Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I usually give books sent for me to review a lot more of a chance than books I pick up on my own, having some sense of obligation. And that was the case with Fireblood by Jeff Wheeler. According to my trusty Kindle, I read sixty-seven percent, giving it more than a week of picking it up and putting it down. Generally, if I can't finish a book in two or three days, I know I'm having problems with it. So over a week and barely past halfway through, I decided to let this one go. The story is set in a world visited regularly by devastating plagues. The first chapter, more of a prologue, shows us the tail end of an unsuccessful expedition into the Scourgelands in an attempt to end the plagues. The leader of the expedition, Tyrus, appears to be the sole survivor. Years later, Tyrus is involved once again in an attempt to stop the plagues, this time involving his nephew Anon, a Druidecht (yes, think "druid"); his niece Hettie, a Romani "Finder" with her own issues; and Paedrin, a warrior monk. Tyrus is clearly manipulating the three and withholding information, and it turns out he's not the only one with hidden agendas and dark secrets. The story is further complicated by the opposition of the Arch-Rike, one of the most powerful rulers in this land, "Dark Druidecht," and other plot points. Without belaboring the point, my biggest problem was that nothing grabbed me. Fireblood opened up with a big of a bang, with that first expedition, a deadly attack, the unleashing of wild magic, and a personal sacrifice. But then the pace slowed greatly, with the story sort of meandering around from place to place, meeting to meeting, sometimes crisis to crisis. None of it, or at least too little of it, had any sense of urgency or vividness and the plot complications seemed both overly convoluted and overly crafted, smacking too much of an author behind the curtain. Besides the pallid, episodic nature of the plot, the characters also left a lot to be desired, feeling too much like they were playing their assigned novelistic roles (warrior monk, nature loving magic-user, arch-manipulator, etc.) rather than feeling like wholly formed people who existed prior to these events and will continue to exist beyond the book's plot. There were other issues as well: writing that was adequate at best and never captivating or startling, a few seeming contradictions in character, the old chestnut of people not having the conversations normal people would, a setting so vague and small in its presentation that I felt they were traipsing a neighborhood rather than an entire land, and some awkward dialogue. Fireblood isn't a horrible book. But it never rose above mediocre for me in its craft elements and that, combined with what I found to be a dull mixture of plot and character, meant each step further in made it more and more difficult to justify taking the next one. Not recommended.