I enjoyed The Waking Land, and was looking forward to this sequel, but I do think it was possibly trying to do too much with the whole experiment element.

3 stars for this fantasy novel, the second in Callie Bates’ The Waking Land series. I’d advise against reading The Memory of Fire unless you have first read The Waking Land – these are not standalone stories.

This novel picks up just where The Waking Land ended, but the focus shifts from Elanna Valtai, Steward of the Land, to her love, Jahan Korakides. Jahan has to return to Paladis in an attempt to negotiate a peace treaty, and to find and rescue his younger brothers, all the while trying to hide his magical abilities which if discovered there could see him imprisoned or executed.

The writer has imagined a whole world of nations and empires, with their different cultures, and it is a pleasure to be immersed in lands so comprehensively and confidently laid out before the reader. I enjoyed the political intrigues and betrayals, I admired Jahan’s growing maturity and empathy through the novel, and I just loved some of the aspects of magic in the story – how Jahan went about making magic, how it felt to walk through a wooden door or plaster wall, how fatally easy it was to be destructive or greedy in casting magic but also how tender and healing it could be. I liked that nuance and depth were added to the story of Jahan’s family and even for Madiya.

What failed to work, for me, was the same problem I had with the first novel. Just as with Elanna in The Waking Land, a large part of the story is taken up by Jahan’s inner monologues: his indecisions and insecurities, his tortuous circular thinking. For me, this slowed the pace of the story at the wrong moments and could be exasperating. I would have preferred these parts of the book to be pruned. In particular I would have chopped down the number of times that Madiya calls Jahan’s name.

Yet, as with the opening novel, I am left wanting to read more of Callie Bates’ imaginative world. The Memory of Fire finishes by hinting at troubles to come, and I know I will read on to the third book in the series, The Soul of Power.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review.

DNF. I couldn't connect with this book at all and found it really hard to get into. I had high hopes for this, which is a shame.

An interesting read, good world building, great writing and characters, felt a bit overlong but I was enjoying it so I’ll let that go, a wonderful fantasy, fast paced and full of action

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Memory of Fire was ten times better than The Waking Land. However you do need to read the first to appreciate this book.

We are thrown straight into where we left off the first time. So it is fast-paced and action-packed from the first word.

I liked that there was a complete change in point of view, in The Waking Land everything was told from Elenna point of view. Whereas here, the story is told from Jahan's perspective. This way some Jahan's previous behaviour is explained as we learn about his history. Torn between his past, saving his brothers and a potential war. Jahan finally accepts a part of him, he has kept hidden for so many years. His magic.

This allows us to understand the complexity of the politics of the world and the ingrained hatred of magic. There is a complex system in place to suppress magic and control the population. As the witch-hunters and their methods are explored in more detail.

This is an expansive tale, that goes beyond what we expected in The Waking Land. This is a captivating tale that will sweep you up and transport you to another world. Luckily, the ending seems to imply that there is a potential third book and I would definitely pick it up in a heartbeat, because I just want the story to go on forever.

Having read the first book in the series 'The Waking Land' I was desperate to jump straight into this one.
The first book was so fast paced and this one didn't disappoint.
I did have some of the same problems as the first... mainly the overly complicated plot. But I loved that it was from Jahan's perspective this time and honestly.... I think I preferred it
This book was a brilliant example of when the sequel exceeds the first in the series!!
It was magic and violent with high stakes and plenty of political intrigue.

Great continuation of the series!!

Having read "The Waking Land", the first book in this series by Callie Bates, I was very excitable about the prospect of securing an advanced review copy of "The Memory of Fire"to read and review. When my prayers were answered I was over the moon!

I have to say, I enjoyed this more than the first one although some of the issues with the "The Waking Land" are still present in this sequel. My main criticism is that the plot is overly intricate with a lot happening and a large cast of characters meaning it takes a good amount of brainpower to keep them all straight in your head. There are a significant number of characters on the periphery too, all with minor parts in the plot and who's development is limited. They are difficult to form attachments to as a consequence. With regard to the ending, I would've expected to have been given more knowledge of The Witch Hunters by the author, seen as they are an integral part of the way the book concludes.

Okay, now on to the positives! I thought Bates was extremely bold and brave to dedicate most of "The Waking Land" to Elanna and her development. Here, the POV changes and the story is told from Jahan's perspective. I really enjoyed this aspect as I think sometimes when a story is already very "busy", to change the POV between different characters throughout a book can make it even busier. I appreciated the paranoid undertone to proceedings as you never knew who you could trust, a feature I love and primarily see in crime thrillers. It was also a hell of a lot darker than the series first. Some of Jahan's previous behaviour is explained by learning his history and I appreciated getting his backstory. Bates has created two contrasting main characters in Elanna and Jahan - Elanna is vivacious and strong, Jahan's story is a much sadder one which has a knock-on effect on his thought processes and the way he lives his life.

I feel that there is plenty more life left in this tale and the finale certainly leaves open the possibility for a third book in the series. I would definitely pick up the third title to learn more about Elanna and Jahan and follow them on their adventures in this fresh and vivid world.

A final note - this is absolutely a book that requires you to have read the first in the series as the plot follows on from what happened previously and won't make a lot of sense to those who attempt to try it as a standalone title.

Many thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for an ARC. I was not required to post a review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

The Memory of Fire by Callie Bates is the second book in The Waking Land series. I received a ARC copy of the The Waking Land last year in my illumicrate subscription box. I really enjoyed the book and what interested to see what happened next for Jahan and Elanna.

Jahan Korakides has just helped Elanna the Caveadear win the rebellion in Eren, he is returning to the Ida, a place where he is a hero that save the crown prince life. He is going to return to the Ida  in hope negotiating peace between the two nation, but this is going to be difficult when the King wants to rid the world of Sorcery and see Elanna as a threat. When home he has to deal with the trauma from his childhood, missing brothers, all the while leading a rebellion he didn't start. Tough choices are need to be made,  the rebellion maybe the only way to save Eren and Elanna, but he runs the risk of revealing that he is a sorcerer.



This book is from Jahan POV, he really intrigued me in The Waking Lands, and was interested to see the world from his perspective. He comes off in The Walking Lands very confidence, but you find out the trauma from his childhood has makes him doubt himself a lot. I found that Jahan found it easier to believe in Elanna than himself, they do make a good couple as they balance each other at.

There are some moments in the book were kept on thinking no she (the author Cassie) didn't, I can't believe she did, I hope she hasn't.

There where a couple of elements in the story that I guessed would happen, but that didn't spoiled my enjoyment. especially as the revel were very entertainment.

I do like reading about books that have a good rebellion, and this book has some great moments.

I found that certain elements in the book reminded me of The Red Queen series by Victoria Averyard, so if you enjoy that series give this series a read and vs versa.

I looking forward to see who POV we will get in the next book.

I give this book 4 out of 5



Thanks to Netgally for giving my a copy of the book for a fair and honset review.

Involved, well-realised fantasy with a good mix of action, intrigue & character development, though this volume does feel overlong & slightly repetitive at times. Series knowledge essential.

The Waking Land was a sleeper hit for me - I liked it far more than I expected to, and there's a similar effect for The Memory of Fire. I wasn't expecting it to be told from Jahan's point of view and so it took me a little time to settle in to the story, but once I was oriented in the world and behind his eyes, it was full speed ahead. I like the paranoid atmosphere - Jahan hasn't a clue who he can trust, and as readers, neither do we. He is a bit mopily in love for my taste; Elanna can seemingly do no wrong. This is true of his vision of other characters, too; he's a black and white thinker trying to deal with a very shadowy world. Given the unfolding of his tragic backstory, it's easy to see why he is the way he is, which is particularly interesting viewed against a backdrop of revolution.

Jahan was one of my favourite characters in "The Waking Land" so I was very excited when I heard he was getting his own book. For the most part, this absolutely delivered. We get to learn more about Jahan's tragic backstory as well as seeing how the events of the first book have impacted on Ida. I am more than here for any political revolution story and I loved the constant sense of not really knowing who to trust. Some great new characters too: I had a particular soft spot for Jahan's university friends and Lees.

That being said, this was a difficult read. A lot of the novel deals with Jahan struggling with the after-effects of the abuse he received as a child, particularly the gaslighting and emotional abuse. Worth being aware going in as those sections were very painful to read in their honesty.