Flames of Mira

May 9, 2022
Harmon debuts and launches his Rift Walker fantasy series with a relentlessly violent tale of political upheaval and familial betrayal. The ice-crusted world of Mira is ruled by a sadistic Sovereign and divided into often warring Territories where inhabitants live in dismal cities built into sinkholes. Ig, an elemental, is an enforcer for paranoid Magnate Sorrelo and under flesh binding magic to obey his every demand. But Sorrelo’s domination of the Augustin territory is shaken by an impending coup led by the Listener Olevic. When Sorrelo dies fleeing the city, his three teenage children, Emil, Sara, and Efadora, undertake separate, involved missions to return to Augustin and avenge his death. Though Ig yearns for his freedom, he’s loyal to Emil and Sara, the latter of whom inherits her father’s power over Ig, forcing him into vicious acts. Harmon inflates the resulting overblown quest narrative with grotesque local color and interminable scenes of killing and torture. The sheer amount of bloodlust here leaves little time for character development, making for shallow protagonists who often speak in platitudes. It’s an unpleasant excursion into a hostile world. Agent: Joshua Bilmes, JABberwocky Literary.

July 15, 2022
As far as anyone knows, Ig is merely a foreign servant of the Adriann, ruling family of Augustin. He's bound to obey Magnate Sorrelo, and when he's forced to execute a man against all custom, tension in the city snaps. A coup is inevitable--but Sorrelo orders Ig to use his abilities to save the family. Ig has control over elements, and while the witnesses are sworn to secrecy it's only a matter of time before the secret comes out. When Sorrelo is murdered en route to find support to retake Augustin, his heirs Sara and Emil split up; Ig accompanies Sara. Sara's methods are questionable, her motives more driven by blind ambition than any concern for the people of Augustin, and control over power like Ig's certainly corrupts. Fires of Mira is a tale of the battle to retake power and Ig's struggle to maintain his sense of self in the face of Sara's ambition, with some background world building that promises interesting possibilities in further volumes. Grim, dark, not exactly a hopeful initial outing, but certainly an adventure.

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