Customer Reviews

A Circle of Ashes (Balefire, No. 2)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In my review of A Chalice of Wind I said I'd saved this second book as a treat to read on a plane. In the end, I read the whole thing in one sitting, on a coach crossing the mountains to Antalya in Turkey. I hardly noticed the scenery.

The narrative picks up neatly where Chalice... left off, neatly developing the twins - Thais and Clio - and the other main characters, with a minimum of 'what has gone before'. It's a great read, Cate's really getting into her stride and we learn more about Bonne Magie.

So why only four stars? Well, in my review of the previous book I expressed the hope that this one would actually bring some of the plot-lines to a conclusion. Sadly for me, it doesn't: we need to rad book three (October) and presumably four as well (now slated for March) to find out what's happening.

This is the second book in the Balefire series by Cate Tiernan (author of the very good Sweep series).
In this sequel, Thais and Clio (identical twins who found eachotehr in the first book) get to know eachother better. Thais moves in with Nan, their grandmother, and Clio. By working a little magick, Nan now has legal guardianship of Thais. Things start to heat up, literally speaking, when Clio and Thais try to do spells together and end up being thrown across the room the first two times, and setting their house on fire the third. They try to figure out what's wrong with this while the twins are getting magically attacked. Someone must be trying to kill them. But who?
The next book is A Feather of Stone due out in November. I can't wait!

i read the entire sweep series a few years ago, which is now one my favorite series so i decided to try this series out as well, i just recently bought a kindle and got chalice of the wind (the first balefire) on it, which i thought was a very good book, finished it last night and was really excited to read the next one, come to find out they only have the first and third books of this series on the kindle so im really hoping they decided to make a kindle version of this book soon so i can continue the series.

Thais's father died in an accident. She was then whisked off to New Orleans where she discovered that she has an identical twin and that they are descended from witches. They are also surrounded by a bunch of witches made immortal by a huge spell worked over 200 years ago. Clio, Thais's twin is trying to deal with the fact that her father had been around and that her grandmother should have a lot of greats in front of her name. It is not easy for either twin although Clio was brought up to understand magic. That is what this volume deals with.

Clio is trying to help Thais adjust to the idea of magic and that she also has the ability. To do this the twins study and try to work magic together. But when they work together things do not go well. But while they have trouble working magic together, Thais manages to discover her true magic and makes if feel right for herself. We also learn what Nan, the great-something-grandmother, has been up to on her sudden trip. In the end another spell is worked as the immortals are almost all together.

Once again things move very quickly. Most of the book flips back and forth between each twin's viewpoint but these are peppered by other chapters as seen from some of the immortal witches. Although I feel Thais may come into her magic a little quickly, it does help make the story really move. Once again you will want to have the next book ready when you finish this one. Check it out.

This series just seems to get better! I loved the first one in this series and this second book continued that love. The drama starts at the very beginning and it continues through till the end of the book. I love how the author (Cate Tiernan) switches the perspectives of each chapter. Sometimes a chapter will be about Thias, another about Clio, or another about another character. They change frequently and it was so well done that you can tell quickly who you are reading about. I loved this book so much!

I read this book in one sitting! Couldn't put it down... love, love, love this series so far!!!

THIS IS A GREAT SERIES. IT IS ABOUT TEEN WITCHES. I REALLY ENJOYED THIS BOOK.

This book was a lot better than the first one. We learn some more things about the twins past and their line and the coven. Plus someone is trying to kill them but who?

This book was better than the first one i cant wait to read the next one!!!!