REVIEW, GUEST POST & GIVEAWAY: Moth and Spark by Anne Leonard

I’ve written since I was a kid. Fantasy and SF always drew me because of the fun of world-building. I’ve had lots of jobs and took many detours to publication, but writing is and always will be my real job.

   

What Makes Dragons Interesting

Kind of obviously, the big lure about dragons is that they both fly and breathe fire. Flying is something that people want to do. I think it’s pretty primal. It seems liberating to be able to move in three dimensions, plus it gives you the opportunity to see – almost the opposite experience of hiding in a cave from things that might eat you. Fire is similarly primal – it brings heat, and light, and safety, but at the same time it can be wildly destructive. So it’s not very surprising that human imagination would conceive of a creature with both flight and flame, nor that the creature would lodge itself so firmly in stories. The dragon seems all-powerful in a way that other mythical beasts don’t, because it controls air and fire.

The dragon also has significance as a hoarder of treasure and a destroyer of cities.  It’s a great metaphor; one of my favorite scenes in fantasy literature is in Voyage of the Dawn Treader, when Eustace gets transformed into a dragon because he was having dragonish thoughts. It works as a metaphor because the dragonish thoughts of greed and revenge and the lust for power are so human. I think the dragon that embodies the worst traits of human beings is probably essential to the human psyche; stories of dragon slaying give hope.

But dragons that are really humans with scales and claws are not as intriguing to me as dragons that are different from humans, so my dragons don’t horde treasure. I like observing animals, and I think that part of it is because animal consciousness is so unknown to me. Mostly I anthropomorphize my cats, but once in a while I get a glimpse of them doing something that is purely animal and instinctive, and I become very aware that these creatures, these beasts, are not like me at all. It’s always a rather humbling experience, because I realize how much mystery there is about life. Dragons, because they are mythical, distant, imaginary, encapsulate the unknown really well.

When I started creating my dragons, I needed to find a way to make them strange, and I thought about their nature as reptiles. A lot of people are freaked out by snakes. I, on the other hand, like them.  I don’t want to encounter any cobras or cottonmouths or large anacondas in the wild, but a five foot long ball python is a really amazing creature to hold. The skin doesn’t feel rough at all – it’s almost silky. And watching and feeling the snake’s muscles moving is fascinating. But it’s also nothing like petting a furry mammal. So when I was writing about dragons, I remembered holding snakes and tried to apply those physical sensations to touching the dragons.

Communication was another issue. Snakes are a lot more alien to us than cats are. When my cat rubs me, purring, I am almost 100% sure he’s hungry. I’ve never been able to fathom a reptile’s desires or motives or emotions. I tried to impart that sense of strangeness to interactions with dragons. The plot required the dragons to be able to communicate effectively with humans, but if they could actually talk, some of their alien nature was lost. I settled on a language of images, communicated telepathically. There are times in the book when the dragons’ language is expressed in words, but that’s essentially because the characters’ minds are translating the images into words. (The dragons also have sounds which they use when talking to each other.) Speech itself takes place on a deep, non-verbal level. On the one hand, the dragons are animal-like; on the other, their thoughts are too complex for humans to understand. Even though my dragons are able to communicate with people, there is something inherently unknowable about them.

One final aspect of dragon-creation that I considered was magic. Going back to The Hobbit, one sees that there is not much magic in the book (aside from the Ring); the fantasy lies mostly in the creatures of Middle-earth, not in Gandalf doing his wizard-thing. Smaug is mortal and is killed with an arrow. I could have made my dragons purely non-magical beasts, like Smaug, but I wanted to add another layer of mysteriousness, so I gave them their own world, a realm beyond human perception, where time and space don’t function as they do in our earthly experience. There are only hints of this in Moth and Spark, partly because this was one of the places where I ran into my own limitations as an author (how does one describe the indescribable?), but it’s underneath. The dragons you see aren’t the dragons there are.

I want to end with a short quotation from the book: “It did not know compassion, nor did it know evil or selfishness. It had neither loyalty nor blame. She stood in its shadow and watched the sparks flicker along its body. It was terrifying and beautiful, and she could speak to it.” For me it’s this, the terror and the beauty side by side that makes dragons compelling creatures of myth and story. They’re an intersection point between human experience and human imagination. Through their strangeness, they show us what it is to be powerful, and they remind us what it is to be human.

Jaime’s Thoughts

Moth and Spark by Anne Leonard

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Moth and Spark is what I would call an epic romantic fantasy. And I was completely hooked from the first pages. I will say this… if you go into this story expecting it to focus more on the fantasy part of the story… the magic and the dragons and the quest, then you will probably be disappointed. This was first and foremost a love story to me and I thought it was wonderfully done.

Prince Corin is next in line to lead the Empire of Caithen, but he has no desire to wed any of the acceptable women his mother has chosen for him. His attention is focused mainly on the potential war that is on the horizon. His return to court from months on the road with his soldiers is something he isn’t really looking forward to. However, Corin’s story actually began ten years earlier, when he was told that he would be the one to free the dragons from their slavery to Emperor Hadon. Forced to drink something he quickly forgets but is also told he will remember when the time is right.

The time is now right… bits and pieces of information slowly come back to him but he doesn’t know what it means or how to help.

Tam, a commoner is at court when Prince Corin arrives and the connection between the two is immediate. Yes, insta-love, but done in a completely believable and understandable way for me. Tam’s father is a doctor and a scholar and as such, she has been raised knowing more than many women that are her age and she isn’t quite as refined as she should be especially when interacting with certain men of the court. But Tam is smart and witty and clever and she has her own skills and a great impact on this story, one that Prince Corin will eventually come to depend on.

I really enjoyed the characters that Leonard has created, both Tam and Corin were wonderfully developed and their relationship felt so natural and easy. I really love when the characters just seem to get each other and these two certainly did just that. But aside from our main two there were a few other characters that stood out for me, most notably King Aram and Joce.

Anne Leonard’s storytelling is rich and vibrant and pulls you into this world of mystery and intrigue, court politics, scheming and gossip, sword fighting and yes of course the dragons. While this story had the potential to overwhelm you with details, Leonard does a wonderful job of revealing the background gradually and at a pace that lets the reader learn about the magical history and Empire in a way that makes sense.

If you’re new to fantasy, I think this would be a perfect jump into the genre. Moth and Spark hits all the right notes with a wonderfully done romance and some adventure but nothing overly done or heavy. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and will definitely be looking forward to what Anne Leonard has in the future.

Thank you to the publisher for a copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

There is magic, dragons, romance, politics and quite a bit of action in this story and it all begins when Corin and his father, King Aram realize how dangerous things are for their kingdom, Caithen and the royal family. Caithen is facing a potential war with Emperor Hadon and Corin and Aram need to figure out how to navigate the politics involved as he currently controls the dragons and the dragonriders. You do have to pay attention early on to all of the different names and information being shared as it all comes up throughout the rest of the novel. Additionally, take a look at the map at the beginning as it will provide some clarity around the location of all of the countries mentioned.

Early on in the story, Corin is approached by the dragonriders and informed that he has been chosen to free the Firekeepers from their slavery to Hadon. When the time is right, he is told that he will remember the conversation and then begin his labors to free them. At the same time, although she doesn’t realize it, Tam’s powers as a Seer are starting to reveal themselves.

Now Prince Corin is back at court after being on the road with his soldiers and Tam, a commoner, is at court for the summer with her sister-in-law. Via a chance run in at the library, they are immediately drawn to each other. Yes, there is a case of insta-love here, I mean, they are basically telling each other how much they love each other after about 3 days (this might be a slight exaggeration) but it didn’t bother me much. I enjoyed seeing their relationship develop, quick as it was, and the overall impact that it had on the story. In addition, to the romance, because Tam is a commoner, she isn’t as close to court life and definitely has to make adjustments the moment she gets there. She begins to see all of the politics and back-stabbing going on and is definitely not a fan. As these two characters begin to learn more about each other, they also begin to learn more about their roles in the war. They both will have critical parts to play and they are just beginning to understand what they are.

As characters go, I did like both Tam and Prince Corin. Tam is independent and smart. She stands up for herself and is fairly confident despite being in a very new situation. Tam also understands the implications of starting up a relationship with Corin and despite that, she follows her heart. Corin is happier being away from court and on the road with his soldiers. He is definitely a strong strategist and understands just what Hadon is trying to do. He also values and trusts the women in his life – he knows they are smart and like his father, begins to value sharing information with Tam to get her thoughts.

I also liked the secondary characters who played a significant role in the story. From King Aram to Kelvan to Joce – all were solid additions and I honestly would have welcomed more about each. Additionally, I really liked Mattan of Harin who Tam met at the ball and although I don’t see how it would fit, I would have liked to see more of him.

At the heart of this story is the fight for power. Emperor Hadon wants to control everything and is taking advantage of Tyrekh taking control of countries surrounding Caithen and eventually attempting to take Caithen itself. Hadon is also aware of the fact that Corin has been chosen to free the dragons from his control and is willing to do anything he can to make sure that doesn’t happen. As war breaks out, Corin and Aram both know anyone connected to the royal family will face danger and with that, they all flee to ensure they aren’t captured. In a quick moment before they are separated, the king performs a marriage ceremony for Corin and Tam and then they all part ways.

As Tam is traveling with Joce, a basilisk who understands magic and power, she begins to learn more about her power and what she can do. At the same time, Corin has escaped with Kelvan to the valley with the wizards and he begins to learn more about his relationship with the dragons and what he is expected to do. There were times that I was a bit confused about Tam’s power – how she was able to “speak” to the dragons and how her power was supposed to help Corin. I also am still a bit unclear of the significance of the moths. I mean, I get they were a sign related to Tam’s power but it was all a bit confusing.

Overall I enjoyed this story. It is different from any of the other fantasy novels I have read recently and that is a definite plus. There was a major focus on the relationship between Corin and Tam and although I understand why, I think true fantasy lovers may have an issue at just how much time is spent focusing on this piece. I myself love a good romance so it only added to the overall story for me. With that said, I thought the story surrounding the war and the dragons was great. If you like fantasy mixed with a bit of romance, I recommend you check this one out when you can.

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