Pyromancer
Don Callander

An average book… I didn’t check the publication date, but it sounds like Tolkien’s era, when fantasy was tied to a certain set of tropes — cute little fairies, mountain-dwelling dwarves, eccentric wizards… and, of course, stupid, bumbling enemies. You know the sort — every Redwall book has them — the Bad Guys who are egotistical and so cruel to their own followers that said followers defect to the Good side at the slightest hint of kindness.

Also part of the equation — romance between two characters that happens just because it seems to be convenient, plastic because we don’t see any of the causes and effects, any of the details that make emotions solid.

It’s not a bad book, though, as long as you don’t take it too seriously. It’s a fairy tale, at heart, and can be enjoyed as one.