The children are soon discovered by their enemies, and a frantic chase sends Kate a hundred years into the past, to a perilous, enchanted New York City. Searching for a way back to her brother and sister, she meets a mysterious boy whose fate is intricately—and dangerously—tied to her own.
Meanwhile, Michael and Emma have set off to find the second of the Books of Beginning. A series of clues leads them into a hidden world where they must brave harsh polar storms, track down an ancient order of warriors, and confront terrible monsters. Will Michael and Emma find the legendary book of fire—and master its powers—before Kate is lost to them forever?
My Review:
This was an amazing novel. This is the second book in the Books Of Beginning series, so if you have not read the first book, The Emerald Atlas, do not read this review as there may be slight spoilers for the first book.
Something I really enjoyed about this novel was that it was focused mostly around Michael. The Emerald Atlas focuses mostly around Emma, the oldest sibling, and her book The Emerald Atlas. In this book we got to see a lot more of Michael's character and his book The Fire Chronicle. From reading The Emerald Atlas and reading about Michael betraying his sisters to the enemy really made me think of him as the weakest of the siblings. It also made me really angry at him but in this novel, my opinions about him changed as I got to learn more about him. Through his perspective I learned just how much he regretted that decision and that he thinks of the hurt he caused his sisters everyday. That really made me feel more sympathy than anger towards him. Michael is very brave in this novel. When the younger two siblings, Emma and Michael, are separated from Kate, it is Michael who is left in charge. He really steps up to the task to the best of his ability and I really grew to admire his character over the course of the novel.
There were so many new characters introduced and old familiar faces re-surfaced. One of the new characters introduced that I loved was Rafe. Rafe was the orphan boy that Kate meets when she gets thrust back into time. He was such a brave, selfless person and would do anything to protect family/ friends. I loved his relationship with Kate and I think they're my OTP from this series now. Their relationship added a little romance to the book and really brought out the femininity behind Kate's character. It really hit me that she has never encountered any romantic situation before as she has always been moving from orphanage to orphanage and was always too busy trying to take care of Michael and Emma. I really loved Rafe...but that ending...oh my gandalf it was so..... !
The plot of this novel was fan-freaking-tastic. I was gripped from start to finish. I loved learning more about the books of beginning, their history and other titles. I loved reading from two different times, both Michael present day and Kate's Victorian time. The constant threat of time running out, the siblings becoming permanently separated and the creepy Irish villain kept me glued to the page. I couldn't put this down and read the novel in 3 days!
John Stephens writing style is amazing. He can write epic fantasy that is aimed at middle grade but can still be enjoyed and loved by teenagers and adults alike! He also creates fantastic characters . Some you can relate to and others you are in awe of how awesome they are, like Princess Wilemena and the Dwarves! He has created such an amazing plot in this series and I am so wanting to read the third and final book in the trilogy. Hopefully I won't have long to wait for the third book!
An amazing book in an amazing series. Guys, I seriously recommend reading these books!
Rating:
Five Star Novel
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