Reviews

The Fire Opal by Catherine Asaro

thedearest's review against another edition

2.0

the romances in these are a bit shrill, but it's still forgivable for the most part.

door's review

4.0

This is a really good example of Asaro's work, and it works even if you haven't read the previous three in the Lost Continent series (although you might miss out on the sense of "Ohhhhhh" that I got when I made the connection). It's interesting in that it comes from the perspective of a girl from tiny village in a country completely alienated from the geometric- and color-magicks so involved in the other three books. This isn't to say that such magic isn't present, it is, it's just very different. Also new is that the story is told from the heroine's perspective and hers alone, and she's a very likable heroine. She's naive without being irritating, and innocent but not lacking in common sense. And she's realer and tougher than most heroes one finds.

Another nice thing about this book is its brevity. I love how intelligent the other Lost Continent books are, but in the last especially they were very heavy on warfare and diplomacy. There's some of that here, but (again) as it's told through the eyes of a rural priestess, one doesn't get bogged down in strategy and military jargon.

clockworkbee's review

4.0

Different from her Misted Cliff series, but still pretty good. Sometimes you get frustrated by how naive Ginger is....