6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Magic Time shapes up to be a well-told, inconsistent series., October 25, 2003
It's always interesting to see one author write in another's world. That's what's happening here; despite his top billing on the cover, Marc Zicree's only contribution to Angelfire was the world and overall story it takes place in - all the writing is Bohnhoff's.
Bohnhoff fits her story well into the continutity set up in Magic Time, adding new layers to this twisted version of the US. Her locations are imaginative, and the new characters sympathetic - as in the first book, none so much as the ones who aren't quite human anymore. She also does an admirable job of adding depth to the main characters - particularly Colleen, who I was glad to see shake off the tough, masculine stereotype she embodied in the first book. There are some genuine relationships, friendly and un-, cropping up between the questers, too.
Much of this development comes from Bonhoff's use of a first-person viewpoint that rotates between the four main characters. This technique, a significant change from Magic Time, is at best a mixed blessing. While first-person storytelling allows for useful insight into the protagonists' characters, it abandons two of the elements of the first book that I enjoyed.
First, there is very little insight into the minds of the "tweaked" humans, since Bonhoff, unlike Zicree and Hambly, chose not to use them as viewpoints. In Magic Time, those viewpoints provided not only the most interesting characters in the book, but a perspective on "the Change" that was refreshingly -not- that of a normal person in a world gone mad (which, let's face it, aren't that hard to come by). Cal and co. are deeper this time around, but they're not nearly as interesting as what we were shown in the first installment, and the cast feels generic without the inclusion of the series' most inventive aspect.
Second, relegating the storytelling to a tight-knit group means that there's no hint of events outside of their personal experiences. Magic Time left a few threads dangling with regards to the country as a whole, and Angelfire doesn't even acknowledge them. Most supporting characters from the first book have ceased to exist, and the remainder have only references in the dialogue, not actual appearances.
You'll notice that I haven't said much about the actual plot. That's because there's not much to say. It starts well enough, and development for the protagonists is well-done, but there's not much happening other than character growth and introduction up through the middle of the book. And once the climax comes, it's stocked with cliches and almost aggressively predictable. To top it off, there's next to nothing in the way of new information about the series' presumed villain, the power called "Source". Fortunately, Bonhoff's pacing and characterization keep the writing interesting, but the plot is disappointingly generic all around.
If you liked the beginning of Zicree's series, Angelfire is worth the read. Just don't expect the expansiveness of the first book - Magic Time was about the world as much as its characters, but Angelfire is first and foremost a quest story.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
reminiscent of Stephen Kings THE STAND, December 17, 2002
This review is from: Magic Time: Angelfire (Hardcover)
A group of scientists were working on a top secret project known to them as the Source but what they let loose changed the face of America. Technology has ground to a halt and is about the level that existed during the Middle Ages in Europe. It also changed the DNA of some of the population, turning some humans into creatures like Flairs, elf like beings that the Source uses as a power supplement.
New York Lawyer Cal Griffin raised his little sister Trina, but when she changed and disappeared, he vowed to find her and stop the Source from using and harming her. He gathers together a small group of traveling companions including the mystical homeless man Herman Golding, Russian Doctor Lysenko who used to run a hot dog stand, and Colleen, an ordinary woman. During their travels, they meet another group of people who can help them in their quest if they risk helping them out on a very dangerous situation.
Some of the questions left hanging in the prequel are answered yet there remains many questions that should be answered in the next book in this series. Readers observe more of the revisions and modifications brought about by THE SOURCE to include geographical alterations executed by this perverted energy and more enlightening to the reader the changes happening to Cal and his friends. The authors have written a work that is reminiscent of Stephen King's THE STAND.
Harriet Klausner
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Awkward at times, June 27, 2004
By A Customer
the flow of the book is a bit troubling, as they, the characters seem to be bumbling along, they also seem to overcome impossible odds, i love fantasy, but the odds of them defeating some of the things they overcome isnt very likely.
the plot does seem to redeem itself with a few twists on character roles, but somehow i feel as though these were due to the authors styles, and ideas on the plot going back and forth, and makes this a ad-lib transcript they worked out for enjoyment.
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