I enjoyed Unnatural Fire by Fidelis Morgan, but it isn't nearly as good as its sequel The Rival Queens. The situations and dramatic constructions in Unnatural Fire aren't nearly as memorable, and the characters are not nearly as engaging as they are in The Rival Queens. I'm glad I read the second in the series first, or I might not have gotten to the second, better one.

The characters are not realistically foolish. I know that sounds like an oxymoron, but the story is too much like the common comedy of manners. The characters are just too dense. Furthermore, with the exception of a character named Betty, the deaths of the book's characters didn't illicit any emotional response from the reader. In other words, their deaths result in nothing more than a dull thud.

The apparent villains are not attractive, and are gravely flawed. The villain isn't a fallen hero at all. The place and voice of the story were lacking the same delicious qualities that the second book has. It wasn't as easy to laugh at—or along with—the book's characters, nor are the descriptions of period London as well wrought. I'm only tempted to keep it because I'm rather fond of the author's second book.