In the Earth Abides the Flame (Fire of Heaven) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Russell Kirkpatrick (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
They have journeyed across the face of the world, but their quest is far from over...

Battered and bruised, suffering grievous loss, the Company enters the great city of Instruere. They have to warn the Council of Faltha of the Destroyer's threat -- but they have no idea of the depth of treachery that awaits them.

When the arrival of a disturbing stranger ignites political and religious tensions, events escalate beyond control. Only one thing could unite a land wracked with such mistrust. But can it be found? Or is the Jugom Ark merely a legend?

About the Author
Russell Kirkpatrick's love of literature and a chance encounter with fantasy novels as a teenager opened up a vast number of possibilities to him. The idea that he could marry storytelling and mapmaking (his other passion) into one project grabbed him and wouldn't let go. He lives in New Zealand with his wife and two children. Find out more about Russell Kirkpatrick at www.russellkirkpatrick.com.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 688 pages
• Publisher: Orbit (February 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316003425
• ISBN-13: 978-0316003421
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #365,099 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars In the Earth, abides fewer characters, March 11, 2008

By	David "dtstrange" (Pleasant Hill, CA United States) - See all my reviews

First of all, any book about a fantasy world that contains flamingos can't be all bad. When was the last time you ever read about flamingos in one of these "Young Man Full of Doubts and Secret Past Grows Up To Save The World" stories? OK, the flamingos don't have much to add to the story, but as this book is part travelogue, part, "Gee, I wish I could have written 'Lord of the Rings'" it does make it interesting. After all, LOTR had elephants, and this series has flamingos. That's basically all you need to know.

Don't get me wrong, I liked this story. It was better then the first one, at least once the story got moving and the author ditched the tired, predictable plot about the "Once good Government gone corrupt" and moved on with the story. The biggest problem with this series is that there are just too many characters. They just keep cropping up everywhere. You get whole bunches of them, moving together, and you have no idea who is where or who is doing what. The author does a smart thing about half way through and separates this mass of people into two manageable parts and then basically ignores the duller of the two halves for the rest of the story. It makes the book much more interesting.

I would like to have seen more about the evil powers in this one. The head bad guy, Sauron, errr, I mean the guy who's almost exactly like Sauron, is rather interesting and actually has a great story to tell. Unfortunately, we don't get to hear it. Just a lot of whining from people who have spent way too much time outdoors marching halfway around the world and yet constantly have enough food in their backpacks which must way at least 500lbs as you know they don't have lightweight sleeping bags and freeze dried food in these types of worlds.

All in all, I recommend this and I appreciate greatly whoever made the decision to just release these books one a month here in the U.S. as it was obviously published internationally prior to making a debut here in the States.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Superior to Book One: Recommended Fantasy, March 20, 2008

By	R. Morris "Rob & Matt Morris" (Idaho Falls, ID USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

After reading book one, I was on the fence. I decided book one was good enough to buy book two, and I did. I'm glad I did so. Book Two, In the Earth Abides the Flame, is superior to the first book in the trilogy. The characters are well-drawn and evolve, and the world created by Kirkpatrick becomes more fully realized. The book convinced me to go with book three. If you like fantasy, I think you'll like this series. It is pretty typical quest fantasy, but the world is well-conceived and the majority of the characters are well-drawn.

It is slow-moving at times, and more character- than story-driven, but the action improved and I went ahead and bought book three, which I have enjoyed thus far after about fifty pages.
Recommended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not that great..., July 15, 2008

By	T. Karp "tkarp" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Kirkpatrick grabbed me in the first book right away with his ability with description. Also, I've always been a sucker for the classic hero journey which is what these books are about. I lost patience with him however a quarter of the way through 'In the Earth...' Mild spoiler ahead...

Someone is captured in book one and escapes... three times (you could make a case for four). The cycle of capturing, escaping and rescue occurs so often (it continues in book two) that I had to put the books down because it became so distracting.

While Kirkpatrick can turn a phrase and has imagined a rich world, he needs to try other vehicles to move his plot forward. Perhaps I'll try him out again in the future but I ultimately was disappointed with the Fire from Heaven series.