From Unseen Fire

March 5, 2018
If there’s an overlap in fandoms for I, Claudius and Game of Thrones, Morris’s painfully old-fashioned debut is aiming there. In Aven, seat of a quasi-Roman empire, word of the dictator Ocella’s demise is spreading, and those who have awaited this opportunity begin jockeying for position. Candidates include Rabirus, a calculating soldier-lackey aligned with the dictator; Latona, a well-born mage and Ocella’s unwilling mistress; Sempronius, an exiled politician and secret mage with ambitions; and Ekialde, an Iberian tribal leader preparing for war against the Avenian overlords. After the adrenaline punch of the opening assassination, the book is dominated by the ruminations, posturing, and gossip of a large, well-realized cast. By the time the machinations are briefly interrupted by a riot, it’s clear that Morris’s projected trilogy is going to stick to an old-school formula of patriarchy, lighter-skinned imperators enslaving darker-skinned barbarians, and legitimated, systemic violence, much of it against women and children. Adding magic changes nothing in the equation. This competently written political intrigue could have emerged from a time capsule sealed in 1950. Agent: Connor Goldsmith, Fuse Literary.

Starred review from April 1, 2018
Morris' epic-fantasy debut melds Roman history and elemental magic into a spellbinding tale of political machinations. The demise of a vile dictator sets off a race between opposing political parties to rebuild a sorely depleted Republic. According to old Avenian law, those with magic are forbidden from running for high office to prevent one person from having too much power. Sempronius Tarren, an ambitious senator with a hidden talent, plans to run for a praetorship anyway. The position would give him command of a legion and opportunities for military victory over a powerful young warrior who is pushing their western Iberian colony into rebellion. Success in the field often leads to a consular office, a position from which Sempronius could guide the empire. What he had not counted on was the married daughter of one of his allies, blessed with powerful yet uncontrollable magic that could give his rivals a weapon against him. Both the political and the personal could set Aven aflame. Fans of I, Claudius and Game of Thrones are in for a treat in this series starter. The combination of history, dark and light magic, family, political and religious rivalry, and military conflicts will draw readers from many genres.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)