“The fallen devil lay exactly where he had been. Mag stared again at that grey face with anguish stamped on its every feature. It came to him to wonder then whether the devil had been dead even before his cataclysmic fall. Why should one topple, after all, if he were strong and hale? Belike he had suffered some terrible blow that had flung him down from…But there Mag’s imagination failed him.”
The Tinder Box by M.R. Carey
M.R. Carey has been a favorite author of mine for some time. His novels, Someone Like Me, The Rampart Trilogy, The Girl With All the Gifts and Infinity Gate are all books that have completely ensnared me from page one. He is remarkably talented, and thankfully for me, I still have a bit to read by him.
The Tinder Box is an absolutely incredibly story of Mag Tresti and Jannae Mirchella. It reads like a dark fairy tale (a really dark fairy tale) but echoes themes of hope and rebellion and grabbing a better life for yourself.
Mag Tresti was a soldier until he was wounded, and while the war still continues on, he struggles to find a way to survive. As he wanders through the country, he comes across the home of a reclusive widow, Jannae Mirchella. Jannae has lived alone for a long time since the death of her husband. When Mag ends up on her doorstep, she offers him employment (though constantly puts off paying him). Mag and Jannae dance around each other first, not fully understanding the other. Mag is startled by the utter darkness in which Jannae lives, and Jannae isn’t certain that Mag has much to offer the world. Jannae is a witch, one who has been practicing in secret for decades.
When a devil falls out of the sky into her very yard, Jannae beseeches Mag to search the body because a spell prevents her from being able to do so. Mag recovers multiple items and hands them over to her but takes a small tinder box for himself before leaving her behind for good. The tinder box contains something very powerful that none of them realize at first. It houses three devils, Keal, Dorsa and Borrigor. Depending on where you strike the tinder box, one of these devils will be summoned to do your bidding and each has their own speciality.
The tinder box and its occupants becomes something Mag desperately wants to protect even as Jannae searches for it and the king’s warlock Gluck becomes aware of it and hunts for it as well. This story weaves in and out of the three character’s stories and brings them all together.
This book is so freaking fantastic, I absolutely loved it in every way. It was dark, emotional and had humor too. It was a short tale of what it means to hope for a better life and try to find one’s way to it while maintaining all the things that make you a good person. I really came to love Mag and Jannae and the devils as well by the end. This is another stunning title by M.R. Carey, and I will continue to read anything he writes. If you’re looking for a dark fairy tale, look no further!
Of Worlds Forgotten 
Leave a comment