Reviews

Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard

odin45mp's review against another edition

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3.0

This was a tantalizing taste of an appetizer, that should have been a 3 course meal.

I love the setting. Vietnamese-esque fantasy kingdom? YES.
Fire elemental? YES.
Princesses. In love with each other. Or at least lust. Maybe political maneuvering masquerading as love? YES.

But none of the relationships felt fully realized to me. There is a lot of telling rather than showing. I think if the page count had allowed for more development, and de Bodard had showing us, rather than telling us who these people are, this would be fantastic.

mumay's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

enju_rin's review against another edition

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emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

rmyd42's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

leighr16_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
No rating for this book because I feel like this book wasn’t long enough for me to formulate an opinion on the plot/structure!

thebonekingdom's review against another edition

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4.0

Fireheart Tiger est une courte histoire qui aborde la colonisation, la recherche de soi et de sa place dans un monde où son existence semble insouciante. 

Il ne fait qu'une centaine de pages, on en voudrait peut être plus, mais l'histoire est réellement superbe. 

Alors qu'au départ, je m'inquiétais un peu du déroulement de la relation entre Tanh et Eldris, j'ai été agréablement surprise par sa conclusion et les leçons que le livre mettaient en lumière. 
En lisant le résumé, ce que je n'avais pas entièrement fait je l'avoue, je pense que j'aurais directement compris qu'Eldris n'allait pas être décrite comme une bonne personne et je me suis fait une petite frayeur pour rien !
Aliette de Bodard ne fait pas de son livre une histoire d'amour romantique entre un personnage natif et un colonisateur. La relation n'est pas idéalisé et les problèmes qu'on y trouve sont bien mis en évidence.  Même si l'histoire ne les relève pas dès le départ, ils sont bien là et ne vont pas passer à la trappe pour profiter à une relation toute belle et rose. 


Outre cela, je lui ai trouvé un côté poetique tres appreciable, notamment par le biais du personnage de Giang qui est clairement un élement essentiel à ce livre. Je dirais que c'est en quelque sorte la voix de la sagesse, celle qui arrive à éclairer les pensées de Thanh, aveuglée par Eldris et ayant du mal à se faire une place au sein de son royaume. 

Une part de moi pense que le livre aurait été beaucoup plus développé, je ne pense pas qu'une suite soit nécessaire, mais les événements du livre aurait pu être étalés sur une période de temps plus longue.
Et en même temps, le livre se suffit à lui même. On nous parle d'un instant, d'une visite, c'est court mais c'est assez pour enclencher les pièces du puzzle. 
L'histoire n'est pas centré sur le destin d'un royaume mais les tourmants d'une jeune femme et le début d'un chemin pour se reconstruire. Donc oui, c'est court, mais pour ce que veut raconter l'auteur, je pense que c'est suffisant !

titalindaslibrary's review against another edition

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mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

To be fair, I also really dislike this narrator, so experiencing this entire novella on audio didn’t do it any favors.

timinbc's review against another edition

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4.0

As always with AdeB, there's a lot in here, and it's beautifully crafted.
Lesbian romance, a fire elemental, clash of empires, court intrigue, ...
I enjoyed it, but I left feeling slightly disappointed, because there's so much more I needed to know.

Others mentioned Goblin Emperor and Howl's Moving Castle, great, but did you catch the third one? Giang is disappointed at one point, and fades away with a gentle, "As you wish" that tells us volumes about her status at the time.

Thanh seems rather quick to fall in love. Eldris comes across as faintly reptilian (hmm, name is anagram of "slider") and AdeB does a great job of hinting that Eldris isn't quite perfect. Mother is a cardboard stock character, but probably should be so it's OK, and Mom is quite pragmatic overall.

Thanh is also just on the edge of being that too-common-lately character who is all "oh, waily, wailiy, I don't know what to do here" and three seconds later adlibs a brilliant solution that all the big brains completely missed.

Giang - I need some backstory about fire elementals taking human form when they want to; that doesn't be be something commonly attributed to them. Will this plot thread end in tears too? Just how powerful a friend does Thanh now have, and does anyone else have one?

Is there a novel here?

spoonguy's review against another edition

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lighthearted reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes

3.0

arenasg's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5