Customer Reviews

Fire Arrow: The Second Song of Eirren

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an excellent book and I recommended it to my 15 year old son, who normally only reads stuff about video games, and he loved it. He read both the first and second book in 2 days!

This is just as intoxicating as the first book. Like it, it looks like an ordinary old fantasy book. You know, prince goes to rescue princess who's been captured by evil dragon or ogre or some such. But this book is totally different. It starts out with Brie (you really should read the first ,Hero's song, before hand) reiceiving her birthright ,the Fire Arrow, from her dying nursemaid. She then travels to Dungal to avenge her father's killers. She acheives this, but does not feel happy like she thought she would. She travels to Ardara,where something almost happens that makes you want to punch Brie. Lom is not the one. She belongs with Collun. I won't say anything else, I might ruin it. It introduces a bunch of new characters,and reveals something very surprising about Brie and her family. I recommend this book to anyone who likes magic, fantasy, action or just a great book to get caught up in.

"Hero's Song" failed to get much of a response from me at all, aside from mild annoyance at the abundance of cliches and flat characterizations. "Fire Arrow" improves on some of those problems, but still has some deep flaws.

After destroying the Wurme in the previous book, Collun and Brie are living peacefully at his father's old home. Until, that is, Brie receives an alarming fortune from a wyll (wise-woman), and a summons from her aunt and uncle. Her old nurse is dying, and leaves Brie a mysterious golden arrow that becomes fiery when she touches it, and gives her visions. It also brings back her strong desire for revenge against the Scathians who killed her father, including a one-eyed man.

She sets off across the land of Dungal, and spends some time in a fishing village with a crazy wizard and a Ellyl waystation. But when danger comes closer, Brie must leave peace behind, and finds out who killed her father -- and about the impending invasion that threatens Dungal and Eirren.

In many ways, this book improves on the previous one. Pattou shows a greater sense of atmosphere, and is better able to sustain suspense and mystery. She also expands Brie from a stereotyped woman warrior into a more three-dimensional character, and is able to make the conflict seem more epic and realistic than ever before. Sago is an exceptionally-written character, a wiser-than-he-looks wizard who utters nonsense rhymes much of the time. Collun displays more depth and recognizable emotion than the-gardener-who-wants-to-go-home, with revelations about his family that hint at a possible future instalment.

Unfortunately, most of the cast of the previous book -- including the charming Taliesin -- is abandoned;; Silien and Collun are barely there, and Nessa and Taliesin are gone altogether, except for Collun briefly mentioning his sister. Ciaran the talking horse and Fara the Lassie-like Ellyl pet are more present than the characters that I was more interested in. There is a silly coffee joke early in the book, that Pattou refuses to let drop; also, a reference to chocolate in a mythical early Ireland. We are treated to a retread of Collun and Brie's bloodless romance, after Brie flirts aimlessly with a very boring fisherman, and Pattou introduces a long-lost-royalty cliche late in the book, that any adept fantasy fans will have spotted long before.

Brie has developed substantially from the previous book, in that Pattou effectively displays her conflicting feelings and her thoughts on revenge, whether it's wrong or right. Collun is, oddly, more intriguing when we see less of him; I would have preferred to see his fights with the Scathians instead of page after page of Brie in the fishing village. Silien is good, for what little there is of him; we see him taking an active stance against the Scathians. Hanna, the weather-woman, is an effective and interesting character, while the cowardly, nervy Monodnock sucked all the magic and mystery out of the Ellyl.

Despite this book's flaws, it remains a good read for fans of Celtic-themed fantasy, and plucks out some intriguing plot threads that will undoubtedly make any future stories intriguing, especially if Ms. Pattou brings back Talisen and dispenses with the silly coffee jokes.

I am reading a number of novels in this genre and I was really satisfied with Fire Arrow. I didn't immediately take to it (maybe because I didn't read the first book first - duh!) but it grew on me quickly. What I really appreciated were the details and descriptions pertaining to places, people, creatures, new concepts and native languages. Usually I don't care for detailed descriptions, but there was just enough in Fire Arrow to make everything vivid and realistic. It was so real I felt like I could travel to Eirren and Dungal and know just what to expect. I picked this book out originally because, based on the short description on the back cover, I knew that the main character was going to be female. Characterization was believable and honest. It is a high quality read. I hope that Edith Pattou will have yet another book about Brie.

This is one of those books that you have to read the first one in its series first. This book was just as action-packed as the first one in its series but whith a little romance. It was just amazing.

In this book, there is a lot of action, good descriptions of the scenes, and there was a lot of exciting places in the book. Great book for 10 year old boys like me.

To put it simply this book is AWESOME. I am a big fan of fantasy and for those of you who are this book is for you. It is a bit romantic but I like a little bit of romance. Not too much to make it mushy but enough to make it sweet. I haven't read the first book but I understood this one pretty good. I simply fell in love with Collun. He's so calm yet exciting at times. I can't wait to read the first book. And if there is a third one I would love to read it too.

when I first took out the book from my library I did not know what to expect. but from the first page on I was excited that I picked this book. I am not your average reader. my thrill for reading depends on the book. if it don't capture me by the first page .. I will put it down. but the Fire Arrow was every hard to put down. Brie's quest for revenge and quest for perpose I think was just like my own .. five stars is not enough for this book .. and now that I read it 3 time before my time was up to bring it back to the library .. I am reading the companion book Hero's Song witch is also a great one ..now that I am half way through this book I am afraid I won't find any like them . and it is true now I been at the library two days and I am not having any luck in finding anything to compare it to Fire Arrow and Hero's Song ...my only hope is to wish Ms. Pattou could wirte another one for her fans...

Good young adult read. Something was laking for me in this book, couldn't quite put my finger on it. But overall good story.

I luve this book the best ever!!! If anyone dares to try and diss this book i will personally deal with. Collun and Brie should be a couple in the next book but not so much romance as to make you sick and green. Collun and Brie forever! I am the number one fan of Edith Pattou, hopefully.