Review by jeminah28 -- We are Voulhire: The Fires of Virko

Jeremie Mondejar · Post by **Jeremie Mondejar** » 07 Sep 2020, 21:12

[Following is a volunteer review of "We are Voulhire: The Fires of Virko" by Matthew Tysz.]

4 out of 4 stars

Share This Review

I'm a little surprised in the second book of Matthew Tysz, We are Voulhire: The Fires of Virko in the We Are Voulhire Series. The story didn't start at the end of the last book We Are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies. Surprisingly, the author will tour his readers to the Virken plains of the Voulhirian Kingdom.

Galen started to adapt the way of life in Magnum Caelum, which was situated in the Voulhirian Kingdom. He was also learning the forge business of his late uncle, however, he was running out of iron supply. A monk named Demetrius knew where to find iron, and he was currently employed by Galen as an "embuer." Fast forward in the lands of Virko, Demetrius was thinking that Kayden might help him (his schoolmate) got connected to the ruling Lord of the town. Unfortunately, Lord Venden was dying, and had only one last request for the sake of his son, Hans. Would the monk obey the order of the Lord in exchange for Galen's iron?

In this book, the author didn't forget to add a mystery man, which prompted me to rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. Moreover, the quality of the plot maintained a sense of humor, wasn't predictable, and the flow of the story wasn't in descending mode. As Galen took a tour in the Voulhirian kingdom, the author improved the foundation by adding new sets of characters. Though this novel didn't start with rip-roaring scenarios, Hans's character was a gripping one as well as Demetrius.

I was quite excited in flipping the next twists and turns of the author's artistic compositions of the new characters. The author has been embedding a political plot, too, which has a relevance in our time today like gaining fame in power, showing kindness for attention or political rivalry. Matthew Tysz also didn't hesitate to add some religious themes, especially on how the religious groups took their defense.

When in terms of the writing style, it's well-organized. First, I liked the author's creative headings because there weren't any moments that I was confused by the scenes. Second, the character development didn't have any cliff-hanger. Third, I appreciate the author's word building as well as the jargon language of the book like lord, liege, mage or embuer. Lastly, the book was free from erroneous words, which made the book looked professionally edited.

On the other hand, some of the characters didn't develop to fight for their own lives, which made me a bit disappointed. I'm looking for a fair fight between the evil and the good, but some scenarios don't satisfy my longing. Furthermore, I will recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading this genre, but off limits to minor audiences. There are themes that suitable for mature readers only like demons, torture or manipulating people.

******
We are Voulhire: The Fires of Virko
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

Ellylion · Post by **Ellylion** » 12 Sep 2020, 13:48

In my opinion it's the darkest book in the series. And I absolutely agree with you that the fight between the good and the evil must be fair. There are many "grey zones" and "grey" characters in Tysz's books, I believe, they are never completely black or white, good or bad.

Thanks for a great review!

John Owen · Post by **John Owen** » 29 Apr 2021, 23:15

I loved this book too. I however share a different opinion. The characters were pushed to be the way they were by fate. Take Galen, for example. He goes to look for iron but Virko goes into a disaster. Though I agree to an extent that the characters didn't live to fight for their lives. Nice review!