Today, I am reviewing the Historical Fiction novel The Fires of Treason by Michele Quirke. The first in a planned series of novels, The Fires of Treason follows Prince Gregory and Princess Elizabeth as they struggle to survive against enemies much more powerful than they who have both the motivation and the means to see them dead.
I give this book a 4.5/5. Here is my breakdown.
Characters: 4.5/5. You may have noticed that I complimented the characters in my title for this review. That's no mistake; everyone, from the noble Gregory (whose shining armor may seem to be tarnishing a little) to the too-selfish Clara, has a character and a personality that I'm going to remember later. They're easy to sympathize with, easy to identify with; those you like you like a lot, and the scum are some of the worst villains to grace a page.
Why then, the lost half-point? Because Gregory seems a little TOO stubborn. I know he's noble, I know he's wounded, and life is falling down around his ears...but he's the one I put myself into (a thing I do when I read, or write, or play games, or...) and his failure to "rise" to the occasion disappointed me at the end. I look forward to seeing what happens in the next book, as yet unpublished, but he needs to get his act together. Elizabeth, the other main character, was excellent in every respect, and I appreciated her sassiness and her attempts to grow past where she began. I suspect she has hard lessons coming forward.
Plot/Storyline: 5/5. Now, I'm not a huge fan of historical fiction. Had I known this was historical fiction, I may not have read it, but I bought this book when the author was talking about it on Twitter as a show of support. It took some time to get to reading it. It doesn't read like most historical fiction I've seen; instead, it's more like a classic fantasy novel, but without magic. It has that "vibe" to it, and that made me able to enjoy it more. I didn't count any plotholes, and the story is solid and compelling. I enjoyed it immensely, read it through in about 3-4 hours all told, and am eager to see where it goes from here!
Flow: 4/5. Overall, Quirke's pacing is excellent and she keeps the story moving forward as well as I would expect or hope. I didn't feel bored or like things were moving too quickly for me to keep up with. That being said, some of Gregory and Elizabeth's arguments, toward the middle-end (maybe around the 70-80% mark?) started to feel a little repetitive, like they'd had these same problems before and neither one of them had learned the first time. It wasn't glaring, just something I felt at this point in the book.
Spelling/Grammar: 5/5. That rarest of ratings, meaning I did not notice any typographical or grammatical errors at all. Well done!
Quirke was kind enough to endure me live-Tweeting my responses to this story as I read through it. I enjoyed The Fires of Treason very much, and I think it will serve as the foundation to an excellent series...if Gregory can get over himself, step up, and do what needs to be done!
If you liked my review, check out my books over at my main site: www.jasonpatrickcrawford.com/bookstore.html
Thanks as always, and keep reading!
I knew it was hist. fic and I put it off for a while because of that! If I'd seen this review, it would have hastened my decision to get it. Fantasy I like, for the magical elements, yes, but also for something else; and this historical fiction has it, doesn't have many of the things that tend to put me off about hist. fic.
ReplyDeleteYou thought the repetitive arguments were to repetitive? Interesting. I find that makes the characters more real to me. I mean, in real life, that happens all the time. People rarely learn the first time. So I love that in my fiction!
It wasn't TOO repetitive. Just a LITTLE repetitive. I found myself like, "All right, I've seen this before," which is what I meant by that.
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