Katherine Neville

I have a rule that if a book doesn't grab me after 60 pages, I put it down. Its very rare for me to put a book down after that point, as normally I know by then if its for me. To put a book down at page 317 is therefore very odd. But the simple truth was that I had stopped caring altogether. This book promised a lot, and was occasionally very exciting, but its flaws massively overshadow the good bits. So here are my two main problems with it. Spoilers may exist.

Firstly, it relies on too many show more coincidences. I never got to find why the narrator has been chosen to go and search for the magic chess set, but isn't it useful that she just happens to be friends with both a chess champion and a chess -obsessed cryptologist who can fill in all the details for her. That sort of thing.

Secondly, it relies on so many ethnic caricatures that it is utterly tiresome. Jewish people are grasping and over-dramatic, Arabs are either mystical sons of the desert or hook-nosed grand vizier types, the Soviets are all either authoritarian grey clones or secret capitalists running rings around the dull commies. As for the various peoples depicted in the 1790s plot, well, the French and the Corsicans should have cause to be offended too.

In the end it was too much for me and I tossed the book aside, utterly frustrated. show less

I read, and adored, "The Eight" when I read it as a teenager, so I was excited to find that Katherine Neville had written a sequel. Unfortunately, "The Fire" did not live up to the standard of its prequel. I think that the author had had too much time to think about the characters and to fall a little in love with them, so that "The Fire" had a strong patina of "aren't my characters truly fascinating?" to it. That said, the plot was certainly fast-paced and eventful and the historical show more segments seemed very well researched. If you want an entertaining thriller, I would recommend that you pick up either "The Eight" or "A Calculated Risk" and leave this one be. show less

To say this book is simply about chess would be an egregious mistake. This book is about humanity’s love affair with power. It is about survival and finding the strength to care about something bigger than ourselves. Neville accomplishes this with an interesting duality in storytelling. The reader will cycle between viewpoints written by two different women in two very different centuries. We join young Kat in a dangerous game of survival that she is unprepared for, and nearly oblivious show more to, in the 20th century. This is interspersed with accounts from two centuries earlier, centering around young nuns escaping and enduring the French Revolution. The two stories dance around each other for over half the book before colliding into one another and leaving the reader ready for more. show less

The Fire was a major drag to get through. I only slogged on because I got it as an ARC with a request from the publisher to send them my thoughts (although, I suppose my thoughts could have been, "God, this book is boring" and then I wouldn't have had to finish it). My biggest problem with the book is that everyone comes across as melodramatic because the author is pushing for it to be a thriller, but none of the events convey the urgency that a thriller should embody. So the urgent show more reactions that half the characters have are completely unwarranted. Plus, the main character, who is also the narrator through most of the story, has this "huh, that's weird" mentality and petulant child attitude that makes all the major plot points, as well as the reactions of other characters, seem like minor inconveniences; nothing to worry about really. The repeated emphasis on this supposedly "dangerous Game" became annoying quickly, given that nothing remotely dangerous happened past the prologue. There's no one pointing guns or being particularly menacing and nothing terribly mysterious happens (like a body falling out of window or something). Just the continued use of the word "dangerous," which wasn't terribly convincing. I'm sure if I were the main character I would have told everyone to go have their head examined. Although, if I were the main character, I would also have been a bit more concerned about the disappearance of my mother at the beginning of the book and probably would not have shrugged it off and flown home without a clue just because I had to get back to work. Who does that?

And just as the book starts to get interesting, after 300 pages of pure tedium, the author starts to skip through the story. "Oh, we have to fly from Alaska to Russia to bring back a key player in this Game. It's really dangerous. We could be killed by the elements or captured as traitors and spies!" End chapter. And then, "We're back in Seattle! Woo, that was some trip!" That's literally it. An awesome opportunity to throw in some real excitement and...nothing. And that basically sets the tone for the entire end of the book.

My point in this rambling review: This book was horrible. It was dull and unsatisfying, leaving one feeling confused and annoyed (not unlike the main character, I suppose). The only positive thing I can say about this book is it left me with warm fuzzy feelings about the first book (The Eight), which I had slightly less than lukewarm feelings about before; compared to this book, The Eight was a piece of brilliance. show less