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First Crown: Tears of Fire
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379 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 29, 2019
22 people want to read
About the author
C. Higgins
2 books5 followersFirst Crown: Malice of Snow (2018) and First Crown: Tears of Fire (2019) comprised the First Crown series of high fantasy books, first drafted at age 12 by Higgins and subsequently edited and published by ages 13 and 15 respectively.
The fulfilment of a childhood ambition; the books themselves served as an obvious homage to Higgins' epic fantasy contemporaries in authors such as George R.R. Martin, Christopher Paolini and J.R.R. Tolkien as well as being, perhaps most of all, influenced by the video game series, the Elder Scrolls.
They were met with relatively small but nonetheless unexpected success, becoming bestsellers on Amazon's dark fantasy and epic fantasy lists - topping the UK dark fantasy list - and receiving mostly positive reviews.
During this time Higgins collaborated with a couple of charitable causes (namely OCD-UK and Teenage Cancer Trust) and made appearances in a handful of various local and print-only papers and magazines, as well as hosting an odd bunch of book signings at the local Tesco (an unorthodox location for a book signing no doubt) and Coffee #1.
Askaria Publishing, which ended up solely a label for the First Crown series, also materialised amongst a small array of other half-baked and hair-brained projects which never quite came to fruition during a time of overly heightened ambition during Higgins' tenure as an author. This period also saw him meet Stroud MP David Drew to discuss the Talgrin Project, a charitable endeavour which was eventually deemed impossible.
Mid 2020 and aged 15, Higgins stepped away from writing out of growing dissatisfaction with the books themselves, finding that what he'd rather write now was largely at odds with what he'd written at a much younger age - seeing First Crown as jointly too incongruous and derivative to be worth finishing.
Out of this also grew a desire to focus on other aspects of his life - thusly both books were removed from stores, unpublished and taken out of print indefinitely with much of his online presence also erased. He is currently pursuing a career in wildlife conservation.
The fulfilment of a childhood ambition; the books themselves served as an obvious homage to Higgins' epic fantasy contemporaries in authors such as George R.R. Martin, Christopher Paolini and J.R.R. Tolkien as well as being, perhaps most of all, influenced by the video game series, the Elder Scrolls.
They were met with relatively small but nonetheless unexpected success, becoming bestsellers on Amazon's dark fantasy and epic fantasy lists - topping the UK dark fantasy list - and receiving mostly positive reviews.
During this time Higgins collaborated with a couple of charitable causes (namely OCD-UK and Teenage Cancer Trust) and made appearances in a handful of various local and print-only papers and magazines, as well as hosting an odd bunch of book signings at the local Tesco (an unorthodox location for a book signing no doubt) and Coffee #1.
Askaria Publishing, which ended up solely a label for the First Crown series, also materialised amongst a small array of other half-baked and hair-brained projects which never quite came to fruition during a time of overly heightened ambition during Higgins' tenure as an author. This period also saw him meet Stroud MP David Drew to discuss the Talgrin Project, a charitable endeavour which was eventually deemed impossible.
Mid 2020 and aged 15, Higgins stepped away from writing out of growing dissatisfaction with the books themselves, finding that what he'd rather write now was largely at odds with what he'd written at a much younger age - seeing First Crown as jointly too incongruous and derivative to be worth finishing.
Out of this also grew a desire to focus on other aspects of his life - thusly both books were removed from stores, unpublished and taken out of print indefinitely with much of his online presence also erased. He is currently pursuing a career in wildlife conservation.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 18, 2020
The Plot ☆☆☆☆
The plot for Tears of Fire is already laid out by the debut First Crown book but that doesn’t stop the author from incorporating some new themes and turning the series in a darker and more epic-so direction.
Dragons, total war, betrayal and evil can be expected from this book; the plot is classic of epic fantasy but retains the fresh themes and twists that C. Higgins is renowned for.
The plot is enticing and makes sure that any reader of the first book, whether they liked it or not, are going to pick up Tears of Fire and find out what happens next.
The Book ☆☆☆☆☆
As to be expected, C. Higgins delivers a book that exceeds every expectation and refreshes everything about the epic fantasy genre.
First Crown: Tears of Fire delivers everything that Malice of Snow brought to the table, to a new level, and is perhaps better than it’s predecessor.
The author turns a plot that could easily be considered over-used or common, and turns it into something that only he could imagine.
The detail is extraordinary and the kingdom of Askaria becomes more full and lore-abundant with every book.
Yet again, another book from the author that mimics much of the writing styles as other epic fantasy authors that redefined the genre, such as George R.R. Martin, Mark Lawrence and Tolkien.
Very consistent, very exciting and thoroughly enjoyable.
The plot for Tears of Fire is already laid out by the debut First Crown book but that doesn’t stop the author from incorporating some new themes and turning the series in a darker and more epic-so direction.
Dragons, total war, betrayal and evil can be expected from this book; the plot is classic of epic fantasy but retains the fresh themes and twists that C. Higgins is renowned for.
The plot is enticing and makes sure that any reader of the first book, whether they liked it or not, are going to pick up Tears of Fire and find out what happens next.
The Book ☆☆☆☆☆
As to be expected, C. Higgins delivers a book that exceeds every expectation and refreshes everything about the epic fantasy genre.
First Crown: Tears of Fire delivers everything that Malice of Snow brought to the table, to a new level, and is perhaps better than it’s predecessor.
The author turns a plot that could easily be considered over-used or common, and turns it into something that only he could imagine.
The detail is extraordinary and the kingdom of Askaria becomes more full and lore-abundant with every book.
Yet again, another book from the author that mimics much of the writing styles as other epic fantasy authors that redefined the genre, such as George R.R. Martin, Mark Lawrence and Tolkien.
Very consistent, very exciting and thoroughly enjoyable.
July 17, 2020
Really good book. After finishing all of Lord of the Rings, I found Malice of Snow in 2018 which I liked a lot and then in November, this book was released.
As an avid watcher of the series, Game of Thrones, the final season in 2019 left me with a dragon shaped hole in my heart and the First Crown series filled it
The plot is always fabulous and with so much going on, it’s amazing that it never feels cluttered.
The characters are fantastic and multi-faceted on so many levels - sometimes you hate them, the next second you love them.
And the politics and mechanics of Askaria and all the regions are so expansive and detailed, you’ll never get bored.
Another positive would be how much character development there is in this book compared to the prequel - my only issue with book one was a lack of character progression but it’s made up for here.
If I had to push myself to one negative for this book it would be that my fave character, even though he is a bit of a villain, sadly got killed at the end of this one lol.
There is always something amazing or tense or bloody happening and I’d happily recommend this book.
As an avid watcher of the series, Game of Thrones, the final season in 2019 left me with a dragon shaped hole in my heart and the First Crown series filled it
The plot is always fabulous and with so much going on, it’s amazing that it never feels cluttered.
The characters are fantastic and multi-faceted on so many levels - sometimes you hate them, the next second you love them.
And the politics and mechanics of Askaria and all the regions are so expansive and detailed, you’ll never get bored.
Another positive would be how much character development there is in this book compared to the prequel - my only issue with book one was a lack of character progression but it’s made up for here.
If I had to push myself to one negative for this book it would be that my fave character, even though he is a bit of a villain, sadly got killed at the end of this one lol.
There is always something amazing or tense or bloody happening and I’d happily recommend this book.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews