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Matter of Fire
277 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 1, 2023
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 13, 2024
Readers who are looking for a light, easy-to-read, fast-paced fantasy story, without too much world-building, might actually enjoy this book.
In the Kingdom of Rarland, Abren, a carpenter working at the docks, is visited by a mysterious spectre made of light with unclear intentions. Meanwhile, in the Republic of Mellia, the lives of Taygret and Eldam are disrupted when a war with the Kingdom of Skigland breaks out, leading to Eldam being sent back to Rarland (his home country) and Taygret having to flee her home after her uncle’s death. After looking for answers regarding the strange apparition, Abren too will need to flee the city of Damlon, for he has been deemed a heretic by the religious forces that rule his country. Taygret too is eventually visited by one of these “spirits” but seems to be a bit luckier in her enquiries as to their nature. The book, in its essence, tells the story of these travels and how the paths of these three characters seem fated to meet each other while being mysteriously guided and assisted by the invisible wills of strange, luminous apparitions.
It is a fairly well-written book, and its story is imaginative and flows smoothly. However, in my opinion, it leaves much to be desired. It’s a very superficial telling of a story that, although in a fantasy world, lacks the immersion and complexity to really draw you in. There seems to be a lot going on, on a political, religious and social sphere, but you’re only informed of the details that are directly related to the story and nothing else. You’re treated as if you are already familiar with the countries in question, so no depth is given to the scenery. That’s exactly what it felt like: a mere two-dimensional backdrop to the drama. Perhaps, in another story, that would have been sufficient, but the events of this story are deeply rooted in the world, so some fleshing out would have been good. I did enjoy the fact that the days of the week were named differently, but were they the same in both countries? We were suddenly informed that these two countries, Rarland and Mellia had different languages, however this had never come up before. These apparitions seem to be considered heretical by the religious status quo in both countries but was it the same religion? Since one country was a monarchy, and the other a republic, did this religion impact the political and socials spheres in the same way? Or was the fact that Taygret had an easier time learning about these creatures exactly because the religious institutions weren’t so strict in Mellia as they were in Rarland? We were told of political tensions between the countries of Mellia, Rarland and Skigland but these events were not explained in much detail and never mentioned again. In fact, I found it hard to believe that supposedly confidential information was that easily shared with a stranger, as well as the plan to use one of the (apparently heretical) creatures of light to assist with these political matters.
But then, nothing really has any consequences. Anytime there is any kind of difficulty, it gets quickly resolved. Sure, we are led to believe that the bright apparitions are helping these characters along, but everything is so quickly and so easily overcome (usually due to acts of immense generosity by random strangers, who sometimes even risk a great deal to help these people they never met) that the story can become rather tedious. What this means is that there is no real drama, no truly hard choices, no difficult obstacles for our heroes to overcome: anything that threatens to complicate their journey is suddenly fixed, and so they carry on fairly unscathed.
As the story unfolds, it feels as if we are merely being told about the succession of events, but these are not being really shown to us. It felt as if I was on a boat being carried away quickly by the current. It’s difficult to relate to a character when we’re just moving along from one event to the next without being allowed to really stay for a bit and feel what they are going through.
Finally, my greatest criticism is how little the light creatures were actually explored. Not only did our characters not uncover much about these creatures, but the little that they found out was, once again, only what affected the story directly and nothing else. Are the “spirits” good or bad? Yes. Why are they fighting? Because. Why do they interact with humans? *Shrugs shoulders*.
Possibly, my greatest disappointment was with how interesting this story could have been if only the author had taken some time to flesh it out a bit more. If a short book as this one was the goal, then perhaps the story could have been simplified. It felt like a book full of great ideas but that none was properly explored, and it leaves the reader with more questions than answers. It’s a great first draft. I’d love to read the book when it’s finished.
This book was generously given to me by LoveReading so that I could write an honest review.
In the Kingdom of Rarland, Abren, a carpenter working at the docks, is visited by a mysterious spectre made of light with unclear intentions. Meanwhile, in the Republic of Mellia, the lives of Taygret and Eldam are disrupted when a war with the Kingdom of Skigland breaks out, leading to Eldam being sent back to Rarland (his home country) and Taygret having to flee her home after her uncle’s death. After looking for answers regarding the strange apparition, Abren too will need to flee the city of Damlon, for he has been deemed a heretic by the religious forces that rule his country. Taygret too is eventually visited by one of these “spirits” but seems to be a bit luckier in her enquiries as to their nature. The book, in its essence, tells the story of these travels and how the paths of these three characters seem fated to meet each other while being mysteriously guided and assisted by the invisible wills of strange, luminous apparitions.
It is a fairly well-written book, and its story is imaginative and flows smoothly. However, in my opinion, it leaves much to be desired. It’s a very superficial telling of a story that, although in a fantasy world, lacks the immersion and complexity to really draw you in. There seems to be a lot going on, on a political, religious and social sphere, but you’re only informed of the details that are directly related to the story and nothing else. You’re treated as if you are already familiar with the countries in question, so no depth is given to the scenery. That’s exactly what it felt like: a mere two-dimensional backdrop to the drama. Perhaps, in another story, that would have been sufficient, but the events of this story are deeply rooted in the world, so some fleshing out would have been good. I did enjoy the fact that the days of the week were named differently, but were they the same in both countries? We were suddenly informed that these two countries, Rarland and Mellia had different languages, however this had never come up before. These apparitions seem to be considered heretical by the religious status quo in both countries but was it the same religion? Since one country was a monarchy, and the other a republic, did this religion impact the political and socials spheres in the same way? Or was the fact that Taygret had an easier time learning about these creatures exactly because the religious institutions weren’t so strict in Mellia as they were in Rarland? We were told of political tensions between the countries of Mellia, Rarland and Skigland but these events were not explained in much detail and never mentioned again. In fact, I found it hard to believe that supposedly confidential information was that easily shared with a stranger, as well as the plan to use one of the (apparently heretical) creatures of light to assist with these political matters.
But then, nothing really has any consequences. Anytime there is any kind of difficulty, it gets quickly resolved. Sure, we are led to believe that the bright apparitions are helping these characters along, but everything is so quickly and so easily overcome (usually due to acts of immense generosity by random strangers, who sometimes even risk a great deal to help these people they never met) that the story can become rather tedious. What this means is that there is no real drama, no truly hard choices, no difficult obstacles for our heroes to overcome: anything that threatens to complicate their journey is suddenly fixed, and so they carry on fairly unscathed.
As the story unfolds, it feels as if we are merely being told about the succession of events, but these are not being really shown to us. It felt as if I was on a boat being carried away quickly by the current. It’s difficult to relate to a character when we’re just moving along from one event to the next without being allowed to really stay for a bit and feel what they are going through.
Finally, my greatest criticism is how little the light creatures were actually explored. Not only did our characters not uncover much about these creatures, but the little that they found out was, once again, only what affected the story directly and nothing else. Are the “spirits” good or bad? Yes. Why are they fighting? Because. Why do they interact with humans? *Shrugs shoulders*.
Possibly, my greatest disappointment was with how interesting this story could have been if only the author had taken some time to flesh it out a bit more. If a short book as this one was the goal, then perhaps the story could have been simplified. It felt like a book full of great ideas but that none was properly explored, and it leaves the reader with more questions than answers. It’s a great first draft. I’d love to read the book when it’s finished.
This book was generously given to me by LoveReading so that I could write an honest review.
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