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.