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A review by owlishbookish
Mortal Fire by Elizabeth Knox
3.0
This review originally appeared on Book Brats on July 17, 2013.
The plot synopsis of Mortal Fire absolutely fascinated me from the very beginning. The idea of a hidden valley filled with magic is an intriguing one. I also felt attracted to the idea of a mysterious young man being entrapped by a magic spell rather than the damsel in distress that so often accompanies plots of that nature. For the most part, all of that was found the pages of Mortal Fire. What I didn’t expect was the setting I encountered. I was also taken by surprise by the often vague and circuitous turns in the protagonist’s thoughts and the plot itself. Mortal Fire certainly made for an interesting read in more ways than one.
Canny Mochrie was such an enigma to me. On one side, you have an amazingly talented girl with more potential than even she knows. Both a math whiz and a girl with an unexpected knack for an almost forgotten magic, Canny at first gives off the appearance of a golden child. The other side of Canny, however, is slightly more tarnished. This side of Canny holds feelings of suspicion, distrust, anger, and bitterness. Some of it is understandable considering her situation at home. The rest, however, comes from some place else. It is this mysterious aspect of Canny that leads her down roads she is warned against, into actions that perhaps aren’t wise, and into trusting those of dubious nature. All of this makes her a complex protagonist that keeps the reader guessing and unable to fully understand the person Canny is.
The plot is where Mortal Fire very nearly lost me. Consistency is key and when the book in question doesn’t have a consistent pace, it’s very difficult to keep your attention tuned to the overall story. I very nearly missed the complexity of Canny because of it. At times, the pace was riveting and moved along nicely. At others, I found my attention wandering and seriously contemplated putting it down forever. While I am glad that I eventually finished the book, I won’t be dishonest about the difficulty I encountered doing so. The storyline had some brilliant aspects that easily captured my attention. However, there were also bits and pieces that left me feeling as though I was missing something. Re-reading the passages in question did nothing to enlighten me, so I had to go on with the feelings of confusion unabated. Overall, I think the plot could have done with less filler, as that is what I felt a lot of the wording to be. The story was made needlessly complicated by certain word choices and unnecessary pieces of this narrative puzzle.
Mortal Fire had a great deal of potential from what I discerned of the book as a whole. But for the above mentioned problems, it would have been a fantastic book. There were some beautifully written sentences buried within the mired down chapters, which were nearly missed entirely. However, I will say that I found the characters to be more than intriguing. Said characters coupled with the setting are what made this book able to keep my attention. Mortal Fire has some great qualities, but requires a great deal of patience in order to experience all of its potential.
The plot synopsis of Mortal Fire absolutely fascinated me from the very beginning. The idea of a hidden valley filled with magic is an intriguing one. I also felt attracted to the idea of a mysterious young man being entrapped by a magic spell rather than the damsel in distress that so often accompanies plots of that nature. For the most part, all of that was found the pages of Mortal Fire. What I didn’t expect was the setting I encountered. I was also taken by surprise by the often vague and circuitous turns in the protagonist’s thoughts and the plot itself. Mortal Fire certainly made for an interesting read in more ways than one.
Canny Mochrie was such an enigma to me. On one side, you have an amazingly talented girl with more potential than even she knows. Both a math whiz and a girl with an unexpected knack for an almost forgotten magic, Canny at first gives off the appearance of a golden child. The other side of Canny, however, is slightly more tarnished. This side of Canny holds feelings of suspicion, distrust, anger, and bitterness. Some of it is understandable considering her situation at home. The rest, however, comes from some place else. It is this mysterious aspect of Canny that leads her down roads she is warned against, into actions that perhaps aren’t wise, and into trusting those of dubious nature. All of this makes her a complex protagonist that keeps the reader guessing and unable to fully understand the person Canny is.
The plot is where Mortal Fire very nearly lost me. Consistency is key and when the book in question doesn’t have a consistent pace, it’s very difficult to keep your attention tuned to the overall story. I very nearly missed the complexity of Canny because of it. At times, the pace was riveting and moved along nicely. At others, I found my attention wandering and seriously contemplated putting it down forever. While I am glad that I eventually finished the book, I won’t be dishonest about the difficulty I encountered doing so. The storyline had some brilliant aspects that easily captured my attention. However, there were also bits and pieces that left me feeling as though I was missing something. Re-reading the passages in question did nothing to enlighten me, so I had to go on with the feelings of confusion unabated. Overall, I think the plot could have done with less filler, as that is what I felt a lot of the wording to be. The story was made needlessly complicated by certain word choices and unnecessary pieces of this narrative puzzle.
Mortal Fire had a great deal of potential from what I discerned of the book as a whole. But for the above mentioned problems, it would have been a fantastic book. There were some beautifully written sentences buried within the mired down chapters, which were nearly missed entirely. However, I will say that I found the characters to be more than intriguing. Said characters coupled with the setting are what made this book able to keep my attention. Mortal Fire has some great qualities, but requires a great deal of patience in order to experience all of its potential.