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42thursday's review against another edition
2.0
I tried hard to like this book. Kept telling myself that it will get better as one dull chapter followed another. Even tried picturing Gillian Anderson as doctor Caitlin O'Hara, her main protagonist and heroine of the whole (promised) trilogy. Nothing helped. I've been an admirer of Gillian's talents as an actress for nearly twenty years now, have come to respect her as a personality based on all of the interviews I've watched and read, and Dana Scully has always served as a role model to me, so you can imagine the extent to which I was willing to give in to my fan obsession and close my eyes on things and just like the book, you know. But I just couldn't connect; which is ironic, considering that's basically all the story is about - connecting on the deepest level possible.
Was it a page-turner, as many reviews state? Maybe, if only to get through it quicker, otherwise it would turn into one of those experiences when you drag the reading for so long your interest, whatever little you had of it, just dies at some point so you have to give up on it altogether.
One thing this book successfully accomplished: made me want to re-watch The X-Files all over again. Specifically, the "Sixth Extinction" episodes, glimpses of which I kept noticing in A Vision of Fire every now and then. Only without Chris Carter's strong guidance, this somewhat similar story failed to come to life for me, and felt flat and unbelievable. And that, as I've learnt, is the one thing a sci-fi story should never fail at.
I wonder what the story would be like if stripped of all the mystery and sci-fi elements. Whatever remains must've been the initial idea of a book Anderson had in mind when she first set her mind on it. I just wish she stood her ground and steered clear of any temptation to win the hearts of all the X-philes out there (Because we would've read a phonebook if her name was on it, no doubt). And maybe that would've been a much more insightful read.
Was it a page-turner, as many reviews state? Maybe, if only to get through it quicker, otherwise it would turn into one of those experiences when you drag the reading for so long your interest, whatever little you had of it, just dies at some point so you have to give up on it altogether.
One thing this book successfully accomplished: made me want to re-watch The X-Files all over again. Specifically, the "Sixth Extinction" episodes, glimpses of which I kept noticing in A Vision of Fire every now and then. Only without Chris Carter's strong guidance, this somewhat similar story failed to come to life for me, and felt flat and unbelievable. And that, as I've learnt, is the one thing a sci-fi story should never fail at.
I wonder what the story would be like if stripped of all the mystery and sci-fi elements. Whatever remains must've been the initial idea of a book Anderson had in mind when she first set her mind on it. I just wish she stood her ground and steered clear of any temptation to win the hearts of all the X-philes out there (Because we would've read a phonebook if her name was on it, no doubt). And maybe that would've been a much more insightful read.
hirvimaki's review against another edition
2.0
I really wanted to like this more than I did. It's not bad, it is just not very good. You get all the elements you'd expect from the mind of Special Agent Dana Scully (because Anderson will always be Special Agent Dana Scully): past life regression, ancient Vikings, the Piri Reis Map, vudoun, and (of course) aliens. What else would you expect? Frankly, this reads a lot like a episode of the X-Files. Although it suffers somewhat from a blender of ideas - blenders are violent, chaotic places after all - that really is not a problem until the climatic finish. In the end, to bring a semblance of conclusion (there is not real resolution because this is just the first in a series) you actually have to drink this this smoothie of a plot. And there's just too much in there for it to be that enjoyable. There is good stuff in there, fun and interesting stuff, but it's blended in with too much other stuff and you lose any real distinct flavour. Sure, I wanted to know WHY all this stuff was happening. But after that final page, I didn't care enough to want to read the next book.
kitaface's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
rachelbohlen's review against another edition
4.0
To be honest, this is more of a 3.25-3.5 star book, buuuut it's Gillian Anderson! The concept is very interesting, and the mystery pulled me in. I didn't love the resolution, especially considering that some plot points were left purposely unresolved, but I still enjoyed it. It got a little too new age-y and veered too far away from science fiction for me to love it, but overall, a good read.
beynotce's review against another edition
3.0
A low-key Sunday afternoon read with a protagonist designed for me to mentally cast Gillian Anderson. Honestly, I'm surpised GA didn't write this as a treatment for a film to star in herself - because that's exactly what it feels like. Predictably genre-y and briskly plot-driven, it's destined to do well in airport bookstores (and of course i'm always pleased to find decent female protagonists in this kind of book). I found it enjoyable enough for what it is, and I'll be the first in line to pre-order the rest of the promised trilogy, because come on, it's Gillian Anderson, but don't expect to discover that Anderson missed her novelist calling - there's nothing particularly enchanting here.
carlylottsofbookz's review against another edition
2.0
It's really tragic the too-high hopes that I had for this novel.
My first sign of disappointment began when I saw there was a ghost writer. With few exceptions, when I see a ghost writer, I tend to think less of the novel. Why is there a ghost writer? How much did that writer contribute? In this case: how much of this novel is actually Gillian Anderson, and how much is the ghost writer? I=
The plot is a very X-File-esque one: children all over the world are having horrid, trance-like experiences...and this one doctor is trying to make the connection to help them. She is a psychiatrist who utilizes hypnotism. She is also a single mother (unexplained), and has a deaf pre-teen son (not sure why this is the large point that it is), and she is obviously rich (able to fly to Haiti and Iran at the drop of a hat).
The characters were not as developed as I would hope...and overall, I was disappointed. :(
My first sign of disappointment began when I saw there was a ghost writer. With few exceptions, when I see a ghost writer, I tend to think less of the novel. Why is there a ghost writer? How much did that writer contribute? In this case: how much of this novel is actually Gillian Anderson, and how much is the ghost writer? I=
The plot is a very X-File-esque one: children all over the world are having horrid, trance-like experiences...and this one doctor is trying to make the connection to help them. She is a psychiatrist who utilizes hypnotism. She is also a single mother (unexplained), and has a deaf pre-teen son (not sure why this is the large point that it is), and she is obviously rich (able to fly to Haiti and Iran at the drop of a hat).
The characters were not as developed as I would hope...and overall, I was disappointed. :(
cmzukowski's review against another edition
3.0
I went into this book with the intention of not doing what a lot of other readers seemed to do. I was NOT going to think about X-Files and I was NOT going to try to imagine the main character being Dana Scully. I do absolutely adore her and X-Files but I didn’t want to go into this book with any hopes or pre-conceived ideas that would cloud my opinion. I think that is the best way to go into reading this book because if you were expecting Scully you would, of course, be disappointed.
A Vision of Fire wasn’t amazing but it wasn’t awful. It was good, I enjoyed it and at many times I could not put it down. The story held my interest and it involved a lot of intense and creepy moments that kept you going. Unfortunately the book also had its fair share of problems. My first problem (and the thing that probably bugged me the most) was there was NO character development for the main character, Caitlin, or any characters really. So I found it really hard to understand her or really care about her much. I like to get to know the characters I am reading about so they seem like real people. In this case you knew mostly nothing about Caitlin aside from her profession.
I also felt like the story was a little loose. It was a great concept and very interesting but I feel like it was just gone through very quickly. No real in-depth explanations of anything going on and no good background. Also the main character (and almost all the other characters) seemed to believe in the fantastical circumstances and happenings very easily. It is like if you went to someone and said “Aliens exist because I was abducted” and they responded with “Okay that makes sense. I believe you.” I feel like the book would have benefitted from being longer so that there could be more information and more of an internal struggle from the main character as she tried to understand and believe what was going on.
I feel like the story was also resolved rather quickly and it neat steps. Here is the problem, here is what is causing the problem, and here is how I will fix the problem, problem solved. Something like this should have taken way longer to resolve than just several days. I believe that more explanation and more development really would have helped with this story. Like I said before, if the book had been longer I think it would have been better. Overall there was just something with the story that bothered me and I can’t really find the best way to explain it. Maybe that it just seemed rather loosely thrown together. I know it wasn’t but that is just how it felt to me. Everything happened, everything was resolved (so far), no well explained reasoning was given and no real in-depth analysis was done by the main characters. She just kind of learned about everything and understood and solved it. Seemed way too unbelievable for me.
The last thing that bothered me was the dialogue. I felt like the serious and emotional dialogue was well done but any casual conversation dialogue seemed rather fake to me. As I read parts I would think to myself “no one talks to the friends like that”. A friend of mine pointed out that made this could be from the two different authors and maybe that was the case. It just made any casual conversations in the book pretty unbelievable to me.
Okay now that I got out my complaints I will say that I enjoyed the book. Being Gillian Anderson’s first book I think she did a good job. I couldn’t put the book down at most times and I enjoyed the story thoroughly. Yes there were all the things that bothered me but I still had a great time reading the book and I do recommend it because it is entertaining and I think the other books to follow in the saga have promise. I finished wanting to know more of the story and wanting things explained and I look forward to reading the other books. I have read many authors’ debut books and in a lot of cases it is normal for them to suffer a little. I am hopeful that as her writing career progresses her books will improve.
A Vision of Fire wasn’t amazing but it wasn’t awful. It was good, I enjoyed it and at many times I could not put it down. The story held my interest and it involved a lot of intense and creepy moments that kept you going. Unfortunately the book also had its fair share of problems. My first problem (and the thing that probably bugged me the most) was there was NO character development for the main character, Caitlin, or any characters really. So I found it really hard to understand her or really care about her much. I like to get to know the characters I am reading about so they seem like real people. In this case you knew mostly nothing about Caitlin aside from her profession.
I also felt like the story was a little loose. It was a great concept and very interesting but I feel like it was just gone through very quickly. No real in-depth explanations of anything going on and no good background. Also the main character (and almost all the other characters) seemed to believe in the fantastical circumstances and happenings very easily. It is like if you went to someone and said “Aliens exist because I was abducted” and they responded with “Okay that makes sense. I believe you.” I feel like the book would have benefitted from being longer so that there could be more information and more of an internal struggle from the main character as she tried to understand and believe what was going on.
I feel like the story was also resolved rather quickly and it neat steps. Here is the problem, here is what is causing the problem, and here is how I will fix the problem, problem solved. Something like this should have taken way longer to resolve than just several days. I believe that more explanation and more development really would have helped with this story. Like I said before, if the book had been longer I think it would have been better. Overall there was just something with the story that bothered me and I can’t really find the best way to explain it. Maybe that it just seemed rather loosely thrown together. I know it wasn’t but that is just how it felt to me. Everything happened, everything was resolved (so far), no well explained reasoning was given and no real in-depth analysis was done by the main characters. She just kind of learned about everything and understood and solved it. Seemed way too unbelievable for me.
The last thing that bothered me was the dialogue. I felt like the serious and emotional dialogue was well done but any casual conversation dialogue seemed rather fake to me. As I read parts I would think to myself “no one talks to the friends like that”. A friend of mine pointed out that made this could be from the two different authors and maybe that was the case. It just made any casual conversations in the book pretty unbelievable to me.
Okay now that I got out my complaints I will say that I enjoyed the book. Being Gillian Anderson’s first book I think she did a good job. I couldn’t put the book down at most times and I enjoyed the story thoroughly. Yes there were all the things that bothered me but I still had a great time reading the book and I do recommend it because it is entertaining and I think the other books to follow in the saga have promise. I finished wanting to know more of the story and wanting things explained and I look forward to reading the other books. I have read many authors’ debut books and in a lot of cases it is normal for them to suffer a little. I am hopeful that as her writing career progresses her books will improve.
maddiekellner's review against another edition
3.0
The first-person narrative of Caitlin spends the entire first half of the exploration refusing to acceptance an explanation outside of a scientific one - and then she drinks some tea and she changes her mind.
Interesting enough to finish. I'll probably read the next in the series to see if it improves. Wonder if it's going to be a movie with Gillian Anderson?
Interesting enough to finish. I'll probably read the next in the series to see if it improves. Wonder if it's going to be a movie with Gillian Anderson?