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Release Date: August 30, 2011
Series: The Fury Trilogy #1
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Emily and Chase aren't bad people -- they've just made a few mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes, right? A little remorse and everything will be fine. Unfortunately, some acts can't be taken back -- and three beautiful, mysterious girls are here to make sure they pay. As Emily and Chase are about to learn, sometimes sorry just isn't enough.

Fury alternates between two teens, Emily and Chase, and carefully sketches in the details of their ordinary, every day lives. It is surprising to discover that the mythological beings are not the main characters of this novel -- instead, they hover on the fringe, leaving the focus on the remarkably human and flawed leads. Elizabeth Miles brings her cast to life, making them seem more like people than characters. The inhabitants of Ascension are not extraordinary, and that's what makes them so authentic. They are imperfect and not all that likable -- but that seems to be the point. Emily is naive and shallow, not to mention a terrible friend, and Chase seems petty and insecure. Their off-putting personalities make sense in the context of the novel, yet it also makes it difficult to invest in their fates. Miles' skill at humanizing her characters is impressive, but they would be more rounded with a few admirable traits as well.

Em and Chase are not the most despicable people in town by a long shot, yet they're the unfortunate souls singled out for vengeance. The fact that the avenging girls are not the protagonists adds to their mystique, but it also obscures the method to their madness. The first half of the novel drags, as it's impossible to tell what transgression Chase committed or what punishment Emily is receiving for her own crimes. Crucial backstory isn't introduced until late in the novel, leaving readers feeling confused for an agonizing length of time. Yet, though Emily's story line is clearest at the outset, Chase's plot ends up being the strongest as he moves inexorably toward his fate. Though neither is endearing, Chase has the most complexity -- from his love-and-hate relationship with a childhood friend, to his attempt to rise above his socioeconomic status -- readers will feel sorry for him as his punishment progresses (even if he seems to be determinedly walking into the trap).

The calculating and manipulative powers of their tormentors are made starkly and terrifyingly clear as the novel spirals toward its devastating conclusion. Miles lays a strong groundwork for her mythology, immersing readers in the fear and uncertainty of a

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Readers with good memories will remember that more than one character in Flora Segunda spent time under a geas. Valefor, of course, was under a geas not to speak Gramatica and the Dainty Pirate was under a geas not to practice any magick at all.

What's a geas?

Originally, to be under a geas meant that you were required to do something, under pain of horrible dire consequence if you did not. Later, the word morphed into the idea that you were required not to do something, under pain of horrible consequence--usually death. In Irish mythology, geasa are oft laid upon people un-awares; they don't know they are under a ban under they've already broken the ban--which seems a bit unfair. (No one ever said obligation was fair.)

The word is of Celtic origin, and I first came across it in the Táin Bó Cúailnge, (The Cattle Raid at Cooley), the great Irish epic, where various heroes, at various times, end up under various geas. Cuchulainn, for example, is at one point under a geas not to eat dog meat, but he's also under a geas not to refuse food. So when he is offered dog meat to eat--well--he's in a bit of a pickle. (No one ever said obligation was easy.)

By the way, if you haven't read the Tain, I recommend it highly, particularly Thomas Kinsella's translation. Though the hero of the story is Cuchulainn, The Tain is full of wonderfully furious women, including Queen Medb, whose desire to acquire the famous bull Finnbhennach kicked off the cattle raid; Scathach, the warrior who teaches Cuchulainn how to be a hero; Aife, the equally kick-hinder fighter who becomes Cuchulainn's lover; and Badb, the Scald Crow goddess of war. It's a vigorous story, full of incredible language and lots of bloody action. Just as good as any Greek epic--maybe even better.

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