Great, great fantasy. Our readers will love this combined revised edition. Definitely buying for my library.

Martha Wells has done it again. I really liked this book. This might be one of favorites. I was completely sucked in and I had a hard time putting this down. Worth the read.

This book contains the reissued and revised versions of Wells' The Element of Fire and The Death Of The Necromancer, the first two books in her excellent Ile-Rien series. I had read both books before in their previous incarnations, and I'm thrilled that a new generation of fans will get the chance to discover them (and hopefully continue on to the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy that follows). The writing is stellar, as always, and the world-building is simply unmatched. There are also interesting parallels and tidbits that seem to be reflected or picked up in Wells' later books. A must-have!

A well written and interesting pair of books. I was first introduced to Wells with the Murderbot stores, and initially switching to this novel was a bit of a shock, but the first book grows on you slowly. The second book reminds me of the best parts of a revenge novel and fantasy novel. The two are connected mostly through the city in which they occur, but drive it is hundreds of years apart, they are only very loosely a duology.
If you enjoy mixing genres and fantasy that looks at sorcery as an almost scientific discipline, this book is for you.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

Martha Wells is best known for her <i>Murderbot</i> franchise, a sci-fi space drama about interconnected corporate worlds, interplanetary backstabbing, and a security unit that has hacked its own brain and wants to be left alone to watch its world's equivalent to Netflix in peace.

TOR is the publisher for that series and this early novel from Wells' career. Understandably, they're repackaging some of her backlist to capitalize off <i>Murderbot</i>'s wider readership. Some editing has also evidently been done to update the book, but I didn't read the original and can't tell you how much is different.

Overall, <i>Ile-Rein</i> has some of the action that characterizes Wells' later work with <i>Murderbot</i>, but it's primarily a fantasy setting with either court or revenge intrigue. Ile-Rein has French trappings on the surface, but felt more to me like an Elizabethan-style world with a dowager queen who reads very much like Elizabeth I. (In Book II, we get a more Victorian setting.)

Instead of being a virgin spinster, Queen Ravenna is a widow with a son named Roland and a cunning step-daughter named Kade. Both were emotionally abused by her late husband, the king.

Roland deals with his grief by putting his trust in the wrong people. Kade, who is also the heir to the fey Queen of Air and Darkness, abandons court to pursue her heritage among the Seelie Court. The action begins when Kade returns to court, which coincides with shadowy happenings and attacks on the capital.

I enjoyed the both books, but found the pacing slow. In <I>The Element of Fire</i>, there's a lot of description, several competing court factions, and many supporting characters who don't really matter in the long run. The rules for fey magic were also unclear to me at points, though it made more sense as we went along.

Thomas Boniface, the head of the queen's guard, bears some similarities in style and methods to the Murderbot (or at least, my brain refused to not find parallels between the characters since I read this book after Books 1-7 in that series).

He's also responsible for security, decent at strategy, popular with the women of the court, and pretty excellent in a fight.

The action scenes and a few plot twists were the major strengths for me in this story. If you're in the mood for high fantasy with an emphasis on court politics and moderate action, <i>The Element of Fire</i> will scratch your itch.

Book II, <i>The Death of the Necromancer</i>, didn't pull me in a quickly.

The story moves ahead in time several hundred years to a Victorian-like setting and is about unconnected characters. There are a couple references to the Book I characters, but I was pretty invested in Kate and Thomas and wanted to know more about what happened to them.

I liked gentleman thief Nicholas, but I was less invested in his revenge mission. I did like the occasional court scenes and his dynamic with Madeline, an actor with a small talent for magic.

On the whole, I am glad I read the book and I'm grateful to TOR publishing group for the advanced review copy.

Ile-Rien is a fantasy land featuring in a five-novel series by award-winning Martha Wells. For 2024, the first two instalments have been updated and merged to form THE BOOK OF ILE-RIEN.

The Element of Fire is part one, and those who like to enter a fantasy with someone young who has all their learning ahead, won’t get into this one easily. Politics and backstabbing are strong points in a tale with gory war against dark dimensions. Dowager Queen Ravenna lives in a stone castle with her son Roland and his Queen Falaise. We also meet her stepdaughter Kade, a half-Fae sorcerer, and her scheming cousin Denzil who serves Roland. At the start, guard captain Thomas Boniface is assaulting a town house full of magic traps, to retrieve a kidnapped elderly man who is another sorcerer, Galen. Thomas, we learn, has been the lover of the widowed Queen.
Continued.

Okay, this book has been sitting in my “currently reading” for a month and a half, and since I got a copy courtesy of Tor (and since the ebook is still sitting on my Netgalley shelf), I feel like I owe ‘em a review. The fact that I keep meaning to pick this book back up but then never do probably says something about it in and of itself.

This book is actually an omnibus that contains both The Element of Fire and The Death of the Necromancer. I’ve been sitting at a little over halfway through The Element of fire for I-don’t-know-how-many weeks, and like, it’s fine. I haven’t been <i>bored,</i> but neither have I been surprised or wowed. The Element of Fire was actually Wells’ first published novel, and she’s improved A LOT since then (see: the fantastic standalone City of Bones), so I fully expect The Death of the Necromancer to be a step up.

I’m marking this book “DNF” on Goodreads, but I’m not <i>really</i> DNFing it. I’m just evidently reading it at the pace of a geriatric snail and I don’t like it cluttering up my “currently reading.”

I wanted to love this so much but I just couldn’t get immersed in the world. It felt slow and confusing, like my mind was moving through molasses. The writing didn’t have the author’s usual flair for balancing plot and information but delivering it in an accessible format or tinging it with human and personality to land with the reader.

The Book of Ile-Rein is actually two books: The Element of Fire and The Death of the Necromancer. If you're a Martha Wells fan, this republishing is not something you'll want to skip. I promise.

I'll break down my review of both below; enjoy!

The Element of Fire

Ile-Rien is a proud kingdom full of magic, politics, and occasionally treachery. Okay, the last part isn't so ideal. Luckily, people like Thomas Boniface (the Captain of the Queen's Guard) stand between danger and the people.

A dark wizard is taking action again in the kingdom, but things are not as they seem. Somebody must be helping the wizard find a way inside. Worse, the fae have become more active in the area. This might be more than Thomas can handle on his own.

If you're looking for a book full of magic, politics, and intrigue, The Element of Fire is the book for you. In truth, there's so much going on in this book that it took me some time to truly appreciate it all.

The Element of Fire is split into multiple perspectives. The primary two are Thomas Boniface and Kade (half-fae daughter of the late king). Thomas' side provides politics, investigations, battles, and more. Meanwhile, Kade provides a different perspective on the same world. It's fascinating.

This world is a complex one. We have sorcerers, kingdoms, fae, and different noble families (which means loads of different goals and schemes). It took me a bit to get into the swing of things – probably at least three chapters before I was well and truly invested. But it's worth the time spent, I promise!

It's worth noting that The Element of Fire is Martha Wells' debut novel. So, obviously, we know that Wells has grown a lot as a writer since this book. However, I need to find out how much it's changed for this reprinted version. I thoroughly enjoyed The Element of Fire, regardless.

I would read another dozen books set in Ile-Rien, which is good because there are five in total, plus short stories. However, I'll have to decide if I want to wait for the rest (three and onward) to be republished or if I want to just dive right in.

The Death of the Necromancer

Nicholas Valliarde is a passionate and determined man. Some would say he is too determined, as he is thoroughly focused on his goal – revenge. The good news is that he has strong allies and good friends. Primary among them are Madeline and Reynard.

Unfortunately, this group is about to find themselves in the deep end. It all started in what should have been a final quest to gain revenge. But it quickly becomes a deadly game, as they find themselves between a necromancer and his quarry.

Wow! I dove into The Death of the Necromancer, expecting a sequel like the first, and boy, was I wrong. Where The Element of Fire is more of a political intrigue novel, The Death of the Necromancer leans heavily into the magical heist category.

Actually, let's take a step back. Calling it a magical heist doesn't fully describe The Death of the Necromancer. There is political and magical intrigue (I promise), but it's also more than that. It continues the first novel's world, but in ways I hadn't expected. Likewise, the magic in this novel felt dangerously full of potential.

I loved the characters in this book. Madeline is my favorite, but I also enjoyed Nicholas, Reynard, and Crack. Likewise, the plot twists were compelling. This novel is where Martha Wells got into the swing of things with her writing and this world. It shines so brightly. I want more. Thankfully, I have another three novels to read in this world. I'll have to savor them.

Highlights:
Two-for-One
High Fantasy
Complex World Building
Politics & Magic
Heist Vibes

I think that most of my enjoyment of this book, or books, really came from an appreciation of just how much Martha Wells’ writing improved.

The beginning of The Element of Fire pretty much marked how the rest of it was going to go – introducing a bunch of characters that may or may not be significant in the middle of action. It was hard to get into and pretty dry, run-of-the-mill fantasy, with the exception of Kade, who I enjoyed as a character. Having read Witch King, I couldn’t help but miss that rich, original, lush worldbuilding that Wells eventually developed, and I don’t know if I would’ve finished this one had I not been sure that better things were ahead.

And I was right, as right out the gate The Death of the Necromancer was so much better and the storytelling felt on another level for me. Some 100 years passed in Ile-Rien, along came some technological advances and the characters felt infinitely more fleshed out. (I haven’t read Sherlock Holmes nor The Count of Monte Cristo and judging from some other reviews, that helped.) The fantasy and the story had more meat, but again some of the side characters were just not well established and come to think of it I had the same problem with Witch King, except with fewer people. So I’m counting that as an improvement and also proof that Wells does write her books and really did upgrade insanely, and it’s not a demon she made a deal with after book one.

Thank you to tordotcom and NetGalley for this advance copy.

The Book of Ile-Rien by Martha Wells contains books one & two of Ile-Rien series, The Element of Fire & The Death of the Necromancer. These are a revised version and brilliantly told from troubles within the castle court to an embittered nobleman out for revenge. I completely lost myself in this world and stories.

I enjoy Martha Wells Murderbot series and the City of Bones, so I was delighted to dive into The Book of Ile-Rien. Both stories, The Element of Fire & the Death of the Necromancer, are brilliant but different as well. Both contain magic, suspense, well-drawn characters and take place in the same world.

Elements of Fire – This takes place in a time with castles, kings, royal family and court politics. There is magic, fae, gods, sorcerers and plenty of treacherous characters within the court. We follow the bastard daughter of the king and the Thomas Boniface, Captain of the Queen’s Guard, as they fight to save the kingdom. I found the plot an intriguing one, and the characters pulled me in. This was Wells debut novel and while perhaps polished in this newest edition, it was apparent she’s a masterful storyteller. 4.5 cups of coffee.

The Death of the Necromancer – This was perhaps my favorite, as I was now familiar with the world but also because I picked up on the tie-ins to book one. This read to me like a historical fantasy- mystery as we follow Nicholas Valiarde, a nobleman, thief, and sleuth. He has a reputation of being one of the greatest thieves in the kingdom, and I found him to be clever. He and his crew are on a heist when they stumble upon a dark magic, one that seems to thwart their efforts. All of this leads him to a powerful necromancer who must be stopped and not just for the sake of his activities. 5 cups of coffee.

Whether you are a fan or new to Martha Wells, I highly recommend losing yourself within these stories and world.

DNF @ 24%

probably going to revisit in a few months, but at current the style of writing just isn't catching me. I've heard so many good things about Martha Wells, but I don't think I'm in the mindset for deep, lore rich stories.

I've read Martha Well's Murderbot series which I think is well done. There is no doubt that she writes well and is exceptional at world-building. However, I felt this book was a slow start and didn't pack quite the same punch for me.

I loved that this book was written in two stories. Even though they were pretty disconnected in my opinion, I actually loved it. I really like "independent" stories that are all set in the same universe, so it doesn't bother me as much as it does for most readers!
I thought the characters ampere really well developed and were interesting to read about. Both books kept my interest and I just overall enjoyed reading it.
I would def recommend to fans of Martha wells (obviously!), and to fellow sci fi lovers.

DNF at 134 pages/17%. I think this is a DNF-for-now, not a DNF forever. I would like to come back to this book someday, as Kade seems to be an interesting character, and I'm not wholly uninterested in the story. The problem is that there are about 28 characters with names and titles that are *just* similar enough that I have lost track of who is who in the story. On top of that, the plot is so vague that even though I think I see the underlying dilemma, it is missing in any scene not directly dealing with it.

I think Wells shines in sci-fi and shorter books, and I love Murderbot. Even if/when I do give this one another go, I don't think I will enjoy it quite the same as that, which is a bummer. I hate to give up part-way through a book I was stoked for, but here we are.

Thanks to Netgalley and Tor for the e-ARC!

I love Martha Wells' work and these revised works are interesting to read because you get a glimpse into the young Martha Wells. My reading history was almost exclusively with her more recent works like the Murderbot series, but this book was fantastic! It has wonderful world-building, strong characters, and a compelling mystery story.

The Book of Ile-Rien collects the two full-length novels The Element of Fire and The Death of the Necromancer in one large edition. I will be looking for the second part of the Ile-Rien story with the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy. I loved the Ile-Rien world and want to spend some more time here.

I can't wait to read more of her fantasy!

The Book of Ile-Rien is a bind-up of the two Ile-Rien books that Martha Wells released in the early nineties. I've read some various things of Wells by now and some I love or like, others I don't. The Book of Ile-Rien is a combination of that.

The first book, The Elements of Fire, was messy for me. At the start I felt like I was missing something. As if I was expected to know this whole world already. This did get a little better along the way. But overal it felt a little flat.

Thomas, one of our mc, was seen as a big player. A female favorite, and an enemy to high placed males. He doesn't really seem to want to be there. He never really stepped away from that. He didn't become a real character to me. There is also the thing that there was constantly alluded to him being the dowager queens lover but I saw so very little of that on the page. The very few times they were on the page together, it was other people's reactions to them filling things in and not anything the characters were doing or even feeling towards one another.

Our other mc, Kade, was a bit more interesting. She gave some funny moments and lines. But it never moved away from that. She had potential but she never really stepped up into a full character. She was also meant to be the thing that tied us into the Fae realm. It could have explained the role of the fae in this world more. It didn't do that.

The role of the Fae in this book was odd. They were helping out the bad guy in this. I'm still not a 100% sure why. I saw no real good reason. Nothing that the Fae would truly gain from this.

In contrast, The Death of the Necromancer, was a lot better. It is set about 100 years after the first book. The world seems to have been modernized somewhat with the coaches and the theatre.

All the characters, from our mc to our side characters, felt much more alive and well rounded. There was a more interesting dynamic between the characters. Nicholas was an interesting character. Fueled by his need for revenge, he has been weaving an elaborate plot to catch the one who got his mentor killed. He has a connection with those around him. He calls this inspector his enemy but from the start it is clear that it is more of a being frightened of being found out. It was amusing to see when they finally did get to interact with one another.

The only downside that I found to this story is that the tie in to the first book was Nicholas his family relationship. He is a descendant from someone from book 1 (and boy was that milked when it was revelead, gosh). But other than that I'm not sure I recognized a lot from book 1. It could have been two completely seperate worlds. Even the Fae were barely mentioned in this book.

All in all it was an interesting read. I do not rec Elements of Fire but would rec The Death of the Necromancer. I don't think you need to read book 1 to be able to understand book 2.

The Element of Fire - 4.25 stars
The Death of the Necromancer - 4.5 stars

The Book of Ile-Rien is a new edition for two previously published books by Martha Wells. I didn't get to read them before and I'm glad to have had the chance to do so now.

Although both stories were set in the fantasy kingdom of Ile-Rien, the books follow two separate sets of characters and were set years and years apart.

Martha Wells writing didn't disappoint and I loved the intrigue, the world-building, character interactions and relationships. The pacing in here was just right and the action pieces were fun to read. I prefer the second book a tad bit more than the first one.

If you're into historical fantasy, I recommend giving this book a try.

4.25 stars out of 5 stars.

You can say that I am a bit unexposed to the literary world of fantasy and it's all sub divisions. Additionally, I'm not the type of reader who reads the most popular books or follows the most popular authors. If you asked me who Martha Wells is, well I couldn't tell you. It wasn't until Netgalley allowed me to read this revised collection of two books that I was finally exposed to Martha Wells' writing.

First off, Martha Wells writes really well. Reading The Book of Ilre-Rien is a great example of great writing, especially in a world that has become "fast literature" (take it from a reader of well known and publicized dragon fantasy series that still has three more books to be published). Secondly, though these two books have been combined, they are very different from one another. They could in fact be stand alones. Part 1 - The Element of Fire is medieval, kings and queens, knights and sword fighting, with a world of magical fae that are entwined for political power. Part 2 - The Death of the Necromancer is 100 years after part 1, with a modern feel, and tale of solving a murder. Both have a small romance subplot, and doesn't really detract from the main story line. It reminded me faintly of Priory of the Orange Tree meets Shades of Magic, minus the dragons. and add fae.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the ability to read these books. I will have to finish the series (just 3 more books) after reading this copy! Thank you Netgalley and Tor Books for allowing me to read this for a review. Definitely recommend this book/series!

I am not exactly a full on historical fantasy type of person, but these were so incredible! I had a great time with this. I thought the world was interesting and the characters were compelling.