Sword of Fire and Sea (The Chaos Knight, #1)

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Sword of Fire and Sea (The Chaos Knight #1)

by Erin Hoffman (Goodreads Author)

3.57 · rating details · 79 ratings · 28 reviews

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Three generations ago Captain Vidarian Rulorat's great-grandfather gave up an imperial commission to commit social catastrophe by marrying a fire priestess. For love, he unwittingly doomed his family to generations of a rare genetic disease that follows families who cross elemental boundaries. Now Vidarian, the last surviving member of the Rulorat family, struggles to uphold his family legacy, and finds himself chained to a task as a result of the bride price his great-grandfather paid: the Breakwater Agreement, a seventy-year-old alliance between his family and the High Temple of Kara'zul, domain of the fire priestesses.

The priestess Endera has called upon Vidarian to fulfill his family's obligation by transporting a young fire priestess named Ariadel to a water temple far to the south, through dangerous pirate-controlled territory. A journey perilous in the best of conditions is made more so by their pursuers: rogue telepathic magic-users called the Vkortha who will stop at nothing to recover Ariadel, who has witnessed their forbidden rites.

Together, Vidarian and Ariadel will navigate more than treacherous waters: Imperial intrigue, a world that has been slowly losing its magic for generations, secrets that the priestesshoods have kept for longer, the indifference of their elemental goddesses, gryphons—once thought mythical—now returning to the world, and their own labyrinthine family legacies. Vidarian finds himself at the intersection not only of the world's most volatile elements, but of colliding universes, and the ancient and alien powers that lurk between them.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING:

"Sword of Fire and Sea is fantasy adventure in the classic tradition, and Erin Hoffman is a fine storyteller. Read it and be swept away." —Allen Steele, Hugo Award winning author of the Coyote series

"...If you like hard-hitting fantasy adventure with a lot of magic, this is your series." —Piers Anthony, bestselling author of the Xanth series

"...a thoroughly enjoyable read, with an intriguing new world and civilization." —Violette Malan, author of the Dhulyn and Parno books

(less)

Paperback, 277 pages

Published June 4th 2011 by Pyr

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Oct 13, 2011

Rae rated it

Shelves: adventure, swords-and-sorcery

The summary here seems to be for the series as a whole as very little of what they tell you on the back here has much to do with three quarters of the book. Also, there is no imperial intrigue, everyone seems to know gryphons exist and the gryphons never left the world setting. But as the author probably doesn't have much control over what they put there, let's not hold that against them shall we? Just make a note of it.

While there are some interesting premises in this book, the story ...moreThe summary here seems to be for the series as a whole as very little of what they tell you on the back here has much to do with three quarters of the book. Also, there is no imperial intrigue, everyone seems to know gryphons exist and the gryphons never left the world setting. But as the author probably doesn't have much control over what they put there, let's not hold that against them shall we? Just make a note of it.

While there are some interesting premises in this book, the story suffers from some serious problems. The least of which is the world setting. There is little to no description of it. You never get a feel for the magic system, or what kinds of creatures exist in this fantasy realm. For most of the book the only supernatural creatures you run into are the gryphons and some strange smelly beasts that people ride and are never described. Then at the end of the book, surprise! The imperial army has flying horses. Why were only hearing about these now?! And why is the imperial army there anyway? They were barely mentioned until then they have nothing to do with what's been happening in the book.

The author is clearly so familiar with the world setting that she forgot to establish it for the rest of us. Even now I'm not sure what the baskets that the main characters rode about in the entire book look like, or how they're carried. They're apparently boat-like, but whether they're carried on the gryphon's back, or carried below the gryphon like a hand basket is still a mystery to me. They might be suspended between the gryphons... I'm guessing this because of a throwaway comment at the end of the book.

I'm rather disappointed that the editors didn't catch this.

Another of the major problems this book has is the characters. They have no depth.Most of them have no motive other than "the plot demands it." One character who was previously on their side turns out to be plotting against them but there's no rhyme or reason to them switching sides. In the beginning of the story, Vidarian tells the priestess to bind the emeralds to his life force, but there's no reason for him to do this, no inner thoughts to tell us why he would think this is a good idea. I actually went back and reread that paragraph to see if I had missed something. Unfortunately I hadn't. The romance in the story is flat because of the lack of character development. The characters just rush from one place to another with little inner growth. Although some of them gain new abilities, they remain static in all other respects.

At best, this book is inconsistent. Important plot elements, like the genetic problem mentioned on the back of the book aren't mentioned until one of the characters begins to suffer from said disorder. It was as if the author suddenly realized that she needed a reason for one of the other characters to decide on the earth shattering choice and could find no other way to make them do it other than to put one of the other members of the party in danger. If the genetic disorder had been mentioned earlier it could have been used to create suspense and worry for the characters, but instead it just popped out of the blue. This isn't the only incident where this sort of problem occurs. Because of the thin world building and lack of time establishing the characters, the story just runs about with things popping up out of nowhere to force the characters to go somewhere, meet someone, or to do something. In this sense the characters are all very passive. They wander aimlessly until forced to do things by outside elements. The only character who actually makes a decision is Vidarian, and that occurs maybe three times in 273 pages.

According to the author's notes, this book was based off a shared online text RP story, and I have to say it shows. The constant dashing about from one interesting thing to the next interesting thing is very characteristic of online RPs as well as new plot elements popping up out of nowhere. While this works well online in a shared universe and makes for an interesting game, it doesn't translate to prose very well. In prose, you have to ground your reader in the universe. You have to establish the rules of that universe and if you break them you have to justify it. You can't suddenly have something pop up that all the characters knew about beforehand and worried about but not tell the reader until after it happened. It's just poor storytelling.

That said, the world setting has the opportunity to be unique. The magic system form what little was shown was different and has the potential to be really interesting. If the characters develop more as the series progresses, it'll be interesting to see just how they react to the changes and situations they find them in. But this book isn't at that point yet. I have a feeling that this series may get better, but I think I'll wait and see if it gets better before buying the next book in this series.(less)

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Sep 25, 2011

Maria rated it

Fire Priestesses, Chaos Goddesses, shape-shifters, Gryphons, a Starhunter and even pirates… yes… pirates. All of these characters, and more, come together within Hoffman’s debut novel to help create a world unlike any other.

The novel starts off with Captain Vidarian Rulorat being asked to escort a Fire Priestess Ariadel to safety… sounds like a great start, and it was. Unfortunately, the novel then bounces around from one mystical location to another, introducing new and unusual charac...more

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Aug 24, 2011

Shaun Duke rated it

Erin Hoffman's debut novel is a traditional high fantasy romp formed from the ashes of a collaborative project. It's origins are a bit unusual in a field of secondary world fantasies created by individuals with Tolkien on the mind, and the effort to move beyond the collaboration shows in the development of the world's magic system, mechanics and all. As a novel, Sword of Fire and Sea leaves something to be desired, but as a fantasy adventure, it hits all the right marks.

Vidarian, a r...moreErin Hoffman's debut novel is a traditional high fantasy romp formed from the ashes of a collaborative project. It's origins are a bit unusual in a field of secondary world fantasies created by individuals with Tolkien on the mind, and the effort to move beyond the collaboration shows in the development of the world's magic system, mechanics and all. As a novel, Sword of Fire and Sea leaves something to be desired, but as a fantasy adventure, it hits all the right marks.

Vidarian, a reputable ship captain, gets caught up in a complex web of magic-wielding priestesses when he reluctantly agrees to ferry fire priestess Ariadel to a safe haven. There, the priestesses hope, the Vkortha, their mortal enemies, will not be able to find Ariadel, whose abilities might threaten Vkorthan power. But the journey takes Vidarian and his crew through dangerous waters, where pirates and sorceresses await. Yet more shockingly, the journey reveals a destiny that Vidarian never knew he had, one which puts the fate of the world in his hands: in the end, he will
have to choose between one future and another, digging through centuries of myth and legends to find the right "choice."

One the interesting things about Hoffman's novel is its bipolar adherence to the traditional forms of fantasy. While at the heart of the narrative can be found a cliche "chosen one" story in the form of Vidarian, the narrative also takes away the security of knowing what is the "right choice" for the mythical figure. Vidarian not only must choose which future is the right one for his world, but he must also do so without knowing for sure which choice is the right one, all while fending off Imperial soldiers who want to prevent him from making any choice whatsoever and others who want him to choose one path or another. The novel never betrays its answers in this regard, which might help boost it above other high fantasy novels floating out there.

But beyond that, Sword of Fire and Sea is essentially an adventure fantasy akin to the adventure novels of the romantic period. There isn't anything wrong with this, but it is important to recognize. A great deal of the novel is occupied with action: ships in combat, the heroes fighting back enemies of various shapes and sizes, heavy uses of magic, searching for enormous mystical creatures and combating unknowns. Thankfully, the novel avoids the pitfalls of D&D dungeon crawlers. While the characters do have to "collect things" in order to succeed in their mission, Hoffman avoids making such collecting about fighting back nameless, faceless monsters in "secret places" (a.k.a. a dungeon or magical forest). The people involved in stopping Vidarian and Ariadel are the very people one wouldn't expect to turn their backs, which adds some depth to a novel which doesn't show itself as particularly "deep" (as most adventure novels don't, even when "depth" does exist).

In many respects, Hoffman's balance between adventure, manipulated cliche, and character make for a compelling novel that is a lot of fun to read. Personally, I am not an adventure fantasy fan, and I have a very short leash for the trappings of the fantasy genre. But Sword of Fire and Sea navigated those trappings in a way that allowed me to get lost in the excitement. If not for all of the characters being adults, you might expect this story to show up on your young adult shelves, enticing teenagers (and the adults like me who sometimes pretend to be teenagers) with its magic and wonder. There's something to be said about the way we read YA fantasy, as opposed to fantasy marketed for an adult audience (in which teenagers undoubtedly implant themselves, because they like Tolkien and GRRM too). But that's something to think about later.

The adventurous nature of Sword of Fire and Sea, however, is also where a some of Hoffman's flaws can be found. While enjoyable, the novel often moves too swiftly, jumping through significant moments of conflict to get the characters to the next "level." The result is a lack of tension for many important aspects of the novel. Yes, Vidarian often must fight against unusual things, sometimes at overwhelming odds, but his success in these ventures sometimes feels too easy; he rarely sheds blood, or Hoffman allows her characters to escape. One examples involves the fire priestesses, in which Vidarian and his companions learn and ugly truth and are trapped by the Vkortha. Without much in the way of physical conflict, they manage to escape, taking flight in a gryphon-pulled basket that conveniently lay in wait. There are other instances like this; each of them detracts from the worry we should have as readers that something might actually happen to Vidarian or his friends. Of course, things do happen to them, but I would have liked some of the physical conflicts to take part in those "happenings." Largely speaking, the physical conflicts in Sword of Fire and Sea serve to maintain the adventure narrative.

One other aspect of the novel which is given weak treatment is the growing romance between Vidarian and Ariadel. Their relationship develops far too swiftly, the result of which is a strain on our ability to suspend disbelief. Hoffman skips a lot of time early in the novel in order to avoid pages and pages of people walking on the deck of a ship, but more scenes between Vidarian and Ariadel might have helped show how they went from mere acquaintances to close friends to lovers. Without such scenes, the romance comes out of nowhere and Vidarian's motives for much of the last half of the book lack the power needed to justify his actions.

Despite this, however, the book is a load of fun, and it does leave a lot of interesting questions to be answered in future volumes. Unlike some traditional fantasy narratives, Vidarian's stint as a "chosen one" ends in the first book, hinting that what will occupy the next two in the series (yes, another trilogy) are the conflicts arising from his choices as a chosen one. I have a feeling that Hoffman is going to take us into very different territory from this point forward. I, for one, am looking forward to it.(less)

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Jul 29, 2011

Kerri rated it

I picked up this book on whim during one of my adventures to the book store. I was immediately lured in by the artwork on the cover, the title, and the book summary. I was so eager to start reading it that I did so amidst my friends. I really wanted to love it. There were so many interesting ideas put forward! With so much fantasy at work, how could it fail to appeal to my tastes?

Well, sometimes a lot can be too much, as I quite rapidly discovered. Nothing is developed. You have so man...more

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Jun 04, 2011

Stacey O'Neale rated it

This review was completed by Michael Cummings, staff reviewer with the YA Fantasy Guide

As readers of epic fantasy, we are spoiled. We've come to expect that anything labeled epic must be epic in all regards. It must require epic feats of strength to carry it; it must be epic in length and effort to read it; it must have an epic length cast. Reading Erin Hoffman's debut novel, "Sword of Fire and Sea," will be a shock to the system for most epic fantasy readers who haven't ex...moreThis review was completed by Michael Cummings, staff reviewer with the YA Fantasy Guide

As readers of epic fantasy, we are spoiled. We've come to expect that anything labeled epic must be epic in all regards. It must require epic feats of strength to carry it; it must be epic in length and effort to read it; it must have an epic length cast. Reading Erin Hoffman's debut novel, "Sword of Fire and Sea," will be a shock to the system for most epic fantasy readers who haven't experienced fantasy from the recent batch of new to the scene fantasy authors. Hoffman employs an economy of words that is near terse - there are no wasted descriptions, no wasted scenes.

As the blurb from Pyr goes, three generations ago Captain Vidarian Rulorat's great-grandfather gave up an imperial commission to marry a fire priestess. For love, he unwittingly obligated his descendants toan allegiance with the High Temple of Kara'zul, domain of the firepriestesses. Now Vidarian, the last surviving member of the Rulorat family, struggles to uphold his family's legacy. All of this, of course, is background, and this is about as much as is revealed in the novel itself. You can easily disregard the rest of the back flap's description of the book, because the book quickly changes course more than once as you weave through the story. Hoffman does a great job of keeping you turning those pages, though, so that it isn't until the novel is done and you glance at the back of the cover that you remember to ask yourself, whatever happened with that plot point?

For a time of the year when the northern hemisphere fantasy readers are looking for "beach books," preferably something shorter than the tomes the likes of Rothfuss and Sanderson are putting out (which aregreat, but ruin your tan by blocking out the sun as you struggle to hold a thousand page monstrosity up and turn the page), Hoffman's debut will be a fun delight.

My only complaint about the novel, and I'm phrasing this so it isn't a spoiler, is - really? "Correctamundo?" "See you later, alligator?" You've got a lot of explaining to do, Ms. Hoffman :)(less)

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Apr 03, 2011

Liviu rated it

Shelves: 2011_release_read, review_fbc, genre-fantasy, read_2011, t_recommended_2011

This is another fun page turner from Pyr that came unexpectedly two days ago and took over my reading; high magic adventure this time, but the same relentless action, exuberance and occasional over the top scenes that work well here.

Sword of Fire and Sea is also a book that flows well despite that it changes its balance and focus at least twice - so for example the blurb while accurate as it goes is a bit misleading - , the transitions are done so well you really do not notice until ...more

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Jul 15, 2011

Stefan rated it

Shelves: fantasy, did-not-finish, www-fantasyliterature-com-review

At the start of Erin Hoffman’s debut novel Sword of Fire and Sea, Captain Vidarian is tasked by the priestess Endera to transport Ariadel, a young fire priestess, to the safety of a water temple. The journey will be dangerous, because Ariadel is pursued by the telepathic Vkortha, so Vidarian is understandably reluctant to take on the assignment, but when Endera invokes an old pact between his family and the Temple of Kara’zul, he has no choice but to comply....

For many reasons, I rarel...moreAt the start of Erin Hoffman’s debut novel Sword of Fire and Sea, Captain Vidarian is tasked by the priestess Endera to transport Ariadel, a young fire priestess, to the safety of a water temple. The journey will be dangerous, because Ariadel is pursued by the telepathic Vkortha, so Vidarian is understandably reluctant to take on the assignment, but when Endera invokes an old pact between his family and the Temple of Kara’zul, he has no choice but to comply....

For many reasons, I rarely give up on fantasy debuts, especially ones by authors from my hometown San Diego, but Sword of Fire and Sea by Erin Hoffman just didn’t have what it takes to keep me reading past the midway point — and even making it that far was a struggle.

If anything, Sword of Fire and Sea feels like a choppy novelization of what could be a great role-playing game. There is a plot, set in a well-realized world and involving an intricate magic system, but everything is introduced so haphazardly that it’s hard to figure out the true import of the early events until things settle down later on. There’s also very little character development early on, so characters like Vidarian, Ariadel and Endera don’t acquire any depth and remain templates.

As a result, the hectic, sometimes over-dramatic events of the first section of the novel (sea battles! gryphons! magic! romance!) just don’t have much impact on the reader. You can’t care much for the characters because they’re barely more than stick figures, and the world’s history and structure aren’t sufficiently explained yet to make everything feel real. All the high drama just doesn’t work without a context to place it in. This context will supposedly come later in the novel, but after slogging through over 100 pages of scenes full of characters I didn’t care for in an exotic but insubstantial world, I decided to call it a day. The start of the novel’s second section suggests that there’s some depth and history to the fantasy universe Erin Hoffman has created, and I’m sure the characters will eventually make it out of the cardboard realm too, but Sword of Fire and Sea simply takes too long to grab the reader’s interest.

It also doesn’t help that the prose frequently takes on a vivid purple hue:

Where Endera had been a polished, silvery flame with alabaster skin and golden hair and eyes, this Priestess Windhammer was a dusky ember, dark gold her complexion and raven black the long braid whose tail brushed past her hips.

Erin Hoffman is a video game designer as well as an author, and it’s hard not to feel that this world and story would maybe have worked better as the template for an elaborate RPG. There are heroes and villains, lots of action, an interesting magic system and an intriguing fantasy universe. All this material obviously took a lot of thought and imagination, and it would be fun to explore it in an interactive format... but as a novel it unfortunately doesn’t work. I genuinely wanted to like this novel, so I kept going back to it to give it another try, but in the end Sword of Fire and Sea is one of the very few books I just couldn’t find the motivation to finish. (less)

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Nov 03, 2011

Justin rated it

Shelves: 2011-release, 2011-debut, read-2011, fantasy, pyr

http://staffersmusings.blogspot.com/2011...

I have a sneaking suspicion that Sword of Fire and Sea is going to be one of the more polarizing novels of 2011 as a perfect example of form over substance. Erin Hoffman's debut from Pyr has a beautiful voice, and a fully realized, textured world. It has gryphons, pegasus, and elemental magic all of which evoke whimsy and a general sense of romance. Ultimately though, the primary motive force of any novel is its story and there Hoffman fal...more

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Jul 24, 2011

Greg rated it

Erin Hoffman enters the epic fantasy
With a strong slim volume during a summer with much anticipated doorstop volumes that may eclipse this well worthy new author. Her world is one that will feel familiar, her story moves fast and characters decisions have effects that are felt now rather then later. The art on the cover implies a but of a Japanese RPG feeling and it does not go much wrong; there is a depth to the world and it's history that will make you hunger for the next volume to see wh...more

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Aug 14, 2011

Jason rated it

Erin Hoffman has written some influential essays about the game industry, and has always seemed like the voice of reason in IGDA forum posts, but fiction just doesn't seem like her thing.

The recurring theme for me while reading Sword of Fire and Sea was confusion. I was constantly confused about who characters were, how they fit into the story, what their motivations were, and why I was supposed to care about them.

There was virtually no development of characters, which m...more

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Jun 06, 2011

Michael Cummings rated it

As readers of epic fantasy, we are spoiled. We've come to expect that anything labeled epic must be epic in all regards. It must require epic feats of strength to carry it; it must be epic in length and effort to read it; it must have an epic length cast. Reading Erin Hoffman's debut novel, "Sword of Fire and Sea," will be a shock to the system for most epic fantasy readers who haven't experienced fantasy from the recent batch of new to the scene fantasy authors. Hoffman employs an e...more As readers of epic fantasy, we are spoiled. We've come to expect that anything labeled epic must be epic in all regards. It must require epic feats of strength to carry it; it must be epic in length and effort to read it; it must have an epic length cast. Reading Erin Hoffman's debut novel, "Sword of Fire and Sea," will be a shock to the system for most epic fantasy readers who haven't experienced fantasy from the recent batch of new to the scene fantasy authors. Hoffman employs an economy of words that is near terse - there are no wasted descriptions, no wasted scenes.

As the blurb from Pyr goes, three generations ago Captain Vidarian Rulorat's great-grandfather gave up an imperial commission to marry a
fire priestess. For love, he unwittingly obligated his descendants to an allegiance with the High Temple of Kara'zul, domain of the fire priestesses. Now Vidarian, the last surviving member of the Rulorat family, struggles to uphold his family's legacy. All of this, of course, is background, and this is about as much as is revealed in the novel itself. You can easily disregard the rest of the back flap's description of the book, because the book quickly changes course more than once as you weave through the story. Hoffman does a great job of keeping you turning those pages, though, so that it isn't until the novel is done and you glance at the back of the cover that you remember to ask yourself, whatever happened with that plot point?

For a time of the year when the northern hemisphere fantasy readers are looking for "beach books," preferably something shorter than the tomes the likes of Rothfuss and Sanderson are putting out (which are great, but ruin your tan by blocking out the sun as you struggle to hold a thousand page monstrosity up and turn the page), Hoffman's debut will be a fun delight.

My only complaint about the novel, and I'm phrasing this so it isn't a spoiler, is - really? "Correctamundo?" "See you later, alligator?" You've got a lot of explaining to do, Ms. Hoffman :)(less)

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Nov 27, 2011

Janice (Janicu) rated it

Review originally posted on my book blog (wordpress / livejournal)

I was sold on this one by the promise of fantasy with a touch of romance in it. Also – look at the cover. A guy. A girl. A griffin. It looks a little like a video game poster, but it’s pretty. Sadly, my expectations of romance and a swash-buckling adventure fantasy were not met with this one. Let me tell you why.

The Premise: Captain Vidarian Rulorat, scion of a well-known sea-faring family, is asked by th...moreReview originally posted on my book blog (wordpress / livejournal)

I was sold on this one by the promise of fantasy with a touch of romance in it. Also – look at the cover. A guy. A girl. A griffin. It looks a little like a video game poster, but it’s pretty. Sadly, my expectations of romance and a swash-buckling adventure fantasy were not met with this one. Let me tell you why.

The Premise: Captain Vidarian Rulorat, scion of a well-known sea-faring family, is asked by the fire priestesses to transport one of their member, Ariadel Windhammer, to a water temple far away. A trip through dangerous waters is made more perilous by those pursuing Ariadel for what she knows. Vidarian would love nothing more than to decline and be on his way, but because of an agreement his grandfather years ago, Vidarian is forced to take Ariadel where the priestesses want. Of course, things do not go well, and before long Vidarian finds himself embroiled in world-changing events. Events that involve the Goddesses and their elements and could change the way magic in the world works.

My Thoughts: This book begins in fairly typical fantasy style with the start of a journey. Vidarian meets with fire priestess Endera, who offers him two sun emeralds, nearly priceless stones, in return for passage for someone on his ship. Vidarian would be set for life, but he says no when he realizes the passenger would be a fire priestess. That’s when Endera reminds him of the pact his grandfather made many years ago, and Vidarian has no choice but adhere to it.

Sun emeralds. Fire priestesses. Perilous sea journeys. All by maybe page five. Great in theory, but unfortunately, I was already confused. I found it difficult to grasp Endera’s status amongst the priesthood (leader? spokeswoman?), why Vidarian would say no to allowing a fire priestess on his ship (superstition? politics? actual danger?), or what exactly his grandfather’s pact was (????). And I’m afraid those details aren’t really directly explained ever (unless I count the back blurb which explains more than the story did). This is a repeated pattern for the rest of the book. Maybe I missed it or I’m supposed to make some educated guesses (which I did), but the story just swooped off to the next scene, making my questions moot.

Without much transition, the story moves to the sea, and Ariadel is on the ship. I was hoping that during the time at sea we would get to know Ariadel and Vidarian’s characters, but there is no time for any character development. Weeks go by in a blink and then the ship is attacked. Vidarian and Ariadel are forced to travel by land. There were a lot of details about Vidarian’s ship and crew that we learn along the way, but much of it ended up being irrelevant to the plot because we hardly see them ever again. After that, I wasn’t sure what to pay attention to and what not to. I tried to orient myself by looking at the map provided in the book, but the locations mentioned in the story were more often than not, not on the map. This isn’t very far into the book so I am using it to give you an example of the general trend of the story. Variations of “journeying”, “interrupted by outside forces”, “reacting”, “change journey plans” are repeated over and over until the book ends.

When I look at other reviews of this book, people say that it is fast moving. I would say that this is true, except that it felt to me that the only thing that kept the story moving was that the characters were always reacting to something which kept them doing something. But the plot had no clear direction to the reader until we get to the end of the story. Because the goal of the characters was abstract (their plans were undecided before they got to their destination), I had trouble caring. And speaking of uncaring, I have never felt so much apathy towards characters as I did with this book. Vidarian is a ship’s captain, who loves his ship and the sea. That is pretty much his character. Ariadel was a young, relatively inexperienced, fire priestess. They seemed like nice people, but I never got a chance to get to know their personalities. When they start a relationship, it felt like it came out of left field. I had no idea either was even interested in one another because there was zero build-up.

What actually kept me interested is that there are a lot of great ideas and pieces of world building in here that I really liked. The griffins and their accoutrements were fascinating. And because the book was short (277 pages) and I had read 100 pages already, I stubbornly shouldered on hoping the story would become more clear. Unfortunately, so many ideas were tossed into the pot I felt like I was reading the fantasy equivalent of everything and the kitchen sink. New and pivotal characters and concepts are introduced late into the book, and older ones are discarded. Things changed at breakneck speed. Fierce editing and focusing more on character growth would have helped this story a lot.

Overall: Almost a DNF. I wanted to like this one, but I just couldn’t get into it. The characters had no development and I was always confused by what their goals were. I didn’t like how the story’s momentum was all forced and that so much was thrown in there with little pause. That just got boring after a while. With little to keep me connected to the story, I struggled to keep reading past the midway point. What kept me from disliking the book completely was a detailed and imaginative world, but I wish that the world building didn’t compete so much with the plot that it was hard to tell the difference between a plot point and backdrop.(less)

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Sep 12, 2011

Cole rated it

Shelves: fantasy, adventure, action, political, romance, angst

Book 1 in the Chaos Knight series by Erin Hoffman just came out and I looked at the cover at Barnes & Nobles thinking "hey, this looks neat." (it has Griffins!) But as they say "you can't judge a book by it's cover," including the back. I also new this girl, but not as author but a video game maker. So I already had respect for her. Also, I new the story behind the creation of this book.
Sadly this didn't sate me, the book doesnt really do itself justice. It is a great s...more

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Jul 14, 2011

Blodeuedd Finland rated it

Shelves: fantasy

My thoughts:

There is a lot going on in this book and it was different than other fantasy books in a way. Because a lot happened, sure at times I felt like things happened to quickly, but then that might just be because I am used to it taken 4 books just to start a journey.

To break things done. Vidarian is a ship captain who escorts Ariadel to her destination but things go wrong at once. So many will fight against them at the end, or by their side. The imperial forces, pir...more

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Sep 19, 2011

Sarah Snyder rated it

Shelves: books-i-own

originally posted @ http://thatbookishgirl.blogspot.com/2011...

Sword of Fire and Sea by Erin Hoffman was an incredibly exciting and compelling read. Hoffman covers a lot of ground in this debut and the direction changes quite a few times. Yet somehow she manages to keep the story flowing and the reader engaged. You don’t always know where the story is trying to go, but nonetheless, it is still enjoyable. Considering that Sword of Fire and Sea is a relatively short for a fantasy read, ...moreoriginally posted @ http://thatbookishgirl.blogspot.com/2011...

Sword of Fire and Sea by Erin Hoffman was an incredibly exciting and compelling read. Hoffman covers a lot of ground in this debut and the direction changes quite a few times. Yet somehow she manages to keep the story flowing and the reader engaged. You don’t always know where the story is trying to go, but nonetheless, it is still enjoyable. Considering that Sword of Fire and Sea is a relatively short for a fantasy read, Hoffman manages to cram a lot of plot into the 200+ pages. I felt like the book set a challenge and solved and moved on to something new a number of times. Does that make sense to you? The plotline just kept progressing and progressing; therefore the goals of the characters changed throughout the story as well.

That being said, I never once felt like things dragged. Although the writing is long-winded and descriptive (Hoffman is definitely a fan of complex sentences), she doesn’t go off on unnecessary tangents. A lot of times in fantasies I get overwhelmed by the writing, but that wasn’t a problem here. Yes, the author uses the eloquent, lush and lavish writing style that fantasy readers are used to, but she always stays focused on the topic. You won’t find a two page description of a tree or a rock here.

The characters were all intriguing and unique in their own way. There is the main character, Vidarian, who fits well in the role of reluctant hero. Then we have the fire priestess Ariadel, who develops a rather defiant rebellious streak. Let’s not forget the gryphons – I instantly took a liking to them. You never really know what to expect from them and they certainly keep things interesting.

I will say that the relationship between Ariadel and Vidarian threw me a bit. Maybe I just gotten to used to paranormal romances, but I felt the story was really lacking build up. There are a few passages in which Vidarian expresses interest in the priestesses’ appearance, but nothing major. Then, suddenly they are a couple. I enjoyed the two of them together; I just wish their relationship had shown more progression. Although, the apparent jumpiness of their relationship could be attributed to lack of timeline. Honestly, Hoffman may have instituted a timeline, but I had a hard time keeping track. Like I said before, a lot happens within the book and I just completely lost track of time. I don’t know if the events of the book take place over days, week or months.

Another small issue I had with the book was that some of the dialogue felt out of place. I don’t want to dive too deeply into it, because I don’t want to spoil plot points, but at times the exchanges between characters felt rather odd. There are a few different cases when Hoffman uses modern expressions and slang and they just did not mesh well with tone and feeling of the book.

I am very curious to see where Hoffman takes the next book. I was incredibly shocked that she wrapped up the ending the way she did, there was quite a bit of resolution. There was a clear opening for the story line to progress, but the characters met the goal they set out to accomplish. How many times does that happen in the first book of a fantasy series? Honestly, I felt like I was getting away with something to get as much plot resolution as we did.

Long story short, I enjoyed Sword of Fire and Sea. It was full of rich, descriptive, yet focused writing - which is hard to come by. The characters and plotline were intriguing and I had a good time reading it. The plotline was fast paced and the characters accomplished a great deal throughout the story. Although it wasn’t perfect, I still say it was a tremendous effort from Hoffman. (less)

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Aug 21, 2011

Will rated it

The problem with this book comes in the first paragraph:

"Though the coastal island of Siane's Eye was lush with whispering palms and tropical flowers too exotic for the names of men, the wind that swept ever outward from its alabaster monuments came chill as a lifetime of penance. It prickled Vidarian's skin, but he hardened himself to it; the Sisters would not see a Rulorat captain hiding his hands like a saltless boy."

When it comes to describing a scene, the ...more

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Jul 07, 2011

April (CSI:Librarian) rated it

Shelves: review-copy

(Originally posted @ CSI:Librarian.)

2.5 Stars - Let me start off by saying that I really wanted to love this book and appreciate it for what it was. I also don’t need every book I read to break the mold or shrug off the conventions of its genre, but in the case of Sword of Fire and Sea, I felt like I was doing the reading equivalent of playing a mildly entertaining video game with neat visuals and a very so-so storyline. Sometimes I was dazzled by the ideas at work, but most of the ti...more(Originally posted @ CSI:Librarian.)

2.5 Stars - Let me start off by saying that I really wanted to love this book and appreciate it for what it was. I also don’t need every book I read to break the mold or shrug off the conventions of its genre, but in the case of Sword of Fire and Sea, I felt like I was doing the reading equivalent of playing a mildly entertaining video game with neat visuals and a very so-so storyline. Sometimes I was dazzled by the ideas at work, but most of the time I was too confused or let down by the way the ideas were ultimately utilized.

In terms of the setting and the writing in of themselves, Sword of Fire and Sea was quite good. I think there were a lot of great details, a very neat magic system, and a very interesting new world for readers to visit. There was certainly plenty of potential and quite a number of unique concepts as well, but nothing got developed in a way that made me care about what was at stake or any of events unfolding in said fictional world. Even now that I’m done reading, I don’t know that I feel like this book did what it set off to accomplish and I certainly feel like its very awesome summary lead me to expect way more than I received.

In terms of the characters and plot, Sword of Fire and Sea was okay but erred too often on the side of bland caution. Being sort of middle-of-the-road is not always a horrible thing for a book to be, but it can be really disheartening. I went into this particular title thinking I’d be thrilled by the high seas adventure idea or the griffins, but I felt like neither element got enough time or focus compared to the aspects of the book that didn’t gel for me. Although I liked Vidarian and found him to be fairly endearing, I couldn’t stand Ariadel. I also couldn’t stand Vidarian’s milquetoast- and vanilla-flavored interest in her that eventually resulted in them being a couple in spite of any real motivation, chemistry, or tension. I still have no idea what to make of their relationship, but I do know that it sprang up out of nowhere and really added nothing to the story.

In conclusion, if you want to read a mild and inoffensive Fantasy adventure that is perfect for the beach, this isn’t a bad pick. Honestly, nothing was so badly done or handled that Sword of Fire and Sea ought to be avoided if you like your Fantasies to be cozy and comfortable. I’m also fairly certain that the book will go over very well with teens or even tweens who are just beginning to seek out Fantasy titles. Personally I think that Fantasy works out much better when given a bite or edge to it, and I would much rather concentrate on series or stand-alone titles that deliver on those sorts of things.
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Jun 16, 2011

Melissa Hayden rated it

Shelves: fantasy

Vidarian is summoned to meet with the priestess of air, Endera. Endera feels his family history and his ship make him perfect for her task at hand. When Vidarian refuses the job of taking a fire priestess on his wooden ship in the ocean through dangerous waters Endera invokes the commitment made by his grandfather 50 years ago binding Vidarian to the journey. Endera being of good graces will still pay him handsomely though. The fire priestess is being transported because she is being sought ...moreVidarian is summoned to meet with the priestess of air, Endera. Endera feels his family history and his ship make him perfect for her task at hand. When Vidarian refuses the job of taking a fire priestess on his wooden ship in the ocean through dangerous waters Endera invokes the commitment made by his grandfather 50 years ago binding Vidarian to the journey. Endera being of good graces will still pay him handsomely though. The fire priestess is being transported because she is being sought after by Vkortha, dangerous telepaths who live on their own island where no one knows except the fire priestess Ariadel. Vidarian will learn more of fire magic, water magic, and himself than he ever thought possible as a lone sailor. Will the fire goddess go beyond normal doings to help the priestess Araidel and Vidarian? Or is there more at stake here? Even the griffins are willing to help Vidarian believing he is the one to close the gate.

This is one full fantasy read with a journey and world all created new here. This world created is one full of the four elements, and the space between them. The space being chaos and/or connection of the elements. For each of the four elements there are priestesses. But the magic has been dieing out over the years. Even with the crossing of the elements in bloodlines it's created a disease that could kill the children and young adults if more than one flares to life inside them. Even the griffins are of different elements. And this world aspect I really enjoyed. Even the mythology in setting up the gate, and chaos. But what lies behind the gates might be able to help the world or flip it completely upside down from what they know it as.

The characters where interesting in the way they handle the occurrences they go through. Their where a few things about the characters I didn't understand though. One was Vidarian wanting to be bond the emeralds he is paid from Endera to his life. I think I missed something here as the emeralds will die out when he passes on. I would think he would want them to spend not to look at, but I'm not him. And the love between Vidarian and Ariadel seemed to happen awfully fast for me. Unless there was something with the bonding to the emeralds that connected them (which I'm thinking happened) it seemed they fell in 'love' to quickly for me. But as a couple I like them together.

This book seems to be the start of a bigger series. To me the first half of the book was set up of the characters and arranging the world for us. I felt from time to time there where things said by the characters or happenings that posed huge questions in my mind that instantly made me feel lost. The answers did come through shortly after, but when I read them at first I felt there was not set up for it to me and had me lost. The second half of the book read easier for me and the action picked up. We also got more of the back story answers here for the world and creatures and characters.

I think I read the synopsis of the book and was trying to relate some of that to what I was reading and had a hard time. As the information about Vidarian's grandfather marrying a fire priestess doesn't come out until the very end of the book. Along with other details of the world and the different magics not living peacefully blended together in bloodlines. I like this idea, but kind of wish it was presented earlier in the book.

I'm very curious to see where the next book in the series goes. I think this could be a good series, but a shaky start for me. But these are my thoughts and could have just been my timing in reading it wasn't right. Please if you like the sounds of the book, go give it a try you just might like it. I really wanted to loooove this book, as I only liked it. I would like to give book two a chance to see where this great world goes.(less)

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Oct 07, 2011

Jonathan rated it

I really wanted to like this book, I picked it up at the library mainly based on the cover. The book had allot of potential but I constantly found myself wondering if I had missed some pages or overlooked an important point but unfortunately this was not the case. Throughout the book the author jumps from topic to topic without any explanation or continuity. Hopefully this being a first effort any sequels might be a little less complicated and a little more fleshed out.

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Sep 19, 2011

Johnnemann rated it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Sep 19, 2011

Abby rated it

Shelves: fantasy

Ever feel like you walked into the middle of a conversation and missed the backstory? That's what this book feels like. There is little explanation about the origins of the four powers and there's no explanation about the blood disease until the last few chapters of the book, and even then it's not deep enough to feel for the character that's dying. If the author is trying to keep things close to the vest, they aren't doing a good job. The reader still needs something to go on.

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Jun 11, 2011

Lexie rated it

Shelves: book-type-arc, review-night-owl-romance, genre-fantasy

Prelim Review: This was definitely more old school styling fantasy. Which as a child I read every hokey one I could get my hands on. The cover is gorgeous, beyond that I don't want to give too much away...

Full Review to be Posted at Night Owl Romance

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Jan 17, 2012

Natasha Superville rated it

This was an absolutely amazing book. Was not quite sure when I picked it up, but I'm glad I did. Fantastical, magical, emotional, adventuresome. Loved, loved, loved it.

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Aug 17, 2011

Jon Sprunk rated it

Erin Hoffman's debut shows a remarkable deftness in storytelling and beautiful language. Some of her descriptions are so good they actually made me stop and read them again just to appreciate the lilt of the prose. This is an adventure story with heart.

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Nov 12, 2011

Travis rated it

Shelves: fantasy, fiction, s-and-s-fantasy

See my full review of high adventure this magic riddled romp takes you on at Writing Ex Libris

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Oct 31, 2011

Kyrsten rated it

Shelves: first-reads

Some parts where hit and miss, but all in all I am looking forward to another book by this author. I believe the second time around will hit all the marks of a great novel since this one held so much promise.

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Jan 20, 2012

Lisa added it

Shelves: read2012

This was a fun read. I thought the ending was a bit weak.

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Oct 11, 2011

Perilsgate added it

Didn't catch my interest and I did not finish reading this.

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Feb 22, 2012

Kris Stephen rated it

Feb 21, 2012

Gina Hunter marked it as to-read

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Erin Hoffman was born in San Diego and now lives with her husband, two parrots, and two dogs in northern California. She started an online writing group at age 15, and at 18 started as an assistant game designer for Simutronics on DragonRealms. Her other game credits include Shadowbane: The Lost Kingdom, GoPets: Vacation Island, Kung Fu Panda World, and FrontierVille. She also serves on the Intern...more

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