at the world a little more closely who knows what you will see and what insights it will give you. Its very easy to fall into a default often medieval style world that can be less exciting than our own. Happily, in The Female and the Flood Shona Kinsella provides a unique world to explore and a reminder that our world is so much more than a binary construct.
We meet our first main character in Talis and you will note ze have four arms, blue hair and a thorax plus are buying a fruit that does not exist in our world. Hir trip to the the market has been interrupted by the presence of a wielder – someone who can wield magic which Talis knows is in their country a crime and often leads to the culprit to be enslaved in factories. Talis allows the wielder to flee the evil slaver Vinhardt and later on finds out the escapee is hiding in Talis’ own dwelling. Talis and hir partner Almoris work in the underground helping slaves escape to counties where magic is not a crime (plus both can control fire and water themselves). Although ze know they cannot do this forever as the authorities are watching closely these days, they agree to help Juki escape. At the docks though it all goes wrong; a friend is killed and ze know a traitor needs to be found and an escape plan is needed. One last dangerous escape plan is formed.
In terms of stretching the imagination this story delivers providing the reader with a non-human settlement to explore and plays with the language of gender too. These ideas can be a tough ask but Kinsella delivers a simple learning curve for the reader to adapt to and it soon becomes second nature. Very soon although we know these characters aren’t human, we still accept them as real and more importantly value them for being people prepared to do what is right. Int his short but well paved tale we get to understand the culture, those who abuse power and the central mystery of how it all went wrong for the couple on what may have been a final escape. It’s a whirl of magical demonstrations, tense family dinner scenes where secrets are unearthed and a thrilling dangerous finale as the players take their final positions.
As with Kinsella’s other work you get the feeling that this is both a classic folk tale and yet clearly something from the twenty first century in ideas, approach and execution. Refreshing, thoughtful and its heart in the right place – you should enjoy this tale of love, danger and doing the right thing. A delight to read.
