A Review of Swift the Storm, Fierce the Flame
After a mission gone awry two years ago, Remy Castell has been desperately searching across worlds to find the friend she failed to save—the friend who changed her life by helping her overcome the brainwashing she was subjected to as a genetically engineered corporate agent.
Plot
Swift the Storm, Fierce the Flame is the sequel to Meg Long’s debut novel Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves. The story picks up right where the plot of the first book in the series left off so the reader is immediately thrown into the action and tension as Remy, Sena, and Iska land on a new, hostile planet. Here they encounter a new set of conflicts and obstacles as Remy is forced to confront her past life and decisions. The book had a number of surprises and I was easily pulled into the story just as I was for the first book.
Characters
The biggest surprise as I started this sequel was that the point of view changes from Sena, the protagonist of the last book, to Remy. It makes sense, given the plot focuses on Remy that the story would need to be told from her point of view in order to get the flashbacks that are essential to understanding the current events. But, I was disappointed as I enjoyed having Sena as a narrator in the last novel and I didn’t find Remy quite as engaging. I did enjoy many of the new characters and found the overall dynamics between the characters to be just as well developed as the first book.
Setting
What I loved most about this book is exploring more of the universe that helps inform the world we saw in the first book of the series. We’ve heard about other ‘gangs’ and the corporation run economies while on Sena’s world but now that we now get to experience first hand. The author did a great job adding depth and interest to this new world while making it relevant to the already established rules from Cold the Night.
My Recommendation
I was so excited to share Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves with you all last year and when I was offered the opportunity to review the sequel, I could not wait to dive in. And I’m happy to report that this book did not disappoint, it keeps the high tension, high energy vibe of the first book. I was a bit disoriented by the change in narrator but it makes sense given the necessary background information needed for the story. But overall, I loved the story and I hope to see more from this series and author in the future.
