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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
Sherry Thomas writes one of the best series, The Lady Sherlock series. I was hoping for another one just as good, but alas, it wasn’t. Maybe because it’s YA, and teenage angst is pretty annoying at my age.
Regardless, it was entertaining and I liked the characters and the plot. I don’t know if I’ll read the successive novels, though.
Regardless, it was entertaining and I liked the characters and the plot. I don’t know if I’ll read the successive novels, though.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Sherry Thomas, author of The Burning Sky (first book in the Elemental Trilogy), is not the next J.K. Rowling. Of course, there IS no next J.K. Rowling, but that doesn’t stop publishers from comparing new authors to her.
The most recent author to be compared to Rowling ad nauseum is Samantha Shannon, author of The Bone Season. I bring this up because if I WERE to compare a new author to Rowling, it would be Sherry Thomas, not Samantha Shannon. I am a public librarian, and if a Harry Potter fan asked me for a new book they might like, I’d recommend The Burning Sky (and not The Bone Season). Like the Harry Potter series and unlike The Bone Season, it has moments of true warmth and levity.
The Burning Sky is similar to the world of Harry Potter in many ways. Attendance at a boarding school, check, although in this case it is a decidedly unmagical Eton College. Spells based on latin, check. Prophecies and seers, check.
But the author paints her own magical world in The Burning Sky. The magical domain and the nonmagical realm co-exist. The greatest elemental mage of a generation has been prophesied. This person, able to manipulate earth, air, water and fire, will face the Bane, the powerful mage and tyrant of Atlantis. Prince Titus, the teenaged figurehead Master of the Domain, has known since a young age that he is destined to assist the mage and die in the process.
Then, through a careless bit of magic, Iolanthe Seabourne reveals herself to be the prophesied elemental mage. Atlantis and the Bane want to use her. Prince Titus does too – he wants to use her to bring down Atlantis and the Bane. The Prince gets to her first, and puts into action a plan he has worked on for almost his whole life.
Iolanthe and Titus have a distrustful but dependent relationship. Iolanthe, disguised as a boy, attends Eton with the young Prince, and there are moments of joy and humor in their day-to-day interactions with fellow students. One plot device I enjoyed was the Crucible, a magical training tool that Titus and Iolanthe virtually disappear into to prepare for the challenges that await them.
I won’t reveal anymore, but The Burning Sky is a fun, suspenseful, and yes, magical read. I definitely recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Harry Potter or similar series.
Edit 11/28/14: I listened to the audio version, narrated by Philip Battley, and loved it. I hope he does the rest of the books in the series.
The most recent author to be compared to Rowling ad nauseum is Samantha Shannon, author of The Bone Season. I bring this up because if I WERE to compare a new author to Rowling, it would be Sherry Thomas, not Samantha Shannon. I am a public librarian, and if a Harry Potter fan asked me for a new book they might like, I’d recommend The Burning Sky (and not The Bone Season). Like the Harry Potter series and unlike The Bone Season, it has moments of true warmth and levity.
The Burning Sky is similar to the world of Harry Potter in many ways. Attendance at a boarding school, check, although in this case it is a decidedly unmagical Eton College. Spells based on latin, check. Prophecies and seers, check.
But the author paints her own magical world in The Burning Sky. The magical domain and the nonmagical realm co-exist. The greatest elemental mage of a generation has been prophesied. This person, able to manipulate earth, air, water and fire, will face the Bane, the powerful mage and tyrant of Atlantis. Prince Titus, the teenaged figurehead Master of the Domain, has known since a young age that he is destined to assist the mage and die in the process.
Then, through a careless bit of magic, Iolanthe Seabourne reveals herself to be the prophesied elemental mage. Atlantis and the Bane want to use her. Prince Titus does too – he wants to use her to bring down Atlantis and the Bane. The Prince gets to her first, and puts into action a plan he has worked on for almost his whole life.
Iolanthe and Titus have a distrustful but dependent relationship. Iolanthe, disguised as a boy, attends Eton with the young Prince, and there are moments of joy and humor in their day-to-day interactions with fellow students. One plot device I enjoyed was the Crucible, a magical training tool that Titus and Iolanthe virtually disappear into to prepare for the challenges that await them.
I won’t reveal anymore, but The Burning Sky is a fun, suspenseful, and yes, magical read. I definitely recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Harry Potter or similar series.
Edit 11/28/14: I listened to the audio version, narrated by Philip Battley, and loved it. I hope he does the rest of the books in the series.
I may revise this rating later on.
The plot was fine, the absic idea actually quite good. I liked Iolanthe/Fairfaix as a character after the initial part.
However the book never really hooked me in. It maybe my mood these days, hence I'll come back to it perhaps at a later date, but as I said in an initial comment, perhaps this book is too 'Young' and not enough 'Adult' for me
The plot was fine, the absic idea actually quite good. I liked Iolanthe/Fairfaix as a character after the initial part.
However the book never really hooked me in. It maybe my mood these days, hence I'll come back to it perhaps at a later date, but as I said in an initial comment, perhaps this book is too 'Young' and not enough 'Adult' for me
This was fairly strong, but definitely YA.
Some elemental lore with a few more classic magic moments mixed in. I think this book fell a little too far into the "magic spell for everything" trap (a quick spell to hem clothes, a charm to create the existence of a person, etc.), but overall I had a good time reading about the world.
I liked the main characters - although the main male was a tad too perfect - and am interested in seeing where they go in the next installment.
My biggest complaint would be the final battle. It was a bit confusing in terms of whether or not it took place in the real world or not (in terms of rules regarding life and death), and I'm not entirely sure of what even was accomplished.
Still, this was a well-paced book that didn't require too much thought and included minimal eye-roll situations.
Some elemental lore with a few more classic magic moments mixed in. I think this book fell a little too far into the "magic spell for everything" trap (a quick spell to hem clothes, a charm to create the existence of a person, etc.), but overall I had a good time reading about the world.
I liked the main characters - although the main male was a tad too perfect - and am interested in seeing where they go in the next installment.
My biggest complaint would be the final battle. It was a bit confusing in terms of whether or not it took place in the real world or not (in terms of rules regarding life and death), and I'm not entirely sure of what even was accomplished.
Still, this was a well-paced book that didn't require too much thought and included minimal eye-roll situations.
Too confused even after the end of the book. I doubt if I'll continue with the rest of the series.
“As long as I live and breathe, I will be with you.”
This book is not for everyone. Especially for those who sought out The Burning Sky for its promise as a fantasy novel, I'm sad to inform you that this is not a book for you. The fantasy aspect is a hot mess, to say the least. There's just something so forced about the world-building and the way it's presented to readers. The author was by no means stingy with the info-dumps, yet I still found myself nursing many questions and doubts. Heck, I read the whole thing and I'm still not totally sure what Atlantis and the Domain are. In this particular genre of fantasy, world-building is crucial. Readers want to be immersed in a whole new world and be swept away effortlessly. This was not the case for The Burning Sky .
Read this book for the characters and the romance. Do not read it for the fantasy.
Iolanthe Seabourne is the prophesied elemental mage that will one day overthrow the tyrannical Bane that lords over all the mage realms. Prince Titus VII is the ruling prince of the Domain and has vowed to help Iolanthe achieve her destiny. Believe me when I say that these characters are wonderfully complex and surprising.
“And that is why you do not trifle with the Master of the Domain.”
Titus is a liar. He has to be, to achieve what needs to be done, but that doesn't mean he enjoys spinning tall tales and living life in isolation. Needless to say, this aspect of his character just makes him that much more endearing, and I couldn't help but feel sympathy for the guy. It's rough having to push everyone away, and even worse is the fact that the one person he thought he could be honest with doesn't want to give him the time of day.
“A messy business, rescuing princes.”
And then there's Iolanthe Seabourne, reluctant savior of all the realms. Sure, at first she seems like a total Mary Sue; adept at magic, good at sports, and still manages to look beautiful even when she's dressed up as a teenage boy? I mean, come on. Yet through all those layers of seeming perfection lies a coward of a girl, too terrified to embrace her destiny; a girl who loves her caretaker like a father, despite the fact that said character is a stumbling drunk that throws his life away. Although I was apprehensive in the beginning, I found myself rooting for Iolanthe towards the end.
“Love will make you weak and indecisive, remember?" she murmured.
What a fool he had been. For a journey like theirs, love was the only thing that would make him strong enough.
"Don't ever listen to an idiot like me," he answered.”
Sigh. I can tell that this author is well-versed in the art of writing romance. I was a tad bit worried in the beginning since I felt the claws of InstaLove!, but boy was I wrong. Their romance isn't thrust immediately in readers' faces, but it grows slowly, then finally spirals into a whirlwind of emotion. It just made so much sense. I found myself going, 'Yes, of course they're kissing. They're made for each other!'.
All in all, great characters and epic romance. I couldn't bring myself to care for the plot or the world, which was highly unfortunate. I would recommend this book to those who love their romance but aren't super nitpicky about the fantasy aspects.
This book is not for everyone. Especially for those who sought out The Burning Sky for its promise as a fantasy novel, I'm sad to inform you that this is not a book for you. The fantasy aspect is a hot mess, to say the least. There's just something so forced about the world-building and the way it's presented to readers. The author was by no means stingy with the info-dumps, yet I still found myself nursing many questions and doubts. Heck, I read the whole thing and I'm still not totally sure what Atlantis and the Domain are. In this particular genre of fantasy, world-building is crucial. Readers want to be immersed in a whole new world and be swept away effortlessly. This was not the case for The Burning Sky .
Read this book for the characters and the romance. Do not read it for the fantasy.
Iolanthe Seabourne is the prophesied elemental mage that will one day overthrow the tyrannical Bane that lords over all the mage realms. Prince Titus VII is the ruling prince of the Domain and has vowed to help Iolanthe achieve her destiny. Believe me when I say that these characters are wonderfully complex and surprising.
“And that is why you do not trifle with the Master of the Domain.”
Titus is a liar. He has to be, to achieve what needs to be done, but that doesn't mean he enjoys spinning tall tales and living life in isolation. Needless to say, this aspect of his character just makes him that much more endearing, and I couldn't help but feel sympathy for the guy. It's rough having to push everyone away, and even worse is the fact that the one person he thought he could be honest with doesn't want to give him the time of day.
“A messy business, rescuing princes.”
And then there's Iolanthe Seabourne, reluctant savior of all the realms. Sure, at first she seems like a total Mary Sue; adept at magic, good at sports, and still manages to look beautiful even when she's dressed up as a teenage boy? I mean, come on. Yet through all those layers of seeming perfection lies a coward of a girl, too terrified to embrace her destiny; a girl who loves her caretaker like a father, despite the fact that said character is a stumbling drunk that throws his life away. Although I was apprehensive in the beginning, I found myself rooting for Iolanthe towards the end.
“Love will make you weak and indecisive, remember?" she murmured.
What a fool he had been. For a journey like theirs, love was the only thing that would make him strong enough.
"Don't ever listen to an idiot like me," he answered.”
Sigh. I can tell that this author is well-versed in the art of writing romance. I was a tad bit worried in the beginning since I felt the claws of InstaLove!, but boy was I wrong. Their romance isn't thrust immediately in readers' faces, but it grows slowly, then finally spirals into a whirlwind of emotion. It just made so much sense. I found myself going, 'Yes, of course they're kissing. They're made for each other!'.
All in all, great characters and epic romance. I couldn't bring myself to care for the plot or the world, which was highly unfortunate. I would recommend this book to those who love their romance but aren't super nitpicky about the fantasy aspects.
I kept not finishing this one and then waiting for months on the hold list, but it was really a pretty fun story. Does it hold up to the comparison to Harry Potter? Obviously not. But still an engaging fantasy read.