Blue Flame (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Blue Flame Karen Coats Grant, K. M. Blue Flame. Walker, 2008241p (Perfect Fire Trilogy) ISBN 978-0-8027-9694-3$16.99 Ad Gr. 6-9 Kindled at the moment of Christ's death, the Blue Flame has guaranteed the protection of the Occitan, a region separating France from Spain. When King Richard [End Page 239] attempted to claim the Flame for himself in 1199, he was killed, and the flame came into the guardianship of a small boy named Parsifal. For forty years, Parsifal guarded the flame but did nothing else with it, and it faded into legend. Now, with the Inquisition coming to the Occitan, the Flame has found a new champion, a young man named Raimon, son of a Cathar and the would-be suitor of a Catholic girl named Yolanda. As Yolanda attempts to stop her uncle, a priest who is attempting to rise to power on the smoke of a Cathar bonfire, Yolanda's brother seeks to forge an alliance with a French nobleman by offering him Yolanda's hand in marriage. Meanwhile, Raimon joins with Parsifal in an attempt to use the Blue Flame to keep his beloved Occitan out of the hands of the French crown and united despite the religious schisms between the Cathars and the Catholics. The first flush of romantic feelings between Raimon and Yolanda is overwrought and overwritten, and there is much that is predictable here, including the clichéd but obligatory hunting and feasting scenes. However, there is some potential for complexity as the marriage of convenience gets confused with feelings and the political intrigues heat up, and the Blue Flame itself casts the entire scene in shades of fantasy and destiny. While this won't attract any new fans to the genre, those already devoted to medieval historical fiction and fantasy may find that this first of a trilogy (of course) meets their expectations. Copyright © 2009 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois