Feathers and Fire 1-5: A few ups and downs but generally not bad at all

Feathers and Fire 1-5 by Shayne Silvers
My rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ out of 5 stars

Callie is a middle-class, Midwest American girl. And a wizard in training. She works for Roland, a member of the Vatican Shepherds – an elite group of twelve warrior priests who travel the world smiting whatever offends them or their Good Lord.

One problem. Callie isn’t a huge fan of churches… Not even a minor fan, really.

She trains with Roland only to learn how to use those strange magical powers inside her. And because Roland had once saved her and her friend from monsters in a dark alley.

But when a Heavenly spear enters an auction in Kansas City, and Roland is gravely wounded, Callie finds herself forced to step up as an interim Shepherd, and her first night on the job puts her in a bidding war against the infamous Nate Temple – the billionaire wizard from St. Louis. And when demons, shifter bears, vampires, and Nephilim attack the auction for the spear, Nate and Callie are forced to join teams, and one-time foes become hesitant allies.

Callie must learn where she stands as a wizard. Will she hide behind a man, or light Kansas City afire with a name of her own? And will she finally come to appreciate God? Or will the demons and monsters in the shadows take her for themselves?

Because Callie soon learns she isn’t just a wizard, and it was never just about the spear. Monsters have evidently been hunting Callie her entire life, and now, they’ve finally found her…

I started to read this series because it is written by the same author as The Temple Chronicles, a series that I quite liked. This one has had a few ups and down but overall I have quite liked it.

As you can read from the book blurb this is about Callie Penrose, a girl with magical powers that, surprise surprise, is a lot more powerful than she knows and will play a major role in the magical future of the world that the author has built.

Callie may start off a bit timid and hesitant but she develops quite a bit during the course of the five books that I have read so far and turns into quite an ass-kicker. The series is a bit of a crossover with The Temple Chronicles and characters that have appeared in The Temple Chronicles turns up also in these books from time to time. Luckily I like most of Shayne Silvers characters. At least the ones on the, mostly, good side.

The books are in the same style as The Temple Chronicles which means that there are an abundance of mythical and magical creatures and characters roaming around. I do like how the author uses well known, well for fans of fantasy at least, creatures and throws them in with a bit of a modern twist. We are served pretty might everything from plain old vampires to Vatican “knights”, Egyptian Sphinxes, demons, angels and so on and so forth.

Of course it would not be a good urban fantasy novel if it would not be liberally sprinkled with outbursts of magic with the intention of making things go boom, or at least sever a few limbs or something. On that account this series deliver plenty as well. Everything from minor skirmishes to chopping down big stampeding demons…or worse.

I do like the writing of this author. There is plenty of world building, plenty of kick-ass (and likable) characters and a shitload of action. He is using old myths and characters from them like there was no tomorrow but he generally manages to make it work. Sometimes it becomes a bit silly but mostly it’s good reading.

The books have good character development and a decent enough story that develops nicely. The series started out a bit hesitantly and I was not entirely sure if I liked it or not but now, after five books, I have to say that it is a four out of five stars series.