A Vision of Fire – Gillian Anderson and Jeff Rovin
As the first of what we can assume will be many books that chart their way through a far more epic plot in The Earthrend Saga, A Vision Of Fire makes an excellent stand alone tale of political intrigue, mysterious objects; origin unknown, secret groups, philosophical and spiritual discourse and a good old fashioned love story tossed in for good measure, all of which keeps you involved. It is an exciting book immediately and the action is almost cinematic; hardly surprising as Gillian Anderson herself said that she hopes to bring the story to television. If the novel is any yardstick then an on-screen version of A Vision of Fire would make Anderson’s takeover of our small screen adaptations increase to stellar proportions.
The whole thing is screaming to be on screen with the visuals expertly conjured, and the lead character is very much within Anderson’s casting type. Having said that, it’s no bad thing (neither is aforementioned takeover; those who haven’t seen The Fall should seek it out). The protagonist is child psychologist Caitlin O’Hara and while it bothers me that I should have to make this point at all, it’s nice to see a strong female carry a story without being reduced to a stereotype. O’Hara is believable and quickly becomes someone whose ideas you want to follow.
I couldn’t help but be distracted by the fact that it is not fully written, but co-written, by one half of everyone’s favourite paranormal FBI partnership and I found myself wondering which bits belonged to the actress and which to NYT bestselling author, Jeff Rovin, Anderson’s co-author. Was that idea hers or his? Did he write this chapter or did she? Do they even write together in such a way? This distraction, however, was short-lived and one can’t help but feel that O’Hara’s credible qualities are the result of Anderson’s input as this is a very well written female character.
The main plot that we can assume will link the saga’s volumes is a collection of mysterious artefacts whose origin is unknown and, more specifically, the chain of events in A Vision of Fire are set off with what seems to be the completion of this collection. O’Hara finds herself involved in the treatment of one of many people across the world who are affected by these artefacts and by an event on Earth’s timeline, whose behaviour has become inexorably linked and increasingly bizarre.
One of the things that contributes to A Vision of Fire being a mighty fine standalone story is the fact that the main plot lines are neatly tied up by the time you get to the last page. There are no cliffhangers that will leave you desperately counting the days for the next installment (George R R Martin, I’m looking at you) but you do have horizons to look to and ponder as you move on to the next literary journey. There is a satisfaction in this closure while maintaining a lasting interest in the bigger ideas whose surfaces have clearly only been scuffed so far.
There are a couple of points in the journey at which I found myself truly terrified, which is a rare find; an author (or two) with the ability to completely encapsulate you within their prose and their world, successfully making you feel what their characters feel in particular moments. It could be argued that this achievement requires suspension of disbelief from the reader but, with A Vision of Fire standing proudly in the science-fiction section of your favourite bookstore, the chances are that if you’ve picked it up you’re no stranger to the requisite suspension anyway.
And make no mistake, A Vision Of Fire is science fiction. It is an atmospheric new series that has at its core a potentially brilliant plot motivator that certainly feels as though it could live up to its Saga claims far more convincingly than Candy Crush. Beyond that potential though is a credible science fiction/philosophy crossover which occasionally has a tendency to veer dangerously close to being religious analogy of Purgatory, but maintains the feeling that if you were to stick with it through further volumes perhaps the ultimate explanation will be far more complex and ultimately better. The only possible downfall could come from the Saga not being able to live up to the many possibilities that it sets up here in Book One, but the combination of Anderson/Rovin has proven powerful and more than capable of crafting a gripping, exciting, thrilling, terrifying world and I have faith that the pair will carry the saga through to fruition.
I’ll definitely be on the lookout for the next installment, and urge you to check out this first one right away so you can say you read the book before everyone was addicted to the TV show.
A Vision of Fire – Book 1 of The Earthrend Saga will be published through Simon & Schuster on October 9th 2014
