Fireblood by Jeff Wheeler

22May. Kindle.

I think this one was one of the Amazon good deals. Otherwise, I can't account for it's presence on my Kindle. It was ok, just went on (and on and on) to excessive length.

The combination of "traditional" magic and folklore and his own twists on the themes worked fairly well. He didn't bother to disguise them too much which was something of a relief - even if he did lock the groups and characters rather firmly into the stereotypes. His Romani are, as one might expect, gypsies and steal everything that isn't nailed down. The Druidecht wander about the woodlands saving the trees. And so on. Then there are the people who can "fly" by holding their breath - and the ones who can shoot fire from their fingertips (hence, fireblood).

It did strike me that some scenes were drawn from a careful viewing of the Rivendell sequences in the Lord of the Rings films. I suppose that may be inevitable in fantasy - especially when one has read a great deal of it.

What wore me out was the continual switching of characters from good guys to bad guys and back again. Reforming a character, or the gradual revelation that another character's motive is not as pure (or as perverse) as one has been led to believe is a fundamental part of story-telling, but a couple of these switched back and forth too many times to count. I think it made the story seem longer than it was (and I do believe that he intends it to be part one of a multi-volume ...) - there were times when I just wanted it to end so I wouldn't have to suffer through another switch.

A pretty traditional "save the world" plot. The great evil is so great that no one is actually sure what it is - and, of course, the book ends as the fellowship is gathering to go forth to do battle with the great evil - setting up book 2. Sound familiar? Again, that is all right as long as he actually gets the job done in another volume or two.

So, a qualified good grade - maybe C+ or B-. I had hoped that perhaps this was his first book and he would improve - but he has been at this for a while and this is not his first effort.