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Fireborn Trilogy #1
Fireborn
Paranormal buff Andy’s dreams come true when he becomes the newest member of the Guild of Shadows: an organization tasked with protecting the Earth from supernatural threats. In the dusty shelves of the Guild, Andy discovers a spell that will heal his sister from rheumatoid arthritis. Except he summons Jinjiri, a rebellious, young djinn, who refuses Andy’s wish. Oh…and he also unbalances the supernatural world, allowing all sorts of creatures to flood into the earth…the worst of whom is Iblis, the evil djinn king, hell bent on reclaiming Earth. If Andy and Jinjiri fail to stop Iblis, they and every last human will be fed to the scorpions.
Fireborn is book 1 in the Fireborn Series (A Guild of Shadows Novel), a middle grade fantasy adventure. Think the Librarians TV Show meets Indiana Jones.
236 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 18, 2017
1 person is currently reading
10 people want to read
About the author
L.J. Clarkson
9 books62 followersLJ Clarkson has done many things in her time. Making mud pies as an Environmental Engineer. Bossing people around as a project manager. Reducing flood risk to residents affected by floods. But her all time favorite job is telling stories and making others laugh.
She counts the following as very special talents: singing out of tune, laughing at her own jokes, reciting useless, but very fascinating facts, and a magical habit of magnetizing food to her clothes. If she were a Mastermind, she’d uninvent early mornings, grammar, broccoli, cleaning and her dog’s fussy eating habits.
LJ is the author of the Mastermind Academy, Heaven and Hound and Fireborn series. You can find out more at www.mastermindacademy.net or join her newsletter here http://mastermindacademy.net/join-l-j...
She counts the following as very special talents: singing out of tune, laughing at her own jokes, reciting useless, but very fascinating facts, and a magical habit of magnetizing food to her clothes. If she were a Mastermind, she’d uninvent early mornings, grammar, broccoli, cleaning and her dog’s fussy eating habits.
LJ is the author of the Mastermind Academy, Heaven and Hound and Fireborn series. You can find out more at www.mastermindacademy.net or join her newsletter here http://mastermindacademy.net/join-l-j...
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 12, 2018
Why I Think Boys May Enjoy This
The first thing I enjoyed about this book is the cross-cultural aspect that drew me in off the bat. As an American, I was curious to read a book set in Australia by an Australian author. Even then, the Polish roots of the grandmother added even more of an “Australian-by-way-of-Eastern-Europe” feel that gave the book a unique feel. Some of the Polish history and culture was new for me and I loved how the author incorporated that into the story. Add in the Arabic connection of djinns (genies) and it really felt like a nice mix of various culture’s mythologies that felt natural and not cherry-picked.
The story itself was completely engrossing. Andy was a great pre-teen character who made some stupid mistakes to create issues (even if they were for good reasons) that felt perfectly reasonable if you look at it through the eyes of a pre-teen boy. I loved Jinjiri (the summoned djinn) and her unique staccato way of talking. A lot of times an author will use a “dialect” and it becomes trite after a while. Clarkson’s dialogue for Jinjiri thankfully didn’t feel that way. Andy and his friends have an awesome Goonies/Monster Squad feel and I definitely look forward to seeing where they go next.
The “bumbling adult” character in Andy’s mentor (Gildron) is often one I am not a fan of. I feel like MG/YA books (and TV shows/films) often use that trope to make it seem like all adults are idiots. In this one, I was feeling that way until Clarkson gave the wrinkle about Gildron’s past and *why* he is the way he is now. That little snippet of history ultimately redeemed the trope character and made him way more compelling. This shows how much a little backstory can redeem what otherwise felt like a flat 2d character.
If you skip down to my rating (or see the rating first), you might wonder a bout the 3-star rating for a story I obviously enjoyed. Quite honestly, I would have given it 4-stars but I had to dock a star for editing. Sadly, I found lots of spots throughout the story where words were misspelled in a “spell check won’t find this error” type of way (that/than, he/her/the, etc.). Also, the author wrote narration with sentence fragments a lot. I believe her goal was to capture a more juvenile narration (since Andy is the POV character) but it often made the narration feel more like dialogue . Even so, the story was compelling enough for me to keep reading so I still recommend the book!
Content/Appropriateness
Content-wise, this is more than appropriate for a middle grade audience. There are no language or sexual content concerns. There are some scenes of violence and only one in particular that struck me as heavy on the macabre (descriptions of ghuls unearthing corpses in a graveyard to eat) but that was the most “violence” in the book. Dark, sure, but nothing so overtly grotesque as to turn off a young reader.
One note about word choice that I’d wanna point out because, as an American, the word “spook” has a potentially different connotation than in Australia. Andy and his friends are part of the Spook Club, where spook refers to ghosts. In the US, “spook” has two other connotations (1, a spy or 2, a racial slur for African-Americans). Clarkson is using the primary definition so don’t get turned away by the use of the word “spook”. As an Australian, she may not even be aware of the slur definition of the word as it is used in the US sometimes.
Rating
3/5 Giant Cartoon Mallets from Toonopolis, The Blog's Books for Boys Review on 2/12/18: http://www.toonopolis.com/2018/02/12/...
The first thing I enjoyed about this book is the cross-cultural aspect that drew me in off the bat. As an American, I was curious to read a book set in Australia by an Australian author. Even then, the Polish roots of the grandmother added even more of an “Australian-by-way-of-Eastern-Europe” feel that gave the book a unique feel. Some of the Polish history and culture was new for me and I loved how the author incorporated that into the story. Add in the Arabic connection of djinns (genies) and it really felt like a nice mix of various culture’s mythologies that felt natural and not cherry-picked.
The story itself was completely engrossing. Andy was a great pre-teen character who made some stupid mistakes to create issues (even if they were for good reasons) that felt perfectly reasonable if you look at it through the eyes of a pre-teen boy. I loved Jinjiri (the summoned djinn) and her unique staccato way of talking. A lot of times an author will use a “dialect” and it becomes trite after a while. Clarkson’s dialogue for Jinjiri thankfully didn’t feel that way. Andy and his friends have an awesome Goonies/Monster Squad feel and I definitely look forward to seeing where they go next.
The “bumbling adult” character in Andy’s mentor (Gildron) is often one I am not a fan of. I feel like MG/YA books (and TV shows/films) often use that trope to make it seem like all adults are idiots. In this one, I was feeling that way until Clarkson gave the wrinkle about Gildron’s past and *why* he is the way he is now. That little snippet of history ultimately redeemed the trope character and made him way more compelling. This shows how much a little backstory can redeem what otherwise felt like a flat 2d character.
If you skip down to my rating (or see the rating first), you might wonder a bout the 3-star rating for a story I obviously enjoyed. Quite honestly, I would have given it 4-stars but I had to dock a star for editing. Sadly, I found lots of spots throughout the story where words were misspelled in a “spell check won’t find this error” type of way (that/than, he/her/the, etc.). Also, the author wrote narration with sentence fragments a lot. I believe her goal was to capture a more juvenile narration (since Andy is the POV character) but it often made the narration feel more like dialogue . Even so, the story was compelling enough for me to keep reading so I still recommend the book!
Content/Appropriateness
Content-wise, this is more than appropriate for a middle grade audience. There are no language or sexual content concerns. There are some scenes of violence and only one in particular that struck me as heavy on the macabre (descriptions of ghuls unearthing corpses in a graveyard to eat) but that was the most “violence” in the book. Dark, sure, but nothing so overtly grotesque as to turn off a young reader.
One note about word choice that I’d wanna point out because, as an American, the word “spook” has a potentially different connotation than in Australia. Andy and his friends are part of the Spook Club, where spook refers to ghosts. In the US, “spook” has two other connotations (1, a spy or 2, a racial slur for African-Americans). Clarkson is using the primary definition so don’t get turned away by the use of the word “spook”. As an Australian, she may not even be aware of the slur definition of the word as it is used in the US sometimes.
Rating
3/5 Giant Cartoon Mallets from Toonopolis, The Blog's Books for Boys Review on 2/12/18: http://www.toonopolis.com/2018/02/12/...
August 28, 2017
Andy is a ghost hunter and the president of spook club. When he follows her grandmother through a secret magical door in the library, he stumbles upon a world of magic. In no time, he is apprenticed and called upon to fight magical creatures. Chaos is unleased however when he casts a spell to bind a dinjin to him. Now he must fight battles to save his town and possibly even the world.
Fireborn is a good read which rumbles along. There is plenty of magic, mystery, suspense and action to make this a page turner. The main character was not to my liking, but overall I enjoyed the book. Pitched at children, the book can also be enjoyed by adults such as myself. If you want a rollicking good yarn than grab it. I can’t wait for the sequel.
Fireborn is a good read which rumbles along. There is plenty of magic, mystery, suspense and action to make this a page turner. The main character was not to my liking, but overall I enjoyed the book. Pitched at children, the book can also be enjoyed by adults such as myself. If you want a rollicking good yarn than grab it. I can’t wait for the sequel.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews