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Firestone
"When all seems dark, I will light the way."
On the world of Tellus there are two ways of doing the Old Way and the New Way. In the city of Portis-Montis, these two ways and their worlds collide.
Hugh Geber is the alchemist at the University of Science and Progression. In a world where everyone follows the family career, he has found himself the last in line to carry the torch.
When a meeting with Chancellor Robert James Smithson leaves him with an impossible deadline and a mysterious package, Hugh is left with no choice but to try and save the family name along with his job. Fate, however, is not on his side, and his world is turned upside-down.
Now Hugh must not only fight for his place within the university, but also find out what lies behind the mysterious package before time runs out.
On the world of Tellus there are two ways of doing the Old Way and the New Way. In the city of Portis-Montis, these two ways and their worlds collide.
Hugh Geber is the alchemist at the University of Science and Progression. In a world where everyone follows the family career, he has found himself the last in line to carry the torch.
When a meeting with Chancellor Robert James Smithson leaves him with an impossible deadline and a mysterious package, Hugh is left with no choice but to try and save the family name along with his job. Fate, however, is not on his side, and his world is turned upside-down.
Now Hugh must not only fight for his place within the university, but also find out what lies behind the mysterious package before time runs out.
444 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 27, 2021
5 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 2, 2024
Describing my feelings about this book can best be summed up as Steampunk Pratchett but lacking in execution.
There's some great imagination on show in this book, with a humourous quality throughout, and it's a plot with potential.
Starting with the positives, the story delivers an entertaining cast of characters, with the relationship between our protagonist, Hugh, and his companion, Barrington, being front and centre. Their interactions feel consistent and genuine, as two friends with pasts of their own are caught up in an adventure they didn't expect.
We meet new people along the way, and they're all distinct from one another. All have their quirks and bring their own flavour of entertainment to proceedings.
A solid mystery is established, with grander stakes revealed as the narrative progresses. We explore several locations, learning more of this world's history along the way, with lore unfolding as we go.
Things are never smooth sailing, and there are twists and turns to the adventure. Plus, some genuine surprises along the way.
However...
Whilst the characters are varied, they're also all quite one-dimensional. Little development happens along the way, and what there is tends to be a conversation about how they've been acting, and then they act differently afterwards, rather than it feeling like a process. The villain, especially, has a cartoonish quality to him, which can work for some readers but wasn't for me.
Dialogue, too, can be rather stilted, and despite interactions feeling somewhat genuine, the way they are presented can feel stilted and unrealistic. Information is held back in ways that exists only for the sake of plot, and when it is shared can feel like reading a textbook.
I think that was one of my main problems, actually - the mystery and conspiracy elements feel somewhat contrived, being delivered in an inorganic manner. Realistic interactions would have potentially halved the length of this book.
This is where the attempts (I assume) at Pratchett-esque writing were most evident, but for me it just didn't quite deliver. Moreover, there was an unhealthy amount of tell rather than show.
There are also moments where somewhat significant information is revealed only to have what appears to be no further relevance to the plot - though this could be different in the remainder of the series. Conversely, there are moments of repetition, where some introspection is then repeated in dialogue, making it redundant information, in the form of:
"He wondered whether they were going north.
"'Hey,' he said, 'are we going north.?"
Another criticism is that there is a significant plot point towards the end that is not sufficiently set-up. There's a little, certainly, but something about it just didn't quite make sense.
So, overall, I had some enjoyment from this book. The humour tended to land with me quite well when I enjoyed it as a cartoonish narrative, but sometimes it leaned into more serious territory that left me a little uncertain exactly what it wanted to be. I appreciated the lore and what the story was aiming for, but it didn't quite land for me.
There's some great imagination on show in this book, with a humourous quality throughout, and it's a plot with potential.
Starting with the positives, the story delivers an entertaining cast of characters, with the relationship between our protagonist, Hugh, and his companion, Barrington, being front and centre. Their interactions feel consistent and genuine, as two friends with pasts of their own are caught up in an adventure they didn't expect.
We meet new people along the way, and they're all distinct from one another. All have their quirks and bring their own flavour of entertainment to proceedings.
A solid mystery is established, with grander stakes revealed as the narrative progresses. We explore several locations, learning more of this world's history along the way, with lore unfolding as we go.
Things are never smooth sailing, and there are twists and turns to the adventure. Plus, some genuine surprises along the way.
However...
Whilst the characters are varied, they're also all quite one-dimensional. Little development happens along the way, and what there is tends to be a conversation about how they've been acting, and then they act differently afterwards, rather than it feeling like a process. The villain, especially, has a cartoonish quality to him, which can work for some readers but wasn't for me.
Dialogue, too, can be rather stilted, and despite interactions feeling somewhat genuine, the way they are presented can feel stilted and unrealistic. Information is held back in ways that exists only for the sake of plot, and when it is shared can feel like reading a textbook.
I think that was one of my main problems, actually - the mystery and conspiracy elements feel somewhat contrived, being delivered in an inorganic manner. Realistic interactions would have potentially halved the length of this book.
This is where the attempts (I assume) at Pratchett-esque writing were most evident, but for me it just didn't quite deliver. Moreover, there was an unhealthy amount of tell rather than show.
There are also moments where somewhat significant information is revealed only to have what appears to be no further relevance to the plot - though this could be different in the remainder of the series. Conversely, there are moments of repetition, where some introspection is then repeated in dialogue, making it redundant information, in the form of:
"He wondered whether they were going north.
"'Hey,' he said, 'are we going north.?"
Another criticism is that there is a significant plot point towards the end that is not sufficiently set-up. There's a little, certainly, but something about it just didn't quite make sense.
So, overall, I had some enjoyment from this book. The humour tended to land with me quite well when I enjoyed it as a cartoonish narrative, but sometimes it leaned into more serious territory that left me a little uncertain exactly what it wanted to be. I appreciated the lore and what the story was aiming for, but it didn't quite land for me.
December 29, 2025
I picked up this book from the author at a stall in Lincoln. I didn’t expect it to be well-written and it’s sat on my bookshelf for a while. Having run out of other books to read I decided to give it a go and I was pleasantly surprised! It’s a great story and well-written. Now I need to get my hands on the next book in the series.
My only criticisms are:
•The characters don’t seem to grow or change throughout the story.
•There are quite a few spelling and grammar mistakes. In some sentences entire words are missing and others have letters missing from the end. It was quite distracting at times.
My only criticisms are:
•The characters don’t seem to grow or change throughout the story.
•There are quite a few spelling and grammar mistakes. In some sentences entire words are missing and others have letters missing from the end. It was quite distracting at times.
September 15, 2025
A truly amazing and gripping story. begining with a introduction to the world and its characters but very quickly diving into an adventure full of twists and unexpected reveals. I would tell myself okay one more chapter and find myself 7 or 8 chapters in because I couldnt stop. any fans of fantasy novels should give it a try.
May 11, 2025
I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this book as much as I have, so much so I am now going onto the second book…good story, well written…
May 30, 2023
I will make a lot of allowances for indie books when they’ve obviously had such love, time and effort poured into them as this one has. I can ignore typos, I don’t mind if a bit of time is spent touring the author’s beloved world (rather than on plot) and I don’t expect every bit of dialogue to be Hollywood smooth.
But this one tested me. It took a month to finish and I almost abandoned it at the halfway point. The main issue was the absence of plot. A fire pushes the main character into a journey at the start, then nothing else important happens for chapter after chapter. By itself, a slow pace isn’t a deal breaker for me, providing the writing is entertaining and characters compelling. Here the book fails as well. The characters are paper thin, with only a little mystery box of past trauma teased about them to make them interesting. The dialogue is flat and functional.
Let me be clear, the writing is comprehensible and the characters distinct – which puts it head and shoulders above many indie books. There’s plenty of jokes which someone more in tune with the author’s sense of humour might find to be the lubrication I was lacking. But for me this book was uniquely dull, something I wanted to take a red pen to and strip out whole sentences, paragraphs and chapters.
But this one tested me. It took a month to finish and I almost abandoned it at the halfway point. The main issue was the absence of plot. A fire pushes the main character into a journey at the start, then nothing else important happens for chapter after chapter. By itself, a slow pace isn’t a deal breaker for me, providing the writing is entertaining and characters compelling. Here the book fails as well. The characters are paper thin, with only a little mystery box of past trauma teased about them to make them interesting. The dialogue is flat and functional.
Let me be clear, the writing is comprehensible and the characters distinct – which puts it head and shoulders above many indie books. There’s plenty of jokes which someone more in tune with the author’s sense of humour might find to be the lubrication I was lacking. But for me this book was uniquely dull, something I wanted to take a red pen to and strip out whole sentences, paragraphs and chapters.
January 18, 2022
Firestone: (Lore of Tellus, Book One) E.A. Purle
Alicorn Books (2021)
ISBN 91802270566
Reviewed by Tammy Ruggles for Reader Views (12/2021)
Talk about a YA steampunk lover’s dream! What happens when the old way meets the new way? Tellus is a world where the old and the new clash on a daily basis, and main character, Hugh Geber, is the alchemist at the heart of the story.
At the University of Science and Progression, Hugh feels obligated to follow in his family’s footsteps, but Chancellor Smithson throws a wrench into his plans by handing Hugh a challenging deadline and a strange package. Hugh now has to attempt to salvage his family name and his position, but it is a near-impossible task. His life is thrust into a whirlwind, which sets the stage for an amazing journey of suspense, conflict, drama, and steampunk.
Purle sets up this drama with intriguing, well-developed characters that you want to follow throughout the story. In fact, you get so immersed in their lives that you care about every single thing that happens to them. Add the mystery of the package, and the old-versus-new mentality, and you have a compelling story on your hands. Hugh is fighting for more than his job. He’s battling for something bigger—his family name, his integrity, and tradition, but time is the enemy. How can he keep one world in the old, and one in the new? It comes down to pure survival.
This author has created a world in which you can easily become absorbed. Each scene opens up new possibilities, exploration, and descriptions which pique the senses and imagination. I love the author’s use of vivid imagery and creative engineering. The unexpected events add spice to the story, and you really don’t know what lies around the corner. The alchemy aspect is intriguing, of course, and the characters are easy to like—especially Hugh, as a heavy burden rests on his shoulders. I love the contrast of the old and the new, and there are parts of the book that will stay with you even after you’ve finished the tale.
There is a sweet quirkiness to some of the story that I enjoy, which adds a lot of personality to a book that’s already overflowing with it, and so much more. “Firestone” could very well be the next “must-read” YA steampunk/fantasy series.
Alicorn Books (2021)
ISBN 91802270566
Reviewed by Tammy Ruggles for Reader Views (12/2021)
Talk about a YA steampunk lover’s dream! What happens when the old way meets the new way? Tellus is a world where the old and the new clash on a daily basis, and main character, Hugh Geber, is the alchemist at the heart of the story.
At the University of Science and Progression, Hugh feels obligated to follow in his family’s footsteps, but Chancellor Smithson throws a wrench into his plans by handing Hugh a challenging deadline and a strange package. Hugh now has to attempt to salvage his family name and his position, but it is a near-impossible task. His life is thrust into a whirlwind, which sets the stage for an amazing journey of suspense, conflict, drama, and steampunk.
Purle sets up this drama with intriguing, well-developed characters that you want to follow throughout the story. In fact, you get so immersed in their lives that you care about every single thing that happens to them. Add the mystery of the package, and the old-versus-new mentality, and you have a compelling story on your hands. Hugh is fighting for more than his job. He’s battling for something bigger—his family name, his integrity, and tradition, but time is the enemy. How can he keep one world in the old, and one in the new? It comes down to pure survival.
This author has created a world in which you can easily become absorbed. Each scene opens up new possibilities, exploration, and descriptions which pique the senses and imagination. I love the author’s use of vivid imagery and creative engineering. The unexpected events add spice to the story, and you really don’t know what lies around the corner. The alchemy aspect is intriguing, of course, and the characters are easy to like—especially Hugh, as a heavy burden rests on his shoulders. I love the contrast of the old and the new, and there are parts of the book that will stay with you even after you’ve finished the tale.
There is a sweet quirkiness to some of the story that I enjoy, which adds a lot of personality to a book that’s already overflowing with it, and so much more. “Firestone” could very well be the next “must-read” YA steampunk/fantasy series.
December 14, 2022
Great book with good story, kept me wanting more.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews