Fire (The Six Elements)

This is my first book I read from this author and it did NOT disappoint. It played out as an RPG adventure in my head, and while I read it; obviously. I enjoyed the characters/their backstories, not all of it was told, but there's still 5 books to go; plenty of time to tell more of their story. And I am looking forward to it. I also enjoyed their flaws; though I was disappointed a bit that the protagonist went a little off the deep end in the end though unleashing fury and the innocents caught in the cross-fire because of it. Man, what an entertaining story.... so far.

Shot in the dark, I’m going to theorize that those who will enjoy Rosie Scott’s Fire the most are readers that enjoy video games (and, of course, also enjoy epic high fantasy storytelling, but if you don’t, why are you even reading this?). This didn’t surprise me since, having read her previous fiction series—a dystopian thriller set—I was familiar with Scott’s fondness for gaming and its influence on her storytelling and imagery. And while reading Fire, I sometimes pictured the characters hoofing around action-RPG wildlands, completing quests, mastering mana-draining spells, and peeling back all manner of NPC intrigue along the way.By all accounts, Fire is part one of a six-volume series, and as such, a lot of time is spent introducing characters, “building” the world, and setting up big picture conflicts and themes. Typically, lead characters in these sorts of stories start out quite naïve, weak, lost, even helpless, and have to mature and strengthen over the course of the story (archetypal hero’s quest story fodder). But Fire’s protagonist starts out very powerful, a mage with a greater range of talent and capability than seemingly anyone else in the world. Instead of needing to constantly be helped or outright saved in the early-going derring-do, her flaws are mostly in her personality and character—she can be stubborn, shortsighted, careless, even accidentally cruel (though never to the point of being unlikable). Luckily she’s backed up by a motley, ahem, fellowship of compadres of various backgrounds, races, skills, etc. to lighten the load and try to steer her when she goes off course. The relationships between them are what give the story the juice, more than any cyclone of flames, treasure horde-guarding wyvern, or feat of corpse-raising necromancy. Like her previous New World series, there are also the seeds sown for a love triangle that thankfully never sprout.Big picture-wise, I can’t tell exactly where the driving force of the plot is going, which is refreshing; it’s also frustrating, but in a good way, since it affords more time to enjoy the window dressing and get to know the characters on purer terms of personality rather than as cogs in the narrative machine. Individual moments stick out—vivid descriptions of tavern food, intensely fatalistic backstories presented in direct terms rather than teased out over many chapters/books, page-turning excitement during the high-stakes climax, etc. It’s a consistently forbidding and dangerous world she sends her little creatures to scurry across, but even if some of the contemporary language and allusions are distracting, Scott weaves more than enough humorous quips (especially from “dark elf” Nyx) into the narrative to keep the affair from becoming too stuffy and solemn.I haven’t started the next part (Earth) yet, so I must withhold any influence of opinion from how the story continues taking shape from here, but I binge-read this thing in just a few sittings, which isn’t what I typically do--high praise, I suppose. With a wink to Middle Earth's queen of all dreams, here’s hoping that this high level of entertainment keeps rambling on.

I am not a big reader. Within the last probably decade, the only series I have actually read is the Eragon series. With that said, it was the cover of that book that made caught my interest. This book was very much the same, the cover caught my attention, and upon further investigating I thought to myself "this sounds like last airbender on steroids!"As I progressed through this book, I realized that I was immediately engulfed into this world. Before I finished the first book, I purchased the rest of the series. I actually finished Fire within just a few days (which is unheard of, for me). I have already strongly recommended this series to dozens of people, and I am only half way through the second book. The balance between plot development and action is perfectly matched. There are a lot of twists and turns that I didn't see coming, and because of that my attention was kept. Every time I finished a chapter, I was eager to start the next. If you are into the fantasy genre, this is a must for you.

While Fire does not break any new ground in the fantasy genre, it is enjoyable nonetheless; Rosie Scott creates a vibrant world filled with tense battles, descriptive magic, and a diverse cast of adventurers that play well off each other. Also, I particularly liked the main plot line concerning a girl trying to learn more about her real family. The main pieces and mystery are laid fast and early, with a very satisfying reveal near the stories end.My only real complaint with the story were some issues near the beginning, where it felt the setup was being over-explained a touch. Once past that though the story flowed with ease, and I found myself forgetting these earlier qualms as I fell into the narrative. Lots of action, witty characters, and a classic adventure - really, what more could you want from a fantasy book?

***POSSIBLE SPOILERS***I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The characters immediately caught my interest and I enjoyed the worldbuilding. The only part I disliked was the final section, roughly the last 40-50 pages. Without spoiling too much, the main character makes an illogical decision that goes as badly as I expected. Almost everything that could possible go wrong with that decision ends up happening.But besides that, I enjoyed the story, characters and setting and look forward to reading the next book!

The amount of world building that went into this story is immense and it shows right from the get-go. Scott clearly has a vivid imagination that couldn't be penned when she dreamed up this world. While the book is not short, it draws you in quickly with some clearly-defined characters and their backstories, all usually laid out straight for the reader. That may be one critique I would make of the story—it is often a little too on-the-nose with telling the reader everything they need to know. Characters' backstories are spelled out as soon as the character comes on stage and sometimes, even in dialogue, they'll describe themselves in unrealistic ways, calling themselves "archers" and "mages." It all feels very videogame-ish. However, that won't be a problem for most of her readers as it's exactly that kind of experience they're chasing! So if you're into complicated magic systems, epic fantasy worlds and some video game styling, you'll very much enjoy Fire.

Well written, easy to read, characters with real feelings, captivating plot twists and much more. I don't usually write reviews, but for this one I had to. Stop reading reviews, read the book.