Customer Reviews

Book Of Fire (Dragon Quartet)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Book of Fire, the third book in Marjorie B. Kellogg's Dragon Quartet, takes the series to a whole new level, closing out with a most thrilling final hundred pages full of emotion and rife with surprises. This is a much different book than its predecessors The Book of Earth and The Book of Water (each of which you really must read before beginning this novel), largely because the dragon in question here, Fire, could not be more unlike his siblings. In terms of setting the stage, one must know that four dragons (Earth, Water, Fire, and Air) created the world and then began a long sleep from which they would awaken only at the end of that world. Something has gone horribly wrong with the world they created, though, and they have each awakened, apart and with limited knowledge of their histories. We met Earth and his dragon guide Erde in the Germanies of 913, Water and her guide N'Doch in the Africa of 2013, and now the shared quest of the dragons takes us, in answer to the summons they hear, to an earth even farther in the future and a dragon sibling who has traded any thoughts of his purpose for the trappings of power as an awesome god among men.

This future time is one of great misery, as only a few habitable regions remain on the ecologically ravaged planet. The first two dragons' suspicions about their brother Fire prove accurate; putting the lie to any notion that all dragons are good and noble, Fire terrorizes the people as a god and keeps his dragon guide Paia in complete ignorance as the high priestess of his temple. Erde, N'Doch, Water, and Earth do not come alone to this world, however, as Erde feels compelled to bring Baron Kothen with them. Kothen's ties to Erde's enemies at home have been broken now, leaving him a broken man, yet Erde knows instinctively that this man she has dreamed about and come to love is a necessary component in the puzzle of the dragon quest. Each of the main characters grows tremendously, none more so than N'Doch, much to my pleasure (for I was never able to really connect with him in the previous novel). Kothen's transformation in the latter stages of the tale is most welcome indeed, N'Doch steps up to become the kind of leader I wanted him to be, and Erde herself continues to grow in boldness and authority - although, to my sadness, heartache seems to remain her constant companion.

This novel features a much more elaborate plot than what has come before in the series, and Kellogg managed to genuinely surprise me with a few twists in the latter stages of this book. Fire is a magnificent, albeit misguided, dragon, and his story is far from complete as of yet - there is little feeling of closure here, setting the stage for what I hope will be a real humdinger of a conclusion in the fourth and final Book of Air. Filled with wonderful characters who grow and mature before our very eyes, The Book of Fire is a thrilling, absorbing read that builds upon and transforms the story as we have known it up to this point. The Dragon Guide circle may be complete, but the essence of the dragon quest, the whereabouts of the mighty dragon Air, and the future role Fire will play in events are all quite up in the air - not to mention the futures of these wonderful human characters and the outcomes of several tragic events going on still in the times and places from which they came.

I thoroughly enjoyed these books. Although I found some of the character's actions and moods hard to relate to at times, I found this is part of the series charms as well. The characters seem very real - despite not being as rational or as thoughtful as we might be (or, at least, as we imagine we might be in their circumstances!).

The author told me that she is submitting a draft of the Book of Air in March, 2003. The publisher expects the Book of Air to be out around November, 2003.

I'd like to say that I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was a good addition to an excellent Quartet.I liked that she gave old characters more depth and all the little plot twists in the story would have kept me on the edge of my seat had i not looked ahead. I wasn't very happy with the ending though. Not because it was badly written but because i just thought it was so unfair. I can so far only see two ways that can turn out and the one that seems most likely in my opinion, I don't like. But aside from that I think it's one of the best series i've read and I'm gunna have alot of fun trying to figure out all the ways this story could turn out. But I can only keep doing that for so long before i start to go insane, so I really, really hope that the next book comes out soon so i can see how close my speculations were to the actual ending. All in all a good book in an excellent series that's being dragged on to eternity

It's not often that I can say I have *no* idea where a series is going, but that is exactly my reaction to the Dragon Quartet -- and I love it! The story continues to evolve and twist in ways I didn't expect, leaving me in suspense. The characters continue to be wonderfully unique, imaginative, and independent, as well as sympathetic.

The only negative is Kellogg's chosen narrative style for this series. In "The Book of Water", when it was first introduced, it was an interesting concept: past tense for those characters from the past, present tense for the characters from the future. It was a unique and innovative twist in TBoW, since pages were for the most part shared evenly between Erde and N'Doch (another cudos to Kellogg, btw, for the use of corresponding names for dragons and guides). However, in "The Book of Fire" this style becomes far too confusing, as well as a bit disruptive to the flow of the story, since Erde's role is relatively small. Switching from an oft-times miniscule bit of past tense into a huge segment of present tense is . . . wel, not the kind of switching gears my brain would prefer to do. :( I hope that Ms. Kellogg decides to stop that use in the next book, preferably continuing entirely in past tense -- tho that's just my literary preference -- or my enjoyment of it will be drastically reduced, as it was for the most part with TBoF.

Other than that problem, however, I adore the series and can't *wait* to see how it ends (since I truly haven't a single clue where she's going with this). I *highly* recommend this series to readers, and give it 4 out of 5 stars only because of the aforementioned narrative style.

Ms. Kellogg, please don't make us wait TOO long for the next book this time, okay? :)

Ok, here's how the story goes: One year for my birthday, my friend was looking for a gift for me; she told her aunt that I loved reading. Her aunt said, "Why don't you give her one of my friend's new novel and see if she likes it?". This is how it all started. I love this entire series and I can't wait until the final one comes out. However, this book was very dissapointing, not for the plot twist but for the way Ms. Kellogg portrays Erde. I do agree with the other reviewers that N'Doch improves greatly, but Erde is very annoying in my opinion! I love Erde in the first two books, but in this one, she is a love sick puppy and annoys the heck out of me. Overall tho, this book is good, but definately read the first two to understand the series!

I found this book to be the most interesting of the three. It had a slow beginning, but it had little pieces of humor to it. (ex: Where's my dragon?) It seemed to have more than one plot to it, which added to the interest. I really like that it was longer, it seemed to make it able for the book to be more complex. One flaw it does have, is the ending does not have any closure whatso-ever. I look forward to the third one.

This is the best series I have ever read. It is very intense and new. I must say, Erde is one of the most developed characters I have had the pleasure of reading about.She has grown up alot since her adventure began. However,she has lost so much. I do not think I will be able to stand it if she gets her heart broken one more time. She has lost so much. I can almost feel my heart break with hers. Ndoch has actually started to act like a brother figure. He has become a very fun and interesting character. I must say his attitude has improved immensly. He honestly cares about Erde and his dragon. I also liked the brooding and tragically romantic Baron Kothen. I truley thought he and Erde belonged togther. They both know the pain of lost trust. I can not believe he fell in love with the Tower Brat. How could he be so shallow? Erde gave up so much for him. Didn't that count for something? I know life isn't fair, but all the men in Erde's life never stop to consider her desires. I know Paia needed something worthy of giving up the Dragon Fire, but it should not have been Kothen. After all, beauty is more than skin deep, right?
The Plot has taken some very interesting twists. The story gets more breath taking with each book. I really hope Erde finds her happy ending. I feel however it may be bitter sweet. I really have grown very attatched to all the characters, excepting the Tower Brat. She seems very selfish and self centered. Of course Ndoch was the same way in The Book of Water. Mabey ther is hope for her. I am anxiously awaiting the last book. I can not wait to meet the Dragon Air.

So far I have read the entire series, and of course am waiting for the last. But "Fire Dragon" left me feeling disheartened, and angry. I found it to be well written, but there are far too many cliche's. When I finished I had basicly two main trains of thought, the first being that *of course* the guy would go to the most *beautiful* girl in the story. Not the one who saved his life, over and over. Not the one who took all the mental battering, and who even sold her beloved broach so that he may find his redemption in his old mentor's sword. Nope, not poor Erde... And Paia's explanation...well you "might as well ask the sun not to shine." So much for camaderie in Dragon Guides! My other train of thought was: how many guys does Erde have to go through, only to find out that it was always *only* a crush, or so completely one-sided! I mean, just how many more guys will it take before she completely swears off love and men forever??? I pity her, and I feel that Marjorie Bradley Kellogg is *Very* misleading when it comes to Erde's heart. With the ending of each book she gives the promise of hope or heartache...only to have her heart dashed repeatedly!! Just what is this...am I to assume that because Erde is young her feelings are immature, and meaningless?? I am hoping for something much better in the last...like a futuristic train that cripples both Paia, and the Baron Kothen. Maybe even a little joy for Erde...who knows, at least she still has N'Doch, the Lady Air, and Earth, her true and great friend. (The german at the end really killed me too. How am I suppose to know German? It's ok though, I probably didn't miss anything)

Ok, here's how the story goes: One year for my birthday, my friend was looking for a gift for me; she told her aunt that I loved reading. Her aunt said, "Why don't you give her one of my friend's new novel and see if she likes it?". This is how it all started. I love this entire series and I can't wait until the final one comes out. However, this book was very dissapointing, not for the plot twist but for the way Ms. Kellogg portrays Erde. I do agree with the other reviewers that N'Doch improves greatly, but Erde is very annoying in my opinion! I love Erde in the first two books, but in this one, she is a love sick puppy and annoys the heck out of me. Overall tho, this book is good, but definately read the first two to understand the series!

I must say that I was a little let down by this book. Number one reason: I had to wait so long to read it that I had forgotten half of the plot! Number two reason: I just don't like where she's taking the story. Don't get me wrong, it's a good book, and over all, I did enjoy it, but I felt unsatisfied at the end. Hopefully, the next one is better.