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bookph1le's review against another edition
2.0
More like 2.5 stars. It was mildly interesting and I liked some of the characters, but it wasn't anything that got me overexcited. More complete review to come.
Full review:
Being the rabid fan of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect that I am, I was intrigued by the idea of reading Karpyshyn's book and seeing what sort of world he constructed when able to run free in his own playground. While I liked some aspects of the book, it didn't stand out for me and disappointed me in some respects. Some spoilers to follow.
One of the things I found most disappointing was how ambivalent I felt about some characters. In general, I think characterization is a weak point of this novel. The Pontiff in particular was a source of irritation for me. I didn't like a lot of what he did and wanted to hate him, but I couldn't work up enough emotion. He would have worked better as a character had I understood his convictions more, but I never crossed that bridge. Rexol is another character who let me down, for many of the same reasons. He was more like a character from an after school special than like a fully-fleshed character from a fantasy novel. I think a major reason why I failed to connect with so many of the characters is because there's a certain distance in this book, as if I was observing rather than actively engaged in the story.
Aside from the lukewarm characterization, my lack of engagement in the story was due to two other factors that often yanked me out of the story's flow: the leaps in time and the use of multiple character points of view. Some of the points of view were just plain superfluous. There is one in particular that irked me, a short passage told by an injured character in a small tone for no purpose other than to let us know one of the main characters is being hunted by a Chaos monster--something we've already been told. There was no need whatsoever for the reiteration. The leaps in time are also distracting, and there were chunks of text I thought could have been axed in favor of streamlining the story and focusing more on the ultimate conflict. I didn't really see the point in rehashing every single birth, and for a stretch I felt like I was reading a twisted version of What to Expect When You're Expecting or something.
There were some things about the book I did enjoy. The world borrows--sometimes heavily--from other works, some of which Karpyshyn contributed to. The whole dynamic between the Order and wizards felt a little too close to Dragon Age for comfort. Still, I liked that the world was a new one, and I really liked that rather than using standard fantasy character types, there are some races of Karpyshyn's own creation. The Danaan were interesting, a good commentary on what happens when a culture becomes obsessed with signs and portents at the expense of progress. I'd like to learn more about them. I don't have anything against elves and dwarves and halflings, but it was nice to read a fantasy novel that didn't include them.
Another strong point of the novel was Scythe, though she does waffle a bit. Still, she's different from most female characters in fantasy novels, and though I wouldn't say gender equity had been achieved in Karpyshyn's world, I did enjoy the presence of such a strong, pigheaded female warrior, and I like characters who are more anti-hero than hero. However, I have to add a caveat because I did feel like Scythe's character vacillated quite a bit in the end. She threatens to go, then she stays. This wouldn't be a problem if I felt like she was following some inner logic, but I didn't. In fact, the text explicitly states that she doesn't understand why she's doing what she's doing but she does it anyway. Sure, such moments of irrationality are possible, but they don't feel in keeping with her character, even given the extra incentive of Norr.
Norr is another character who's interesting because he breaks convention. The first time the reader glimpses him in the book, it seems as if he'll fit certain tropes, but then he proceeds to flip those tropes on their heads. This earned a nod of approval from me. I enjoy it when characters act in ways opposite what I expect, and I thought Norr was just a good character anyway.
Lastly, I also very much enjoyed Vaaler. In a lot of ways he's a classic outcast character, but I felt like there were real depths to him. He has every right to turn his back on his people, but he refuses to be defeated and tries to find his place in his world. I think some of the assumptions he draws about why he is, in fact, the right leader for his people are right on the money, and I see a lot of potential for good character development in future installments.
There's a big, full world here with its own mythos, but I think it takes too long for the plot to really get going, and this left me feeling mildly interest at best. There were sections that grabbed me and compelled me to continue reading, but for the most part this book felt like a big setup, one that wasn't interesting enough on its own to get me excited. Instead, I have the impression that future installments will improve, because this book brings the reader up to the speed necessary in order to really get to the good stuff.
Full review:
Being the rabid fan of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect that I am, I was intrigued by the idea of reading Karpyshyn's book and seeing what sort of world he constructed when able to run free in his own playground. While I liked some aspects of the book, it didn't stand out for me and disappointed me in some respects. Some spoilers to follow.
One of the things I found most disappointing was how ambivalent I felt about some characters. In general, I think characterization is a weak point of this novel. The Pontiff in particular was a source of irritation for me. I didn't like a lot of what he did and wanted to hate him, but I couldn't work up enough emotion. He would have worked better as a character had I understood his convictions more, but I never crossed that bridge. Rexol is another character who let me down, for many of the same reasons. He was more like a character from an after school special than like a fully-fleshed character from a fantasy novel. I think a major reason why I failed to connect with so many of the characters is because there's a certain distance in this book, as if I was observing rather than actively engaged in the story.
Aside from the lukewarm characterization, my lack of engagement in the story was due to two other factors that often yanked me out of the story's flow: the leaps in time and the use of multiple character points of view. Some of the points of view were just plain superfluous. There is one in particular that irked me, a short passage told by an injured character in a small tone for no purpose other than to let us know one of the main characters is being hunted by a Chaos monster--something we've already been told. There was no need whatsoever for the reiteration. The leaps in time are also distracting, and there were chunks of text I thought could have been axed in favor of streamlining the story and focusing more on the ultimate conflict. I didn't really see the point in rehashing every single birth, and for a stretch I felt like I was reading a twisted version of What to Expect When You're Expecting or something.
There were some things about the book I did enjoy. The world borrows--sometimes heavily--from other works, some of which Karpyshyn contributed to. The whole dynamic between the Order and wizards felt a little too close to Dragon Age for comfort. Still, I liked that the world was a new one, and I really liked that rather than using standard fantasy character types, there are some races of Karpyshyn's own creation. The Danaan were interesting, a good commentary on what happens when a culture becomes obsessed with signs and portents at the expense of progress. I'd like to learn more about them. I don't have anything against elves and dwarves and halflings, but it was nice to read a fantasy novel that didn't include them.
Another strong point of the novel was Scythe, though she does waffle a bit. Still, she's different from most female characters in fantasy novels, and though I wouldn't say gender equity had been achieved in Karpyshyn's world, I did enjoy the presence of such a strong, pigheaded female warrior, and I like characters who are more anti-hero than hero. However, I have to add a caveat because I did feel like Scythe's character vacillated quite a bit in the end. She threatens to go, then she stays. This wouldn't be a problem if I felt like she was following some inner logic, but I didn't. In fact, the text explicitly states that she doesn't understand why she's doing what she's doing but she does it anyway. Sure, such moments of irrationality are possible, but they don't feel in keeping with her character, even given the extra incentive of Norr.
Norr is another character who's interesting because he breaks convention. The first time the reader glimpses him in the book, it seems as if he'll fit certain tropes, but then he proceeds to flip those tropes on their heads. This earned a nod of approval from me. I enjoy it when characters act in ways opposite what I expect, and I thought Norr was just a good character anyway.
Lastly, I also very much enjoyed Vaaler. In a lot of ways he's a classic outcast character, but I felt like there were real depths to him. He has every right to turn his back on his people, but he refuses to be defeated and tries to find his place in his world. I think some of the assumptions he draws about why he is, in fact, the right leader for his people are right on the money, and I see a lot of potential for good character development in future installments.
There's a big, full world here with its own mythos, but I think it takes too long for the plot to really get going, and this left me feeling mildly interest at best. There were sections that grabbed me and compelled me to continue reading, but for the most part this book felt like a big setup, one that wasn't interesting enough on its own to get me excited. Instead, I have the impression that future installments will improve, because this book brings the reader up to the speed necessary in order to really get to the good stuff.
astraia_sun's review against another edition
3.0
The rating on this book went back and forth. I didn't much care for the pacing at the beginning. I wanted to spend more time on each character, to discover their lives and see more than the brief chapter glimpses before we switched and ages several years. What we saw was very interesting to me.
Once the book caught up to itself, I was enjoying it very much, though some of the interesting character bits we saw kind of got pushed aside in favor of the plot. okay, I can deal with that. Until it all fell apart due to one character.
Furthermore, the scene where Keegan very randomly turns himself into a giant to lay waste to Tokyo -I mean the Ferlhame- confused me so much I stopped reading to ask myself if that really happened. It did.
I'm not sure I want to continue. I may just to see what happens to Cassandra as I loved her storyline. I'd rate it at 2 stars but I did like the world building.
Once the book caught up to itself, I was enjoying it very much, though some of the interesting character bits we saw kind of got pushed aside in favor of the plot. okay, I can deal with that. Until it all fell apart due to one character.
Spoiler
Scythe started off incredibly interesting to me, but literally everything that happened in the end of the book was entirely her fault due to her OUTRAGEOUS selfishness. Bored of a provincial life where her boyfriend can finally be happy and not be a victim of racism, she decides to steal from a couple of travelers and forces said boyfriend to cover for her, which In turn practically destroys their town. A town she absolutely despises, which she tells us over and over. but then she wants revenge?! When it was her fault in the first place and she doesn't even LIKE the place?! Really, it felt like this was the author trying to figure out how to fit her with the traveling party to round out the tank, monk, wizard, and rogue class.Furthermore, the scene where Keegan very randomly turns himself into a giant to lay waste to Tokyo -I mean the Ferlhame- confused me so much I stopped reading to ask myself if that really happened. It did.
I'm not sure I want to continue. I may just to see what happens to Cassandra as I loved her storyline. I'd rate it at 2 stars but I did like the world building.
dubsington's review against another edition
3.0
By the time I got to around the 3/4 mark of this book, I realized there wasn't going to be an ending. That is probably my biggest gripe with this read; in no way is a stand alone novel. I'll be eager when the second book comes out, but to have such a lack of finish with this novel was off-putting.
The book follows four main characters and gives us lots of background on each. This is an excellent way to bring us into the fold with each character and I found worked well to have me rooting for four different heroes.
The world is well realized with a number of different regions and races, but i found the magic/otherworldly elements of the book confusing at best, especially when the author is trying to explain the different beliefs that separate the various sects within the world. This issue is magnified when so much of the plot is hinged on this otherworldly magic and its history.
I really wanted to give this book at least a 4 star, because of the characters and the writing. Maybe the next novel, if it in fact does reach some manner of conclusion will get it.
The book follows four main characters and gives us lots of background on each. This is an excellent way to bring us into the fold with each character and I found worked well to have me rooting for four different heroes.
The world is well realized with a number of different regions and races, but i found the magic/otherworldly elements of the book confusing at best, especially when the author is trying to explain the different beliefs that separate the various sects within the world. This issue is magnified when so much of the plot is hinged on this otherworldly magic and its history.
I really wanted to give this book at least a 4 star, because of the characters and the writing. Maybe the next novel, if it in fact does reach some manner of conclusion will get it.
beastreader's review against another edition
2.0
In the beginning, there were a lot of different story lines and characters coming at me that it was hard to keep them all straight. So to be honest, I did not put forth as much effort in the beginning to remembering all of the characters or the book as a whole. I sort of skimmed over the book to get to the section where the action started. Which when I say action I mean the pacing of the story and when it picked up speed for me. This was not until about chapter ten. There was some action with the children using their special abilities but since this is the first book, the author took his time to really give details to the characters, where they come from, and what they are fighting for. Again I am for detail but there is a fine line when it becomes too much, especially when a book is about five hundred pages long.
If you are expecting a sci-fi book than you might be a little disappointed. This book I found to be more about the story telling than about the unexplainable or crazy, special effects. There is something here that might have me checking out the second book but I would probably borrow it from the library instead.
If you are expecting a sci-fi book than you might be a little disappointed. This book I found to be more about the story telling than about the unexplainable or crazy, special effects. There is something here that might have me checking out the second book but I would probably borrow it from the library instead.
hatswood's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I grabbed this on a whim from a used book store since I knew the author's name and nothing else. Drew was a lead writer on the first 2 Mass Effect games which is easily my favourite video game franchise. He worked for BioWare for a long time as a writer on games like Baldur's Gate, Star Wars: KOTOR, and a bunch of other absolute bangers. I grabbed it simply because I trust the author as a storyteller.
Anyway, the book was great. Classic sword and sorcery stuff, with a few points of graphic violence. The plot centres around 4 essentially bastard children of a Satan type character who rebelled against the Gods and was banished. The world is slowly moving on (to quote another great series) and these children are either the way forward to a better future, or will be the downfall of the world.
The characters are diverse, the world building is great, outside of the main 4 characters there's basically no plot armour, and the way Drew approaches magic is very interesting. My only gripe is that the ending feels a little off-kilter from the rest of the book, but it does leave the events of the next book very open.
Great read, keen for the second one, 4.5 stars.
Anyway, the book was great. Classic sword and sorcery stuff, with a few points of graphic violence. The plot centres around 4 essentially bastard children of a Satan type character who rebelled against the Gods and was banished. The world is slowly moving on (to quote another great series) and these children are either the way forward to a better future, or will be the downfall of the world.
The characters are diverse, the world building is great, outside of the main 4 characters there's basically no plot armour, and the way Drew approaches magic is very interesting. My only gripe is that the ending feels a little off-kilter from the rest of the book, but it does leave the events of the next book very open.
Great read, keen for the second one, 4.5 stars.
gillian11's review against another edition
2.0
Probably 2.5 stars. I love fantasy books but man this book was so boring until maybe the last quarter of the book. I was going to go with 2 stars but bumped it up for the last part of the book. I did not like the writing style of this author. It was very dry and I didn't feel like it was written in a way to really pull me into the storyline or have any emotional connection to any of the characters. The beginning chapters were and overload of characters that I had trouble keeping them straight, and some of them were characters that never showed up again. Then it slowly moved to focus on the four main protagonists, but I still did not really care for any of them. I realize a lot of the book was their origin stories but it did not captivate me.
The plot was not super interesting until the end of the book when a lot of action happened. For some of the characters I felt like their POV chapters were very sparse, so it was a little difficult at times to try and remember what happened in their last chapter. Some of the characters were more interesting than others and I wish we got more chapters for them. The world building was okay, but the thing that made me really annoyed was that there was no map of the world in the book. So I had no idea where anything was located in reference to anything so it was really difficult to picture where all the characters were throughout the book. Overall, this book was only okay, bordering on not that great. I probably won't read the next books but would read spoilers to see how everything shakes out.
The plot was not super interesting until the end of the book when a lot of action happened. For some of the characters I felt like their POV chapters were very sparse, so it was a little difficult at times to try and remember what happened in their last chapter. Some of the characters were more interesting than others and I wish we got more chapters for them. The world building was okay, but the thing that made me really annoyed was that there was no map of the world in the book. So I had no idea where anything was located in reference to anything so it was really difficult to picture where all the characters were throughout the book. Overall, this book was only okay, bordering on not that great. I probably won't read the next books but would read spoilers to see how everything shakes out.
dinbee's review against another edition
4.0
Children of Fire is actually a really good novel. Probably the only real and obvious flaw is that the elements are much too cliche to completely stand out from all the other run-of-the-mill fantasy stories that are wrought with dragons, wizards and fighters. Other than that, I quite enjoyed reading this book and am looking forward to the next installment.
superkpg's review against another edition
2.0
I had high hopes for this book as I liked his Mass Effect tie-in novels, but this was a slog, and really didn't 'get going' until 3/4 of the way through.
jarichan's review against another edition
4.0
Drew Karpyshyn weiss, was er tut. Nämlich gute Fantasy-Bücher schreiben. Dieses hier ist eines seiner wenigen, das nicht auf einer bestimmten Marke basiert. Man merkt aber deutlich den Einfluss gewisser grossen Namen: Star Wars und Herr der Ringe.
Doch vielleicht hat genau das für mich die Faszination dieser Welt ausgemacht. Karpyshyn schafft sich nämlich etwas Eigenes daraus. In dieser Welt warten auch einige Überraschungen auf uns und den Figuren wird es auch nicht einfach gemacht.
Ebenfalls ein grosses Kompliment an den Autoren: die weibliche Hauptfigur, Scythe, hat es geschafft, mein Lieblingscharakter zu werden. Und das ist echt selten, da ich oft Mühe mit den weiblichen Figuren habe.
Definitiv eine Reihe, die ich weiter verfolgen möchte, da man dem Buch leider anmerkt, dass die Handlung noch weitergeht. Man muss also sozusagen weiterlesen.
Doch vielleicht hat genau das für mich die Faszination dieser Welt ausgemacht. Karpyshyn schafft sich nämlich etwas Eigenes daraus. In dieser Welt warten auch einige Überraschungen auf uns und den Figuren wird es auch nicht einfach gemacht.
Ebenfalls ein grosses Kompliment an den Autoren: die weibliche Hauptfigur, Scythe, hat es geschafft, mein Lieblingscharakter zu werden. Und das ist echt selten, da ich oft Mühe mit den weiblichen Figuren habe.
Definitiv eine Reihe, die ich weiter verfolgen möchte, da man dem Buch leider anmerkt, dass die Handlung noch weitergeht. Man muss also sozusagen weiterlesen.
jj7twin's review against another edition
5.0
Amazing Dolan Tree find! This falls into my fantasy/mystical/apocalyptic heroes wheelhouse, which I don't read too often depending on the balance of subgenres within the story. Since the names & there are time jumps, it was harder to keep straight who the 4 kids were in the beginning. Once you find out who they are all you want them to do is meet. By the end of the book SPOILER ALERT!!
you get 3/4 all in one place. Couldn't make this update for a while but I've started the 2nd book & things are frustrating me beyond end. Good read, like that I can guess certain real world ties to different elements of the story.
you get 3/4 all in one place. Couldn't make this update for a while but I've started the 2nd book & things are frustrating me beyond end. Good read, like that I can guess certain real world ties to different elements of the story.