Nils doesn't know how old he is, or where he came from. Raised to worship the Drachengott, he will soon be granted the gift of magic at his initiation - but why does he dream of flying? And why, at his journey to the mountain of the Drachengott, does he feel compelled to steal something from the giant dragon - a strange stone with hidden power locked inside it? All Nils knows is what the Drachengott promises him on that day: that one day, he will live to curse his own name: Nils Schacher. Nils the Thief...
As with the two earlier books in the series, Fire closely follows the third "chosen one" character as he acquires magic and learns about his powers and his special weapon. But unlike the earlier books, things in the wider world are heating up now and Nils's story is less linear or straightforward. And the characters from the earlier books play a larger role in Fire.
By the latter half of this book I was more excited about the plot and characters (especially the overarching plot) than I had been in the first two books. Things get more complicated and the story started to deviate from the most obvious path. And the characters finally figured out something that had been obvious to the reader from the start (but which they couldn't've known earlier), so that was nice. I am going to pick up the last book straight away, to see how it all shakes out.
I still thing this whole series would be better read in a single omnibus edition. But in the meantime, if you enjoyed the first two books, definitely pick this one up. If you thought Wind or Earth were a bit slow or too uncomplicated, then I recommend giving Fire a go because it really does pick up. I am looking forward to starting the last book in the series this evening. If you're new to the series, definitely start with the first book because the overarching plot builds up book by book. They're also all quite quick reads (especially for fantasy books), if that aspect is appealing.
4.5 / 5 stars
Series: Drachengott series, book 3 of 4
Format read: eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Challenges: Australian Women Writers Challenge
Thanks! Yes, things definitely started to speed up in this book. I originally intended to have it entirely from Nils' point of view, but realised I was going to have to deviate from that because doing otherwise would mean skipping over important character moments.
ReplyDeleteBefore Fire I'd kept it quite simple, which isn't my usual style as you know, but at this point my normal complexity began to creep in. And it was great to see Rutger and Syn meet again.
Small spoiler: the final book, Water, is told from multiple POVs and in many ways is my favourite book of the series.
An omnibus edition would be awesome! I should suggest it to the publisher.