Cold Fire

Written by Kate Elliott

Narrated by Charlotte Parry

Cat Barahal and her beloved cousin Bee think they have reached a safe place to shelter. But the Cold Mages who are conspiring to take them prisoner are closing in. The warlord who hopes to conquer all Europa is convinced their destiny is to aid him, whether they want to or not. And the man Cat was forced to marry is back, as vainly arrogant and annoyingly handsome as ever. Worst of all, as Hallows' Night approaches, powers hidden deep within the spirit world are rising. Cat must seek allies against these threats and figure out who to trust, for if she makes the wrong choices, she'll lose everything. Only one thing is certain. When Hallows' Night comes the Wild Hunt will ride - and it feeds on mortal blood.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 27, 2013
• ISBN: 9781470380199

Kate Elliott

Kate Elliott has been writing science fiction and fantasy for 30 years, after bursting onto the scene with Jaran. She is best known for her Crown of Stars epic fantasy series and the New York Times bestselling YA fantasy Court of Fives. Elliott's particular focus is immersive world-building & centering women in epic stories of adventure, amidst transformative cultural change. She lives in Hawaii, where she paddles outrigger canoes & spoils her Schnauzer.

Reviews for Cold Fire

[mariahsidhe · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Again I was swept away into a new world - couldn't put the book down until I was done with it. Can hardly wait for the next.

[isana-943166 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book was just way too long and most of the time boring. I had the dynamic of Cat and Vai. More often than not I wanted to backhand every single character because they are all ridiculous. I don't even want to read the last book because it was so uninteresting. And the ending just angered me. They doesn't get a one because there were some interesting moments that held my interest but not enough of them to get more stars.

[kmartin802_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The second book in the Spiritwalker Trilogy takes place maybe in the New World where Cold Mages are rare and Fire Mages are more common. Cat meets her sire who sets her to a task where she has to pick the victim for the Wild Hunt. Her cousin Bee is the most likely candidate but Cat wants it to be anyone else.She gets involved with Camjiata's latest schemes and the radical movement in the New World. She also reunites with Vai who has come on the Mensa's command to take care of the Camjiata problem but who is also looking for Cat.I liked that the romance between Cat and Vai comes to a resolution. This is definitely the middle book of a trilogy because there are lots of dangling plot threads. However, it is also an excellent adventure with great world building.

[tldegray-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This turned out to be my favorite book in the trilogy. Taking Cat, Bee, and Andevai out of their normal habitat and placing them on this world's version of a Caribbean island, allowed them to change in ways staying in Europa would not. Especially concerning Cat and Andevai.

Being here was also extremely good for Cat and Bee as women, because in this land women rule and are far more respected than they are in Europa.

[wyvernfriend · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really probably could have done with a "what happened before" preamble to get me up to speed because the book starts running and doesn't stop. Cat discovers who her father is, finds herself in the Antilles and overall finds herself finding a lot out about herself, her husband and what is going on in the world.Messy and interesting, I enjoyed it but it took me a while to get back into the story.

[nnschiller · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The second volume in this series was even stronger than the first. Where the world building elements seemed to dominate Cold Magic, Cold Steel was crafted from romance. Elliot's characters really shine. She took care in the first volume to set up solid foundations so that now we can see their many facets reflect back at us.

I really enjoyed this book. It's style diverges from what I usually read, but that is another gift Kate Elliot has given us. Recommended for those who like a double-helping of romance to go along with their action story. Suggested for those who don't, because you likely will after reading it.

Also, there is a steamy spoiler chapter that fits in between chapters 31 and 32 hosted on her website. Don't miss it.

[mearias-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I was soooo looking forward to this book. The first was great and I wanted to read how Cat and Bea got along in their journey to free themselves.... What a long freaking journey. The longest journey in creation. AND SO ABSOLUTELY BORING!!!! I needed something to happen, something that would move the story along, ANYTHING. The most mundane descriptions, so many secrets, so many convoluted conversations, it seemed endless.

I usually like second stories a lot, not sure why; but in a trilogy I've always found to favor the second story. This is the exception to that rule.

I may read the third book because I liked Vai, but I don't know for sure that I will.

[jspig · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Overall I'm enjoying this series. I really like the main character. I do think that the world she created is a little unfocused.

[a_reader_of_fictions · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

You know what I love? A series that just gets better and better as it goes along. Cold Magic had a rocky start, and took a couple hundred pages before I really started enjoying it. Cold Fire caught my interest right away, amping up to a finale that stomped on my heart and made me need to read book three posthaste. The Spiritwalker Trilogy boasts one of my favorite romances, and I'm going to need to fangirl about the feels.Know that there's totally a lot more going on in Cold Fire than romance, but that I'm mostly going to blabber on about that, because, being totally honest here, THAT is what I care about most. BY FAR. I make no secret of the fact that I burn for hate to love romance arcs, and this one is SO well done. Gah. There's a very Pride & Prejudice sort of emotional arc that just makes me swoon. When they meet, Vai is dismissive of Catherine, which is all sorts of awkward, since they're forced to marry at the beginning of the first book. However, you find out that he's just sort of awkward and makes disdainful faces when he's uncomfortable, but that he actually really cares for her. Cat, on the other hand, does not forgive or trust easily, so she has little interest in Vai for most of Cold Magic.In Cold Fire, my ship finally takes sail, and, oh my, was it ever glorious. There's also a sort of vaguely Tamora Pierce-ian element to the romance, wherein Cat has a dalliance with someone else. Even though I ship them so hard, I loved this, because in some ways it was needful. There's just something so freeing about the heroine making her own choices and being more informed. And, yes, technically it was adultery, but they were forced to wed, so that doesn't bother me in this instance.Once Vai and Cat are together again, the sexual tension is something fierce. They have crazy amounts of chemistry, and Vai is being such a freaking sweetheart. He KNOWS she hooked up with someone else, and he's still so understanding even though she's technically his wife. He keeps feeding her all of this delicious fruit, and omg it's so hot I can't even. Plus, these two and their banter. Oy, it's fantastic. She's under a bit of a curse thing where she's not allowed to impart certain information, so she has to respond to certain questions with questions, which sort of becomes a flirty banter thing for them and I love it so much. Yes, I do realize I'm a bit incoherent, but GOD I LOVE THEM. Vai loves her for her spirit and strength and the fact that she can be so damn stubborn, and just LOVE.Obviously, I would rate the romance a full five glorious stars, but, despite those feels, I still had to rate the book a four overall, because I feel like Elliott's still getting a hang of the pacing and plotting. Parts of the book do drag (like when Vai and Cat are not together duh), and it feels like not all that much is actually happening for a lot of the book. The plotting really does pick up towards the end, when Elliott decides to wreak havoc on my emotional state, but the rest felt like a really long way to get there, not that it was not worth it for Vai and Cat.The world herein is quite lush, but I still don't entirely understand its underpinnings, though I vaguely remember it was some sort of alternate history spun off from Roman times, I think. What I love is how diverse the characters are, many of them mixed race. There are a lot of messages about cultural sensitivity, which is great.While I think this series has some drawbacks, for me, it's ONE HUNDRED PERCENT worth the slow moments for the epic ship of Cat and Vai. I am all kinds of glad that I sort of neglected to read this review copy for a shameful amount of time, because I would have HATED waiting for book three to come out, because THAT ENDING.

[capnrandm · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy.allthingsuf.comCOLD FIRE reads like an intricate puzzle, each layer of the story unfolding on another layer of intrigue, magic, and passion. Elliott’s characters are flawed and genuine, moving through a world as nuanced and uncertain as our own. I’m not usually interested in politics, but the way COLD FIRE ferments with different cultures and ideas seduced me.I’ve read criticisms of COLD MAGIC that didn’t like the ambiguity of Cat and Bee, two young heroines that aren’t always likeable or right. Cat gets a lot of solo time in COLD FIRE, allowing her to develop as the clear heroine, and while I didn’t fall in love with Cat and Vai’s pained and awkward dynamic in COLD MAGIC, it set the stage for a fabulous story in COLD FIRE. Though Cat is interested in Vai, their romance is by no means a foregone conclusion. Both characters are still human enough to err, and Cat goes through changes that made for an arresting adventure and a sweet romance. By book’s end I was so invested in her happiness that a few plot twists had me shouting and vilifying a few other characters that dare stand in Cat’s way (bastards, all of them).The end of COLD FIRE is not so much a cliffhanger as the inevitable pause required to give this epic more space to play out. COLD FIRE is definitely my favorite of the series to date, with fantastic adventure, romance, and character growth. I’m very excited to read the last piece of this trilogy, COLD STEEL, and see where where all of this upheaval will take these characters and their world.Sexual Content: Kissing, mild sex scenes.

[mlleehreen · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

What a disappointment.

So. The first 10% of COLD FIRE is a recap of COLD MAGIC. Okay, that's fine. Then the plot advances for a bit. Things continue to look terrible for Cat, what with her being the enemy of every powerful faction in the world, and then she's presented with a new, even more terrible dilemma. She has to name the sacrifice for the next Wild Hunt. She has to choose a person, a powerful magic user, to die -- and if she won't make the choice, then the sacrifice of choice will be Bee.

That's quite a dilemma, isn't it? But instead of strategizing about this problem, we go on a weird, endless, saggy-middle vacation in Expedition. There's so much that could be happening. Camjiata is mobilizing, and Cat knows she's going to have a decisive influence on the war. Cat doesn't think about that. She's too busy working as a barmaid and eating tropical fruit. The oppressive rule of the Courts must be overthrown. Cat doesn't worry about that, either. She's too busy drinking rum and mending clothes. Her marriage to Vai is in limbo, but Cat decides to...leave it there, dithering endlessly.

The middle of this book is a mess. Reading it made me really, really mad. The story here is too epic to be wasting half of a book on spinning wheels. Without plot to interfere, Cat and Andevai get lots of pagetime together, which ought to have been delicious but totally wasn't. Andevai is so hands-off and meek I wanted to smack him. Cat is so wishy-washy I wanted to smack her. We have to wade through chapters of childishness before they finally start having some necessary conversations, at which point it's almost too late.

Towards the end of the book, after putting off the problem for so long, Cat starts worrying about choosing a sacrifice. The night of the Hunt is rushed, and then events wrap up too quickly. I skimmed pages furiously at this point. Things had finally started happening again, yes, but this is a TRILOGY. There's ONE BOOK LEFT and the war hasn't even started. I want Cat to exercise more agency. I know that it's darkest before the dawn, but so far Cat has been in survival mode for two books. She's been used and betrayed, she's escaped and survived. And I admire that, and her, but I have no sense of her as a mover and shaker in this world, as a power to be reckoned with.

So far, all the chains that bind her have been impossible to overthrow. The marriage chain. The bond of ownership that Four Moons holds over her. The persecution of the Prince, the laws of Expedition, the plans of Camjiata. A lot of the plot in COLD FIRE revolves around the idea of a popular rebellion. Can the peasants really rise up an demand rights, or do they need a man like Camjiata to bestow those rights -- as Imperial decrees, once he obtains the throne he craves? We get a sense of how Elliott answers that question by the end of COLD FIRE, but the powerlessness of the characters, their inability to take control over their own destiny in meaningful ways, makes the book feel disheartening rather than inspiring overall.

Also, a word about this whole Drake thing.

What a mess.

So Cat's bitten by a salter and Drake says he can cure her with sex. Cat agrees to have sex. She's cured. Later, she gets drunk and has sex with Drake again, just because. She had fun the first time, he's there, fire magic seems to stoke the libido a little.

Then it turns out that Drake is a complete and utter asshole, constantly telling Cat to shut up or follow orders better. And THEN we discover that actually, fire mages can cure the salt plague without having sex with the infected. And THEN we discover that actually, by some miracle, Cat was never even infected. That Drake had lied about the infection and also lied about how to cure it.

This whole situation is just vile and gross. The first time around, Cat consented but only under a false premise - that sex would save her life. The second time, Cat consented without any motivation other than pleasure. Later on in the book, when trying to explain why she had sex with Drake, she only says "he got me drunk". I guess she's trying to explain why she consented freely, the second time? Except that we have no reason to believe that she'd have consented the second time if there hadn't been a first. Drake skipped over the actual seducing part of a seduction with vile lies.

Cat gets angrier and angrier at Drake. She hates the guy, which she should, because he's horrible. So that's appropriate. But she's treated by others, consistently, as though she had an affair with Drake. She doesn't try to explain what happened, that she was terribly deceived, so they assume the worst. They assume that she was cheating on Andevai of her own free will. But her will was compromised and every time someone called her two-faced or untrustworthy, I found it almost unbearable.

One of the things that really impressed me about the first book was the frank way that characters dealt with sexuality, surrounded by mores that constrained behavior but never belaboring themselves with shame, I was really disappointed to see so much of this book mired in a plot that shamed and humiliated Cat for having sex when her consent was not freely given. Cat doesn't blame herself, but she endures blame, and the injustice of it made the book hard for me to read at times.

[les121 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Cold Fire, the second installment in the Spiritwalker Trilogy, is more romance oriented than the first book, but it’s just as exciting and well crafted. This series has something for everyone - action, adventure, outstanding worldbuilding, political intrigue, love, war, magic, and so much more. I cannot recommend it more highly.

[bookishdame · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Cold Fire" is first of all a cinematic read. I was delighted by the visual imagery Kate Elliot was able to invoke. What a unique author I found her to be in this particular area. It was if I could see her characters in clothing with their weaponry in their settings, vividly. It's a rare thing to experience such a talent. This is not only a good book, it's really fun to read. Kate Elliot is a stand out writer in this genre, in my opinion!World-building and the time symbols here were so interesting. I often get lost in such genre when they aren't well configured, and it's easy for me to get bored when that happens. This book easily held my avid attention. Not only that, but I was smiling all the way with the way things were interwoven...worlds and human access to magical forces, Romanic calendar, Creole~Caribbean flavor, a post tramatic induced Iceage, steampunkish influence, and more. I just loved it! I didn't want to stop reading it. Ms Elliot's characters are believable and beautiful "visually," which I can't emphasize enough. It was easy to fall in love with Cat's dark and dangerous ex-husband, too. He's just irresistible! And, Cat is the consummate strong heroine. She's a force to be reckoned with, but she's also womanly and caring on other counts. It's hard not to make her a favorite.My readers often ask if a 2nd book in a trilogy can be read alone, or if one needs to read the original book first. I didn't read the first book. I found this one to be easily self contained with good references to the 1st book. That didn't stop me from wanting to read the other one, however. I will absolutely want to buy the 3rd book, too!This is an author all ages over 12 would thoroughly enjoy reading. A book most satisfying in the genre. I can only highly recommend it. It's not hardcore fantasy/syfy. Another really great YA to Adult Crossover Fiction.4 stars

[senbei_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An interesting, if disappointing sequel. As it's name so eloquently proscribes, Cold Fire is a luke-warm continuation in a genre buried under an avalanche of such sequels. Elliott quite effectively draws the reader into her ever-expanding ethnographically laced fantasy yet again. Adventure fans will enjoy Cold Fire’s rousing thrills, while romance lovers will feel Catherine’s loneliness and surcease. However, fans of Cold Magic’s mystery, intrigue, steampunk, slipstream and mosaic ethnography may be let down (at least I was). Although I admit many of these elements are still present in Cold Fire, it is an altogether different book. I agree with the decision that Cat had to grow up, but I found myself less and less interested in her as the book progressed. In the first pages Cat is fearful and threatened and looking for an escape, and by the last pages she has undergone complete metamorphosis and challenges powerful mages to defy her on a whim. I’m not saying this change is unbelievable or even all that unnecessary for a girl living her life (ie. she can’t stay a girl forever…), I just was not overly taken with the Pirates of the Caribbean-esque locale Cold Fire finds itself mired in. I understand why Elliott chose the Antilles as she puts it, I just wasn’t as excited as I might have been if she’d picked an Inca or “Cathay” locale. Maybe it’s a little harder to disassociate the Caribbean mentality from the Antilles mentality than it was for Europe. At any rate I’m starving to see where Carmen-I mean Catherine will pop up next. To compound matters I’m having trouble understanding why Cat falls for the love interest. He doesn’t come off as particularly charming or sensual but I guess the term “cute” applies. Probably my difficulties lie in the fact that I haven’t been through any death-defying saves or world-bending adventures lately. Those things will change a person. Anyway, it was difficult to be swept up by emotion in Cat’s narrative. I was happy for her, but… I’m not sure that I would have been satisfied in her shoes. My own personality is so similar to his that it’s difficult to find anything all that redeeming about it. My other biggest problem with Cold Fire rests squarely in its zombies. Zombies, like vampires, have been done to death and introducing them for the simple fear element they provoke feels like a copout. If you’re a fan of the genre then you’ve probably encountered zombies all too frequently in the last few years. It’s not even that Elliott’s zombies were poorly executed or believable; I just gave it a huge yawn. Fortunately we still have some incredibly awesome characters in Beatrice and Napol-cough-in Camjiata. There’s something wonderful and comfortable about the way Bee is portrayed that I really treasure. In a beautiful homage with just the right amount of slipstream, Bee took on the role of a Pernese Queen’s Rider and tried valiantly to protect her clutch. *sniffs for the dearly departed* I was also very fond of Luce and Kofi, both feeling very real somehow. I didn’t get a strong grasp on the antagonists and their motivations were not very noticeable. In fact, it actually feels like the reader was robbed with the nameless Sire’s introduction. It was haphazard and obtuse at best. I also wish we had gotten more interaction with the erudite trolls (also a wonderful aside) but I have a feeling they’ll make another appearance in the last book. I think that I would like Rory… but for whatever reason the reader doesn’t get more than a handful of conversations with him, proving his incomparable loyalty to Cat, though why that should be isn’t really explained. I think it’s a testament to Elliott’s ability to weave a rich tapestry of description and turmoil yet, leave the reader wanting more after 480 pages. I can’t wait for the conclusion (where Andevai finally becomes likeable?). As a side note, Cold Fire was the first full-length novel I've read exclusively on my Sony ereader!

[thenightbookmobile · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

There will be spoilers for book one of the series: Cold Magic. After Cold Magic got off to such a rocky start for me, I was very much hoping that the sequel would not go down the same path. Delightfully, it did not. Cold Fire picks up where Cold Magic left off. While the first half of Cold Magic was weighed down by awkward amounts of exposition, Cold Fire doesn't suffer the same fate. Since much of the detailed world Kate Elliott was building was already set up in Cold Magic, we are allowed in this installment to focus more on the characters and the action. New characters and magic are introduced but I did not feel that it was too much, or find it confusing. We are thrown right along with Cat on to an island inhabited by zombies and fire mages. I found the new storyline to be exciting and never dull.I liked Cat and Bee in the first book but I must say I absolutely fell in love with them here. They're very strong women. It's nice to see females who can be both romantic and gullible but also strong and logical too. I think too often female characters get written as too much one or the other, falling into a certain role, instead of standing on their own two feet. We watch Cat make mistakes. We watch her get drunk and act in ways she'd like to forget. We watch her swing a sword like a genuine badass and approach situations rationally. It's wonderful..."He said nothing. Yes, he was physically handsome, and attractive in some other intangible way. After those first disastrous days, he had made an effort to help me. His kiss had certainly pleased me in a most startling manner. But I did not love him. How could I? I didn't even know him. And whatever he might think, he did not truly know me. He only believed he did."I like that above all else Cat stays loyal to her cousin Bee and that is not lost in this book. Having grown up together and relied upon each other through it all, Bee and Cat do not dump each other when it's convenient, or when they'd rather be with a man. They are not catty toward each other or in competition. Even if blood does not necessarily tie them together they never even dwell on it. They know family is not defined by blood and that's something I really respect. We also finally learn more about Cat's parents in this installment. I liked the twist.My favorite thing about this book was probably the romance. I don't swoon too often. It takes a lot for a romance to impress me. I found myself deeply invested in Andevai and Cat's relationship. I thought it was passionate and respectful. Built upon something important. I liked that neither character sacrificed who they were or expected anything of the other that they did not want to give.I am immensely glad that I stuck it out after the rough start of book one in the series, because the world Kate Elliott has built and the characters here are way too good to miss. Like Cold Magic, this book definitely isn't a light read, Kate Elliott's book are lengthy and detailed and full of heavy world building. This book was more fast paced than the first though and I hope that the third book is even more impressive.

[cabri_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Continues the story of Cat who walks the spirit world and discovers her father is the Master of the Wild Hunt. He binds her will to find him a suitable soul for taking on Hallow's Night and she fears he will take either her husband or her cousin. Her sire dumps her into the CaribbJean and she eventually finds her husband - and surprisingly a home - in Expedition (actual Santo Domingo). People she knew in England keep popping up and then someone betrays her so egregiously that she vows to give that person to her sire. In the end, she is once again separated from Vai due to her sire's bindings and she ends up back in Expedition.

[psychobabble4u · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I was really disappointed in this book. The characters and places became so complicated I couldn't keep them straight. I put it down befoe I had read half of it.

[stacyatufi · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I have some mixed thoughts about COLD FIRE. On one hand I love the imagination and the overall storyline, on the other hand although tons of things take place there tends to be many points in the book that go by too slow and I end up being a bit bored at times. The book also jumped around a lot which left me a little bit confused trying to figure out what situation I was reading about and when it was happening. There were points were I was shocked, frustrated, ecstatic and lost but the story has a way of keeping you wanting to read even during the times where you wish something would just happen already.Cat's character is so complex and full of mystery. She has her faults but she is great with fighting for what she wants and learning from her mistakes. I really fell in love with Vai in COLD FIRE. We get to see a different side of him away from the cold mage's and it really made me understand him more. He really showed himself to Cat and fought for their marriage instead of giving in. I did not care much for Bee in this installment. She frustrated me with her loyalties to what I see as the wrong people. Rory is Rory, he wasn't in a lot of the book but I have nothing bad to say about him. Their are some great shocking revelations, new characters and allies introduced and a heck of a cliffhanger at the end. If you read COLD MAGIC you will definitely want to read COLD FIRE but be prepared for a long ride.

[readinggeek451 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Cat finds her father--much to her dismay--and finds herself in the Caribbean, amid new threats and challenges. The salt plague is made clearer; thankfully, not much is done with it, because it adds a horror-ish element that I don't care for.I wasn't always sure if I liked this book, but I couldn't stop reading it.

[fledgist · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the second book of a trilogy set in an alternative earth where the ice ages have hung on much longer, Rome has not exactly fallen, and the human race is not the only intelligent species. The protagonist, Catherine Hassi Barahal must come to terms with magical powers that are the result of divine parentage. But that means that she is the tool of a divinity, not its favoured child, and she finds herself washed up on the shores of Kiskeya in the middle of a complex political game. At the same time, she discovers that her husband, Andevai, is not the bastard she thought he was. Catherine must make choices in a number of different political games -- being played by the people of the city of Expedition in Kiskeya, by the Taino overlords of the Antilles, by Camjiata, the Napoleon-like general who plots to return to Europe at the head of an army, and by the god who dropped her into the warm waters of the Caribbean in the first place. Kate Elliot manages the complexities of this story, and the development of Catherine as a character with great skill. This is not your common or garden fantasy drawing on the well-worn tropes of Celtic or Nordic myth. She manages to bring in Afro-Caribbean and African myth and magic with great skill.. The multicultural societies, both in Europe and in the Antilles have depth and plausibility -- necessary to the story. I was certainly left wanting more, and deeply sorry that I'll have to wait a year for the concluding volume of the trilogy.