What do You think about Child Of Flame (2001)?
Child of Flame, the fourth book of seven in the Crown of Stars series, is an entertaining, albeit long, read. One of my favourite things about these books is the way Kate Elliott weaves together her characters' stories. We learn more about Liath's heritage, while Alain finds himself in a strange new place and Sanglant begins to play the game of intrigue. It's a frustrating book in many ways, as the "baddies" keep gaining power, but that's a definite encouragement to read books 5-7 to see them get their just rewards!
—Sharon
Child of Flame is the fourth in a seven volume series called Crown of Stars. I quit reading the series two thirds of the way through book five. Book four was when I hit the wall. Books one through three I tolerated, but in book four reading this series actually started to cause me physical pain. It's weird because I was so annoyed with the characters for being such callow teenagers. In book four, things get a little bit more real. Liath and Sanglant are separated with no way to contact one another and they discover what the reader knew all along - when you marry someone you don't know, you're marrying a stranger. Doesn't matter if you love each other. The fact that Liath and Sanglant have nothing in common and never really had much in the way of conversations (despite having ample opportunity in book three) really bites them in the ass. Both characters make choices and assumptions about each other that really makes one question how they're going to come together after all this time apart. Concurrently, Alain stumbles from one doomed love affair to another (though, to be fair, this second girl is at least healthy and positive and not batsh*t crazy).Child of Flame is 850 pages long. If it had managed to tell the same story in four or five hundred pages, I would have found it much more tolerable. But spending SO MUCH time with these characters and in this world just put me over my tolerance level for pain.
—Mei-Lu
While I love long and involved fantasy, for Kate Elliott's abilities, this book is MUCH TOO LONG. She's at her strongest with plotting and introducing completely unpredictable and interesting twists to the story. Unfortunately, those things come all at once only for a person to have to plod through the predominantly boring portions of the story.Yeah, I'm a glutton for punishment and must know how some story lines from this book tie up in the next one. But all in all, I wouldn't recommend this series after doing my best to get through this book and finding myself bored most of the time.When her story unfolds it's captivating. Unfortunately, as good as she is in her strengths, she is as bad in her weaknesses. Very disappointed, this series has so much promise. I've loved some of its elements dearly.
—Erin
