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The Fire
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The Fire

3.01 of 5 stars 3.01  ·  rating details  ·  1,628 ratings  ·  373 reviews
Katherine Neville’s groundbreaking novel, The Eight, dazzled audiences more than twenty years ago and set the literary stage for the epic thriller. A quest for a mystical chess service that once belonged to Charlemagne, it spans two centuries and three continents, and intertwines historic and modern plots, archaeological treasure hunts, esoteric riddles, and puzzles encryp...more
Hardcover, 560 pages
Published October 14th 2008 by Ballantine Books (first published January 1st 2008)
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The Hunger Games by Suzanne CollinsThe Graveyard Book by Neil GaimanWelcome to the Jungle by Jim ButcherRoads to Quoz by William Least Heat-MoonGraceling by Kristin Cashore
Best books of October, 2008
7th out of 43 books — 37 voters
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis CarrollThe Eight by Katherine NevilleChess Story by Stefan ZweigThe Flanders Panel by Arturo Pérez-ReverteThe Defense by Vladimir Nabokov
Chess-themed Fiction
22nd out of 28 books — 25 voters


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Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 2,708)
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Linda
Linda rated it 4 of 5 stars
I really, really wanted to love this book. Really. I liked it okay... but the love just wasn't there. It's a sequel to one of my favorite books ever - The Eight - and I had high hopes, but also reservations about whether the author could capture the magic of The Eight. Unfortunately, she did not. I can't even tell you what it is about The Eight that gives it that extra spark - or that extra bonfire - whatever it is that makes it one of the coolest books ever. But The Eight has it, while Th...more
Nancy
Nancy rated it 2 of 5 stars
I am very disappointed to say that I had to give up on this book about halfway through. (See below to read what I had to say when I began it.) It's not awful, but ... it was way too easy to put it down and pick up other books. Oh, well.

I wrote earlier: [I've been waiting for this sequel to THE EIGHT for ever. Hooray! Okay, sure, I admit that in countless ways THE EIGHT was preposterous and silly. I loved it. Which makes me as frightened to read THE FIRE as I am eager... what if it's...more
Sharon
Sharon rated it 5 of 5 stars
Like millions of readers around the world, I have eagerly awaited a sequel to "The Eight." Twenty years after publication of the original, Neville brings forth a work that is just as entertaining and delightful as its parent work.

With plotlines taken directly from the headlines, "The Fire" focuses on Alexandra Solarin, daughter of Catherine and Aleksandr (two of the main characters in "The Eight"). On the verge of becoming the youngest grandmaster in t...more
Kelly
Kelly rated it 2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for: patient readers of historic adventures and math / chess fans
Shelves: quest
I waited a long time for this book. It's a sequel to The Eight, which was unlike anything else when it came out in the late 1980s. It was based on this idea of a fabulous, ancient chess set endowed with power, which pulls the people around it into The Game. The sequel, like the original, moves back and forth through time, and incorporates math, patterns, chess, urban planning, brainy heroines, romantic men, historic interpretation, and unusual settings. What I liked best about both books is the ...more
Caroline
Uch.

I didn't even finish the book, which is rare for me. This was just so painful and tedious to read, I couldn't stand it. There were parts where it seemed like Neville just took her historical research and put it into the mouths of the characters (and I use that term loosely) verbatim. The whole book felt like an attempt to cash in on the "DaVinci Code" craze for powerful-hidden-conspiracies-uncovered-by-deciphering-clues novels.

I am dreading going back...more
Wisteria
The Fire, by Katherine Neville was such a huge disappointment. I like many others, was mesmerized by The Eight, written twenty years ago. I would often wonder what happened to the author? I yearned, craved another book as an addict seeks his next high. When The Fire was offered as part of the Early Reviewer program, I was naturally delirious. Finally, the long drought from Ms. Neville would be appeased. Sadly, after reading The Fire, I cannot recommend this book with the same enthusiasm or...more
Joyce Lagow
An Early Reviewer book.[return][return]Twenty years ago, Neville published The Eight, which I read around that time. I reread The Eight recently, in order to prepare myself for the sequel, The Fire. I didn t change my opinion of The Eight good but writing that struck me as almost juvenile. The plot itself is hard to describe in terms of genre. Chess forms the matrix of the story. Puzzles (a la The Da Vinci Code, which was published much later, in 2003), murders, quests, history, two time ...more
Jess
Jess rated it 2 of 5 stars
The good thing about reading books after their sequels have been published is the waiting: there isn't any. If you're just starting Harry Potter now, for instance, you won't have to experience the torturous in-between years, waiting and theorizing and criticizing everything just because you're so impatient you can hardly stand to look at the words "Harry Potter".

But I digress.

The Eight came out in the late 1980's, and it was a masterpiece of intrigue and metaph...more
Debbie
Debbie rated it 3 of 5 stars
I have to admit I was a little disappointed in this sequel. I absolutely loved The Eight. I loved Cat, Solarin, Mordecai, Lily and the whole crew. While we do see some of the old crew back this book covers the next generation which I was fine with but I felt like the secrets behind the numbers and puzzles just did not grab me as much. The storyline was a little weak to me. It was easy to predict how the relationship between Alexandra and Vartan would develop. I also couldn’t bring myself...more
JennyGranola
Ok.. I really really really loved reading Katherine Neville's book "The Eight" several years ago. I still think it's a great little book. So I was super excited to hear that she wrote a sequel. It was all down hill from there. I struggled through the opening chapters full of obscure middle eastern names and theories but I hung in there because I thought it would pay off in the end. Every corner that the story turned I thought I would finally get to the good part. But every time the bad...more
Mary Hackworth
Mary Hackworth is currently reading it
I have enjoyed Katherine Neville's other novels, which always involve romantic/dramatic locales, an intelligent and resourceful heroine, intrigue and/or mystic knowledge of arcane matters, danger, and mystery. The Fire is no different and weaves the related stories of contemporary and historical characters (including a sympathetically portrayed Lord Byron) into a complex plot revolving around a mysterious chess set. Such disparate elements as a knowledge of chess, Basque cooking techniques, alch...more
Jim
Jim rated it 4 of 5 stars
Shelves: fiction, thrillers
In this entertaining and well-constructed follow-up (prequel and sequel at the same time) to THE EIGHT of over two decades ago, Neville revisits a few of the characters from the first story while introducing many new ones in a tale--part thriller, part mystery, part many other things--that is once again built around the game of chess. As in the earlier book, the story more or less takes place in two timelines; one is largely Europe of the 1820s and the other is mainly here in the States at the s...more
ICPL Staff Picks
It’s been five years since The Da Vinci Code triggered an avalanche of imitators–thrillers featuring codes and ciphers, arcane knowledge, and ancient conspiracies. To me, the book that most resembled it was Katherine Neville’s The Eight, which was actually written 15 years before the Code. Positing a thousand year old chess set with alchemical powers, and a larger Game with geopolitical implications, the book acquired something of a cult, and, after 20 years, a sequel.

The Fire finds ...more
Elizabeth K.
I have very mixed feelings about this, it's the sequel to The Eight. It's the kind of sequel where you very much have to have read the first book, it wouldn't stand alone very well at all. Now, I almost always like a sequel AT LEAST in the sense that I like to know what happens to everyone after. Sometimes I have heard people, when talking about a favorite book, claim that it's better NOT to know, that a sequel would only ruin things. That, my friends, is the talk of crazy people. So on the one ...more
Michael
Michael rated it 1 of 5 stars
Recommends it for: would not recommend
Recommended to Michael by: given a copy at ThrillerFest
I wanted to enjoy this novel but instead was uninterested in the plot and the characters.
This is the follow up to the well received "The Eight" but in this case the characters were stereotypes. Picture a room full of chess champions that still can have an interesting conversation on anything else but chess. The protagonist was hard to believe. Striving to become the youngest chess grandmaster before reaching age 12, then later while at the Cullinary Institute being recruted by t...more
Denise
Denise rated it 4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for: anyone who enjoyed The Eight
Recommended to Denise by: Vinnie Olivieri, Mom, Dad
Shelves: fiction
If you've read The Eight by Katherine Neville, you'll understand why I was excited this evening when I realized I was going to finish reading this book on April 4th. And after years of hearing praise and recommendations for The Eight, I was very excited to read both it and this the sequel. I was distracted at times by some rather unbelievable cameos, but generally I grew progressively more hooked as I discovered each new plot twist. My only real criticism, and perhaps it was a miscalculation ...more
Intplibrarian
I absolutely LOVED The Eight by Katherine Neville. I wouldn't say it was for everyone; not everyone likes complex plots that have your head spinning at times, but I do. I'm sure people who understand and play chess enjoyed it even more than I did.[return][return]However, I've been reading The Fire, a sequel to The Eight, for over two weeks now. I get drawn into the story in parts and then have no problem putting it down in the next chapter. I find myself picking up other things to read rathe...more
apple
Giving "The Fire" only one star might not be fair, but I just can't help it, having waited like FOREVER (and even sounding like a Twilight Fangirl here) for a sequel of the ingenious "The Eight".

Since the predecessor was SO very very good it robs me of any more creative adjectives, I had such a high expectation of "The Fire".
But it didn't really deliver... What's with the lead character going on and on about...food, and not to mention total lack o...more
Krista Sigler
This is a sequel to Katherine Neville's unique historical thriller, "The Eight." Well back before "The DaVinci Code," Neville imagined a way to bring together historical mystery and modern-day thriller. "The Eight" was sometimes ponderous, but managed by its end to convince you that the author was gutsy and imaginative, two features often missing in lit today.

"The Fire" repeats the qualities that made "The Eight" so fascinating: puzzl...more
Linda
Linda rated it 2 of 5 stars
Shelves: mystery-crime
Twenty years ago, Katherine Neville published her first novel, the acclaimed The Eight>. The raves encouraged me to read that book, and, sad to say, I was underwhelmed. Now Neville has published its sequel, The Fire>, featuring Alexandra Solarin, daughter of her first protagonist. The game of chess figures prominently in both works; perhaps not coincidentally, both books proceed at the pace of a chess match.

In this go-round, Xie (Alexandra's nickname, pronounced "Zee")
...more
Sean
Sean rated it 2 of 5 stars
Shelves: adventure, suspense
I read Katherine Neville's "The Eight" at the urging of a friend when I was a teenager and was bowled over by it, so when the sequel came out I decided I had to re-read the original first and then move on to "The Fire." Unfortunately, "The Eight" didn't stand up to a re-read, and "The Fire" was much, much worse.

"The Fire" fails as a narrative, let alone as a mystery, adventure or thriller. Neville has no notion of transition, and she ...more
Hannah
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Sammy
Sammy rated it 3 of 5 stars
Shelves: c-the-okay
Sadly this book can't hold a candle to The Eight. To me it came across as a slapped together attempt to ride the coat tails of the success of The Da Vinci Code. There was no need for her to do that though. In the sudden rise of these historical mysteries popularity The Eight would have been rediscovered by a new generation all on it's own, there was no need for a shoddy sequel to point readers towards it.

I should preface that my entire judgement and criticism on the book could be ...more
kingshearte
kingshearte rated it 2 of 5 stars
Shelves: 2010, fiction
Given that I very much enjoyed The Eight, even on a re-read, this one was disappointing, for a number of reasons.

First, it was kind of confusing, particularly in terms of who was a player and what role they played and for which side (or if sides even mattered). The role of the White Queen in particular, seemed like it was passed around so much I got whiplash trying to keep track. I'm sure this is deliberate, and meant to mirror Alexandra's own confusion, but it just wasn't well-handl...more
Goncalo
O Fogo é a sequela de O Oito, uma sequela escrita cerca de 20 anos depois. Com tanto tempo para escrever o livro, as minhas expectativas encontravam-se um bocado elevadas.

Tendo adorado o enredo do anterior livro, esperava um enredo igualmente bom, com uma melhoria significativa no desenrolar da acção e definição das personagens, acima de tudo, na própria escrita "desorganizada" da autora, mas nada disto aconteceu. O enredo perdeu a originalidade, os dois momentos históricos...more
Lisa
Lisa rated it 2 of 5 stars
I really wanted to love this book, but at the end of the day, I didn't. It wasn't that it was a BAD book, but I didn't see the point in writing it at all. I thought "The Eight" ended perfectly and I never expected there would be a sequel; I didn't think it needed it. And I was right. "The Fire" tries to recapture the magic of "The Eight" but without the freshness of the original. It felt like my favorite characters from "The Eight" only had cameo appearanc...more
Stephen
Stephen rated it 1 of 5 stars
Shelves: pop-lit
Really, I should have known better. When I read the precursor to this, The Eight, I was struck by how meaningless it was. For all the show and pomp, very little happened. For a story that supposedly concerns a secret of world-shattering proportions, there's an awful lot of posturing by both the good and bad guys--usually at one another--and a few hundred pages later, the "plot" mercifully resolves itself.

For some reason, I decided (a few years after reading The Eight), ...more
Kristen
Kristen rated it 3 of 5 stars
Shelves: borrowed
I'll begin by saying that I loved Katherine Neville's three previous books -- I even read them multiple times. "The Eight" is my favorite of her books and I read it every year or so. "The Fire" is not a terrible book. It started off great and I was hooked. Like the previous novel, the use of present and historic perspectives was captivating... But somehow most of the characters never developed enough for me to love them. There were a few characters in the past that showed gre...more
Julie Adams
A dismal disappointment, especially because I was so enthralled by "The Eight" that I've reread it several times.

It's fairly easy to determine what happened here. Neville had advertised for years that she was working on a sequel to "The Eight," but it never materialized. My guess: the higher-ups at the publisher finally called in their chits.

Nearly every thought here is underdeveloped or, worse - OVERexplained. There is much chasing after clues . ...more
Sara
I couldn't finish this book. In fact, I threw in the towel within the first 50 pages.

To move the ponderous plot along the author makes excruciatingly liberal use of coincidence, relies endlessly on her heroine "figuring out the puzzle" (I mean, who sees evidence of danger, and clues to a mystery left for them, simply because their mother isn't home?), and has her characters behaving in totally weird and random ways (without it being part of their characterization).
...more
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The Fire: A Novel (Paperback)
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Katherine Neville is an American author. Her novels include The Eight, A Calculated Risk, and The Magic Circle. She was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and she previously worked as a photographer, a model, a consultant at the Department of Energy, and a vice president of the local Bank of America.
-Wikipedia

More about Katherine Neville...
The Eight The Magic Circle Calculated Risk Das königliche Spiel O Oito II

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