Child of Flame (Crown of Stars, Book 4) [Paperback]

The good things I like about this series is that the characters are well drawn out, you know exactly what the character feel, there dilema's and more. Another thing is the Dreams and Visions of past, present and future, which gives you little information each time, I just like visions in books. The only downside to this book that I can think of is the story can slow down quite abit in parts, and abit too much detail in the books. The ending really speeds up, and so much happens at the end, you just sit down after reading it just thinking.

At the end of the book you'll won't be able to wait for the final book in the series (Hurruy up Elliot). Highly recommend the series to all.

Here's whats written at the back of the book: 'Lost and alone in an unknown country, Alain struggles to survive as he is unwittingly drawn into an ancient conflict between humankind and their old enemy, the Cursed Ones.

Separated from her husband and child, Liath must undergo her greatest test in a land of exile. Only here can she hope to discover the truth of her parentage and learn the extent of her remarkable powers.

Mourning the loss of his wife, the bastard prince Sanglant seeks his father, King Henry, to warm him about the conspiracy of powerful sorcerers who wish to destroy the Aoi, the Lost Ones, once and for all - no matter how much destruction their magic will unleash.

But King Henry's gaze is fixed on the throne of Aosta and the imperial crown left vacant for two generations. As a Quman army, sweeping in from the eastern steppes, ravages the Wendish countryside, Henry marches south, ignoring the pleas of his beleaguered subjects.

The great cataclysm, foretold in the stars, is approaching. '

But as I read a little further, I found my memory of her characters, Sanglant, Liath, Hanna, Anne, Hugh, Stronghand, Alain and several others, coming back to me, which says quite a bit about these character's vividness and uniqueness. It is in fact just such strong characterization that is Elliot's strong suit in this saga, which she continues to display with the new character of Adica, vibrant and personable, in this volume, along with continued development of all her former people.

What is not so good is the seemingly interminable plot line of the war for succession of the Wendar realm, with King Henry out to solidify his claim to the title of Emperor, Sanglant off fighting the latest invaders of the realm, and Hugh and Anne busily scheming to prevent any possible reconciliation with the Aoi. Liath is off on her own personal journey of self-discovery, with very little interaction with the other plot threads, though there are some revelations about her history near the end that promise some fireworks in later books of this set. It seems to take forever for Elliott to present the origins of the war between the Aoi and humans and how the current situation developed, although these points once presented finally start to give her world a logical, consistent framework. At the same time, some of the mystery and magic of these works is lost with this explanation. The story arc with Adica and Alain is the best thread in this work, fresh, original, and with its details of daily living and technological level well thought out, but once again I felt this story was stretched out too long, with too many incidents that have little relevance to main story.

Also missing is the cross-cultural viewpoints on religion and the reasons for living that added so much depth to the earlier works, these items seeming to now be taken for granted and with nothing new added by this volume.

At over 900 pages, and with so little real action, this book was in obvious need of some severe pruning. As it is, it is an overlong bridge book in which the fire and excitement of the first three has died down to embers, which hopefully can be re-ignited in the next book.

--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)