It is now a fact of life; I will devour everything Grace Curtis writes, without question. Everything she writes is simply outstanding, fantastic, and worthy of your time and energy. Idolfire is no different - pick this one up asap!

Curtis has done it again! I think she's became one of my favourite authors after all these successes. Idolfire is her first foray into a more traditional format and is a great success.

We follow two characters, Kirby & Aleya. Kirby comes from a ruined village, their god stolen years ago by what is essentially a fantasy Roman empire. Her brother was preparing to save her before becoming distracted despite their home withering away. Aleya is an heir to the throne in her city and needs to go through a process known as 'The Calling' to secure her place as the successor to the crown.

Two unlikely characters find one another in an epic fantasy roadtrip. They encounter many obstacles along the way, rampant gods, war, mercenary parties, cultists, a commander with a vendetta and betrayals. They also find unlikely friends, uncover secrets and love.

This story was masterfully crafted and reads so well, I highly recommend people pick this one up!

Thanks to Netgalley & Hodderscape for this arc.

Kirby is from Wall's End, and needs to go to Nivela to break the curse on her home hamlet. On the other side of the world, in Ash, Aleya is sent on a quest to Nivela to be fully accepted into her family. On the way there, they (obviously) run into each other, and quite a few other people.

The first 30 pages of Grace Curtis' latest sci-fi novel were really confusing. Then I realised this is in fact her first fantasy novel, and things started making a lot more sense. I probably should've looked beyond the author's name before starting to read.
Anyway, this was very, very good. I will keep thinking about it for a while, and almost certainly end up rereading it more than once. Als seems to be a habit with Curtis, the reader doesn't know any more than the main characters about what's going on, and frequently quite a bit less. All you can do is go along for the ride. The world building is exquisite, the narrative format is interesting, the writing style is straightforward, and the underlying ideas are complex. 9.5/10, and that last 0.5 is because I can't read the name 'Kirby' without thinking Super Mario.

Many thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for the e-arc provided via Netgalley

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton | Hodderscape!

I first heard of this book through CL Clark, who mentioned that it gave off Xena vibes. As any sapphic who has consciousness in the early 2000s-- that's a very high bar. AND YET IT WAS DONE. It's not a direct 1:1 correlation, but it is THERE. The warrior, fighting for a better life for others, commanding and deep-voiced, knowledgeable, and with an imperial family helping or harming her. The open-eyed dreamer, coming from a rural area, bright-hearted and needing adventure, needing to find what can happen. The warrior, unable to push her away, let alone resist her.
Their friend, a young man struggling to be the warrior he's told he ought to be. Trying and failing and trying and failing, with the same sort of understanding that something is wrong with his world.

Their courage will change the world. But they must fix it-- and it is deeply broken, Kirby's village cursed from losing their god, Aleya fighting to prove herself against her heritage.
As they walk across impossible landscapes, find broken cities, and interact with different peoples, it's a journey that feels both vast and intensely small, a bit of life in a world that does not revolve around them. Nivala itself has its own secrets, after all....

Grace Curtis, you've made a believer out of me.

I think it’s very hard to write an epic fantasy adventure, particularly a there-and-back, that feels fresh and new and exciting, and yet Curtis has done just that. The warmth, the joy, the *art* of IDOLFIRE made it a delicious reading experience that I took pains to savour over many weeks. There are shades of Tolkien and Avatar: The Last Airbender and modem fantasy favourites like The Jasmine Throne and The Unbroken, rooted in real-world history that culminate into something so carefully, loving crafted that I think fans of Curtis’ sci-fi books will have no trouble following her on the path to Nivela with Kirby and Aleya. Add to it the sapphic slow-burn of it all, and this might just be my favourite read of the year.

Thank you very much for this eARC!

Immediately this book drew me in—I love Roman history, especially the less commonly discussed parts, and using that as an inspiration meant I was hooked straight away. I also think Curtis did really well in using the Roman Empire as a recognisable basis for the world of this book, rather than an exact replica, which allowed a bit more freedom/creativity with the worldbuilding.

Curtis’ prose was excellent in her two previous books, but here it shone. I’m not usually one for long descriptions, but the descriptions of the different landscapes were gorgeous.

The introduction of a third POV character was unexpected but not unwelcome—I ended up really feeling empathy for Nylophon. That said, Aleya and Kirby were the heart of the book, and their characterisation complemented each other well. Their relationship was compelling and well developed as a slow burn!

I sped through the last few chapters of the novel and thought the ending was both beautiful and satisfying. This feels like a book I might have to revisit for full appreciation, but I will be nothing but glad to return.

I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and honestly review an advanced reader’s copy of this book.

Grace Curtis’ writing has such a distinctive quality. There is always a perfect balance between high stakes and the gentle, steady pace, but what stands out most is the sheer warmth and heart in every word. Her prose is beautifully rich and immersive, especially when describing the landscapes her characters traverse. (The Ocean Road? That will be haunting my dreams.)

Having read and loved both of Curtis’ previous sci-fi novels, I was eager to see what she would bring to the fantasy genre. And she absolutely delivered. The world building, (centered around Idolfire and its deities,) felt intricate and engaging, detailed enough to fully draw me in without ever becoming overwhelming.

But, as with her previous books, it’s the characters who truly shine:
- Aleya, a royal from the city of Ash, journeying to Nivela to prove herself worthy to her people.
- Kirby, from the remote village of Wall’s End, making the same journey in search of the lost goddess’s idol.
- Nylophon, a mercenary who loses everything along the way, forcing him to question his very purpose. (I love him dearly!)

These three couldn’t be more different, and their clashing personalities, tense interactions, and gradual growth made for a fantastic dynamic. They challenge each other, nearly kill each other more than once, and yet their journey together feels very rewarding.

This book has officially solidified Grace Curtis as an auto-buy author for me. I can’t wait to see what she does next!

Thank you netgalley for this arc.

I think this might be my perfect book everything about it feels so perfect for what I want! I love a quest, I love an interesting magic, I love a bit of intrigue, I love love!!!! What a book! One of the greatest quest books of all time??? An absolute banger a million stars a million hearts

Idolfire was the third book I finished this year. And it was my first five star read. It was seriously incredible. I wasn't sure it was a genre I would like but wanted to give it a try because the synopsis made it sound very good. And I'm glad I did.
I fell in love a little with the characters as the story went on. Aleya is brash and smart and harsh while Kirby is naive and kind and strong. They are also so much more. They are headstrong and motivated and open-minded. They had a goal and they went through a lot to achieve it.
Their paths was full of adventures and issues and wonders and meetings. It felt like reading an epic story. We have our heroes, we have several gods, we have meetings of different civilisations, a quest to achieve, a transformation. We can clearly see that the Kirby and Aleya of the start are not the ones from the end.
The characters we meet on the way are all interesting too, whether we like them or hate them. They are all fleshed out, they had personalities, goals, lives, different languages and cultures. I loved it all.
When I approached the ending and saw that the story wasn't close to done I was so afraid for our characters. The ending is incredible, it makes sense and it made me feel alla the feels. It's so true to the characters and it answered the questions I had while reading.
I absolutely recommend this book to everyone.

grace curtis you will always be famous.

a phenomenal novel. its strength lies in its worldbuilding, it is SO creative and bold that it manages to take settings we've seen before and make them feel so fresh and new. this is done mainly through really good prose that really serves the storytelling, and through an excellent cast of characters that i was deeply invested in from page one. i think it should have been (and may be, in its final product), a bit tighter and a tad bit shorter, but i will forgive it all its little flaws because it's something truly original, that i've not read before at all, and that was truly so full of heart and beauty and kindness and grief that i don't want to get hung up on technicalities. it's nice to read a book that really takes chances and has such a simple yet full vision. kind of like a kaleidoscope, every time you think you know what you're looking at, there's something new woven in expanding the story, its lore, its depth, its range. i think this would also be great on a reread, there's probably lot to explore again in a couple of years. i would LOVE to read more stories like this, and will be on a little quest to find them. just so much heart and beauty to this story. aaah

thank you netgalley + publisher, truly a delight! i warmly recommend it far and wide, even to those who might not think they'd be into it. give it a go!!!

4.5 stars rounded up

I’ve read and enjoyed both of this author’s Sci-fi books, so I was excited to see what she did with a fantasy story.

This is fairly light in its fantasy elements, as there are only certain people that can use the Idolfire, basically faith set aflame, which I loved as a concept. We see this mostly through main character Aleya, who uses it sparingly. I also really liked the ideas of the gods, and I especially liked the idea of Nivela stealing gods/idols to grow their own power as they conquered foreign lands, reflecting the way real world empires like Rome would come in and strip natives of their culture. I also really liked the conclusion/reveal that came in the climax of these gods and their potential origins when Iona is revealed to have been an ordinary woman in life who lost her family that carved the idol in her own image.

I liked all three of the main characters, Kirby, Aleya and Nylophon and their contrasting personalities. I really loved Kirby’s opening section, which was sweet and tragic matching with her personality as a kind woman, a little too trusting and naive, but a guiding star inspiring others around her to change, including Aleya and Nylophon. Aleya, in contrast, is more untrusting, hot-headed and stubborn. She believes a lot of people are against her due to her origins, so she’s felt the need to prove herself superior by being the best, smartest, strongest, etc. though that definitely pushes some people away in the beginning, she does grow throughout the story. Nylophon is the soldier who doesn’t want to be one and a bit of a misogynistic brute at that, but in a way that was still endearing, and he does grow and I really liked the conclusion of his arc.

This is a sapphic book, but romance is definitely not the focus. Some may find it disappointing that Kirby and Aleya don’t yearn all that much, rather for a time they are inconvenient travelling companions, and then fairly easily decide to be a couple. There aren’t any internal or external forces that keep them from being a couple throughout the story. But this is more of a plot focused story than a character one, and I wasn’t disappointed.

Compared to Curtis’ other works, this feels less like a series of vignettes and more like a continuous story, however, I adored the 2nd person chapters that was a poetic description of the rise of Nivela, almost like retelling a legend.

I’m eager to see where this author goes next.