In my running series of reviews of the Flaxfield Quartet, as
they’ve been released, returning readers will know how much I adored both
Dragonborn and Fireborn.
What, you might ask, could I possibly say about the next
book in the series that I haven’t stressed in the first two reviews?
Well, there is one word, that I have already used twice,
that will be the focus of this review.
Series.
With Volume 3 came the confirmation that Toby Forward knew
what he was doing from the start. The entire story, the entire world, in other
words, the entire quartet is so fully realised and interconnected that it is
clear that this was not one of those series where book one is written and then
they tack on a few more just to ride out the success. As I said before, at the
end of Dragonborn, we do not have all the answers, but we want them.
Desperately.
There is no fluff. That’s how I see it now. So many things
that I took as simple scene setting, or folklore, or lessons from wizen wizards
are not background to story: they are story. The subtle brilliance of the
writing hides everything you need to know in plain sight.
I kind of wonder why I’m still writing this review… No. It’s
more that I wonder why you are still reading it? Why haven’t you left your seat
to go and find a copy of whichever book in this series you are up to? If you
haven’t yet started this series, amend that travesty immediately!
Find it on Goodreads
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