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A review by nicolemhewitt
The Fire Keeper by J.C. Cervantes
5.0
Check out this review on Feed Your Fiction Addiction to see my poetic take on the book (I wrote a sestina!) and to enter the GIVEAWAY!
In this fun follow-up to The Storm Runner, Zane finds himself in a whole new predicament---not only does he have to save his father, he's also got to save a whole host of godborns who he endangered in the first place! When Zane wrote the original book, he sent it out into the world as a call to the other godborns (only a godborn should have been able to read it---which I thought was a clever way to get the reader engaged with the story---as if they must, in fact, be godborn too if they were reading the book). Only it turns out that his battle cry backfired and revealed all the godborns to the gods, thus putting them in danger. Oops!
This book explores shifting relationships: from friends who might be more, to absentee parents who have the chance to become involved in their kids' lives, to new friendships, to enemies who could possibly become allies (or, you know, not). There's plenty of adventure as Zane's quest keeps morphing into something more and more complicated. And Zane experiences some forced personal growth as he deals with the guilt of putting a whole lot of people in danger (and has to decide who to focus on saving: the godborns or his dad). Shaky alliances are formed, and Zane's never quite sure who to trust, which keeps the reader flipping the pages to discover who's really on Zane's side. And, of course, there's the focus on Maya (and now Aztec) gods---I love the idea that kids will find themselves immersed in a mythology they might not have otherwise heard of.
The book sets us up beautifully for book three, which will set Zane against a new enemy. Now the wait begins...
In this fun follow-up to The Storm Runner, Zane finds himself in a whole new predicament---not only does he have to save his father, he's also got to save a whole host of godborns who he endangered in the first place! When Zane wrote the original book, he sent it out into the world as a call to the other godborns (only a godborn should have been able to read it---which I thought was a clever way to get the reader engaged with the story---as if they must, in fact, be godborn too if they were reading the book). Only it turns out that his battle cry backfired and revealed all the godborns to the gods, thus putting them in danger. Oops!
This book explores shifting relationships: from friends who might be more, to absentee parents who have the chance to become involved in their kids' lives, to new friendships, to enemies who could possibly become allies (or, you know, not). There's plenty of adventure as Zane's quest keeps morphing into something more and more complicated. And Zane experiences some forced personal growth as he deals with the guilt of putting a whole lot of people in danger (and has to decide who to focus on saving: the godborns or his dad). Shaky alliances are formed, and Zane's never quite sure who to trust, which keeps the reader flipping the pages to discover who's really on Zane's side. And, of course, there's the focus on Maya (and now Aztec) gods---I love the idea that kids will find themselves immersed in a mythology they might not have otherwise heard of.
The book sets us up beautifully for book three, which will set Zane against a new enemy. Now the wait begins...