"Fabulous fantasy"

Arukan is a country made up of clans, some nomadic and others wedded to the land. It is a harsh world made up of castes with the baseborn children belonging nowhere and reduced to begging or prostitution to obtain food and shelter. Kevla Bai-Sha finds men for her mother to have sex with until a lord of the highest caste brings him into her home as a handmaiden to his wife Yeshi. She becomes one of Yeshi's favorites until she learns that Kevla is the daughter of Yeshi's husband.

Yeshi banishes her to the kitchens and the only person who makes her life bearable is the Lord's heir Jashemi who knows that she is the other half of his soul. They love in spite of the taboo that prevents it and when they finally give in to their passion Kevla discovers her role as a fire element in saving the world and that Jasheni is her beloved in this life and others. Kevla with the help of the Truekeepers call for a convocation of the clan and begs them to unite against a common enemy or watch the destruction of their world.

Christie Golden has written a fabulous fantasy about a world that can only be saved by the five elemental dancers of which Kevla is fire. If she succeeds in her quest, her world and two others will be saved, but if she fails, the Shadow will overtake the land and destroy all life within. This is the opening installment in what reads like a grand saga and if ON FIRE'S WINGS is any example, the other books in this series will be just as fantastic.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted June 9, 2004