Customer Reviews

The Phoenix Unchained (Enduring Flame, Book 1)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

While I'm amazed at the cost of this thin novel I did enjoy it. The story takes place far in the future from when last these authors took us into this work. Things are rather mundane and perky. So of course someone is out to ruin all the fun by releasing evil back into the world. Most of the story is centered around the friendship of two boys who will obviously be the heroes for solving all the woes. It is a slow meandering journey as the teens have their reality shattered bit by bit as they come to terms with how their world and lives are changing. I did enjoy it, however, and while some of the major themes and characters abilities do seem a wee bit recycled ( it happens at then end and I'm not about to spoil the book for anyone) I'm willing to give it a go and continue reading them to see what happens. It is well written and an enjoyable read. If you liked the Obsidian Trilogy you should like this one too. I just hope they get thicker. I like a good long read. Also Lackey is at her best these days when she works with other writers so pretty much this is the only stuff of hers I've been reading.

I picked up The Phoenix Unchained, the first novel in The Enduring Flame trilogy by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory because I haven't read Lackey before (and I wanted to) and this book was available on audiobook (and I needed something for my commute). The Phoenix Unchained is a sequel to The Obsidian Trilogy which, unfortunately, is not available (yet) on audio, and which I haven't read. However, I had heard that this new trilogy can stand alone, so I decided to give it a try.

The Phoenix Unchained begins as best friends Tiercel and Harrier are attending their city's celebrations of legendary events that happened in The Obsidian Trilogy. It's also Harrier's birthday and, as a gift, his strange uncle gives him a book about magick which Tiercel asks to borrow. Tiercel soon finds that he has some magick abilities and catches the attention of a Wild Mage named Bisochim who is far away but wants to make sure that Tiercel does not disrupt his plans for allowing some dark magick back into the world so that he can save the life of Saravasse, the dragon he's bonded to. Tiercel begins to have bad dreams, so he sets out with Harrier to find a Wild Mage who can help him.

What follows is a standard coming-of-age epic fantasy quest involving lots of slow travel, several magical creatures (centaurs, unicorns, dragons, goblins, elves, fauns, etc), and a lot of sarcastic bickering such as teenage boys tend to engage in. The Phoenix Unchained is not high literature, for sure, but it's solidly written, and the heroes are likeable, if not particularly exciting. There are, however, several borrowings from Tolkien and others (gosh, the elves look just like Legolas!) and some explanations and motivations are vague or unbelievable: Why doesn't Bisochim just go after Tiercel himself instead of sending spells or lackeys--sorry--who don't get the job done? When and why did Bisochim and his dragon fall in love (we see this happen, but I wasn't convinced)? How will letting in some darkness extend the life of Saravasse and why is Bisochim (who started off well) willing to let a lot of people die in order to do that? And if he has this potential for evil, why does Saravasse love him? Is Tiercel the only human with high mage powers, as the elves suggest, or is High Magick a skill that many people may be born with (as Tiercel says).

The plot is not particularly tight, and it's hardly original. Nonetheless, I found myself decently entertained and, since there was a major plot-twist/cliffhanger on the last page, I'm curious to see where the story is going. I may or may not go back and read The Obsidian Trilogy first. Lackey and Mallory give enough background and history that I easily understood what was going on and the basics (I thought) of the history I needed to know. However, I found out later in the book, once the boys meet some very ancient characters, that some of the legends that had been passed down for 1000 years where amusingly inaccurate. I missed this humor because I wasn't familiar with the original trilogy. I probably missed some other information that may have helped inform or entertain me, too. For example, what is a mage price? How does this magic work? Is a "balance" between light and dark necessary (as Bisochim maintains)? What is the "phoenix" mentioned in the title?

The Phoenix Unchained is recommended for anyone looking for a "lite" escapist fantasy epic. The audiobook is a good format for this one -- William Dufris's reading is dynamic and well-nuanced, though occasionally whiny as he depicts typical teenage angst. --FanLit.net

I have been reading Mercedes Lackey books since high school and I always enjoy them. More honestly, I can't put them down. And I did enjoy this book too, but it was definitely not one of her better pieces (though also by FAR, not her worst). I loved the first trilogy (the Obsidian Trilogy), but I think that she should have left it there. "Phoenix Unchained" was predictable and by the end I had to wonder "didn't i already ready this story?" I hope that the sequel will take the book in a fresh direction, though I no doubt will buy it anyway.

If you read the first trilogy, this one starts with some rather obvious places. Whereas last time we started with High-Magic strong and powerful, Wild Magic poorly understood, and magical creatures feared, this time High Magic is forgotten, some magical creatures are common, and Wild Magic is well known. We are also introduced to our heroes in reverse order - starting with the High-Mage.

At times the book seems juvenile in tempermant: no one is truly evil or mean, just mis-guided. It also lacks a sense of urgency, rarely putting the main characters in dangerthat isn't resolved in 2 pages. It does provide for some enjoyment, but it pales in comparison to the first trilogy.

When the Flowering War ended, the Darkness was defeated and the land has known a millennium of peace. The elves and the rest of the other folk isolated themselves in the Northern lands. The humans multiplied along with the brownie, fauns, and centaurs, who stayed with them. Tiercel Rolfort reads a book of magic and suddenly can light fires using High Magic that he can learn unlike Wild Magic which people are blessed with instinctively knowing how to use.

There is nobody to teach Tiercel magic as Wild Magic is found only in times of need. Tiercel needs a wild mage because he is kept up nights dreaming about a demonic woman, fire and another entity. They are something evil and Tiercel finally realizes that he is seeing the future and he must journey to where this woman is. First though, he and his friend Harrier journey to find a Wild Mage hoping that one knows how to stop the visions from returning. The journey takes them into the land of the elves where both learn what fate has in store for them.

Set in the same world as the Obsidian trilogy, THE PHOENIX UNCHAINED is book one of the Enduring Flame saga and is a fantastic spellbinding epic fantasy. The heroes Tiercel and Harrier need each other as close friends will during a crisis; the latter especially watches out for the former who gets them in trouble. Their repartee and quips add a touch of humor to a very enchanting quest tale.

Harriet Klausner

I am Jordan (late great) and Goodkind fan. I have read some of Mercedes Lackey's books and was relatively pleased. This one left me wanting. Very typical plot and the characters developed slowly and very unevenly. The ending was slow and absolutely no climax. Even the final character development was predictable from the beginning. If this was 1/2 of the first book, then maybe but as is, it goes out with a whimper.

Mercedes Lackey is one of my favorite authors, no doubt about that. One of the things I enjoy about her writing style is that you can pick up any of her books and enjoy it without having read anything before it. While the stories build on each other and you get a much broader view if you read the others in the series, each book is still capable of standing alone.

The Enduring Flame series is an excellent read but it lacks that component that I am so fond of. Unless you have read her previous Obsidian Trilogy you will be up a creek sans paddle.

That disappointing me somewhat, but I got over it quickly. The Enduring Flame is a great continuation of the Obsidian Trilogy. It is great to know what happens to the old characters and highly amusing to hear of them as legends when you have read their story directly.

I highly recommend the series to those have read the Obsidian Trilogy, but to those who haven't, go read that first before coming to these.

I loved the first series (The Obsidian Trilogy) and this looks to carry on it's legacy of high fantasy, readability and excitement. I highly recommend it if you liked the Obsidian Trilogy, it carries on it's tradition but is definitely a new series with new adventures and excitement.

Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory have produced another winning book with The Phoenix Unchained. This new trilogy picks up in the same world as the Obsidian Trilogy that was written by the same pair, only now it's 1008 years later in that world. A lot has changed, myths have grown old, and the Endarkened (demons) are coming back into the world. This is the first book in this second trilogy set in this pair of writers fantasy world and what a great job they've done!

The original obsidian series was pretty good. This one was weak and derivative of the first. If you read the first series and *really* liked it, you'll probably like this one too.

I hope the third Phoenix book is a bit better when it comes out. I must admit, the last third of the second Phoenix book was starting to get my attention. The first book and first 2/3 of the second book were pretty much relegated to developing the characters and setting up the story. That, too me, is an awful lot of time spent getting up to speed.