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    A Darkness Forged in Fire: Book One of the Iron Elves
    A Darkness Forged in Fire: Book One of the Iron Elves
    A Darkness Forged in Fire: Book One of the Iron Elves
    Audiobook15 hours

    A Darkness Forged in Fire: Book One of the Iron Elves

    Written by Chris Evans

    Narrated by Michael Kramer

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    Konowa Swift Dragon, former commander of the Empire's elite Iron Elves, is looked upon as anything but ordinary. He has murdered a Viceroy, been court-martialed, seen his beloved regiment disbanded, and been banished in disgrace to the one place he despises the most-the forest.

    Now all Konowa wants is to be left alone with his misery. But for him, nothing is ever that simple. The mysterious and alluring Visyna Tekoy, the highborn daughter of an elfkynan governor, seeks him out in the dangerous wild with a royal decree that he resume his commission as an officer in Her Majesty's Imperial Army, effective immediately. For in the east, a falling Red Star heralds the return of a magic long vanished from the earth. Rebellion grows within the Empire as a frantic race to reach the Star unfolds. It is a chance for Konowa to redeem himself-even if the entire affair appears doomed to be a suicide mission. And the soldiers recruited for the task are not at all what he expects. Worse, his key adversary in the perilous race for the Star is the dreaded Shadow Monarch-a legendary elf-witch whose machinations for absolute domination spread deeper than Konowa could ever imagine.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateSep 1, 2008
    ISBN9781400178360
    Author

    Chris Evans

    Chris Evans is also the author of the Iron Elves saga: A Darkness Forged in Fire, The Light of Burning Shadows, and Ashes of a Black Frost, as well as Of Bond and Thunder, and the nonfiction book Bloody Jungle: The War in Vietnam. He is a military historian and former editor for Random House and Stackpole Books. Born in Canada, he lives in New York City.

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    Reviews for A Darkness Forged in Fire

    3.5/5

    108 ratings12 reviews

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    • 2/5
      The beginning and the end of this book are really good. It makes you want to start and makes you want to keep going. The middle is where there is room for improvement. The battle scenes are cliché and the dialogue/one liners sometimes make me feel like I am reading the script to lethal weapon 8. There are some interesting characters and the use of muskets is an entertaining departure from most fantasy weaponry, but ultimately I expected better.
    • 4/5
      This is a whole different kind of fantasy. Takes a lot of the Tolkein archetypes and throws them out the window. I can see where some people are never going to be able to get past that. For me, I like different. It wasn't perfect but I enjoyed it a lot. Some great characters who I can't wait to see what happens to them next.
    • 4/5
      My wife found this book for me in the library, and though I borrowed it, I didnt' think I was going to like it, at first. I like my elves as per Tolkien generally speaking, but once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. The characters and conflicts are so very compelling, even the ones you want to slap up-side the head for the way they behave, and there are one or two in the book that are that way - that you either love or hate.The writing is descriptive without being overly heavy handed, the plot is full of interesting twists on the usual, and the antagonist and minions of the story are just the right level of evil that you really grow to despise them.I will certainly be following this series.
    • 1/5
      I continue to have bad luck with the books I pick up. This is yet another badly written piece of crap.
    • 3/5
      Not very good, I did finish though. A nothing finish, of course there is a sequel. But there is something about it interesting enough that I will try the sequel.
    • 1/5
      I hate to diss a book. I really do. But this was bad enough I didn't finish it. The characters were juvenile and spent an interminable time going from point nowhere to point nowhere, accomplishing nothing and fighting off monsters that seemed to serve no purpose in the story except to cause something to happen. I rarely give up on a book but this one just couldn't hold my interest.
    • 3/5
      I found this story quite hard to get into but once I got past the first about 100 pages or so I was sucked in and couldn't leave it down.Konowa Swift Dragon was the commander of the Iron Elves, an elite company. Now he's disgraced and the Iron Elves disbanded. They're reformed, but now as a rag-tag bunch of elves, humans and dwarves. Their oath means different things to them now, and will change the way things go.In the background there is the Shadow Monarch, who wants power and control and is willing to do anything to get it. She has some influence on some of the Iron Elves but theres a core that the elves have that she's finding it hard to influence.I did find it hard to get into, and there were times that the various threads got a bit tangled in my head and I couldn't help thinking that while this wasn't a bad story, there was a better story lurking under it, if only some of the superficial layers could be peeled away.
    • 5/5
      It has been quite a while since I have read a true Fantasy, one set in a land that is not familiar to the one we currently reside in. I think that the last Fantasy I read was the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind. I love that series and am quite pleased to discover that The Iron Elves series by Chris Evans is just as good. Fully of action, adventure, romance, and magic, A DARKNESS FORGED IN FIRE is a perfect escape to another world.Konowa Swift Dragon was at one time the leader of the great Iron Elves; although abandoned by their brothers and sisters, the elves of the Long Watch, the rest of the Empire reveres the Iron Elves as the greatest warriors. That is until politics get in the way and Konowa is banished for killing the corrupt and evil Viceroy. If living alone in the forest with nothing but a Bengar for companionship doesn’t change him, an impossible tie to the Shadow Monarch most certainly will.Called back into action by the Empire, Konowa once again becomes a part of the Iron Elves; only this time, there are few elves in the Iron Elves, the warriors instead made up of the miscreants from the other Empire regiments. With only a small regiment of misfits, will Konowa be able to protect the land against the Shadow Monarch and find the Red Star before it falls into much more dangerous hands?Full of action, A DARKNESS FORGED IN FIRE kept me interested and highly entertained from the very first page. There were very few slow parts in the book and ever scene pushed the story somewhere. This movement made for a great story that encouraged the pages to turn faster and faster as I was unable to set the book down. Seriously, I started A DARKNESS FORGED IN FIRE on Friday night and finished all 620 by Sunday night. Now, I’m a fast reader, but a book that size should have taken me a bit longer. The fact that I was able to read it so quickly is due mainly to the fact that the story kept me interested and engaged. “Just one more page” would turn into “just one more chapter.” Before I knew it, I was addicted, making my husband turn the car around so I could go running back inside to grab my forgotten book!I often talk about tension in books. To me, tension is what makes you want to continue to turn the pages. It’s some sort of barrier to the perfect ending. In our case, there were multiple points of tension in A DARKNESS FORGED IN FIRE, from the romance between Visyna and Konowa to the race for the Red Star. Each page was interesting, designed to pull the reader in and engage him or her in the story. I would have to say that Evans did a fantastic job forming the tension and creating an ebb and flow, pulling and releasing us in a never-ending cycle.Outside of the well-formed tension, I found the character development to be my second favorite part of the book. Konowa, being the main character, obviously had a lot of time and energy put into him. What surprised me was how even minor characters that we really only got to see a handful of times were worked on and developed until they had a complexity that added a new layer of depth to the story. Each character had a story and the realism that went into them gave me the feeling that the Iron Elves were lifted right off of the page and deposited in the living room. Trust me – that made for some close confines!Fair warning time: Usually I reserve this section for adult scenes and adult themes, but in the case of A DARKNESS FORGED IN FIRE, we don’t have to worry about these. What I did want to include here is that there are some graphic images in the book. As many stories involving way go, there is bloodshed and it isn’t all pretty. It’s not horribly gruesome or anything, but I just thought I would lay it out there for you.The only thing that tripped me up were the few instances where I felt things may have gone unexplained. There would be something that Konowa couldn't do and then all of a sudden he could do it with no explanation as to why. Other instances occurred where I became confused as to how a character had a particular bit of knowledge. Things like that got to me occasionally but didn't really detract from the overall pleasure of A DARKNESS FORGED IN FIRE. Outside of that small complaint, I really did enjoy the book. Plus, the cover is gorgeous and, well, we all know I can't pass up a great cover!I would recommend this book to anyone that likes a read full of action and adventure. Fantasy lovers should highly enjoy the Iron Elves series. I believe that even non-Fantasy lovers should give it a try. Sure, the story is set in a different time and place, but there are very modern aspects to the story that create a neutral ground for pretty much any reader to find a home in.
    • 4/5
      Excellent book! There are some different concepts at work here, not radically different, but just different enough. Elves in particular take on traditional and non-traditional roles, but done very well. The evil Shadow Monarch, who is really a master of the powers of cold, opposes all life. The Long Watch elves who guard the trees oppose her, as well as the Empire, and the Iron Elves, a regiment of elves who cannot belong to the Long Watch. Joining them are a castoff bunch of humans and a dwarf. There's a few mysteries here that aren't cleared up enough, and at times it is a bit simplistic, but still quite good. Its not Robert Jordan or G. R. R. Martin quality, but certainly the next level.
    • 5/5
      An interesting book about an officer named Konowa who was court martialed and his regiment (the Iron Elves) scattered. But when he is called back to command his regiment again, Konowa finds himself troubled with the prince, extinct monsters, and an evil witch. Read on to find out how Konowa finds the Eastern Star and leads his regiment through the battalions of enemies with minimal casualties.
    • 5/5
      Konowa Swift Dragon was exiled to the woods and his elite band of Iron Elves, all elves cursed with the black ear tip as sign that they are children of the Shadow Monarch, were disbanded and sent away for his killing of the former Viceroy who had fallen into darkness by serving the will of the Shadow Monarch. The Shadow Monarch, an elf, is possessed by a magic that she wishes to consume the world with, spreading her dark forest. After a few years in isolation, wandering with his only companion Jir (a bengar), Konowa is approached again by the Calahrian Empire he once served to once again become a soldier.The Red Star has supposedly fallen, which foretells the return of a magic and knowledge many people and creatures want: the current Viceroy, the Price of Calahr, and the Shadow Monarch included. Given an acorn from the elven Shadow Monarch’s Silver Wolf Oak, Konowa feels a strange power and connection to her, which he wants to use to his advantage to defeat her and her forces once again. As an elf born with a black ear tip and rejected from the birthing meadow so that he never bonded with a tree as elves do, Konowa has never felt much like an elf and was shunned for being cursed.With stories of the Red Star, old and evil extinct creatures are being resurrected, so it is imperative that someone or something stop them. Konowa is told to reband the Iron Elves, but he is not given his old elves. No, instead he is delivered a scattered section of people and races. The new Iron Elves is made up of elf, human, dwarf, and giant alike. But, committed to their service, they take the oath to serve as Iron Elves. Unwittingly, though, the power of the acorn bonds the Iron Elves to their oath such that not even death can separate them from service. Even after death their shades must serve.Unfortunately, too, for Konowa, he must act as second command to the Prince of Calahr, Tykkin. The future king of Calahr has no military experience and cares more for finding the Red Star and studying the world than properly defending it. Another source of frustration for Konowa is the elfkynan witch Visyna, who he likes but disagrees with his usage of the Silver Oak acorn and wants the Red Star for her and her people in order to liberate them from the Calahrian Empire. Plagued by nightmares of the Shadow Monarch, Konowa has a lot to worry about.I must say, I enjoyed this book from page one all the way to the end. My love of reading began with the fantasy genre, after all, so I will always have a very deep love for all things magical. The world that Chris Evans creates is indeed separate from ours, but parallels ours enough that I can see similarities. In the various stories of races and conquest, I see vestiges of our history and culture. For some reason, this helped me connect to the characters. Konowa is brave and handsome and a wonderful soldier, but he is a bit stubborn. As is Visyna. The dwarf Private Yimt Arkhorn is loud and overconfident and his partner Private Alwyn Redwar is careful and skittish. The prince is properly clueless and the writer Rallie is obscure and mysterious. All of the characters are distinct and layered. I love it when an author can create characters that are distinct, that react just as they would and not in a way convenient to making the story easy. It is not hard at all to simply write a character, but to truly create one is a work of true talent.What about the story, though? A Darkness Forged in Fire is just the kind of fantasy I like-- just enough of everything without it being too much. It is full of action and the questions pile one on top of the other as the story progresses. No resolution is come to by the end, which opens way for book 2. By the end of the book, you are left with even more questions as additional stars must be sought out and kept from falling into the wrong hands. The battles are intense and full of detail, and I really got the sense that Evans knows what he is talking about as far as weaponry and battle tactics go. That sort of attention to detail and accuracy lends a lot of realism to a story. For lovers of the fantasy genre, this book will fit perfectly in a collection of quality fiction. As far as I am concerned, Chris Evans is right up there in excellence with Tolkien and Piers Anthony.
    • 5/5
      A Darkness Formed in Fire by Chris EvansAn agrarian society dominated by an Empire’s forces seeks salvation in falling stars. An outcast elf leads the Iron Elves, a military unit in the Empire employ. The outcast elf’s experiences as the Iron Elves fight both rebel forces and the mysterious and sinister Shadow Monarch fuel the action in this book. I enjoyed the way Evans built her characters. She provided plenty of insight to the character’s motivation. All of the necessary pieces were available for a down and dirty fantasy adventure. I particularly liked the interplay between dwarf and dweeb. Konowa’s esprit de corps and his deep sense of responsibility for his men was admirable. His soul searching introspection and brooding kept him from being a stereotyped hero. The plot had a wealth of intricacy as far as plot is concerned. The invocation of an all abiding oath by the Iron Elves tied Konowa’s fate to soul searing revenge. The Iron Elves have the potential to grow into a band of brothers similar to Glen Cooks’ infamous Black Company. I enjoyed the book and have already started the sequel, “The Light of Burning Shadow”