By Mattie Lugar
It’s no surprise that my favorite genre is fantasy, and I can confidently say that Furyborn by Claire Legrand is in my top five when it comes to favorite books. One of my favorite elements in fantasy books is magic systems, even more so ones that also double as a religion, and this book has one of my favorite magic systems that I’ve ever encountered. While having elemental magic may seem boring to some, there’s just something so enticing and intricate about this one that truly does captivate me.
Another huge aspect of the book that I thoroughly enjoy is that the two different perspectives are told from different points in time. There is a huge reason for this happening, and while I won’t give you spoilers, it adds depth to the overall story.
One part of this story follows Rielle Dardenne as she accidentally unveils herself as one of two prophesied queens: one queen of light and one queen of blood. To prove to herself and others that she’s the Sun Queen sent to save everyone from prophesied doom, she must endure seven deadly elemental trials, one for each element she has supposed control over. If she fails, she’ll be executed, but only if the trials don’t finish her first.
Over one thousand years later, the legend of Queen Rielle is nothing but a distant dream to the other part of this story, Eliana Ferracora. The world once bustling with magic is nowhere to be found, and the gods of old hold no sway in the Undying Empire. As a renown bounty hunter, Eliana believes that she’s untouchable to the dark world around her. That is, until her mother vanishes. With no one left to turn to, she begrudgingly joins forces with a rebel captain and learns just how deep the rot of the Empire runs.
Both Rielle’s and Eliana’s stories intertwine with each other as the two fight in a war that lasts for centuries. In bouncing back and forth between the past and the future, this allows readers to truly get to know both Rielle and Eliana, and what led them down the paths they each must walk.