Review by Pilapiletla -- We are Voulhire: The Fires of V...
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Review by Pilapiletla -- We are Voulhire: The Fires of V...
[Following is a volunteer review of "We are Voulhire: The Fires of Virko" by Matthew Tysz.]
We Are Voulhire: The Fires of Virko is the second book of Matthew Tysz' We Are Voulhire series. It is a continuation of Galen Bray's adventure towards finding a place in Voulhire. Along with Rowan and Demetrio, Galen has just gotten back from their last journey in the southern countryside of Voulhire. All-day he would forge rocks and practice blacksmithing, not until a mission in Virko was given to him by Magnum Caelum's Mayor for the simple town's development and in response to Hillport's cobblestone request.
Virko, where Galen and his friends are heading, was once a plain field with only one big mansion called Rendenhide. It is now inhabited by the ill Lord Venden Hrelek, the founder and leader of Virko and his son Hans Hrelek, whose mind is motivated with plans different from that of the Lord. While Virko grew rich with businessmen and industry, its skies became filled with smokestacks brought by its factories and mysteriously, an aura from Rendenhide that is dark enough to catch the attention of Galen's monk friend, Demetrius upon their arrival. Now one mission has led to the addition of another.
Just like the first book, narrations were done in different perspectives for the readers to catch a glimpse of what's happening outside Galen's vision. Still, there is so much that I like about this book! First, I love the tandem of the trio: Galen, Rowan, and Demetrio. Whenever the page turns to Galen's perspective, I always get excited because their part never gets boring. I love the mixture of personalities between them. Galen being the naive and kind one, Rowan being the playboy, and Demetrio being the mysterious and smart one. There were a lot of funny scenes between the trio in the second book than in the first book. Also, the author's depiction of characters and the location of the scenes were on point. I can see the effort and skill the author had to go through and possess to describe every scene with the best words possible. I commend him for that.
Second, I was so glad to find out that Tysz included the scene I felt I was deprived of at the beginning of the book series. He finally filled the absence of magic in Yamon Soul, and unexpectedly, in Virko where magic was thought to be seen the least. With its presence, I got to see the magic abilities of some notable characters such as the Eiodi, Demetrio, and Meldorath. Even more satisfying that Tysz described every cast of magic in a detailed way, leaving no trace of confusion when your imagination starts to move as he backed the scenes with the logic of science. Although I saw one punctuation error and one grammatical error in the book, it didn't leave my imagination hanging and bothered. I can say the book was professionally edited.
Therefore, I am glad to rate this book a 4 out of 4 stars. I would recommend this book to fantasy readers looking for magic with logic, however, you will have to read the first book of the series to understand everything. There were no erotic scenes, but I found more than three cases of profanity and most of them were non-borderline, so I wouldn't recommend this book to children readers. Lastly, I feel like people with sensitive religious beliefs and atheists should be warned that there are certain dialogues from high priests and monks driven from religious beliefs in God. All in all, it was a good read.
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We are Voulhire: The Fires of Virko
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
We Are Voulhire: The Fires of Virko is the second book of Matthew Tysz' We Are Voulhire series. It is a continuation of Galen Bray's adventure towards finding a place in Voulhire. Along with Rowan and Demetrio, Galen has just gotten back from their last journey in the southern countryside of Voulhire. All-day he would forge rocks and practice blacksmithing, not until a mission in Virko was given to him by Magnum Caelum's Mayor for the simple town's development and in response to Hillport's cobblestone request.
Virko, where Galen and his friends are heading, was once a plain field with only one big mansion called Rendenhide. It is now inhabited by the ill Lord Venden Hrelek, the founder and leader of Virko and his son Hans Hrelek, whose mind is motivated with plans different from that of the Lord. While Virko grew rich with businessmen and industry, its skies became filled with smokestacks brought by its factories and mysteriously, an aura from Rendenhide that is dark enough to catch the attention of Galen's monk friend, Demetrius upon their arrival. Now one mission has led to the addition of another.
Just like the first book, narrations were done in different perspectives for the readers to catch a glimpse of what's happening outside Galen's vision. Still, there is so much that I like about this book! First, I love the tandem of the trio: Galen, Rowan, and Demetrio. Whenever the page turns to Galen's perspective, I always get excited because their part never gets boring. I love the mixture of personalities between them. Galen being the naive and kind one, Rowan being the playboy, and Demetrio being the mysterious and smart one. There were a lot of funny scenes between the trio in the second book than in the first book. Also, the author's depiction of characters and the location of the scenes were on point. I can see the effort and skill the author had to go through and possess to describe every scene with the best words possible. I commend him for that.
Second, I was so glad to find out that Tysz included the scene I felt I was deprived of at the beginning of the book series. He finally filled the absence of magic in Yamon Soul, and unexpectedly, in Virko where magic was thought to be seen the least. With its presence, I got to see the magic abilities of some notable characters such as the Eiodi, Demetrio, and Meldorath. Even more satisfying that Tysz described every cast of magic in a detailed way, leaving no trace of confusion when your imagination starts to move as he backed the scenes with the logic of science. Although I saw one punctuation error and one grammatical error in the book, it didn't leave my imagination hanging and bothered. I can say the book was professionally edited.
Therefore, I am glad to rate this book a 4 out of 4 stars. I would recommend this book to fantasy readers looking for magic with logic, however, you will have to read the first book of the series to understand everything. There were no erotic scenes, but I found more than three cases of profanity and most of them were non-borderline, so I wouldn't recommend this book to children readers. Lastly, I feel like people with sensitive religious beliefs and atheists should be warned that there are certain dialogues from high priests and monks driven from religious beliefs in God. All in all, it was a good read.
******
We are Voulhire: The Fires of Virko
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Mindset is a skill. It can be taught and learned.
