Of Honey and Wildfires – 5 Star Book Review

Of Honey and Wildfires is gaslamp fantasy unlike any I’ve ever read before! It’s humanity on the Old West frontier, except instead of gold the economy and new world powers are based on shine, a magical rainbow oil that has a million miraculous uses.

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About the Book

Of Honey and Wildfires
Songs of Sefate Book One
by Sarah Chorn

Published 28 April 2020

Genre: Gaslamp Fantasy
Page Count: 387
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From the moment the first settler dug a well and struck a lode of shine, the world changed. Now, everything revolves around that magical oil.

What began as a simple scouting expedition becomes a life-changing ordeal for Arlen Esco. The son of a powerful mogul, Arlen is kidnapped and forced to confront uncomfortable truths his father has kept hidden. In his hands lies a decision that will determine the fate of everyone he loves—and impact the lives of every person in Shine Territory.

The daughter of an infamous saboteur and outlaw, Cassandra has her own dangerous secrets to protect. When the lives of those she loves are threatened, she realizes that she is uniquely placed to change the balance of power in Shine Territory once and for all.

Secrets breed more secrets. Somehow, Arlen and Cassandra must find their own truths in the middle of a garden of lies.

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My Review

My Rating: 5 Stars
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Of Honey and Wildfires is gaslamp fantasy unlike any I’ve ever read before! It’s humanity on the Old West frontier, except instead of gold the economy and new world powers are based on shine, a magical rainbow oil that has a million miraculous uses.

Normally I’m not a fan of fantasy westerns as they end up being a John Wayne or Roy Rogers script with magic, but not this time! Of Honey and Wildfires feels more like the Victorian/Edwardian era historical fantasies set in Europe that I love so much. It just happens to be taking place in something that looks more like a North American mining region of that time.

The primary conflict in this world is the people vs the shine company, even if the average citizen of this world is too dependent on and indoctrinated into shine culture to realize what a villain the company is and how their lives have been altered. Those who can’t use shine are feared and hated. Those who have an abundance of shine are wealthy. Those who trade their lives to the shine company to work in the mines are noble, hard-working young men doing the right thing for their families. Those who commit crimes of vandalism and theft against the mines and the Shine company are the most hated outlaws on everyone’s hit list. Shine has become the miracle elixir of life. It’s medicine, it’s fuel, it’s a food preservative and a spice, it’s ammunition, and it’s even the thing that powers children’s toys and dyes fabrics.

The world is quite literally divided in two by an invisible shine-powered barrier that prevents humans from passing through without a shine-based tonic, and this separates the wealthy who enjoy Shine products without consequence from the poor who give their lives to the shine mines.

This book is told from three main POVs: Cassandra, Arlen, and Ianthe, with glimpses into Christopher’s mind and a prologue from another character whose identity and relation to the rest I won’t spoil. What we get between these characters is a whole lot of wonderfully written representation rolled into genuinely likable unlikely heroes. We have a sapphic romance, a disabling chronic illness, a trans identity, a tangled web of family relations, and a whole lot of discrimination and persecution for things that these people can’t change about themselves. I love how honest and raw these things are. The relationships are beautifully honest. The disabling illness and the person fighting to enjoy life despite it can only have been written by someone who either lives with a chronic illness or cares for someone who does.

I love the fact that even though it’s made very clear that trans identities aren’t necessarily accepted in this world in general, the person who figures out our trans POV character’s secret within seconds of meeting them is instantly accepting.

As someone who grew up in a former mining area and now lives in another one, the gritty horror of mine town life feels exactly like the local histories I’m familiar with. The way miners, especially the minor miners, are abused and mislead are exactly what actually happened in history and what still happens in mining communities around the world today. This book may be fiction, but it accurately captures everything that’s wrong with mining corporations in the real world.

This book is breathtaking, beautiful, heartbreaking, and honest. Nobody is all good, but they’re also not all bad. Everyone is painted in shades of grey. Even though some characters are true criminals, it’s the petty bullies and nearly-faceless corporation who do the most harm, and the criminals are mostly sympathetic antiheroes.

I’m very much looking forward to reading the next book, and going back and reading everything else Sarah Chorn has written! Read this book if you love a little magic in your historical fiction and a whole lot of messy humans just trying to live with love and dignity.

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