FIREBRAND by CLAUDIA BLOOD
⭐⭐⭐ Stars
From the Book Blurb
A druid apprentice with a black thumb; A final test. Will Rex discover the truth before Spring is lost forever?
FIREBRAND the Review
I received a free copy of this book and my thanks to the author, Claudia Blood and the team of BookSirens for the copy.
All views expressed in this review are my own and based on my reading of this book. Some of the initial comments were made as I progressed in this book and I have not tried editing them as it expresses my contiguous thoughts as I proceeded with the story.
I had picked this book of an author whose works I had never read and liked what the blurb mentioned. The book cover has also been designed well and creates an interest for the book.
This is a short story and possibly a part of a larger tale but this review will only talk about the story at hand.
The story in totality is something which would be a 4 star reading but for the fact that the starting part of the book which appeared disjointed for me and felt as if it was created from a larger work. Clarity for the story and initial interest was lost there. The book is a short 60 page reading which should not take much time.
What I liked about this book was the background, the power struggle between factions and how weather or climate of earth is being determined by the factionists, druids and people with power which can alter the very fabric of the weather.
I do not know if this was intentional but the story seems an allegory to the climate change discussion, rhetoric or situation that is now prevalent in the planet with the factions on both sides bemoaning or decrying depending upon which side of the wall you are, about climate change, its causativeness and its effects. Like every argument there are two sides with the rest of the world on the sidelines sitting on the fence. This was something whether intentional or otherwise that gave me a greater interest in the story.
What I did not like in the book was that although probably hamstrung by the limited length of the story, a little bit of effort to bring a fresh reader to the situation at hand and why the protagonist and the Druids are actually going about their business, would have gone a big way in drawing the reader into the story very early on in the book. This is where the author and more importantly the editor missed a trick, because the book and story for whatever intention it was made for is for posterity and a reader does form an image about the author's books from any sample available. In my case the sample is this book.
Having completed the story as I am wont to (I never quit on a book), my feelings are different, I know that Claudia packs quite a punch in her writing and will blow away any reader if she gets her full range of histrionics and throws them at the audience. Here she is probably delimited by the size/length of the story.
My final words, this is at heart a simple feel good story written with a fresh take and it delivers at the end.
I recommend this book despite my 3 stars because I would dearly love to read Claudia's other writings and justify my confidence in her tales.
⭐⭐⭐ Stars
Recommended
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