Book Review: Fire and Lightning, Ash and Stone by Kelsey Clifton

This book is relatively new, but when I got the opportunity to get it on Kindle, I instantly hopped onto it and got the book! I didn’t know anything about it going in, but I never say no to a fantasy when I can. The cover looked very cool, too, so that’s mostly what I was going off of.

So let’s have a look, shall we, at Fire and Lightning, Ash and Stone, written by Kelsey Clifton. Very minor spoilers ahead.

In the world of Fire and Lightning, young adult members of the high houses are supposed to prove their worth as someone of stature by partaking in a heroic quest. Jae, a young lord, and his guardian, an older librarian named Aldwin, set out on a quest to rescue a legendary princess. However, it quickly turns out that the princess, who is actually an age-old sorceress named Liana, doesn’t need rescuing at all. Liana quickly bonds with Aldwin, however, and she sets out with him and Jae on a quest to save a princess from a ruthless dragon.

This story reminded me in many ways of the classic fairy tales I used to be read as a kid, which is definitely a plus. As far as your fantasy worlds go, this one is pretty basic, but it’s still nicely established and was interesting enough to keep me invested. It’s filled with highborn families, lords, princesses, dragons, trolls and the like. It definitely has potential for more stories in this same setting, so I wonder if Clifton will leave off the story here or continue the story with a sequel or something along those lines.

The characters were not the story’s strongest suit, but two of them were really good at least. I’m a huge fan of both Liana and Aldwin. Their relationship is very charming and they’re both enjoyable characters in their own right. Jae and the two other major female characters we come across are just kind of there and the former is definitely a bit annoying, but not unbearable or anything. I just liked the story the most when the focus was on Liana and Aldwin.

This is definitely a fantasy I enjoyed! It had a really good climax to it and a fun world and pretty good characters. I’d definitely recommend you check this one out of it speaks to you.

Rating: 4/5