In the Earth Abides the Flame

Fire of Heaven #2

by Russell Kirkpatrick

They have journeyed across the face of the world, but their quest is far from over. . .

Battered and bruised, suffering grievous loss, the Company enters the great city of Instruere. They have to warn the Council of Faltha of the Destroyer's threat -- but they have no idea of the depth of treachery that awaits them.

When the arrival of a disturbing stranger ignites political and religious tensions, events escalate beyond control. Only one thing could unite a land wracked with such mistrust. But can it be found? Or is the Jugom Ark merely a legend?

Genres: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

654 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Russell Kirkpatrick was born in 1961 in Christchurch, New Zealand, where he lived until 2000. He is a geography PhD graduate of the University of Canterbury, and currently lectures at the University of Waikato in Hamilton. During the 1990s he was fortunate enough to work on two major atlas projects, as Deputy Editor of the New Zealand Historical Atlas (Readers Choice winner, Montana Book Awards, 1998), and as author of Contemporary Atlas New Zealand (Montana Book Award finalist, 2000). He has been involved in four other published atlas projects, and continues to work on atlases when he can. His latest project is an atlas of Bahrain.

In February 2004 Across The Face Of The World, the first book in Russell's Fire of Heaven fantasy trilogy was published by HarperCollins Voyager Australia, and has been sold into a number of overseas countries. The second volume, In The Earth Abides The Flame, was published in August 2004, with the concluding volume, The Right Hand Of God, published in February 2005. Across the Face of the World was published by Orbit in the UK in May 2006, and the second and third novels will follow at six-monthly intervals. He is now at work on another novel, The Path of Revenge.

Apart from cartography and writing, his major passions are reading, music - anything except country & western and polka - and sport. He plays golf to a 2 handicap. Russell is married to Dorinda, and they have two fine young men, a bichon frise, assorted cats, a ridiculously large Lego collection, a decent Cornishware collection and - finally - a new house in a gully. The perfect hideaway for a writer.

Reviews

[Alexander Draganov · Rating 2 out of 5]

Четох, докъдето имах сили. Като цяло си изгубих времето с тази поредица. Ако ви се чете сранеж, на линка:
https://citadelata.com/%d0%b2-%d0%b7%...

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

“In the Earth Abides the Flame” was definitley better than the first. The plot was thick enough that it distracted from the lack of character building. Still I fought with the randomness that Kirkpatrick assigns his character back-stories. Just when you think you are getting to know a character, the scene switches and he begins to delve into another characters life.

The story compelled me enough to carry on with the third and final book. This being said, I will most likely avoid this author’s work as I do not enjoy his writing style.

[Brian Hagedorn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just like the first book, the maps are incredible. Unfortunately, the rest of book isn't--just like the first book.

Much of this story is like the garbled mess of a first draft or something crunched out during NaNoWriMo. The book can never decide whether it should be omniscient or limited omniscient in its viewpoint, bouncing between the two for no reason whatsoever. More annoyingly, the characters act in a very decidedly melodramatic fashion, and often bouncing from one emotion to the next. The main character, Leith, comes off as a whinny idiot--much like Harry Potter in the last few books in that series.

Compounding the mess is too many plot contrived events. Too many "random" events that seem to only serve the purpose of filling space because nothing is happening. Too many times something bad happens because things are going too good--the classic pull-the-rug-from-underneath-them trick. Too many magical "fixes" to get them out of a bad situation.

That was, by far, the most abrupt ending of any book I have read. A WTF moment that's more baffling and confusing than the bad plot and writing. There's no logic to it--at all.

And the worst offense: the unnatural mashing of "Lord of the Rings" epic fantasy with Christian undertones of "Chronicles of Narnia". Where subtlety was needed, there was a brute forced hammer instead. A complete utter failure of epic proportions.

The fact that this book actually gets two stars is simply because I've read worst crap than this.








And that it had the amusing quality of a SyFy channel movie.

[Attila · Rating 3 out of 5]

The travelling party arrives at the capital city to tell the Council about the Bhrudwan invasion, but the Destroyer's minions have already infiltrated the capital, so the warnings are not heeded. Some of the good guys decide to travel to a remote location to recover the Arrow of Flame, an old relic that may aid them against the enemy.

I found this more original and intense than the first book, and I can say I liked it. The final scenes and revelations were great.

[Elmer Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kirkpatrick continues his adventure epic into this entry with the same loving attention to detail that he displayed in the first book. There are exhaustive amounts of descriptions, lore, backstory and world-building effort put into making this journey one felt by the reader throughout the story.

The locales are easily recognized as our own co-opted into the sixteen kingdoms and their vastly different regions. The plight of the Native Americans, the Arab desert peoples' endurance and modes of travel (and bartering), the Anglican world rampage of promoting their "god" over other deities, it's all thrown in there somewhere, somehow, but with a deft hand of inclusion to fill the world being traveled.

The characters continue to grow in similar, yet unexpected ways. The bad guys are fairly typical and not memorable beyond tropes of the genre. Near the end (of this obvious trilogy middle entry) Leith realizes the kingdoms will all be represented in some fashion within their group. And that drives this story into the third book/act. Hard to write in this genre and not be akin to Tolkien or C.S. Lewis and their notable works. Kirkpatrick is holding his own.

This entry is not suited as a stand-alone book, there is simply just too much going on before we get here, and after (being foreshadowed) to be of substantial reading merit. However, it is well written and consistent with the first book's style.

I would recommend the trilogy thus far.

Thanks for reading.

[Книжни Криле · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ревюто на втората част от епичната фентъзи сага „Небесен огън“ на Ръсел Къркпатрик май се позабави, но това е защото имах нужда да понаваксам с първата част, чието ревю е дело на колегата Книголет. Той с право сравнява „През лицето на света“ със стилистиката на Толкин, а аз като негов заклет фен реших да се убедя в тези думи. А след прочита на книгата вече нямаше никакво съмнение, че веднага продължавам с „В земята пламък се крие” (изд. MBG Books). Прочетете ревюто на "Книжни Криле":

https://knijnikrile.wordpress.com/201...

[Angus Mcfarlane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a step up from the first book. Instead of the journey saga, although there was some of that, there is more focused drama as different characters become more distinct. Some of them become more likable, all have flaws revealed and strengths emerge although in one case greater silence bequeaths mystery. The biblical allusions remain strong, not just in terms of the themes, but by referencing specific events. These are interesting, although a bit removed from their original meaning and I'm still not sure what the intent is. Somehow it moved much quicker and I enjoyed it more, glad to have the third one on hand to get started straight away.

[Mark Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely amazing- no idea why this has such poor reviews here, it’s a definite improvement of the first and that was great too. Imaginative, with fantastic characters and a gripping story. Kirkpatrick manages to keep so many plot arcs and characters moving independently without confusion and with great payoff, and the prose is beautiful- there’s a classical quality to characters, dialogue, and events. Amazing, 10/10, excited for the third book.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I ended up not finishing the series. Although it was interesting, the amount of time spent on the geographical descriptions was distracting and our hero did not seem to want to grow up. Perhaps I’ll go back to it at another time.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely a step up from the first book. Characters are very enjoyable!

[Phyllis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really love his writing very descriptive and adventurous looking forward to read the last of the trilogy.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

c2004. Second in the Fire of Heavens trilogy. The second book did not disappoint but ended somewhat abruptly for my taste. I know that the third book is out but if it had not been, I would have felt really cheated. It always seems to me to be publishers greed that breaks up these books sometimes or the editors of said publishing houses encouraging the authors to adopt this behaviour. Having finished the rant, the Company's next set of travails were just as good as in the first although I felt if there is little or no additional characterisation. I did find that this felt far more "religious" than the previous book and I found myself anticipating some of the more trite passages in the book. However, I would still recommend the book although for some reason, it took me longer than usual to finish the 506 pages (excluding the glossary). "Truth is more powerful than deception! Deceit wins many battles, but the fruit of its victories evaporates along the lies it tells. Truth may suffer many defeats, but the victories it wins are permanent. We must tell the truth!" Kirkparick incorporates his clear love of geography really well and this fairly unusual knowledge does provide the novel with realistic descriptions of the surrounds and weather. A synopsis would have helped in order to have got the mind set sorted but I found that the detailed glossary did the trick in kicking the memory cells in order for me to actually remember the nuances of the main characters.

[Douglas · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second book of this series continues in about the same vein of the first, but at least they are out of medieval Canada now. This being a trilogy, our protagonists' long struggles and hardships are meet with even more struggles and hardships as they come to terms with what is happening to the world and what they are called to do.

Perhaps the strongest parts of this part of the story, at least for me, is the growing realization of who the Most High is and what he requires of the travelers and how he relates to Leith in particular. It an illustration of the real struggle with God and what God wants of us -- and the choices we make in light of those struggles. Although the Most High speaks to all our travelers, Kirkpatrick wisely keeps conversation with the Most High to a minimum, most in interior dialogue with Leith.

The developments of the story remain mostly interesting, even if having very familiar fantasy trappings and tropes. They may not be painted well enough to appear fresh, but Kirkpatrick keeps the pace of the story moving along to satisfy. Overall, this book builds on the first and so I give it a total of 689 milli-tolkeins.

[Peter Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the 2nd book in this series, and picks up immediately after the 1st left off. The group is divided and the main character sets off to recover an artifact with which to .... well we actually don't know what purpose it will serve yet, be it talisman of power, or just a rallying point.

All in all the story is good, and there is a revelation, of sorts, at the end as to what the quest is. Oddly though, after 600+ paperback pages, I really can't see what took so many to accomplish, except as in the first descriptions of scenery.

Some may dislike that, I find it helpful for visualization, but it probably is too much for many, and the story part of the story could be expanded, or we could have had shorter books.

I'd still recommend it tho, its an easy read, and better than many in the genre.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

I suspect that I am never going to be a fan of Mr Kirkpatrick's so-called "epic" trilogy, mostly down to the fact that, for a doorstop of a book, it's very low on plot and characterization, concentrating instead on ramming huge amounts of preaching and religious fervour down the reader's throat. The Hermit, in particular, seems to have no other purpose other than to be held up as an example of how Hal's preaching is right, whereas everybody else is wrong.
Characterization is also not a strong suit, taking all of the first book and most of the second for our heroes to become more than two-dimensional little blobs of exposition, and there may be one or two only who are even remotely likable.
I also don't quite get the Lord of The Rings comparisons, unless it has something to do with length. Other than that, they are worlds apart.

[Mick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is book two of the Fire of Heaven series by Russell Kirkpatrick and continues the wonderful tale. This time around the battle is no longer against the elements but now it mostly against evil rot by other characters. For this reason it is also darker than book one. The pacing is quicker and more interesting characters are brought into the mix. My one complaint is a minor one. There is no natural end like in the first book, here the ending is a cliff-hanger. Make sure you have book 3 on hand.

Highly recommended!

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me 2 times to make it through this book, but in the end i turned out to enjoy it. Yeah, it has all the familiar fantasy elements, and at times the characterizations could be better. But, the world is deep and well thought-out. If you want sorta a throwback quest fantasy and mindless fun, you would probably enjoy this book. more thoughts here

[Felicity · Rating 2 out of 5]

My mother gave me this series of books to read. There are a lot of descriptive battle scenes and an underlying religious message. Most books take me about a 3 days (if not busy) to a week to read. Each one of these took me a month. It was good enough to keep reading but it didn't hold my attention for long periods of time. I like to be swept away by fiction. Unfortunately that did not happen with these books.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was better than the first one. I usually get all three books of a trilogy at the same time (even though I get burned sometimes), and I was glad that this book was better than the first. I'm just starting the third book now, and I'll weigh in on the entire trilogy there. Oh, and I wouldn't put this series on the same level as LOTR.

[Daniel Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fell in love with the characters and the stories in the first book of this trilogy, but then the poor author got caught on the publisher production line and had to produce this sequel in twelve months. He lacked the chance to develop as an author and refine the manuscript to the same standard as the first, flawless, book.

[Aisha Mahmoud · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one too was really good. I was not too keen at first about the religion bit and thought the author was going into a Christian fiction kind of thing and ending it in a subtle sort of follow Christ message but I was pleasantly surprised. Really good. I read it in three days which for me is really fast with my ADHD and all.

[Lbd · Rating 5 out of 5]

book 2 of a trilogy. good character development and scene setting. A real page turner if you like suspense built into the story that really isn't a suspense-type story. reads right up there with Feist, Eddings and Goodkind

[Shay · Rating 1 out of 5]

The religious overtones make the book seem familiar though not quite predictable. The plot is paced better than the first in the series, but still drags at times. And the ending was utterly random, as if Kilpatrick decided to just stop writing to save something for the trilogy.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Builds on the previous book well, developing the story and fleshing out the characters and plot. I like that the characters seem not quite stereotypical in that they are morphing in ways you might not expect...

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredible epic fantasy that will make you feel like your on the journey. The story plot was very intriguing, the twists and turns took time to develop, however, your perseverance will reward you greatly.

[Connor Ferguson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book does a great job of continuing the adventure, as well as introducing new allies and adversaries. This also puts a great interpretation on religion and colonialism, which is saying a lot from me, since I'm generally unwilling to accept God in any form.

[Joyce Corbin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good series

[Orbit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Orbit,fall07

[Brett]

Fantasy

[Kathryn]

Not worth my time. Blech.