-Renee April<\/strong><\/h3>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.superversivesf.com\/fantasticschools\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Her-crown-of-fire-209x300.jpg\")
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\u00a0<\/strong>Her Crown of Fire <\/em>was recommended to me by someone who\u2019d read Schooled in Magic <\/em>and thought I might want to give Renee April\u2019s debut novel a try. It does have something in common with the SIM <\/em>books \u2013 being a combination of portal fantasy and wizarding school story \u2013 but beyond that the two universes are very different, including one plot twist I rather wish I\u2019d devised myself. Our heroine is not alone when she falls into a whole new world.<\/p>\nRose Evermore is a high school student trapped under the thumb of a domineering mother (her father\u2019s identity is a mystery, which may be connected to the plot) and desperate for a way out, when she discovers she has a strange affinity with fire and her dreams start coming true. Before she can come to grips with what this means for her, she finds herself yanked into another world \u2013 Lotheria \u2013 with her best friend Tyson, who doesn\u2019t have any magic at all. This makes him extremely vulnerable. The local authorities will kill him if they catch him. Rose goes to learn magic, while Tyson hides with the locals near the school.<\/p>\n
It rapidly becomes clear they have been dragged into a political nightmare. The land is ruled by the sorcerers, there\u2019s a war underway and threats of unease and revolt in the city, the laws are enforced harshly \u2026 and Rose, for reasons unknown to herself, is at the centre of the storm. She finds herself having to hide her connection to Tyson, while trying to learn magic and make friends and eventually becoming involved in a bid to overthrow the headmasters, all the while trying to find a way home.<\/p>\n
Rose \u2013 the entire story is told from her point of view \u2013 is an engaging main character, trapped in a world she both loves and hates, torn between the desire to stay and the urgent need to return home (or at least get Tyson home). She is brave and determined and wins friends easily, although it is clear she has to work for every success. She is also close friends with Tyson \u2013 and, for those who care about such things, she is either bisexual or a lesbian, with at least one lesbian tryst between the pages.<\/p>\n
It is a shame we don\u2019t see more of Tyson\u2019s point of view, because it is clear he\u2019s a pretty engaging character too. He finds work as a blacksmith\u2019s apprentice, then gets involved with networks of resistance and rebellion that run through the city streets. (One of the book\u2019s downsides is that we only see the world through Rose\u2019s eyes.) The other characters are not as fleshed out, too, as they might have been; there\u2019s a great deal of room for expansion, in the sequels, as well as unanswered questions.<\/p>\n
Despite that, the book has a gloomy oppressive atmosphere that only lifts \u2013 slightly \u2013 as we rocket towards the climax. This world is dark and repressive, the magicians barely any better off than the commoners they grind into the dirt; punishment is harsh, brutal, and leaves its victims scarred for life. Even powerful magicians are ground under by the system \u2013 students go into debt, forced to spend years of their lives serving the school, as payment for their education. The risk of disaster \u2013 of Tyson being caught, of their friendship being taken for forbidden love \u2013 is ever-present. All the risks of fascist regimes \u2013 brutal guards, betrayals from the ranks, etc \u2013 are up close and personal and our heroine is not spared. Unlike Harry Potter<\/em>, where the Wizarding World is presented to us as an wonderland with a dark underbelly, the darkness of Lotheria is front and centre right from the start. It gives the book a sense of urgency that many others lack.<\/p>\nThe world-building is pretty good, although quite a number of questions are left unanswered and it isn\u2019t clear, at times, what is really going on. Who are the sorcerers fighting and why? What agreements have been made between them and the northern clans? There are aspects of the world that could have been expanded, allowing us to understand what is really at stake, and others that could have swallowed entire books on their own. This may be an aspect of Rose\u2019s personality \u2013 she wants to go home, or at least to get her friend home, and takes less interest in the world around her. In some ways, this leaves the book feeling oddly condensed, as if an entire trilogy has been compressed into a single volume.<\/p>\n
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The book\u2019s only major weakness, IMHO, is that we don\u2019t see anything from Tyson\u2019s POV. I cannot help feeling that was a missed opportunity of sorts, as it keeps us from seeing the townspeople at the same time as we are introduced to the magic students. There was room for two dedicated storylines, which could have been brought together at the climax of the novel; indeed, that is the idea I wish I\u2019d had (although perhaps not for any current universe).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nRose Evermore is a high school student trapped under the thumb of a domineering mother (her father\u2019s identity is a mystery, which may be connected to the plot) and desperate for a way out, when she discovers she has a strange affinity with fire and her dreams start coming true. Before she can come to grips with what this means for her, she finds herself yanked into another world \u2013 Lotheria \u2013 with her best friend Tyson, who doesn\u2019t have any magic at all. This makes him extremely vulnerable. The local authorities will kill him if they catch him. Rose goes to learn magic, while Tyson hides with the locals near the school.<\/p>\n
It rapidly becomes clear they have been dragged into a political nightmare. The land is ruled by the sorcerers, there\u2019s a war underway and threats of unease and revolt in the city, the laws are enforced harshly \u2026 and Rose, for reasons unknown to herself, is at the centre of the storm. She finds herself having to hide her connection to Tyson, while trying to learn magic and make friends and eventually becoming involved in a bid to overthrow the headmasters, all the while trying to find a way home.<\/p>\n
Rose \u2013 the entire story is told from her point of view \u2013 is an engaging main character, trapped in a world she both loves and hates, torn between the desire to stay and the urgent need to return home (or at least get Tyson home). She is brave and determined and wins friends easily, although it is clear she has to work for every success. She is also close friends with Tyson \u2013 and, for those who care about such things, she is either bisexual or a lesbian, with at least one lesbian tryst between the pages.<\/p>\n
It is a shame we don\u2019t see more of Tyson\u2019s point of view, because it is clear he\u2019s a pretty engaging character too. He finds work as a blacksmith\u2019s apprentice, then gets involved with networks of resistance and rebellion that run through the city streets. (One of the book\u2019s downsides is that we only see the world through Rose\u2019s eyes.) The other characters are not as fleshed out, too, as they might have been; there\u2019s a great deal of room for expansion, in the sequels, as well as unanswered questions.<\/p>\n
Despite that, the book has a gloomy oppressive atmosphere that only lifts \u2013 slightly \u2013 as we rocket towards the climax. This world is dark and repressive, the magicians barely any better off than the commoners they grind into the dirt; punishment is harsh, brutal, and leaves its victims scarred for life. Even powerful magicians are ground under by the system \u2013 students go into debt, forced to spend years of their lives serving the school, as payment for their education. The risk of disaster \u2013 of Tyson being caught, of their friendship being taken for forbidden love \u2013 is ever-present. All the risks of fascist regimes \u2013 brutal guards, betrayals from the ranks, etc \u2013 are up close and personal and our heroine is not spared. Unlike Harry Potter<\/em>, where the Wizarding World is presented to us as an wonderland with a dark underbelly, the darkness of Lotheria is front and centre right from the start. It gives the book a sense of urgency that many others lack.<\/p>\n The world-building is pretty good, although quite a number of questions are left unanswered and it isn\u2019t clear, at times, what is really going on. Who are the sorcerers fighting and why? What agreements have been made between them and the northern clans? There are aspects of the world that could have been expanded, allowing us to understand what is really at stake, and others that could have swallowed entire books on their own. This may be an aspect of Rose\u2019s personality \u2013 she wants to go home, or at least to get her friend home, and takes less interest in the world around her. In some ways, this leaves the book feeling oddly condensed, as if an entire trilogy has been compressed into a single volume.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The book\u2019s only major weakness, IMHO, is that we don\u2019t see anything from Tyson\u2019s POV. I cannot help feeling that was a missed opportunity of sorts, as it keeps us from seeing the townspeople at the same time as we are introduced to the magic students. There was room for two dedicated storylines, which could have been brought together at the climax of the novel; indeed, that is the idea I wish I\u2019d had (although perhaps not for any current universe).<\/p>\n