Fire Dancer

Fire Dancer

by Echo Fox

5 out of 5

Synopsis
At her birth, flames had licked around her skin, flickering over her infant form and glittering in the darkness of the birthing chamber. The Pyromancer declared her one of five contenders for the crown. She became a Princess of Fire.

She learned how to control her flames, to harness them and how to lead as Queen. Locked away and safe from corruption, she met her people, each day receiving a new tutor from the citizens of Titaia. Training from birth for the tasks ahead; she always felt alone.

At sixteen, she is ready. Kenna stands, one of five princesses, ready to compete for the crown of Pyyrhos.

Who can win? What will be the price? Will she stand with her sisters, or move against them in pursuit of the throne?



Review
Since she was born, Kenna has been raised and trained for the day when she will compete for her crown against the other fire princesses. But soon, more than the throne of Pyyrhos is at stake.

I won this ebook in an Advent competition and it's been sitting patiently on my Kindle for a few months or so.

I have really enjoyed this series, which started with Mermaids in Wave Singers; Earth magic in Earth Drummer; and Flying warriors in Air Riders.
Now we come to the fourth in the series.
Oh, by the way, I made the very wrong assumption that there would just be four books in the Equilibria series to coincide with the four elements. I am very happy to report that I was wrong, as at the end of Fire Dancer, I felt this series was strong enough for any number of books to follow.
To date, the four very different sections of Pangaea deal with major events in their own lives, slowly realising there is something bigger threatening them all.

I loved Fire Dancer, it has several strong female characters leading the story as the princesses' time to compete for the crown has come; and they finally get to experience family and friendship and discover the world beyond their palace.
Now don't be fooled into thinking this is a fluffy story because it features princesses and has "Dancer" in the title. This is about fire, quick to burn and the potential to destroy, and ultimately unpredictable.
They may be princesses and they may be "dancers" but this term means that they can create and control fire to a higher level than anyone else; yes, they can dance and use it for entertainment, but they can also turn it into a weapon...

I liked the group and its constantly changing dynamics, as the princesses learn more about their own histories, and about each other. For girls brought up so close together, they are complete strangers.
The story is interesting, following Kenna as she takes part in the challenges, a spectacle that everyone wants to watch, as the princesses prove themselves in various tests.
The tension and danger slowly builds as there are threats both inside and out of the palace. After Air Riders, Fox continues to provide complex villains. It is never black and white.

There's no downside to the story itself, but the copy I had could have done with a bit of formatting and editing. (Bearing in mind that I got a review copy in December, so it might already have been changed)
The line breaks were completely random, I don't know if they were formatted for an A4 page or something, but it definitely didn't fit my Kindle. It broke the flow having to constantly search for the next line.
There were quite a few instances of the wrong word - like "women" instead of "woman".

So overall, I loved this book, and I'm really looking forward to where this series is going!

Goodreads link
Amazon.co.uk