You are probably thinking my WIR looks suspiciously like a full review (and the model looks suspiciously like the one from the Eddie La Crosse books by Alex Beldsoe). You are not wrong but as the saying goes 'desperate times...'. I only managed to finish one book *gasp*. I was reading other things but just couldn't make much progress. I am hoping next week is a better one for me. So what did I think of Emily Gee's The Fire Prince (Solaris, August 26, 2014)?
This is the much anticipated second novel in the The Cursed Kingdoms Trilogy and there was almost a point when I wondered if there was ever going to be another book. I was really excited when I came across The Fire Prince on NetGalley.
Small piece of advice. If it's been more than 2 years since you have read the previous book in the series, The Sentinel Mage, then go back and re-read the last few chapters at least as it took me at least until the 3rd or 4th chapter before I could start to remember who the characters were. The story starts with the young boy Jaume who fled the curse and is now traveling with The Brotherhood who are searching for Prince Harkeld. Harkeld is the key to ridding the Kingdom of a deadly curse which turns normal people into raving madmen who murder and cannibalise their victims. Harkeld is still with the mages, mainly Innis who is a healer and powerful shapeshifter. Innis and her companions are still pretending to be Justen who is Harkeld's bodyguard and friend. Harkeld is still quite peevish about being a mage even though it's his powers and those of the others that save his life over and over. We spend time with almost every lead character including Jaume, Harkeld, Innis, and also Karel who is still guarding Briggita, Harkeld's half sister. With so many lead characters you can see why it would have helped me get back into the story had I read book 1 a bit more recently. This can't be laid at Gee's door however.
I am not sure if it was the long wait for this book that made me just a bit disappointed with it. I am interested to know what other people think. I think Harkeld is a real whiny tosser who is always complaining about being a Mage even though his companions are dropping like flies trying to save him from his own father and brother. Karel is still heroic and I wanted to reach inside the book and give the young Jaume a big hug. Unfortunately the book focuses heavily on Harkeld, his hatred of all things witch related and his having both real sex and dream sex. The Briggita story is exciting and the books ends quite abruptly with a cliffhanger for 2 of the lead characters. I think one of my biggest questions is whether Gee will keep her fans waiting so long for book 3. If she does I will have to be diligent and go back for a re-read. I think The Fire Prince suffers a bit from 'book 2 syndrome' so I hope Gee doesn't leave her readers in suspense for too long as I may just forget about the series completely.
I do have some new juicy books to read so I hope to have a more productive week. Wishing you a week of Happy Reading.
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