Claire Legrand’s Furyborn is intriguing, great for Harry Potter and Red Queen fans
By Lacy Baugher
Claire Legrand’s Furyborn kicks off her sweeping new fantasy trilogy with a story that has a little bit of everything: Magic, love, loss, an ancient prophecy and more.
With several major fantasy series wrapping up in 2018, most notably Sarah J. Maas’ Throne of Glass and Victoria Aveyard’s Red Queen sagas, everyone that’s a fan of the genre is on the lookout for the next big thing. And Claire Legrand’s new Empirium trilogy just might be it.
The first installment in this sweeping fantasy saga, entitled Furyborn, has a little bit of everything. There’s magic, an ancient prophecy, forbidden love, time travel, possibly angelic beings, and several shocking cliffhangers. (One of which the story reveals to you within its first five pages.) So, yeah. This book could definitely be everyone’s new must-read genre thing.
Furyborn follows the stories of two women, born centuries apart. The story alternates between the perspectives of Rielle and Eliana, two very different yet fascinating characters. Though their two stories take place in different times, the two remain connected by a strange prophecy promising a foretold Blood Queen and Sun Queen, two avatars of salvation and destruction.
After her secret crush and best friend Audric is nearly killed, Rielle must reveal that she can control all seven forms of elemental magic. This is, as regular fantasy readers will guess, very unusual. As a result, she must undertake a series of trials to prove her ability to control her gifts. (And to test whether or not she could be the prophesied Sun Queen of legend.) These challenges become increasingly epic in scope, as the Magisterial Council seem more and more determined to see Rielle fail. Oh and if she fails, she’ll die. So, no pressure.
A thousand years later, Eliana is a bounty hunter who embraces a life of violence in order to protect her family from the evil empire that conquered their kingdom. After her mother is kidnapped, she joins up with a rebel captain working to overthrow the cruel government to find her. Lots of action ensues. In addition to a few surprising revelations about what the Undying Empire is actually after, as well as the identity of Eliana’s rebel friend.
Additionally, the novel’s prologue reveals a stunning twist about Rielle’s future. (Seriously, it’s hard to believe this revelation comes before we even really know who she is!) And as the story progresses, it becomes increasingly difficult to figure out how we get to that moment. Giving her readers a significant piece of foreknowledge — you won’t want this prologue to be true — is a bold choice on Legrand’s part. It’s also one that should be extremely interesting to watch play out in Furyborn’s sequel. Because even though we know from the start where one particular thread of this story will end, it does nothing to reduce the tension we experience throughout. In fact, it actually heightens it.