Child of Flame (Crown of Stars, Vol. 4) [Paperback]

Kate Elliott (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 5, 2001 | Series: Crown of Stars, Vol. 4

Lost and alone in an unknown country, Alain struggles to survive as he is unwittingly drawn into an ancient conflict between humankind and their old enemy, the Cursed Ones. Separated from her husband and child, Liath must undergo her greatest test in a land of exile. Only here can she hope to discover the truth of her parentage and learn the extent of her remarkable powers. Mourning the loss of his wife, the bastard prince Sanglant seeks his father, King Henry, to warn him about the conspiracy of powerful sorcerers who wish to destroy the Aoi, the Lost Ones, once and for all - no matter how much destruction their magic will unleash. But King Henry's gaze is fixed on the throne of Aosta and the imperial crown left vacant for two generations. As a Quman army, sweeping in from the eastern steppes, ravages the Wendish countryside, Henry marches south, ignoring the pleas of his beleaguered subjects. The great cataclysm, foretold in the stars, is approaching...Look out for more information on this book and others on the Orbit website at www.orbitbooks.co.uk

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The fourth of what is intended to be a five-volume epic series, this exceedingly stout high fantasy novel stands comparatively independent of the three preceding it. Continuing their deadly rivalry for the throne, King Henry of Wendar and his bastard son, Sanglant, enlist the aid of their siblings as they conjure spells and clash swords. Meanwhile, Sanglant has an heir of his own, the Cursed Ones (beings from one of the several alternate planes that exist in this saga) capture his wife, and his nonhuman mother returns, bearing prophecies of such imminent and dire doom that nobody believes her until disaster is upon them. Newcomers to this series will appreciate the narrative's brisk pacing, as well as Elliott's formidably competent world building (particularly the courts and the village of the Hallowed One) and carefully considered systems of magic and tactics that display more than an average knowledge of military history, religion and folklore. Some readers may find this installment too long and complex, though, and lacking, at critical points, the emotional impact and characterization that Tolkien or more recent fantasists such as Jordan, Hobb and Orson Scott Card bring to works of similar complexity. Although devout Elliott fans and lovers of long, convoluted fantasy tales will find her latest to be more than satisfactory, the novel's lack of precision may limit its appeal. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

A gripping and enthralling fantasy epic THE TIMES A grand and powerful piece of writing Katharine Kerr

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Product Details

• Paperback: 1056 pages
• Publisher: Orbit (July 5, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841490393
• ISBN-13: 978-1841490397
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,350,762 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kate Elliott lives in Hawaii, USA. In addition to the Crossroads series and the Crown of Stars series, she is co-author of THE GOLDEN KEY.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Review of Child of Flame, December 4, 2000

By 

"alpertah" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Child of Flame (Crown of Stars, Vol. 4) (Hardcover)

This is by far the best of Ms. Elliott's present series. There have been so many characters and subplots so far that it's been hard to really make an emotional attachment to any one, even Liath. However this book finally starts drawing things together in a cohesive manner. I think that one of Ms. Elliott's main problems is that she gets too caught up in her own subplots and loses her grasp on the main story, which seems to me to be what happened with her Jaran series. Although Jaran was a masterpiece, in my opinion, the other books lacked focus and sprawled out of control. But Child of Flame, as far reaching as it is, actually gains focus. I almost didn't read the book as I was disappointed with the others; I'm glad I did.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars How can we wait until Crown of Stars?, December 7, 2000

By 

"leda_au" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Child of Flame (Crown of Stars, Vol. 4) (Hardcover)

Once again I have several criticisms to make but can pass on only good recommendations in the end. Kate Elliott's talent sometimes tends to outrun her planning and I think it has been detrimental to this series that it has sprawled so widely beyond the bounds of the 2 trilogies it was originally intended as. Already we have 4 books, and at least two more to come, with the series structure already rendered obsolete by the sheer breadth of material that Elliott covers. This is not to say that there isn't internal consistency of structure because this novel is structured beautifully around Liath's ascent into the spheres. The travails which every other character goes through echo Liath's symbolic battling with Desire, False Obligation, Greed and the other motifs which are characterised by the Seven Stars by which the maleficus walks the spheres.

My frustration could just be because she let so few revelations slip in this huge novel, as in THE BURNING STONE. When the action started hotting up with about 150 pages to go I couldn't suppress my irritation that more details weren't released. But still, I have to marvel at the way that Elliott managed to trick us into thinking certain things (i.e. about Liath's parentage and royal descent, about Alain's descent, about the ghosts of the elves that periodically encounter Liath, Hanna and Alain, the exile of the Aoi, even Liath's troubled realtionships with the men in her life!) which may not necessarily have been true and how so few clues manages to keep me thinking almost solely about this book two days after I finished it!

If you are feeling a bit lost in this novel due to the range of new characters and settings introduced in this novel, hang in there because the tie-ins at the end make it all the worth the while. And beyond that, even though we sometimes meet new characters in this novel at the expense of any mention of other older characters e.g. Tallia, the new characters are endlessly endearing - I swear if you don't love Adica then you don't have a heart!

I also wanted to say how amazing Kate Elliott is at painting an incredibly poignant picture of human desire - there were a number of chapters in this novel where I felt so achingly involved with the love/lust that the characters bore each other I felt I could reach out and touch them. It's like the scene in Elliott's JARAN (highly recommended!!) where Tess and Baktiaan are at the Temple and he begins singing her the song the Fedya wrote for her. Ican still *hear* his voice and *see* his face when they are riding up the Avenue. The chapters which I felt this most strongly in in CHILD OF FLAME were when Sanglant sees Liath in Gent, when Sanglant meets with Helmut Villam's daughter Waltharia and when Liath sees Hugh in Darre. Amazing scenes I had to read again for their power to capture the human heart and its expressions.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mysteries, mysteries, mysteries., November 28, 2001

By 

K.P. O'Brien (Sula, Montana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Child of Flame (Crown of Stars, Book 4) (Mass Market Paperback)

Kate Elliot is a wonderful writer. She creats amazing characters and pulls them all into an intricate series of plots and subplots.

In Child of Flame Kate Elliot carries the reader along with Alain and Liath as they discover who they are and their places in the world. Kate Elliot loves to lead readers through mysteries. Alain and Liath's heritage are mysteries that she gets closer to solving in this outstanding book. Even though you get frustrated with not knowing what is within these characters, it just spurs you on to want to find out and get to the end of the book as fast as possible. Liaths birth circumstances are very interesting and surprising and the emotion at the time is very intense. While Alain's mystery still isn't solved, Kate Elliot has come closer to revealing what he really is.

While Alain and Liath are the main characters, there are still other well developed characters such as Sanglant and King Henry. Liath and Sanglant's daughter, Blessing, surprised me with her developing character and even if her growing up so fast seems strange, it excites me to see her take a part in the book.

In Child of Flame Kate Elliot brings you to the world of the Aoi, who are not what I expected them to be. They are brought a little more into the action, even though they don't yet take an active part outside of their own little world, besides teaching Liath a little of her magic. They are a divided people, some wanting to make peace and others just wanting to destroy.

Even though this book was close to 1000 pages, every page was worth reading and I don't think there are any wasted pages. Every page brings you closer to the mysteries that we all want to solve.

I recommend this book to anybody, because it is one of those books that draw people in to really care about what happens in the story. I would also recommend reading the first books in the series first, so your caught up on all thats going on.

I would read this book again and again, but i have other books scheduled to read so i'll get to it.