Saint Fire (The Secret Books of Venus)

Following Faces Under Water, Tanith Lee’s alchemical thriller series continues with a Joan of Arc–inspired novel set in an alternate medieval Venice.   In Saint Fire, the second volume in the Secret Books of Venus series, Volpa is a strangely beautiful servant girl who glows with an inhuman inner flame. When her master, an abusive wood seller, is mysteriously incinerated, Volpa discovers her power of fire. Her gift is noticed by the Church leaders, who see her as a mighty weapon in their holy wars. This gripping fantasy of a mysteriously gifted Joan of Arc is stunning from beginning to end.   “Lee’s writing is as entrancing as ever, full of evocative imagery and memorable characters. The questions she raises about faith and hypocrisy, fear and justice, are deftly rendered and not easily answered.” —Publishers Weekly   “The author of Faces Under Water continues her saga of a city at the mercy of powers beyond its control. Lee’s sensual and evocative storytelling imparts a dreamlike quality to this tale of transcendent faith and human passion.” —Library Journal   “Evocative, and set forth in Lee’s eerily crystalline prose.” —Kirkus Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Tanith Lee, winner of the August Derleth Award and several World Fantasy Awards, has created a fascinating alternate Venice in her Secret Books of Venus, a proposed four-novel series based on ancient concepts surprisingly scarce in fantasy: alchemy and the four elements. Available now are Book I, Faces Under Water, and Book II, Saint Fire; they can be enjoyed out of order, for they have self-contained plots and no shared characters. Inspired by the Joan of Arc legend, Saint Fire explores the mysteries of faith, love, power, and the miraculous. Dark, ironic, insightful, and elegantly written, Saint Fire is classic Tanith Lee. Volpa is just another slave, until her pale beauty and fiery hair attract the lustful attention of a brutal owner. A mysterious conflagration leaves her free, unharmed, without memory--and in the power of the Church, whose ambitious leaders have conflicting plans for her. Some believe she is touched by the Divine; others see her fire-power as Satanic and will stop at nothing to destroy her. --Cynthia Ward

From Publishers Weekly

The second volume, after Faces Under The Water, in Lee's projected four-part "Secret Books of Venus" series is set in an alternate medieval Italy and dedicated to the alchemical element fire. Volpa is an innocent slave girl with the ability to call deadly flame from her long, fox-red hair. When her master attempts to rape her as he did her mother, Volpa incinerates him. Word of her mysterious talent reaches the ears of Fra Danielus, a crafty priest who hopes to use Volpa's fire-summoning ability against the invading infidel Jurneians. Cristiano, one of the Bellatae Christi, the holy knights who answer to Danielus, is less certain of the priest's plans. To Crisiano, VolpaAnow called BeatificaAappears much more than she seems, "holy, holy in some incoherent, awful, total way, as a fallen angel might." Taught to wear men's clothes and ride astride, Beatifica accepts every order without question, first as a slave and now as a fine weapon groomed for war. In her purity, Cristiano finds hope to renew his own weakening faith. But when Danielus finally uses his fiery tool in battle, no one is prepared for the outcome, or the probing questions about the true source of Beatifica's powers. Lee's writing is as entrancing as ever, full of evocative imagery and memorable characters. The questions she raises about faith and hypocrisy, fear and justice, are deftly rendered and not easily answered.(Nov.) FYI: The winner of several World Fantasy Awards, Lee is also the author of the Flat Earth series. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In an alternate Venice, a young girl named Volpe demonstrates a miraculous ability to call fire and earns herself the status of holy woman in the eyes of a compassionate priest and a fanatic holy warrior. Behind the scenes, however, a ruthless and dogmatic Church leader works for Volpe's destruction, claiming that her powers come from the Devil rather than from God. The author of Faces Under Water continues her saga of a city at the mercy of powers beyond its control. Lee's sensual and evocative storytelling imparts a dreamlike quality to this tale of transcendent faith and human passion. For most fantasy collections. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Second entry in Lee's latest fantasy tetralogy (following Faces Under Water, not seen) set in Venus, an alternate-world medieval Venice. Fourteen-year-old red-haired slave Volpa drudges for her brutal master until one night he attempts to rape her. Having learned from her mother how to bring fire, she burns the house down but loses her memory and afterward wanders the streets as a beggar. Cristiano, a Soldier of God, hearing a wild version of her feat, brings her to his superior, Magister Major Danielus. As Volpa regains her memory, Danielus coaxes her to demonstrate her talent. Knowing a war with the infidel trade rival Jurneians to be inevitable, Danielus arranges for Volpa to be educated, be taught to ride a horse, and learn to dress like a man. As Danielus had hoped, the Soldiers of God begin to worship her as the Maiden Beatifica. The Jurneians attack with their huge fleet, destroy Venus's navy, and occupy the lagoon. Danielus induces Beatificaby now convinced that Cristiano is an angel in human formto incinerate the enemy by telling her that the Jurneians will torture Cristiano to death. And so she burns the Jurneian fleet but spares the men, then falls into a deathly trance. When she wakes, thinking Cristiano dead, she can no longer call fire and is condemned as a witch. Evocative, and set forth in Lee's eerily crystalline prose; but, like her previous outing (The Gods are Thirsty, 1996), held back by being trite and overextended. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Tanith Lee is one of the leading fantasy authors working today. She has written over 50 novels and short story collections, among them the bestselling Flat Earth Series. She has won the World Fantasy Award numerous times as well as the August Derleth Award.

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