A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2020

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-9

Chapters 10-18

Chapters 19-27

Chapters 28-36

Chapters 37-45

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Symbols & Motifs

Blood

In Atlantia, Solis, and other kingdoms, blood is an extremely coveted resource. The blood of mortals is important for the Ascended as it helps feed their bloodlust after they become vamprys. Atlantian blood is even more valuable as it has supernatural power. Atlantians use it to sustain each other, while the Ascended want to get their fangs on it for their Ascension rite. The entire reason for the Ascended to keep Poppy confined may have been their discovery of the powers in her blood: Once Poppy grows into her full gifts, the Ascended intend to use her as a “blood bag” (38).

Both in a literal and symbolic sense, then, blood represents vital life force. Atlantian blood, descended from the gods, is the life force in its purest and most creative form. That is why blood is venerated in Atlantia as an important feature of wedding ceremonies and prayers. A sky raining blood is a message from the gods, the spilled blood of a supernatural being like Poppy grows a tree that drips blood like sap. The novel also mentions the Blood Forest, where trees with red leaves grow whenever the spilled blood of a god touches the ground. This forest, haunted by Craven and considered extremely dangerous, signifies the destructive aspects of the vital life force. When uncontrolled, the life force can wreak havoc.

The partaking of blood has sexual connotations as well; whenever Cas feeds on Poppy, the aftermath is a sexual encounter. Here, blood represents sex, passion, and love. Exchanging blood is the ultimate act of intimacy, signaling the generosity of partners: They love each other enough to willingly give up some of their life force for each other. In Atlantia, people—even those other than romantic partners—often feed from each other, which signifies a communion and fraternity. Blood now becomes a symbol of social equality and community.

Heartmates

This book introduces the concept of “heartmates,” a version of the trope of soul mates central to romance fiction. The idea of made-for-each-other lovers is eternal, but in A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire it is reimagined in the context of the novel’s belief system. Kieran describes the heartmate bond as one that is “rarer and stronger than bloodlines and even the gods. Something powerful enough that it has ushered in great change in the past” (307). Cas tells Poppy that the heartmate bond is “not fable, but so rare that it has become myth” (473). Thus, one feature of the heartmate bond is that it disrupts the existing social order, attached to a love that crosses hierarchies and forces a realignment of power. This definition of heartmates foreshadows that Cas and Poppy’s union will bring about a great change in the geo-political status quo of Atlantia.

Both the Atlantians and the Ascended descend from pairs of heartmates. The Atlantians were created when an ancient deity begged the gods to prolong the life of her mortal lover. The gods agreed on two conditions: The pair had to prove their love through great trials, and the deity had to become the source of life-prolonging blood for her lover. As the lover fed on her blood, he became the first Atlantian. Later, the Atlantian King Malec wanted the same boon for his mortal lover Isbeth. When the gods refused to offer them the same trials, to keep Isbeth alive, Malec Ascended her, creating the first vampry. This establishes the precedent that when heartmates unite, they usher in monumental upheaval—a history that builds up the mythos around Poppy and Cas and establishes them as drivers of revolution.

The Ascended, Vamprys, and the Craven

The Ascended symbolize cruelty and a corruption. They are immortal vampires who gain their powers through means that do not have the approval of the gods. An Ascended is created when a vampry bites a mortal, drains them of blood, and replaces that blood with the blood of an Atlantian. New vamprys are plagued with an unquenchable thirst for blood, which leads them to prey on mortals. The process of Ascension is against the natural order because Ascended lose their souls, and thus, their conscience. Now driven only by the lust for power and blood, the Ascended think nothing of extraordinary acts of cruelty.

Atlantians have vampry-like traits as well, in that they have fangs and need to feed on blood to retain their life force. However, the critical difference is that the Atlantians don’t need to ascend to become immortal: They are born with their characteristics. The first Atlantian was created with the approval of the gods, making their power valid and natural in the universe of the text. Unlike the Ascended, the Atlantians have souls, which give them the empathy necessary to have developed strict rules around feeding: Under normal circumstances, Atlantians only feed from each other, since they can withstand the bites. Thus, Atlantians represent natural, god-sanctioned power.

The Craven are mortals that have been drained of blood without being Ascended—typically, they are created when newborn vamprys feed on mortals in their bloodlust. The cursed mortals turn into remorseless zombies who also hunger for blood, like the ones that attacked Poppy as a child. While the Craven are fearsome creatures, they are also shown as objects of pity, since they are victims of the cruelty of the Ascended: Poppy can’t help but feel bad “for the mortals they used to be and the rotting corpses they’d become” (56). Unlike the Ascended and the Atlantians, the Craven are terrible in appearance and described as having “ribcages […] all but exposed through the ragged clothing they wore” (56). The Craven have been dehumanized by the actions of the Ascended, and thus, represent the utter depravity of the elite of Solis.