Forged in Fire by J.A. Pitts

Forged in Fire by J.A. Pitts

A Tor Book published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, 2012.

Overview: Sarah Beauhall continues to deal with the fall-out of the dragon-slaying she accomplished in Black Blade Blues, picking up right where Honeyed Words left off. A bloodthirsty necromancer is on the loose, and while he has taken a distressing interest in killing off Sarah's acquaintances, he is definitely trying to achieve something even more terrible.

My reaction: Forged in Fire thankfully moves much faster and with more direction than Honeyed Words, but it did not quite equal Black Blade Blues for me. Since we jump right into an action sequence in the first pages, I thought it was going to really show off Sarah's skill with a hammer and sword. Unfortunately, a lot of the action remains on the periphery of her life, and it began to irk me. In my book, if some of your favorite acquaintances are brutally slaughtered for the express purpose of finding out more information from you, AND you have the battle skills to do something about it, YOU TRY TO FIND THE EVIL NECROMANCER. On the whole, though, I was mostly engaged as I enjoyed Katie coming into her own as a heroine herself, and speculating at how Sarah's association with a dragon was going to work out. While I didn't see any hint of another installment coming on his website (which was last updated before Forged in Fire was released!), there were some major loose ends that I anticipate will be taken up if there is one. (Based on the interval between the first three, it shouldn't be too much longer.) I have to admit that I hope there is one, despite the mixed bag of its predecessors, as those loose ends have the potential to be a really good story.