Synopsis:
May the world be brighter for our burning.
At the edge of a war-torn world ruled by the Attican Empire and their fearsome Dragonmounts, the fate of nations falls upon a few individual destinies. A shaman. A huntress. A soldier. And a rebel spy.
The Faltari people are special, gifted by the gods with abilities beyond mortal men. Yet, they have chosen a life of peace and seclusion. As Malik comes of age, he longs for more than the life of a village shaman. More than the future that stands before him on the Isle of Faltara. His best friend Riese is torn between a life of duty, and the destiny that lingers in the back of her mind.
But there are secrets on their island. Secrets that have sustained their people over the centuries. And when the truth comes to light, Malik and Riese must reckon with their people’s shrouded past, and a destiny that will demand more of them than they ever imagined.
Across the world, Urla has sacrificed everything for the expansion of the Attican Empire, but a secret mission to the mysterious Isle of Faltara will force her to confront the brutal truth about the nation she serves.
And born in the wake of a failed uprising, Ava has grown up in the shadow of her people’s conquerors, but the key to the empire’s power may finally be within her grasp. If she can uncover the source of the empire’s dragons, her parent’s rebellion may finally stand a chance.
Worlds will collide. Fire will reign. All must choose a side. So begins the Age of Fire.
Review:
I’m sure many of the early readers of S.A. Klopfenstein’s Children of the Gods will have read his Shadow Watch Saga, the series that this book precludes. As for me, this prequel is the first Klopfenstein novel I’ve had the privilege to read…and after polishing off Children of the Gods, I definitely will be picking up more of his books in the future. I really enjoyed my time with Malik and his world, a throwback to many of the epic fantasy novels that I grew up reading.
As a Klopfenstein virgin, I will say the book is very readable and understandable if you haven’t read the earlier books. In fact, for me, I didn’t even know it was a prequel until I was nearly finished and took a look at other Klopfenstein books. I do feel as though there are perhaps some nods and Easter Eggs to the later books, but it doesn’t detract from the story here.
As for the story itself, Klopfenstein gives us a cracker of an opening as Malik, along with the others his age, engage in a Hunger Games-esque trial to climb a treacherous mountain and return while bringing back a rare prize — dragon eggs. In completing this feat, we really see who Malik and his best friend, Reise, are, setting up what is still to come both in this book and the future novels in this series.
I really enjoyed the book and felt there was a lot that reminded me of some of the epic fantasy stories from Anne McCaffrey and David Eddings with some of the modern sensibilities of authors like Ryan Cahill and John Gwynne. I was thrilled to be able to listen to an audiobook version of Children of the Gods and I can say that Tim Campbell does an excellent job as a narrator for the novel.
Thank you to S.A. Klopfenstein for providing an audiobook for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
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