The early worlds of Tanya Huff

[bibliogramma]

Of Darkness, Light and Fire is an an omnibus volume containing two of Huff’s early novels, both of which I've read before, and both of which I was delighted to read again.

Gate of Darkness Circle of Light

As i think I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been a devoted fan of Tanya Huff’s work since her very first published novel. I read this novel shortly after it was published, and loved it then, and I still love it now that I’ve read it again.

These days, when people talk about urban fantasy, what they mostly seem to mean is novels with urban settings about kick-ass protagonists, primarily women, who hunt down magical or supernatural nasties, usually with the help of a friendly vampire or werewolf or whatnot (unless we're talking YA urban fantasy, where the protagonist is having an angst-ridden adolescent romance with the vampire, werewolf or whatnot). There’s certainly nothing wrong with that – after all, Huff was one of the pioneers of that particular subgenre, with the Victory Nelson series. But the urban fantasy that I remember fondly and don't see quite as often as I'd like to is the kind that started a bit earlier, with books like Diana Paxton’s Brisingamen and Emma Bull’s War of the Oaks – and Tanya Huff’s Gate of Darkness, Circle of Light.

Books where the formula isn’t set yet, and the group of people who come together to fight the darkness may well be special, even supernatural (after all, the assembled warriors of light here include a street musician who, all unbeknownst to himself, is two-thirds of the way to becoming a true Bard, three women - a bag lady, a frazzled social services caseworker, and her mentally challenged client who works in a doughnut shop - who are, at times, avatars of the triple goddess, and an Adept of light, who might be called in other frames of reference an angel) but what gives them the edge to win is the basic human virtues of love in the face of despair, courage in the face of fear. Because it’s their humanity that saves the world, the rest just makes it a little easier to get there. This is a beautiful story about daring to do what is right, even when you have no idea how you're going to make it happen, and fear that tyhe sacrifice may be all you have to give.

The Fire’s Stone

Another early Huff novel, The Fire’s Stone is a wonderful coming-of-age magequest romance and political intrigue story – and yes, putting all of those elements together in one story just makes it stronger.

Huff has always had the gift of creating characters that are multi-dimensional and interesting. The Fire’s Stone brings together Chandra, a 16 year old princess who has the gift to become a powerful wizard; Darvish, the dissolute third son of a king to whom Chandra has been betrothed, and Aaron, master thief with a death wish. Their quest is to save Darvish’s homeland from total destruction after the theft of a magical artefact threatens to unleash the power of the sacred volcano in the heart of the capital city. Along the way, the three manage to heal each other of old and very deep wounds, and forge a most unexpected and unusual relationship.

Another great early story from a master of the fantasy genre.