Fire Logic: Back in the World

Tue 22 Jan 2019 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Posted by: Gavin

Fire Logic cover - click to view full sizeIn 2002 I was the sf&f reviewer for BookPage. I reviewed one book a month and every three months I’d do a column review of three books. It was an interesting gig trying to find books I could write about, books with big enough reach to interest readers of a general interest publication distributed in libraries and bookshops. It helped that I was working at BookSense.com — the ABA‘s website which later became Indiebound — and had access to a larger pool of incoming books.

Early in the spring of 2002 I came across Laurie J. Marks’s Fire Logic, published by Tor. The cover didn’t grab me but it didn’t put me off — I know people who found it offputting but the cover was just a signal that the novel was epic fantasy with a woman at the center so I gave it a shot. I loved it.

“Marks has a wide-angle view and has written an immensely political and unflinchingly optimistic novel. Differences are celebrated as often as scorned, and love can be found even with an enemy without the costs that might be expected in our world. Fire Logic questions both the real magic behind faith and the self-selective blindness involved in following a leader: religious, military or political. Characters and story come together effortlessly even as Marks refuses to shy away from complex issues of self-determination, ownership and multicultural coexistence.”

Here was a book that attempted to capture some of the complexity of personal and political relations and didn’t flinch from the difficulties and opportunities these offered.

The second book, Earth Logic, came out in 2004 (also from Tor). In 2007 we published the 3rd novel, Water Logic (Water Logic is still shipping the first edition cover. The new edition will ship in June), and in June we’ll publish the final volume, Air Logic. It’s been a long wait for Air Logic but it has been worth it.

While we work on getting Air Logic out in the world we’re enjoying seeing the reaction to new and returning readers to the earlier books. Don’t miss the 15-copy giveaway of Water Logic — along with 15 copies of Air Logic also up for grabs — on LibraryThing this month.

The new editions have interlocking artwork by the eternally patient and eagle-eyed Kathleen Jennings.

The new edition of Fire Logic is out today. Happy RePublication Day, Laurie! Anything you can do to spread the word about these magnificent books will be much appreciated over the next few months. Enjoy!