Customer Reviews

Fire Get (Tales of the Taormin)

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

 

 

Cheryl J. Franklin is the BEST author in reality. Her books are complex yet comprehendable. Somehow she manages to edit the possibilities and impossibilities. Reading her books allow you to leave the real world behind. Whoever put this book out of print needs a brain transplant. She takes an old topic- a noble-blooded girl with an ogreish father and a dead mother runs away from an unsatisfactory marraige and has adventures concerning the fate of all she holds dear, and finds a love along the way- and makes it original; uncontaminated. My mother bought an old copy from a library for 25 cents and gave it to me. I, at the time was reading the same Frank Herbert and Tamora Pierce(I'm 12 yrs old, but don't let that bias you) books over and over again, I was so hungry for a good book. I looked at, eventually decided that there should be some sense in the saying, "you can't judge a book by it's cover" and read it. It was amazing: the best book I have ever read (trust me, I have read a LOT of books, and none have come near to rivaling this one, although some of Franklin's other books...).Kaedric, Rhianna's love,is a hero in his own right, not just someone she beds, which is a nice change. This is a book you can read over and over, and it get's better every time.

Fire Get is a work of art, which, even now can hold a person spellbound. Franklin's descriptive use of words creates for a the reader a world so powerful and full of magic, sorcerors and adventure. Kaedric, our hero cum villain is a man who, quite frankly I would LOVE to meet, and Rhianna the heroine is a credit to the female; she has the strength to capture the love of a man so complex as Kaedric.

Like an embroiderer Franklin threads a story so compelling... combining romance, danger, fun and adventure so expertly it takes your breath away to read the result.

All hail Franklin for this masterpiece!!

but I've stayed up a few nights with it, just the same.

This is one of those books that you're better off with if you can find a musty, well-loved copy. It just lends itself to that old-fashioned smell. It's a beautifully simple story about dark sorcery, good guys fighting bad guys, and improbable romance.

The characters are great, better than I expected to find in a book like this. Rhianna is a willowy girl who holds powerful magic locked within her. But instead of being a helpless damsel who erupts in fire at the last minute, she turns out to be practical, clever enough to fend for herself, and emotionally strong. I don't think she ever even gets taken hostage.

Instead, Kaedric does all the erupting in fire. Tall, dark, intimidating, brooding, Kaedric is a throwback to the days of the Wizard Kings, sorcerers so powerful they shaped the very earth to their whims. Kaedric broods so much that he seems to be more of a shadow cast across the story than an actual character half the time. But at least he doesn't brood in an annoying way. He's got a bit of a dark streak in his personality too, which lends a bit of depth to the storyline.

He's on a quest, she wants freedom from an oppressive family life. They manage to meet somewhere in the middle and (this actually is a shock) fall for each other.

In the meantime, of course, the world is being threatened by an evil wizard, and naturally it takes the both of them to stop it. Simple plot, interesting story. It's not cluttered up by plot twists or moralizing; if you're looking for those then head elsewhere. What you'll find here is good old-fashioned quests and wizardry, some nice explosions, a touch of darkness, a brooding hero and a resilient young heroine. And really, what more do you need?

Well, and maybe there're one or two twists after all.

Fire Get is the first book in the "Tales of the Taormin" series by Cheryl J.Franklin. The story centers around Rhianna, a noble born woman of the kingdom of Tyntagel in the world of Serii. Being the daughter of nobility Rhianna is being forced by her father into an arranged marriage which of course she objects to. To avoid the situation Rhianna decides to run away and live the Dwaelin Wood, a foreboding forest where none will go. Being able to converse with trees and other creatures of nature Rhianna feels this is the best place to hide. Not long after she arrives she happens upon a group of "Venturers" travelling through the forest and ultimately decides to join them on their quest. From here begins the rest of the story involving the other main character of the story, Kaedric, a brooding and powerful blue flame-wielding wizard with a dark past. Their quest is to stop the Taormin from falling into evil hands. Now, the first question you might ask yourself is "What exactly is the Taormin?" I know I asked myself that and found myself frustrated and wondering for the entire book. All you really know is that it's a "Power focus" and considered very dangerous if used or misused (sure it sounds a lot like "The One Ring" but what fantasy isn't influenced my Tolkien, honestly). In any case the small group of "venturers" set out on their generic quest of good vs. evil and I'll leave the rest for you to discover. As for the book itself, here are my thoughts;

Pros

+ Most of the main heroes all have flaws and or questionable pasts. This is refreshing in the fantasy genre as it's often littered with "flawless do-gooders."

+ A few very well written characters. In particular I really enjoyed the characters of the roguish Ineuil and the wizard Kaedric.

+ Contained a map of realm. Always a plus in my view.


Cons

- No chart of the royal family trees. This book focused heavily on royalty across various ruling cities and a layout of each ruling house would have been extremely helpful.

- Majority of the characters are vague and faceless. The author seemed to focus heavily on the main characters but neglected to remotely flesh out secondary ones.

- Map is incomplete and many of the names are largely illegible due to them being over top of the landscape drawings.

- Writing style is overly wordy, often times to the point of wanting a dictionary just to look up various words. I applaud the author's vocabulary but honestly it came off as a bit pretentious. Examples of words often used; vituperative, concomitant, preprandial, perspicacity, ebullition etc.

- Written in first person. Unless it's a memoir I'm personally not a fan of first person writing.

- Most chapters involving the royal court and it's proceedings are extremely dull and boring.

- Combat was nonchalantly written and uninspired. I wasn't expecting R.A. Salvatore action but when there was any sort of fighting or combat it was dull. Enemies simply appeared (Gargoyles, thieves, brigands, undead etc.) and were dispatched.

- The Taormin isn't even described until the very end of the book.

- Flashbacks/memory sharing sequences seemed poorly inserted into the story. They detailed interesting information regarding the characters past but didn't flow well where they were placed causing it to become confusing at first.

- Story contains a sci-fi crossover, something I dislike in books that are advertised to be pure fantasy.

- Master Veld is also Master Vald on the same page. Minor but very noticeable as it's in the opening chapters of the book.


I was really expecting Fire Get to be a better book than it actually was. The story itself has some redeeming qualities and I enjoyed the first third of the book. Unfortunately when the Venture ends the story spirals into mediocrity. The focus then shifts to the daily doings of the royal houses which was a chore to get through. Characters are so bound to what the royal customs are they refuse to question authority. This is especially disappointing in Rhianna. Luckily this seems to have changed in the second book in the series "Fire Lord" of which a review will follow when I'm finished. As for Fire Get, it's worth a read but if you're an avid reader of fantasy don't expect to find anything that will wow you.