Review by mandy-braun -- We are Voulhire: The Fires of V...

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mandy-braun
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Review by mandy-braun -- We are Voulhire: The Fires of V...

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[Following is a volunteer review of "We are Voulhire: The Fires of Virko" by Matthew Tysz.]
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4 out of 4 stars
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The second installment in the We are Voulhire series by Matthew Tysz, The Fires of Virko, still follows the journey of Galen Bray after he arrives in Voulhire. This time, he is not alone because he is accompanied by Rowan, his uncle’s executor, and Demetrius, a monk who is also an imbuer. Together, the three of them become our main protagonists in this story. Galen, who is training to become a blacksmith, has to go to Virko and ask for Lord Venden Hrelek’s help for iron supplies. He travels with his two friends only to find that, underneath the hustle and bustle of the city, there lies something dangerous lurking beneath the darkness.

The second book focuses mostly on the city of Virko and the introduction to its people. We will read the story based on various perspectives, such as Folcro, The Eiodi, and Lord Kayden Morgan, besides from Galen’s viewpoint. The author, however, did not forget to include the previous characters from the first book, and even Lord Meldorath, who scarcely mentioned in the first book, has his own parts in this story.

Compared to the first book, I think the author had successfully written a more exciting sequel for this chronicle. I appreciate how the story developed and, at every turn of the page, it always made me more curious to find out what would happen next to our protagonists. The author also gave a very surprising twist in the last pages of the book, and this convinced me to read the next book and learn the fate of all the characters.

In the first book, I felt the storyline was too slow for my taste. The first book only described vaguely who might be the good ones or the bad ones. Now, for the second book, I think the story explains more clearly which ones are the heroes and the enemies. Also, it is more entertaining. The fantasy parts, such as magic and demons, appear more often than in the first book; and I enjoyed reading them a lot. My most liked part was the dialogue between Rowan and Demetrius that I found amusing to me. Rowan has an easy-going personality and often teases Demetrius for his solemn and no-nonsense attitude. It sometimes will irritate Demetrius when Rowan mocks him, albeit playfully; yet, it only shows how their relationship, along with Galen, has grown closer than the first book as they care for each other.

Although the story was pleasant to read, I still have the most disliked part, which is when the author described Hillport. This city, in the first book, was said to be attacked by a group of enemies, and the result of that attack was the people in Hillport lived poorly with no one to lead them properly. It was the saddest part of the story. This book also mostly consists of male protagonists with almost no female leads. I hope the author will give more female lead roles in the next books so that the story would not only be seen from the male’s perspective.

I still found some errors in the book, but they did not affect the story at all. The book has so many profanities and disturbing parts; thus, I will only recommend this book for readers who love adult fantasy and, at the same time, can handle the number of brutalities in the story. There were no sexual contents and, for the reasons I have mentioned above, I give the book 4 out of 4.

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We are Voulhire: The Fires of Virko
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