The setting of Idolfire is inspired by the fall of the Roman Empire, but in a world where magic comes from using the energy that has been invested into totems of various gods through worship. The more strongly a god is worshipped through the idol, the more power is stored in the idol in question. The city of Nivela learned how to harness this power and with that skill, it spread across the known world and conquered its people. Now, a generation or so after its fall, those in the areas furthest from the central city are still recovering from their time under the Empire.
One village, Wall's End, is on the outskirts of a once great city called Balt. Balt was destroyed by Nivela during the Empire's final years; the inhabitants of Wall's End are struggling. Not only is their land in trouble, but many of their people have a sickness that keeps them from having children. Kirby is a young woman who is inflicted with this particular curse and after a harsh childhood and adolescence, has decided that maybe she can do something about the troubles at Wall's End. In her mind, the trouble began when Nivela took the Idol of their goddess, Iona. When she finds herself with nothing else to lose, Kirby sets out on The Road - The Road being the only road in Wall's End and from what she has learned, the city of Nivela is at the end of The Road. After all, all roads lead to Nivela.
On practically the other side of the map is the City of Ash. In it is a young woman named Aleya who has been blessed with the ability to use Idolfire to perform magic. She is one of the potential heirs to the city's throne, but she must prove herself in a quest in order to be officially given the title of heir. When Aleya sets out on her quest (whose destination is the city of Nivela, of course), she is tricked into getting on the wrong boat. It's clear to Aleya that this trickery comes from her uncle, since he obviously wants Aleya's cousin on the throne instead of Aleya.
As fate would have it, when Aleya is back on dry land, she finds herself in a port on practically the other side of the known world. In this port city, she meets a determined country girl named Kirby. While the two start off a little antagonistic towards one other, especially given their very different backgrounds, it isn't long before a friendship sparks and even a budding romance. The road to Nivela (to Kirby's surprise, there is more than one Road), takes them through many cities and several life or death scenarios that only help to strengthen the relationship between the two young travelers.
As Kirby and Aleya wind their way towards the city of Nivela, they end up picking up one other person in their wake. What starts off as a completely hostile interaction with the young captain of a raiding party ends up becoming a rivalry between Aleya and Nylophon, the young military man who finds himself adrift and alone. Nylophon acts as a strange travel mate for the two ladies, but he ends up balancing out their party quite well. He also becomes a point of conflict in the group, not because of a potential love match with either of the girls, but because his actions force Kirby and Aleya to recognize just how different they are from each other.
One really interesting aspect of Idolfire is that there are chapters interspersed throughout the book where the narrator is talking to "You." The "You" in this case appears to be the city of Nivela itself and through these little interludes, we get a much clearer idea of the history of Nivela, both its rise and its fall. While this could be seen as superfluous exposition, many of the tidbits learned in these chapters become necessary pieces to the overall story when Kirby, Aleya and Nylophon make it to the end of their various quests.
While I enjoyed the world of Idolfire and even the magic system that the book touched on, the main focus of this book is the characters, especially Kirby and Aleya. This book presents itself as a YA fantasy romance between these two young women, and it succeeds on that mission. Their initial interactions change into a friendship that grows deeper until they realize their feelings for each other. This is all done at a steady enough pace that I never felt like there was a "suddenly they are in love" moment that can often happen in fantasy novels. On top of all of that, I even enjoyed how the story ultimately played out.
Throughout the novel, both the reader and the characters recognize that the ultimate ends of the various quests mean that Kirby and Aleya will end up going in opposite directions. They do live on opposite sides of the map, after all, and both of their quests require them returning to their respective homes. This knowledge adds a layer of tension to the budding relationship and hanging over everything is what will happen after they get to Nivela. Personally, I liked how Curtis landed on the solution to this and I think it's a very smart take on young romance, especially in a YA novel like Idolfire.
Overall, Idolfire is a solid story with an interesting world and a soft magic system with just enough rules to give it some structure. It's in the characters of Kirby and Aleya where this book shines though and if you are looking for a YA sapphic romantasy with some action sequences, then this is a book for you. Between Idolfire and Floating Hotel, Grace Curtis has quickly become an author I will be paying attention to in the future.
