Flesh and Fire by Laura Anne Gilman
(Book One of The Vineart War), Pocket, $26.00, 384pp, hc, 9781439101414. Fantasy.
In Flesh and Fire, Laura Anne Gilman has invented a completely new form of magic, one based on wine. Her magicians, Vinearts, are completely wedded to their art: they are raised as slaves in the vineyards, grow to learn the taste, smell, and feel of not only the grapes, but the dirt in which they grow, the vines upon which they grow, the vats in which they are distilled, and on and on.
These Vinearts inhabit a feudal world, one Gilman has created whole and seemingly complete, from the historical basis of the caste system to the religious limits on the spread and use of magic. Her characters are fully fleshed out, and their lives ring true.
We start with a slave… well, we actually start with a view of ancient historo-mythology, and then another, setting the world in which the story lives. Then we get to the slave, existing in the vineyards, avoiding notice whenever possible. From this non-life, the young slave is plucked (not unlike a grape having ripened on the vine), and brought to live in his master’s house. There, the slave remembers he did once have a name, Jerzy, and his master remembers his own education as a former slave. This is the method by which vinearts are grown. And Jerzy’s life is only becoming more difficult, as he is now learning his place in a much wider world, learning how the magic of the vinearts works, and learning that the life of a free person can be almost as circumscribed as life of a slave.
But this is much more than just a coming-of-age story. The world into which Jerzy is thrown is a world in flux. There are big changes afoot, and Jerzy’s Master Malech is only just getting hints of those changes himself. And Jerzy will be not just his student, but his tool.
As a vineart, Jerzy is unripe, not ready to go out into the wider world, not ready to exercise the unique magical abilities that are the hallmark of a vineart. But there isn’t time to allow him to age naturally. First, Malech sends him out to deliver spellwine to the local lord, whose land is suffering the ravages of a sea monster. And when another creature appears, Jerzy finds himself not merely a courier, but actually using (“decanting”) the spellwine to add his powers to the lord’s, and thus defeat the sea monster.
After Jerzy’s success, Malech takes him further into his confidence, but not completely (vinearts are by nature very private individuals; sharing anything is difficult). Malech makes an agreement with another vineart, to send Jerzy as an exchange student, to learn from a second vineart. This activity in itself is unheard of, probably a sin, and definitely against the teachings of the church. But Jerzy will go, and will learn, and will try to carry out his second—secret—mission: to learn more about what is changing the world, what is happening, and is there another, unknown source of magic afoot?
Gilman tells a gripping story that keeps the reader turning pages, wanting to know what happens next. The biggest flaw with the book is that the story isn’t complete. She clearly tells us this is “Book One of the Vineart War.” But for those who like a little completion in their book, be warned: this story doesn’t end; it chops off, awaiting the next volume. Now, dammit, I have to wait for the next book to be published to find out what happens to the apprentice vineart Jerzy, his friend trader-apprentice Ao, and Mahault, the daughter of Giordan’s lord-maiar, who is to join them on their quest. Stay tuned.