What do you think?
Rate this book
Dragon Quartet #3
The Book of Fire
A DESPERATE CALL had united the dragons Earth and Water with their dragon guides: the girl named Erde, who had discovered Earth in the war-ravaged principalities of 913 AD Germany, and the boy N'Doch, who found Water on the AFrican coast in the year 2013. Together they braved the dangers of both their times, only to find themselves drawn to a future beyond even N'Doch's own--to a devastated America where the dragon Fire reigned in all his terrifying magnificience, with his dragon guide Paia transformed into his high priestess, her true destiny concealed from her.
Yet it was not Fire who had summoned his brother and sister dragons. the Call had come from another, and the reason for the summons was all too clear. Fire had chosen to become a god instead of a guardian. And the dragon Air was nowhere to be found.
Could Earth and Water with Erde and N'Doch force Fire and Paia back on the path they were fated to follow? Could they find and rescue Air? Or would Fire's rebellion doom both the dragons and the world they guarded?
Description from back cover
Yet it was not Fire who had summoned his brother and sister dragons. the Call had come from another, and the reason for the summons was all too clear. Fire had chosen to become a god instead of a guardian. And the dragon Air was nowhere to be found.
Could Earth and Water with Erde and N'Doch force Fire and Paia back on the path they were fated to follow? Could they find and rescue Air? Or would Fire's rebellion doom both the dragons and the world they guarded?
Description from back cover
502 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 1, 2000
8 people are currently reading
249 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
July 2, 2023
Excuse my rating - this is a comfort read for me.
In fact, I feel it's important to note that you, the reader, need to forgive one of the characters for her ignorance. If you don't, then you'll hate the entirety of the book. Actually, both of the main females need a bit of forgiveness.
Paia is Fire's guide. He found her as a young girl, at an impressionable age, fresh in her grieving the loss of her parents. Her time can be considered the End Times, though it isn't quite yet. She sees devastation. And in all of this sadness and chaos, in comes Fire - as though he were a god. You, too, would do as he said if you were in her shoes. So do forgive her for her ignorance.
And Erde? Well, she's 15 and is crushing hard on somebody way too old for her. Do you remember being that age? She might be young and naive in some ways, but she deals with it.
Instead, focus on Kothen. He's the star of this book. A man forced into something he absolutely has no stake in, something he absolutely cannot comprehend. He takes the whole thing at face value and rolls with it. If you wanna be mad - be mad we don't get this book told from his point of view. Because I want inside of his head.
Oh and focus on Luco. Because he's another viewpoint that I really want. Sure, the dragon guides are important. But Kothen and Luco are fascinating, and they're very capable humans. These two drive the plot forward. (As does the Librarian, but in a subtle way.)
I do wish the author had been less tropey and had mixed it up. I wanted Paia to be more in charge and Luco to be, well, as she had taken him to be. I wanted Erde to really have more of a clue of what to do and be a strong young lady, somebody who could really be N'Doch's equal. Though I do understand that this book came out in 2000 and things were a bit different then.
At the end of it all - I wish this book series somehow got a show made out of it. Changed it up a bit, but allowed us to really see the landscapes and the people (and the dragons). This is absolutely something I could have seen on HBO.
In fact, I feel it's important to note that you, the reader, need to forgive one of the characters for her ignorance. If you don't, then you'll hate the entirety of the book. Actually, both of the main females need a bit of forgiveness.
Paia is Fire's guide. He found her as a young girl, at an impressionable age, fresh in her grieving the loss of her parents. Her time can be considered the End Times, though it isn't quite yet. She sees devastation. And in all of this sadness and chaos, in comes Fire - as though he were a god. You, too, would do as he said if you were in her shoes. So do forgive her for her ignorance.
And Erde? Well, she's 15 and is crushing hard on somebody way too old for her. Do you remember being that age? She might be young and naive in some ways, but she deals with it.
Instead, focus on Kothen. He's the star of this book. A man forced into something he absolutely has no stake in, something he absolutely cannot comprehend. He takes the whole thing at face value and rolls with it. If you wanna be mad - be mad we don't get this book told from his point of view. Because I want inside of his head.
Oh and focus on Luco. Because he's another viewpoint that I really want. Sure, the dragon guides are important. But Kothen and Luco are fascinating, and they're very capable humans. These two drive the plot forward. (As does the Librarian, but in a subtle way.)
I do wish the author had been less tropey and had mixed it up. I wanted Paia to be more in charge and Luco to be, well, as she had taken him to be. I wanted Erde to really have more of a clue of what to do and be a strong young lady, somebody who could really be N'Doch's equal. Though I do understand that this book came out in 2000 and things were a bit different then.
At the end of it all - I wish this book series somehow got a show made out of it. Changed it up a bit, but allowed us to really see the landscapes and the people (and the dragons). This is absolutely something I could have seen on HBO.
June 18, 2022
This third installment in The Dragon Quartet takes us even further into the future, where the dragon Fire reigns as a God. This book moves at a faster pace than the previous two. I also enjoyed "seeing" the world as N'doch and Erde travel with a band of merchants. This world reminded me of Fallout, but without the radiation and monsters. Paia's relationship with Fire is disturbing at times, as other readers have mentioned--and his treatment of her is abusive. Hoping to see Fire come to his senses (or face some punishment) in the next book.
June 13, 2018
Erde, N'Doch, Earth, and Water continue their hunt for the summoner, and their final two siblings, Fire and Air. But they discover Fire a few hundred years in the future on an Earth wasted away to a red, dusty wasteland. There, Fire has declared himself the God of the Apocalypse, and has made his guide, Paia, his high priestess. Fire has kept the truth of dragons and dragon guides from Paia, stringing her along as a puppet for his own desire. Now the dragons and the dragon guides must discover why the dragon Fire has abandoned his destiny, and where he has hidden their eldest sister Air.
I think this is definitely my favorite of the series so far. While longer than the previous two, I didn't feel like the book dragged. And I enjoyed how the characters grew so much from the first two books, especially Erde and N'Doch. Then Paia was an interesting character, as while nearly thirty, her entire life she has been sheltered and has a very limited view of the world. Then seeing the characters act without all the information was fun to read. Definitely made me excited for the last novel.
I think this is definitely my favorite of the series so far. While longer than the previous two, I didn't feel like the book dragged. And I enjoyed how the characters grew so much from the first two books, especially Erde and N'Doch. Then Paia was an interesting character, as while nearly thirty, her entire life she has been sheltered and has a very limited view of the world. Then seeing the characters act without all the information was fun to read. Definitely made me excited for the last novel.
May 19, 2021
This part of the story starts to really expand because there are multiple POV to go between but it was written well enough to follow it through. This book really start to get into the crux of the journey and conflict. Loved it!
September 28, 2023
Well it’s still a good series. This one was definitely more complex than the first two. Longer too.
June 23, 2025
These books are good. So, so good. Dragons and time travel. What's not to love?
July 30, 2011
I couldn't finish this. I gave up halfway through. Horrible, horrible, horrible. A total departure from the first two books. Paia's relationship with her dragon borders on beastality. That and her personality made this book completely impossible to enjoy for me. The other characters - Erde, Kothen, N'Doch, the earth dragon, the water dragon - were wonderful as usual, but Paia and the fire dragon were just ... ugh. The author could have done so much with this series, but she took the mildly creepy route, much like Stephenie Meyer did with Breaking Dawn. It's a shame, really.
June 13, 2021
Better than the 2nd book but kind of a let down. I tend to like to romanticize dragons so when an elemental dragon seems to be working against its siblings, it disappoints me. After reading this book, I didn't know if I wanted to continue to read the last one. But, I wanted to know what happened and what the air dragon ended up doing. Recommended for fantasy readers who love dragons, magic and don't mind betrayals.
July 14, 2011
I really enjoyed this book. I did not read the first two in the series, this was a library book sale find. I did not feel as if I was missing out though and do want to go back and read the others at some point. The characters were interesting as was the premise. I enjoyed the time travel and the dragons had varied personalities. I thought the book was a fun read.
March 25, 2013
It had a few interesting twists that I didn't see coming, but there was some wandering of the plot line to re-establish some characters, etc. It feels like it was written in a hurry or something. Other than that, it was a good third installment. On to the fourth!
May 15, 2016
This whole series is trying to send the message of the whole global warming/take care of the earth thing. It's honestly been done before, but I do enjoy this author's twist on it. You've got dragons and time travel in this one. It's refreshing to see the same message repackaged so cleverly.
May 23, 2007
The Dragon Quartet-Bk 3
October 29, 2007
I hate the main character, Paia, in this novel. She's whiny, has no backbone, and has a creepy relationship with her Dragon.
January 13, 2009
This third in the series started off really cool. I started off liking it the best of the four. But exactly halfway through it took a turn for the weird and started to confuse me.
May 21, 2015
not as good as the first two books. Pia is a dishmop of a character. The whole thing between her and the dragon....just no
Read
January 6, 2021"they had abandoned their intended work in the world and thrived instead on superstition, violence, and self righteous oppression of their fellows."
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews