jaxgirl007's review against another edition
3.0
I was really excited to read this book, since I liked "The Eight" very much. I was anticipating a new "game" with new puzzles and the same characters that I enjoyed in the prequel.
But this was not meant to be. While this is a continuation of "The Eight" and one might expect overlap, this felt like the same story regurgitaed with a new set of young characters...with none of the newer characters holding the interest that was present with the original characters.
By the end of the novel, I was still wondering what the secret was: it felt like Neville was trying to make it such an abstract idea that it reached into nothingness. The characters were talking like it was a big deal but I was left scratching my head.
My advice is to read "The Eight", this sequel is not really worth the effort.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
But this was not meant to be. While this is a continuation of "The Eight" and one might expect overlap, this felt like the same story regurgitaed with a new set of young characters...with none of the newer characters holding the interest that was present with the original characters.
By the end of the novel, I was still wondering what the secret was: it felt like Neville was trying to make it such an abstract idea that it reached into nothingness. The characters were talking like it was a big deal but I was left scratching my head.
My advice is to read "The Eight", this sequel is not really worth the effort.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
christiannasbooktrips's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
lazygal's review against another edition
1.0
This one took a while to read because it was, well, so poorly written that I just couldn't get into it the way I usually do. There wasn't a revelation that wasn't shocking or world-shattering... every page (almost every paragraph) had some twist or cliff-hanger... the digressions often didn't explain what they were supposed to because readers were either supposed to remember from [book:The Eight] or fill-in-the-blanks themselves. Even worse, this Game was never fully explained nor was the actual purpose of it.
Too many loose ends, horrible writing style. Never again.
Too many loose ends, horrible writing style. Never again.
misslezlee's review against another edition
2.0
I began reading this book before I'd read the prequel and it didn't make a lick of sense. When I realized it was a sequel, I read The Eight which I enjoyed quite a bit. This was no where near as good a read, but somehow I ploughed on... not sure why because it became quite tedious in the end. Too many coincidences, silly, extravagant events and an unsatisfactory ending. Please, let there not be a third book. If there is, I'm not reading it.
lizjane's review against another edition
2.0
I was so disappointed in this book. I love Katherine Neville's "The Eight" when I read it years ago, but this sequel to it is just not good.
busyenjoyinglife's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
2.25
lisalark's review against another edition
4.0
This is the sequel to a previous work of Neville's, The Eight, which I adored and adore. The Fire is a fun read with the characteristic melding of history, science, nations in conflict, riddles etc. that I love, but for me the plot of The Fire and the characterizations fell flat. The main character's voice didn't work for me, while I didn't mind her I never felt like I really knew and empathized with her. You know, like with a character you really like and "get," you're excited for them when they get with their love interest or worry about them when their life is threatened.
I think part of what made the plot challenging is that you have an uniformed narrator - and she stays pretty uninformed. It's ok to start out clueless and pull the reader along, but if the lead voice stays too confused you sort of wish you could go climb inside someone else's head. See: HP and the Order of the Phoenix in which Harry is at least also annoyed by his ignorance and expressed it in the ALL CAPS OF TEENAGE ANGST OMG DUMBLEDORE YOU SUCK ARGH.
Anyway. It's fun. I rated it 4 because I actually wanted to give it 3.5 but that's not a thing and I did learn lots of fun facts and history, which rule.
I think part of what made the plot challenging is that you have an uniformed narrator - and she stays pretty uninformed. It's ok to start out clueless and pull the reader along, but if the lead voice stays too confused you sort of wish you could go climb inside someone else's head. See: HP and the Order of the Phoenix in which Harry is at least also annoyed by his ignorance and expressed it in the ALL CAPS OF TEENAGE ANGST OMG DUMBLEDORE YOU SUCK ARGH.
Anyway. It's fun. I rated it 4 because I actually wanted to give it 3.5 but that's not a thing and I did learn lots of fun facts and history, which rule.
kimmetjuh23's review against another edition
3.0
Het is een Dan Brown achtige avonturen roman. Wat op zich niet verkeerd is. Maar er gebeurt heel veel. Er zitten heel veel zijsprongen in het verhaal, waardoor de spanning er een beetje uit gaat. Uiteindelijk wordt alles wel weer aan elkaar gebreid, maar dat duurt heel lang.
alexampersand's review against another edition
3.0
Well, I heard a LOT of negative things about this, so I went in with low expectations. And the beginning actually took me by surprise - yes, it felt very Da Vinci Code, with much more obvious 'de-coding' in the first few chapters than The Eight, and I found myself settling in and enjoying the ride... for the first few chapters.
But then it just sort of fizzled out. It simultaneously felt like there was too much going on, and also not a lot. It felt like a lot of just going from one place to another, to meet a new person who would explain things to them. A lot of times characters would just look at information, be stumped for a short while, then suddenly be able to decipher it.
But meanwhile, it felt like SUCH a convoluted plot going on. I feel like there may have been less characters than in The Eight, but it felt like allegiances were constantly being challenged and switched over, so that any form of shock and twist at discovering someone was on another side just completely baffled me because I ended up having very little clue who was on which side anyway. Where The Eight just kept everyone's roles a mystery until a big 'reveal', The Fire seemed determined to assign everyone a role, only to keep switching them.
Then there's the past... one of my favourite things about The Eight was how cleverly I felt it connected the historic story with the present day story. And that just felt missing here. Other than providing a very basic backstory for one of the characters It didn't feel like it tied the plot together as nicely as The Eight did.
And then there's the characters... I'm really not sure what happened here. There's a literally family made up os Rosemary, Basil, and Sage??? I don't think even acknowledging this fact with smirks from characters really makes up for the fact that it's such a bizarre choice for an author to make. Then we have Key, who loves to speak in idioms and catchphrases, something that feels like it should come from a sitcom rather than a century-spanning mystery novel. And then there's the frankly cringeworthy flirtation between Alex and Vartan - they meet up with and somehow the relationship between them makes Vartan horny?????
Let's not even talk about the utter wealth of Arabic and Russian names that just get mentioned once as the sister of the son of someone's long-lost uncle who's an emperor who worked for someone else.
And then the ending just felt... underwhelming. The Eight had such a definitive ending, it felt like we understood the game and the service, and there was a tangible product created. Maybe it's because I'm a simpleton, but I enjoyed that. And here it seems to end with a sort of wishy-washy message of Or, again, maybe I just didn't understand it.
All throughout this book I couldn't help but feel like there was plot after plot that felt like the author wanted to write a sequel, and so was trying to pick at an already-complete story that she'd told, and try to find ways to retcon choices she'd made, or add in extra history to something that was already complete as it was. And my biggest feeling through all of this was that the story itself felt unnecessary, and the utter bulk that surrounded it was making it unnecessarily long too.
Maybe it's unfair to compare this to The Eight. Maybe I'm being harsh because I enjoyed The Eight SO much more than I expected to. Maybe if I read this book again I would have a greater grasp of the characters and would understand a bit more about who is who, and feel more comfortable with who is on which side. But as for this read... it didn't really do it for me.
But then it just sort of fizzled out. It simultaneously felt like there was too much going on, and also not a lot. It felt like a lot of just going from one place to another, to meet a new person who would explain things to them. A lot of times characters would just look at information, be stumped for a short while, then suddenly be able to decipher it.
But meanwhile, it felt like SUCH a convoluted plot going on. I feel like there may have been less characters than in The Eight, but it felt like allegiances were constantly being challenged and switched over, so that any form of shock and twist at discovering someone was on another side just completely baffled me because I ended up having very little clue who was on which side anyway. Where The Eight just kept everyone's roles a mystery until a big 'reveal', The Fire seemed determined to assign everyone a role, only to keep switching them.
Then there's the past... one of my favourite things about The Eight was how cleverly I felt it connected the historic story with the present day story. And that just felt missing here. Other than providing a very basic backstory for one of the characters
Spoiler
and the reveal - that one of our present-day characters is in fact from the past - is not quite as shocking when it is... exactly the same reveal as in The Eight.And then there's the characters... I'm really not sure what happened here. There's a literally family made up os Rosemary, Basil, and Sage??? I don't think even acknowledging this fact with smirks from characters really makes up for the fact that it's such a bizarre choice for an author to make. Then we have Key, who loves to speak in idioms and catchphrases, something that feels like it should come from a sitcom rather than a century-spanning mystery novel. And then there's the frankly cringeworthy flirtation between Alex and Vartan - they meet up with
Spoiler
her long-lost parentsLet's not even talk about the utter wealth of Arabic and Russian names that just get mentioned once as the sister of the son of someone's long-lost uncle who's an emperor who worked for someone else.
And then the ending just felt... underwhelming. The Eight had such a definitive ending, it felt like we understood the game and the service, and there was a tangible product created. Maybe it's because I'm a simpleton, but I enjoyed that. And here it seems to end with a sort of wishy-washy message of
Spoiler
building utopia?All throughout this book I couldn't help but feel like there was plot after plot that felt like the author wanted to write a sequel, and so was trying to pick at an already-complete story that she'd told, and try to find ways to retcon choices she'd made, or add in extra history to something that was already complete as it was. And my biggest feeling through all of this was that the story itself felt unnecessary, and the utter bulk that surrounded it was making it unnecessarily long too.
Maybe it's unfair to compare this to The Eight. Maybe I'm being harsh because I enjoyed The Eight SO much more than I expected to. Maybe if I read this book again I would have a greater grasp of the characters and would understand a bit more about who is who, and feel more comfortable with who is on which side. But as for this read... it didn't really do it for me.
hisaacson's review against another edition
4.0
Full review at: http://hollybooknotes.blogspot.com/2008/09/fire-by-katherine-neville.html