Review by thend157 -- We are Voulhire: The Fires of Virko
Posted: 17 Sep 2020, 21:50
[Following is a volunteer review of "We are Voulhire: The Fires of Virko" by Matthew Tysz.]
We are Voulhire: The Fires of Virko by Matthew Tysz is the second book in the We are Voulhire series. This book continues the adventures of Galen in the land of Voulhire. Galen is working at his uncle’s forge in Magnum Caelum, when the mayor comes and tells him that he needs to go to the town of Virko in order to secure more iron for Magnum Caelum . Galen good-naturedly agrees to do this and leaves with Rowan and Demetrius. In Virko they go the home of a friend of Demetrius, Lord Kayden. He advises them to visit his friend, Lord Venden, who founded the town twenty-five years ago. Galen, Demetrius, and Rowan go to visit him. He agrees to get them all the iron they need. However, he wants them to agree to remove a demon who has been corrupting his son Folcro. They agree to this and go to find the demon. Will they find the demon, and will they unleash his unholy terror on the town, or vanquish him and his pervasive influence on Lord Venden’s Son?
I think that I liked this book more than the first one. There is more of a philosophical inclination than the first novel. I think that I really saw this in the character descriptions of the Eiodi. I also found that the plot was more cohesive. In this novel, there were not two separate storylines running side by side, which I found to be a problem in the first novel. Because of this, I found the plot a little easier to follow. I also finally was able to see how the author built up a theme for this novel around the idea of power and greed. I especially liked how he uses this in a lot of his descriptions of characters, such as that of Sod, the pig-faced demon, and his descriptions of the residents of the town of Virko.
I was disappointed, though, to still find the modern dialogue a little jarring. This was because it really does not seem to suit the setting at all. I also hated all the unnecessary descriptions of violence in the novel. I especially found the torture of Peter Tutoron to be particularly distasteful. I also did not like how similar the invasion of the town of Virko was to the invasion of Hillport, at the end of the first novel of this series. I would think that a very creative author, like Mathew Tysz is, would be able to come up with something that was different from another invasion of a city.
Based on the strength of the originality of its plot and the author's use of characterization to bring out its themes, I would give this book three out of four stars. I feel that I do have to knock off one star. This is because some of the dialogue definitely takes away from the setting. I also feel it deserves a lower rating because of the lack of originality in regard to the repetition of the invasion idea.
I found very few gramatical errors in this book, so I beleive it was professionally edited. Because of the excessive violence and language, I would not recommend this book to minors. I would, however, recommend this book to readers of fantasy fiction that are looking for a good, fast-paced, adventure novel to read.
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We are Voulhire: The Fires of Virko
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
We are Voulhire: The Fires of Virko by Matthew Tysz is the second book in the We are Voulhire series. This book continues the adventures of Galen in the land of Voulhire. Galen is working at his uncle’s forge in Magnum Caelum, when the mayor comes and tells him that he needs to go to the town of Virko in order to secure more iron for Magnum Caelum . Galen good-naturedly agrees to do this and leaves with Rowan and Demetrius. In Virko they go the home of a friend of Demetrius, Lord Kayden. He advises them to visit his friend, Lord Venden, who founded the town twenty-five years ago. Galen, Demetrius, and Rowan go to visit him. He agrees to get them all the iron they need. However, he wants them to agree to remove a demon who has been corrupting his son Folcro. They agree to this and go to find the demon. Will they find the demon, and will they unleash his unholy terror on the town, or vanquish him and his pervasive influence on Lord Venden’s Son?
I think that I liked this book more than the first one. There is more of a philosophical inclination than the first novel. I think that I really saw this in the character descriptions of the Eiodi. I also found that the plot was more cohesive. In this novel, there were not two separate storylines running side by side, which I found to be a problem in the first novel. Because of this, I found the plot a little easier to follow. I also finally was able to see how the author built up a theme for this novel around the idea of power and greed. I especially liked how he uses this in a lot of his descriptions of characters, such as that of Sod, the pig-faced demon, and his descriptions of the residents of the town of Virko.
I was disappointed, though, to still find the modern dialogue a little jarring. This was because it really does not seem to suit the setting at all. I also hated all the unnecessary descriptions of violence in the novel. I especially found the torture of Peter Tutoron to be particularly distasteful. I also did not like how similar the invasion of the town of Virko was to the invasion of Hillport, at the end of the first novel of this series. I would think that a very creative author, like Mathew Tysz is, would be able to come up with something that was different from another invasion of a city.
Based on the strength of the originality of its plot and the author's use of characterization to bring out its themes, I would give this book three out of four stars. I feel that I do have to knock off one star. This is because some of the dialogue definitely takes away from the setting. I also feel it deserves a lower rating because of the lack of originality in regard to the repetition of the invasion idea.
I found very few gramatical errors in this book, so I beleive it was professionally edited. Because of the excessive violence and language, I would not recommend this book to minors. I would, however, recommend this book to readers of fantasy fiction that are looking for a good, fast-paced, adventure novel to read.
******
We are Voulhire: The Fires of Virko
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon