Swift the Storm, Fierce the Flame Review

Author: Meg Long

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Release Date: Jan. 17, 2023

Purchase Link: Amazon

Special thanks to Wednesday Books for my copy.

A girl hellbent on finding the friend she lost. A planet on the brink of total destruction. Only one way to find answers amidst the chaos: team up with a traitor to stage a revolution, in Meg Long's Swift the Storm, Fierce the Flame.

Review:

I was introduced to Meg Long's descriptive prose in the stunning Cold The Night, Fast The Wolves.  The world building is outstanding and the story line mesmerizing.  I'm happy to say she's taken that world to new heights in Swift the Storm, Fierce the Flame.  Remy Castell, a support character in the previous book, takes center stage in this book as she's on a mission to find the friend she was forced to leave behind - the friend who helped her recover from the brainwashing she was forced into as a genetically engineered corporate agent.  Remy was betrayed by her genopath partner Kiran Lore and left for dead.  Now it seems she must seek out his help if there's any hope of finding her friend and saving a planet even though it means returning to the jungle planet of Marass that is plagued by a hellstorm that's growing larger by the day.  Danger lurks everywhere . . . perhaps most in the man whose help she seeks.  He portrayed her once . . . can she trust him now?

The highly atmospheric setting in Swift the Storm, Fierce the Flame steals the show at every turn.  Long's world building stretches the imagination and yet is unbelievably realistic.  It's all-consuming in every way - tantalizing all five senses to the point that readers are drawn into the battles taking place.  The plot line and characters are larger than life and yet somehow feel so authentic that you believe every word you're reading.  I love the inclusion of characters from the previous book, especially Sena and her vonenewolf Iska with whom this whole thing started.  The author has expanded the world and broadened the reach of characters while blending the past with the present.  The pace is insane in this action packed story and so intense that I found myself holding my breath at times.

Meg Long has rendered another fantastic otherworldly story in Swift the Storm, Fierce the Flame and reeled me into it.  While young adult fantasy isn't my go-to genre, I found myself trapped alongside these characters, battling my way through to the final page.  Long's expertise at building vivid, larger than life worlds is nothing short of brilliant as is her talent for delivering fascinating, complex characters readers pull for.  Swift the Storm, Fierce the Flame is an intense, vivid, gritty story I highly recommend to fans of fantasy and sci-fi.

Synopsis:

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.

Since then, she’s been chasing the only lead she has: fellow genopath Kiran Lore, the same secretive ex-squadmate who left her for dead when she compromised their mission. She nearly caught up to him on Tundar before joining the infamous sled race alongside outcast Sena and her wolf companion Iska. Now, all three of them have tracked Kiran back to Maraas, the jungle planet where Remy lost everything. But nothing on Maraas is how it was two years ago. Syndicates and scavvers alike are trying to overthrow a megalomaniac corpo director. Remy definitely wants nothing to do with that; fighting against corpos is as useless as trying to stay dry in the middle of the giant hellstorm that encircles the planet. But the storm—and the rebellion—are growing stronger by the minute.

When Remy finds Kiran, he doesn't run like she expects. Instead, he offers her a deal: help with the revolution and he'll take her to her friend. But can she really trust the boy who betrayed her once before? With the entire planet on the edge of all-out war, Remy will have to decide just how far she's willing to go to save one girl before the impending storm drowns them all.