Firebrand

Green Rider #6

by Kristen Britain

Zachary Davriel Hillander, High King of Sacoridia, rues how much he has had to give up to lead his realm, including the freedom to live and love as he chooses. When an embassy from Eletia arrives to propose a joint venture between their realms to seek out an old ally in the north, he is dismayed to learn that the one Sacoridian they have in mind to accompany their guide is the woman he truly loves but cannot have: Green Rider Karigan G'ladheon.

Karigan has only just returned from a dark future where Sacoridia has been conquered and is ruled by a despotic emperor, and she has not recovered in heart or mind. As if that is not enough, the castle ghosts won't leave her alone. Though Zachary is loath to part from her so soon after her return, he knows she is the best choice to undertake the mission to the north.

Each step on their journey places Karigan and her companions closer to enemy territory and danger, for northward lie the forces of Second Empire, Sacoridia's longtime foe, and Grandmother, the necromantic leader of Second Empire, has not been idle. She uses her magic to summon a wild elemental spirit to wreak havoc upon Zachary and his wife, Queen Estora.

At first the Sacoridians succeed in fending off the creature, but it so covets Estora that it can't stay away. It abducts Zachary, assuming his form and his place at Estora's side--but when it is finally ousted, Zachary is still missing. Estora, alone and heavy with twins, must prepare her realm for the coming conflict from the confines of her bedchamber.

Meanwhile, the danger only deepens for Karigan and her companions as they journey north. When she finds herself caught in the midst of a clash between forces, Karigan must rescue and protect her king before she falls into a trap set by Grandmother--a trap that could give Second Empire the power to control the dead and all the demons of the hells.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, High Fantasy, Magic, Epic Fantasy, Audiobook, Adventure

809 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 7, 2017

About the author

Kristen Britain grew up in the Finger Lakes region of New York State, where she started her first novel - an undersea fantasy featuring herself and her friends - at the age of nine. She published her first book, a cartoon collection called Horses and Horsepeople, at the age of thirteen. After completing her degree in film production at Ithaca College in 1987 she made the logical (?!) leap from cinema to the National Park Service. Her many years as a park ranger enabled her to work in a variety of natural and historical settings, from 300 feet below the surface of the Earth to 13,000 feet above sea level on the Continental Divide; and from the textile mills of the American Industrial Revolution to the homes of Americans who changed the course of history.

Currently she lives in a log cabin in Maine where she writes full time and pursues interests reading, guitar playing, and cartoon illustration, supervised by a cat and a dog. She enjoys exploring the magical places around her and can often be found paddling a canoe in stillwater, ambling through the woods to mountain summits, or sitting along the rocky shore listening, watching, and daydreaming. This is her fantasy, at least.

Reviews

[Lauren (Shakespeare & Whisky) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This series is a fascinating example of everything that can go wrong in an epic fantasy series. If you haven't already, read my review of The Red Queen because a lot of the stuff in this review is also true for that one and vice versa.

Success in the Fantasy genre

Britain's first book Green Rider was a commercial success. It was pretty much perfect for a traditional single POV epic fantasy adventure. It's generally thought that between 2-5% of readers leave reviews on sites like GR. Green Riders currently has about 25 thousand reviews (not including ratings with no text)...it is safe to say the book was pretty popular.

So how did Britain end up in a situation where her most recent novel has just 500 reviews? And the release happened with so little fanfare! What the fuck happened?

Weellllll…. I've got some thoughts:

You're an Author your job is to fucking write

Britain joins other popular authors who let their series die slow deaths thru lost sales by.... just not releasing books on a schedule that makes any sort of fucking sense.

Writing one novel every 5 years when you have decided to write an epic fantasy series is just a bad idea. People change and grow. The sort of story that excites a writer at 25 years old just won't match their tastes at 45. And if you want to spend 20 years writing a story you better be certain this is a story you can devote your entire career to.

Otherwise you are going to end up joining other series that died like The Obernewtyn Chronicles, Wheel of Time and (most likely) A Song of Ice and Fire (seriously how many sales did Martin lose by failing to stay ahead of GoT?)

The other problem is that the genre (and it's readers) move on. Prose and plot lines that were fresh in the 90's just won't cut it when you are still telling the same story 10 or 20 years later.

Everybody (including the author) has moved on. This series has suffered as a result. Mirror Sight was an attempt by the author to write about something she found exciting but unfortunately you can't create new characters, a new romance and a new world, slap your old character's names on it and hope for the best.

It disrespects readers which brings me to my next point:

Disrespecting Readers

Britain joins a long line of writers that treat fans with contempt then gets salty when they respond by not buying her books.

Britain did a pretty famous interview where she said two things that really pissed a lot of readers off:

1.) She hates fanfic and told the interviewer she doesn't want anyone "stealing" her characters. True fans won't read or write fanfic.

2.) She expressed contempt for her fans "obsession" with the central ship of the series.

Oohhh boy.

I can't think of a worse way to handle a fandom for your work.

I've written in other reviews about my feelings towards fanfic- it is a legitimate hobby, a huge compliment to a body of work and not even monstrosities like The Mortal Instruments or 50 Shades should be used as arguments against it's legitimacy as a form of expression. I might not personally "get it" but I do think authors should either ignore it or encourage it. If people are so invested in your characters that they want to spend hours reading and writing about them... take it as a bloody compliment.

Britain is writing low brow fantasy. I'm not sure what her artistic aspirations are but this series does not have the prose or originality to win literary awards.* Britain is no N.K. Jemisin. She has more in common with Maas or early career Sanderson then she does with someone like Octavia E. Butler. That being the case, the primary draw cards are a kick ass heroine and a beautifully slow burn romance. So... maybe don't act like your readers are shallow, silly girls for begging for clues on whether their ship is sunk?

Britain tried to kill the ship off, panicked when sales plummeted and tried to repair it by stringing readers along again in this book by throwing them a bone.

At least when Maas decides to change direction and frustrate her readers she does it with a passionate conviction that (sort of) sells it. Having the main character flop around like a landed fish because you can't decide whether you care what your readers want or not is guaranteed to piss everyone off.

Review of Firebrand:

I just argh!!! If you read my review of The Red Queen you can probably guess what a lot of my grips will be:

- Britain took everything great about this series and destroyed it.

- She failed to keep a firm grasp of her narrative; she is going off on tangents, introducing characters and opening up new plot lines nobody cares about.

- She wastes so much time navel gazing and she does what Maas, Martin and Carmody did before her- she failed to provide resolution for any of the original plot lines.

- It is boring and I had to skim-read parts of a book from a series I used to re-read repeatedly.

- She resolved a major plot thru-line in about 10-20 pages. In a massive tome of a novel.

Britain's work is perfect for serialised structure, where each book has a self- contained plot line with only relationship and character growth arcs providing the overarching connection between books.

Instead the stories have an overarching plot line that Britain got lost in.

Honestly, if you don't have a clear idea of where you are going I don't think you should develop a story that is going to take 8 books to tell… we all saw how that worked out for Carmody.

Britain is flailing. I have no faith in her ability to bring this story to a satisfying conclusion.

So… where does that leave us lovers of epic fantasy?

Not very well off, unfortunately. In fact a very high profile author recently went on record saying authors like Martin, Carmody, Rothfuss and Britain who fail to deliver manuscripts on time and deliver sluggish sales after rockstar beginnings have made editors wary of taking on any new authors in the epic fantasy genre.

That sucks for readers like me! I love sprawling epic fantasy adventures. I love the feeling of growing with characters over years. A single novel just can't deliver that same joy.

It's frustrating and I'm not sure if this is a new phenomenon or if I'm finally old enough to have experienced devoting 10 plus years to multiple series that die ignoble deaths.

Either way I'm fed up. I'll probably keep reading to find out what happens but I'll let you in one my number one prediction- Britain has no intention of giving us a happy ending after years of commitment.

I think it is likely Britain will kill Karigan off in the final book. And I don't think it will be a Gatsby- it- felt- right sort of death. I think it will evoke Allegiant- Tris- death levels of fury in loyal readers.

And all of those plot lines? Expect The Red Queen levels of resolution.

And even after this big rant- there are things I enjoyed a lot. But I remember how I felt after book 5 The Sending in the Obernewtyn Chronicles, and I'm getting a strong sense of daja vu.

*I have since discovered that the original novel in the series Green Riders did win a local literary award, which shows I know nothing and that (in the late 90's at least) you could still win a literary award for a good, traditional fantasy novel.

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

[Eric Allen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Spoilers ahead, but since the book is just a phoned in copy of a previous book in the series, who fucking cares?

Wow, this is probably the worst book in the series thus far. It's boring. It's very poorly paced. It did not further the story, or the characters in any meaningful way. And, in my opinion, worst of all is that it is an almost carbon copy of The High King's Tomb, which, again, in my opinion, was not a very good book to begin with. It is extremely predictable. The moment I realized that it was pretty much copying book 3 plot point for plot point, I basically knew exactly what was going to happen for the entire rest of the book. I wish I had been wrong. I wish the author would have thrown me a curve ball. But she did not. This book is The High King's Tomb with a different cover on it. It is very blandly written, and has very little actually going on in it to justify it's length, especially since the book it is copying plot point for plot point is considerably shorter.

Again, the protagonist, is more of a side character in her own story, and is sent out on a busywork errand that is pointless and unimportant just so that she has something to be doing in the story and can be where she needs to be to save the day at the end. The reliance on divine intervention A-FREAKING-GAIN is a HUGE downer for me. No one wants to read a story where god shows up at the end, says all the trials and tribulations of the characters are meaningless, waves his hand, and resolves all conflict for them. What is even the point of, generally, anything that happened in the book, then, if God is just going to step in and fix everything?

And, um, has anyone bothered to tell the author that moose centaurs are, well, absolutely friggen stupid? Or is it just me?

Plus, Karigan's endless moping around throughout the book really got on my nerves. I understand what depression can do to a person. But she had nothing even resembling a meaningful relationship with anyone she left behind in the future, despite the author's repeated attempts to say otherwise, so the fact that she's moaning about losing them through the entire book is just annoying as hell to me.

And the friggen cats, man. Seriously. WTF. How the hell did they manage to be everywhere the plot needed them to be, to do everything the plot required of them. Oh, right, because the author put in zero thought or effort and decided that hey, reasons? Logic? Who cares about those? Also, the book jumps around at times, often skipping scenes that you would think would be crucial to the plot, and pretending that they happened off screen. Zachary's escape from the elemental's cave, for instance is not even glossed over. It's just skipped. And what happened is never adequately explained during the rest of the book in any way, shape or form. The characters talk and think about it in such a way as to make you think that scene was meant to have been in the book, the author just didn't write it and pretended she did, or she cut it out for whatever reason while editing and didn't remove the references to it, or explain what happened in any other way. There are several events in the book like this. That's just one example.

At least Amberhill did NOT make an appearance. I hate that character with the fiery intensity of a million George Foreman grills. And the author's repeated attempts to shoehorn him into the story in various different, and contradictory roles is rather sad and pathetic. When a character doesn't work, you cut the character out. Period. You don't keep trying to force him into a story he doesn't belong in. George Lucas gets a lot of shit for some of the decisions he made with his Star Wars prequels, but when Jar Jar didn't work, he listened to his fans and he cut the character down to a much, much smaller role than he was going to have in the next two movies. He didn't try to rebrand the character into something else, and make up a new storyline for him like fucking Kristen Britain did with Amberhill TWICE!!! SHE FUCKING DID IT TWICE!!!

Anyway, I was leaning toward three stars until I realized that the book is basically a more boring, less well written retelling of, until now, my least favorite book in the series. But as I moved into the second half, and the similarities really became blatant, knowing exactly what was going to happen ahead of time made the rest of the book excruciatingly dull, and basically removed any and all excitement I may otherwise have gotten from the climax.

I think that one did it for me. This is the book that just completely destroyed any desire I may have had to continue the series. The author has shown that she does not respect me as her reader, and so, I'm not giving her any more of my time or money. I'm done. I really liked the first two books, and the fifth one was okay, but man, the other half of the series is just kind of crap, and the author doesn't really seem to have much of a care for what her audience actually wants to read about, or any concern with the dozens of loose plot threads from previous books that have been left unresolved. Oh no, she just keeps on making new ones to add to the stack, rather than resolving any that she already has.

I generally like the overall story of the series to progress in each volume, but Britain seems to think that such a vital element of series planning is unimportant and bothersome. So yeah, she can choke on it. I very much doubt that this series is ever going to reach any meaningful resolution. It's just going to plod along endlessly with the pointless adventure of the week until the author gets sick of it and moves on, retires, or dies. In the end, I find that I just don't care anymore. I don't care about the dangling plot threads. I don't care what's happening. And worst of all, I don't care about the characters anymore. So, really, there's no point in continuing to read.

The first book of this series came out almost twenty years ago. The Fantasy genre has moved on and evolved quite a bit since then. Britain has not moved and evolved with it. She's telling the same old story in the same old way, and she shows a great deal of arrogance, and even contempt when dealing with readers and interviewers that point this out to her. There's a reason why sales of her series has consistently gone downward with each new volume. It's because she takes a ridiculous amount of time to write them, they go nowhere, and they're still using all of the outdated tropes and cliches that most fantasy authors has long since moved past. If you want to make a living writing books, you have to change with the times. You have to write for your audience. You have to tell the stories that people are going to want to read. When you have published a grand total of six books over twenty years, you CANNOT rely on your name alone to sell books. Those books have to be good. And they have to be books that people want to read. And, frankly, this book is neither of those things. And Kristen Britain refuses to even consider the idea that maybe she should try updating her story and her way of telling it to a more modern style. This is not a person whose career I wish to support. There are plenty of other Fantasy writers out there who HAVE changed with the times and who ARE genuinely nice and decent people, who haven't forgotten that it is their fans that write those royalty checks they're living off of in the first place.

I hate to turn this into an argument about artistic integrity, but first and foremost, the publishing industry is a business. It is not about giving you a way to tell your story to people the way you want to. It's about making money. Period. If you are a very talented writer and storyteller with a crazy work ethic and publish 3 to 4 projects a year, constantly make visible progress in your flagship series and have a large fanbase that will buy anything with your name on it regardless of what it's about, like Brandon Sanderson for instance, you can tell whatever story you want in whatever way you want. When you're struggling to sell books because you take way to long to write them, never make any progress, and never change with the times, you really can't. I wouldn't be surprised if Britain's publisher dropped her contract after the lackluster sales of Firebrand, and picked up a new author in her place that can actually sell books. The book didn't even crack the NYT top 100. When you're not selling books, your sense of artistic integrity is a complete non-issue. You have to tell the stories that people want to read. People won't read them if the stories you want to tell are not stories they want to read.




If you wish to read my random bitchings as I read, they are below.




Sooooooo... My Kindle says I'm 43% of the way through this book and, uh, very little even worth mentioning has happened so far. It's like an episode of the Green Rider sitcom, where it's not really about anything, but it kills a bit of time before Designated Survivor is on, so whatever. PRetty much the only thing that's really happened is Karigan has been dealing with some of her baggage, mostly from the previous book. Which is fine, I guess, but I still feel that her sudden infatuation with YET ANOTHER man that she meets made her out to be pretty damn shallow in Mirror Sight. I mean, the second she's away from her freakin love septangle in the present day, she falls for the nearest eligible member of the opposite gender? Really? There's a word for that, but it's usually only used for men. I'm not really sure what word to use for a woman. I mean, manwhore... she's not a man, and whore has completely different connotations when applied to a woman... Whatever. Anyway, so her moping around like she lost the love of her life, after she had to leave the latest target of her manwhoring, is kinda not really invoking much sympathy for me, especially when she's still so infatuated with the king that she gets her ass beat down because she was so busy mooning after him that she wasn't paying attention to the sword training lesson she was supposed to be giving at the time. Yeah. Um. Fuck you Kristen Britain. Seriously. I mean that from the heart. Take your single serving romance plot, and your ridiculously contrived love septangle, and shove them both right back up your ass.

At least Amberhill hasn't butted his way back into YET ANOTHER book he has no business being a part of... yet... Seriously, the dude is like the Kanye of the Green Rider series. Imma let you finish reading your book, but I've got the best sideplot of ALL TIME!!! #Kanye #Beyonce #godieinafireKanye

Anyway, the book isn't bad, it's just not about anything in particular. I mean, if you look at it as more of an adventure of the week, rather than the next step in a multi-volume epic story, you're probably going to be entertained, at least a little. But come on, Britain. Don't you have enough loose plot threads hanging around? Isn't it about time you start tying a few of those off, and working toward some sort of resolution instead of puttering around on unimportant busywork for your characters to be doing? Just a thought. I mean, yeah, sure, Karigan is on her way out to meet the Moose-Centuars and ask them to join them, but it seems a little silly and ridiculous, and really feels like a very unimportant, busywork errand for her to be on, just to have her doing something in the story. And, well, Moose-Centuars... Do I honestly have to say more? Gawd that's so dumb. You can have characters talk about how important and dangerous the mission is all you want, but it doesn't really change the fact that it feels like a made up busywork errand just to give the main character something to do in the story. And really, you shouldn't have to make up something for the main character to do. The main character is the main character. If the events of the story aren't firmly rooted around her, what's even the point at all? Why is she on busywork errands? The last time she went on a busywork errand, she just happened to be in the right place at the right time to be the hero of the story, but that felt just as forced and boring as this does. You already tried that trick Britain, and I called bullshit on it then too.

At the moment, I'm leaning toward 3 stars, but I still have half the book to read. Who knows, it might have the most epic second half ever. But seriously, I will remove two stars if fucking Amberhill shows up in any capacity at any time during this book. He has NO business being a part of this book and he had better keep his boring, pointless ass out of it.



62% done...

I have to ask... how in the hell does this book have a 4.42 star rating? Here's the three words that best describe it. Boring. Pointless. Redundant.

It has been an absolute chore to read 20% more of this book. It is just mind-numbing to the extreme. I'm debating whether or not I even want to bother finishing it, because I already know exactly how it's going to end. I mean, is it still plagiarism if you plagiarize yourself? Because this book... this book is The High King's Tomb, with a different cover on it. I mean it goes plot point for fucking plot point. I'm not even kidding. I'm just pretty much impatient for it to get to the part where Karigan's busywork errand to puts her in the right place at the right time to save the king, and the Death God to show up, wave his hand, and resolve all conflict. Because, you know what? THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT WILL HAPPEN. I would bet just about anything on it. I've already read this book, and I didn't like it much the first time. Not to mention that this time around, it's a hell of a lot more boring. There's a lot less going on here than there was in The High King's Tomb. And yet, the book is considerably longer. This book is extremely long winded, and there just isn't enough going on to even justify its existence, especially since Britain has already told us this story, and it was one of the worst books in the series thus far.

I've been looking up interviews with the author, because sometimes when I just don't get some story or character decisions an author has made in a story upon reading it, seeing what the author has to say about the book, or about life in general sometimes helps me put it into context and better appreciate it for what the author intended. I've got to say, this author is like Goodkind levels of arrogant, and oblivious. She comes off as extremely flippant and full of herself. And she seems to think that her focus more on the episodic story of the week format this series has taken, rather than the series narrative as a whole is doing something new and inventive with the fantasy genre, when she seems so out of touch with what has been happening in the fantasy genre in the last thirty years that she doesn't realize that a lot of the present day fantasy authors have practically reinvented the entire genre, molding it into something new and interesting, and her so-called new and inventive stories she thinks she's writing are actually worn out, and packed full of cliches and outdated tropes. It's really aggravating when an author constantly pats him or herself on the back for being a bold trailblazer in their genre, when they're just so unaware and clueless of the reality that they're actually just churning out outdated schlock, because while they were busy patting themselves on the back, other authors were rebuilding the genre and into something new and constantly evolving. She also seems genuinely surprised when she's asked about (insert loose plot thread from a previous book here), as if she thinks there are no loose plot threads that need any addressing in her previous books at all, which does not bode well for the future of the Green Rider series, I think. Anyway, I think this will be my last Kristen Britain book. I find it increasingly hard to give a crap about her characters, and since she seems content never to bother tying anything up, or reaching toward any sort of conclusion, I really don't care anymore.

I'm not just hating on this series, either. I gave Mirror Sight, the most detested book in the series, 4 stars. I really loved the first two books. I sort of tolerated the next two books. I liked the fifth book, but man, this one is pretty much a series breaker for me. It's so boring, and so unaware of what its genre is doing these days, and the author is just so completely oblivious of what her fans are looking for in a story, meaning some sort of resolution for really ANY of the dozens of still unaddressed dangling plot threads that she's left in her wake.

81% done...

Surprise. Surprise. Guess what happened? Karigan's busywork errand put her at the right place at the right time to rescue the king. Who could have ever seen something like that coming? I mean, besides, generally anyone who has read the entire series up to this point? Still 20% of the book left to go, and it's looking quite like Second Empire is going to set loose the EXACT SAME FREAKING GHOSTS that they did in The High King's Tomb, just from a different location and in a different way. Gee, I wonder what's going to happen? Is Karigan going to put on Death's armor and ride Death's horse around and send them all back again? The suspense is killing me. And by killing me I mean the exact opposite of killing me. And, uh, whatever the opposite of suspense is too. I would say that Britain phoned this book in harder than I've seen any author phone in a book in years, if not for the fact that Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas is a thing that happened. I mean, could you put any less effort in? Really? The sheer lack of originality that the author is giving us here is almost insulting. I wonder if she even realizes she's telling the exact same story, beat for beat, over again.

Oh yeah, and long, drawn out torture scenes, just for the sake of long drawn out torture scenes... Not really my thing. That's another thing Kristen Britain and Terry Goodkind have in common. They both appear to be sociopaths. ...Google it... or better yet, go read I am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells.

[Sandra]

I wish people weren't already rating this.

[Nicole N. (A Myriad of Books) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Actual rating: 4.5 stars

Thank you, NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group/DAW Books for giving me a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review!

THIS is the Green Rider book I hoped for after the last one. Thank you, Kristen! I could not have been more excited to have this book in my hands (well, my Kindle Fire in my hands since I received it as an eARC), and I absolutely could not stop reading this book! After the disappointment that was Mirror Sight, I was eager to get my hands on Firebrand in hopes that everything that disappointed me in Mirror Sight would be remedied, and let me tell you it was. Even if you don't feel the same way I do about the previous book, you will be thrilled to read this book!

Okay, breathe. Let me gather all my thoughts about this book.

Wait, I can't. Gif required.




But also a bit of this:



Okay, so now to use my words.

Normally, I don't like the flip-flopping of multiple POVs, especially when there are a vast amount of characters, but I found myself pleasantly surprised by this and actually desiring more POVs for certain characters *coughZacharycough*. It really should be no surprise that I'm a HUGE Karigan/Zachary shipper, so the events of the last book left me crushed. In regards to that, this book tempted and teased you in the best way possible.

World-building: Amazinggggg. As always. I loved the snippets we get into the Second Empire. They make me nervous, and while my nerves were quelled for the time being, I became apprehensive about other things (for obvious reasons). I also liked how we learned a bit more of the mythical Eletians, and how these things that were once thought to be lost forever or just myth have come to pass. It foreshadows so many potential things.

Characters: The thing about this book, there aren't any characters I don't like. I may feel...uncomfortable when it comes to certain characters, but I even actually like Estora despite the crap that happened in the last book. She's kind, and she proves herself multiple times over in this book. I really can't hate her besides the fact that she's married to Zachary. *cries* I loved diving deeper into Karigan and Estral's friendship. #friendshipgoals I love how the two are able to speak honestly to one another, especially as that seems to be a fault of Karigan's--keeping things to herself. Also, can I have more of Zachary, please? What's not to like about this guy, really? I absolutely feel for him. He never wanted to be king--or expected to be--so to read about his internal struggle, his conflicting feelings for Estora and Karigan, it hurts my heart! His desire to protect his country and its citizens at all cost is admirable, and I could never bring myself to dislike him.

As for Enver... Well, okay, so I liked him in the beginning, but almost feral-like protectiveness he develops for Karigan disturbs me. I won't say why, but if you've read the book, you'll understand. Maybe it's because I don't like anything getting between Karigan and Zachary but still, lol. I did like how helpful Enver proved himself as an asset over the course of the book, and I'm hoping this "growing" he's doing will pass with someone else.

I do wonder, however, how much a bigger role Anna will play. She seems like a nice enough girl for sure, but... I'm not sure how I feel about her intrusiveness into the Green Riders. I didn't mind reading chapters in her POV, as she seemed genuinely to care for the Riders and the queen, but bringing characters like this into the series so late, it makes me skeptical.

I will say, too, that I disliked how attached Karigan seemed to Cade. I didn't understand their romantic feelings for one another in the previous book, and I saw Cade as an outlet for Karigan's feelings for Zachary. I do love how powerful Karigan has become, but sometimes I wonder if the way things ended...was too easy. That might seem quite harsh considering what Karigan went through, and I know she would go through it a thousand times over than betray her king. However, I can relate a bit to her dark feelings and how she wanted to give up.

I devoured this book. If you've been waiting for something--anything--to happen between Karigan and Zachary, this book won't disappoint you. If you're afraid it might be lacking in the way Mirror Sight did, you'll be glad to read this book. My main concern right now is this: it's been stated by an Eletian that Karigan is not bound to this world and belongs to no one, but her connection with Zachary is undeniable strong in more than just the physical sense. What does the author mean by teasing us with their romantic feelings if it won't turn into anything? Also, I get this strange feeling that Karigan may not make it in the end, if you catch my meaning.

Also, I very much teared up at any scene between Zachary and Karigan, especially in the final 1/4 of the book.

Ah, now to wait a bajillion years for the next book!



UPDATE #2: I GOT THE E-ARC! *dies* Going to read and then review it closer to release date. :)

UPDATE: I requested a digital ARC via Netgalley so I'm crossing my fingers!

I'm crossing my fingers that this is 5,000 times better than the last book. It was like I read another book completely. So...yeah. :)

[Ali · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, I will say I was exceptionally hesitant to try any more books in this series. Mirror Sight (the previous book in case any of you are new to the series) was a disaster. Nothing short of an absolute disaster. The author took a fantasy series and switched genres for a steam punk novel that accomplished...oh, nothing. I decided to give this series one last shot, and while this book is definitely a vast improvement, I do not know if I'm interested in continuing it. For the record, I normally stick with series all the way to the end, even if I don't enjoy them, as I like the completion satisfaction finishing a series delivers, but Green Rider...well it's no longer what it was.

One of my biggest complaints about this series is the lack of resolutions to a lot of the original plot lines. The wall? Still no progress. A couple books ago at least we were still in the "We can fix it! We can't fix it! We can heal it! We can't heal it! We learned something important! Wait, scratch that...that was a fail too" aspect that, while irritating, at least implied there might be a resolution to that original line (started in book 1 people, we're on book 6). And that's not even the only still open plot line.

A second complaint is Ms. Britain is not a great author at shifting points of view. In fact, she's my absolute least favorite author to do so. And, unfortunately, Firebrand does it a lot. There were an annoying amount of her short point of view shift chapters, that didn't add a ton to the story, and could have easily been cut. Most of those point of view shifts added new thread lines (which, we do not need any more!), but thankfully most of them sort of resolved themselves so maybe a following book will be better (very much doubt this as she's been adding more and more view points each book instead of less). As a result, we see Karigan, but as she is the main character (or was, originally, I don't know if we can say that anymore), I would like to see MORE of her.

While, yes, the book did return to it's main timeline, characters, and just a hint of it's old feel...there is just too much going on, and in a bad way. I like complex books, with multiple characters, races, and events going on, but only when it's done right. I'm starting to feel like Ms. Britain is overextending her ability, and I'd much rather a book with more intense focus on very specific characters than one that feels kind of like a meandering drunk.

And the length for the story we were delivered was too long. With the multiple view points taking away from the feel, rather than adding to it, the book was easily about 300 pages too long. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE long books. It took me only 4 hours to read Firebrand, so it's not the fact it's a long book, but the fact it is a long, very often BORING one. I didn't care about the ice element. I didn't really care about Anna. Navi was not needed. I could care less about Estora (can she please get killed off already?!), and some of the other view point shifts were useful, but I would have preferred them from another source. In my opinion...too many view points are a sign of a bad writer. If you cannot make your point with the view points you already have then perhaps what you're considering adding is 1) Not important/Unneeded 2) Will reveal your weaknesses HEAVILY to your readers. At least if we're perceptive. As a whole the book failed to deliver because there was too much background noise (writing) to make it enjoyable.

Also, let's not forget Karigan is still moping over her "boyfriend from the future" whose existence in the series at all pretty much destroyed it for me. It definitely changed our strong willed heroine, and not in a good way. She mopes over her "loss" of a man she shouldn't have gotten involved with (or remembered, don't even get me started on how Yate's pictures shouldn't exist...huge ball drop on that one, Ms. Britain), and then, to make matters worse. She still mopes over Zachary. Karigan has to be in her 20's now, and she's more of a lovesick child in this book than I find enjoyable. Unfortunately the Zachary/Karigan relationship agenda sort of progresses (which, if you care--I don't-- don't get your hopes up as it's just more of Ms. Britain's teasing) which may be one of the very few things that does.

The ending also was too rushed. The whole book centered around Karigan's mission to find the lost race and try to form an Alliance with them. At the VERY end of the book (I think it was 15 pages) we get an introduction/conclusion all in one short go, which, following the rest of the story, was a huge disappointment. I feel like that section needed to be longer. Or, since it happened basically at the end of the book, something needed to happen after that continued the results of that event. The book is 800 pages - 15 pages dedicated to the whole point of the mission seems a bit stupid.

Enver...I don't even know how to correctly express my lack of interest and frustration with this whole thing. He's just barely interesting, but the interactions with him and Karigan (especially at the end) were just forced, foolish, and really, why in the world would Ms. Britain add that part in?

I also agree with fellow readers: Ms. Britain needs to stop torturing her main character for no reason. I am getting sick and tired of Karigan getting these extensive injuries for really poorly constructed reasons. One or two, fine, as she has a dangerous job, and it would make sense, but we're past that now, and I dislike authors who torture their characters as a cheat to keep the book interesting. Small hint: it doesn't. What it does due is irritate several of us readers, and make us even less inclined to pick up the next book. Given how many other reasons there are not to pick up the next book...it may be best not to add to them. I wouldn't mind Karigan getting injured on occasion for reasons that made sense, but I am sick of her just being forced through situations that feel drastically overwritten/played.

So, yes, this book was better than Mirror Sight. We got back to the original feel (sort of) of the books. Despite that though, it was a huge disappointment, and I am not certain I'm sticking around for 7/8. At this point, I think the series needs a conclusion fast, and I think Ms. Britain's editors need to put a word count cap on her books (for the record, this comes from a reader who generally wants word count restrictions LIFTED) so she might actually resolve more of her plot lines, have less of these random side character point of views, and return even more to the original feel of the series.

[Tammie · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Zachary Davriel Hillander, High King of Sacoridia, rues how much he has had to give up for his realm, including the freedom to live and love as he chooses."

I feel for you Zachary. I really do...

The Green Rider series is one of my favorites and I've been anxiously waiting to read this book. I had high hopes for Firebrand, especially after Mirror Sight was a bit of a disappointment, and I'm happy to say that it lived up to them! We are back to the present in this book and I couldn't be happier with the direction it has taken.

The book starts out pretty much right after Karigan gets back and she is on leave recuperating from her experiences in the previous book. Meanwhile Grandmother is up to her usual evil tricks, and she unleashes a powerful elemental who comes after King Zachary, and becomes fixated on the beautiful Queen Estora, who is now expecting twins. There is quite a lot of Estora in the first part of this book and pretty much all I can ever think of while I'm reading about her is "Die, Estora, Die!" But unfortunately I know she isn't going to die any time soon. At least not before King Zachary's heirs are born. Her parts of the book were a bit of a drag for me. So let's get back to Grandmother, who I think deserves much more mention here than Estora. I just love the concept of the evil, knitting Granny. She is truly a scary person and she is a formidable enemy and she doesn't disappoint in this book. What happens with her character in the end though is priceless! I found it very satisfying that the very thing grandmother summons to kill the king ends up being the thing that kills her in the end

Much happens in the book that I don't want to spoil so I will just say that Zachary and Karigan end up in the same place for a good part of the book and their interactions and the time spent with Zachary made the book worth reading. We get to spend a good chunk of the book reading Zachary's point of view and I absolutely loved it! At one point after Karigan has been gravely injured and feeling broken he is there at her side...

"If I could change it all for you, if it were in my power to spare you, I would do so. If I could trade places with you, I would. But I can only be here with you, and I will tell you this: you are not broken, and every inch of you is dear to me and whole."

There was some heart fluttering going on while I read this part of the book. Zachary may be heading toward being added to my literary dream guys list. This book was a lot about Zachary, thus the title Firebrand, which is what the Eletians call him. I felt like he was truly in his element here as the king and leader of his people. How refreshing to see him in the middle of the fight. There are so many sides to him that I really love.

Other things that I really loved were the gryphons disguised as house cats. Even though they did seem to appear at some really convenient times to help save the day, I enjoyed their presence in the story. And as usual I loved the horses. A book that has cats and horses in it can't go wrong with me!

There are some things that I found to be holes in the story, like Westrion and why he needs an avatar. It's not explained real well and I'm not clear on why he can't protect the seal himself. And the wall is greatly ignored in this book with only small glimpses of what Alton is doing. And it seemed like Karigan bounced back too easily when it came to losing the use of her eye. I'm no sword fighter but I would assume that the loss of vision on one side would be a hindrance and I felt like it was very glossed over and not even noticed by Karigan, but in the overall scheme of things those were minor issues for me.

A bigger issue for me was that I felt that Karigan mourned the loss of Cade too much and for too long (throughout most of the book). Cade is largely a character that I never really got attached to and so can't really see the attachment Karigan had to him. That may be because as a reader I feel like I barely knew the guy. I mean after all, he was only in one book. The other relationships in the series have gone on for much longer and so I care about those people way more.

It seems like things may be starting to move forward now plot wise, and after the side trip that was the last book, that is a very good thing. On the forbidden romance front, there was a small amount of movement there, but of course, nothing that could be resolved. I do think at some point Estora will have to die. The most predictable way is while delivering the twins. Whether Kristen Britain goes the predictable route remains to be seen, but Estora's death would help to fix the forbidden romance problem, because Zachary would have heirs and wouldn't have to marry again, at least not for the good of the kingdom.

I had so many feelings when I got to the end of this book and it was hard to actually write a review. Why is it so hard to write reviews for the books I love the most? Karigan once again was really abused in this book and I hope that things will be a little easier for her in the next one because it gets increasingly harder to read about these things happening to her. Please let some good things happen to her in the next book without all the terrible things!

This is my second favorite book in the series so far, right behind First Rider's Call. I wish it wouldn't take three plus years to get the next book, because as usual the wait will be torture.

Review also posted at Writings of a Reader

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Update: 4+ years later and I still don't like this book.

The one thing I wanted to add beyond what I wrote the first time around is that there never seem to be any lasting consequences for anything since Mirror Sight. Karigan came back in time and forgot about the future (that didn't end up happening because of time travel) but then she remembered basically everything thru a combination of Yates' drawings and Lhean's "lancing of her wound". Karigan lost her eye sight in the mirror eye, but after about a month she's basically back at her previous skill level. Estral's voice was taken by Lala but then she is immediately (on page) given someone else's. Karigan loses the "potential" for her pregnancy only for us to find out Estora is suddenly having twins, you can't tell me those aren't related. It all just feels too convenient.

Anyway, I'm tired so I'll just keep working on my own alternate ending thanks.

~~~

I really struggled with the lead up to this book after the let down of the last one. I wanted to be excited. I wanted to love it as much as I loved the first 4 books, but overall it was another substantial disappointment. This review contains spoilers, you have been warned.

First I just have to take a moment to address the writing and editing of this novel. Maybe I’ve been reading higher level writing lately, but Firebrand seemed much lower quality than what I remember from her previous books. There were several instances throughout the book where sentences ran on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on. You think I’m exaggerating? Here’s one example, “She was, of course, acquainted with her counterpart in Rhovanny, and he would not tolerate, she was sure, the lieutenant’s comportment, especially as a visitor in another realm.” That sentence has six, count them, SIX commas in it. These books are a quick read for me, but that sentence brought me to a screeching halt because I got lost in all of the fragments that had been strung together by commas to form something resembling a sentence. Which, in hindsight, is a good representation of how the entire book felt; a bunch of fragments strung together that sort of forms something resembling a book. How about this instead, “She was acquainted with her counterpart in Rhovanny and was sure he would not tolerate the lieutenant’s comportment, especially as a visitor in another realm.” It says the same thing but it’s much less wordy. With three years between books I don’t understand how something like that makes it to the final draft.

Another technical problem with this book was the abuse of POV changes. I'm all for multiple plot lines going on at once but KB doesn't seem to know how to do this effectively. The only purpose Alton’s chapters served was to provide an explanation for where the griffins came from so that they could save the day later, twice. Slee - why even? Nari - unnecessary, white noise, added nothing of value. Estora - tiresome, pointless, annoying, literally threatens to cut a bitch before they come between her and Zachary, but then proceeds in her infinitely manipulative ways to play nicey nice by inviting Karigan to her room for tea and poetry. Can she just die already? Please? Or at the very least show some character development. Mapstone - got promoted *rolls eyes*, starts to think maybe she was wrong for working so hard to keep K&Z apart *rolls eyes harder*. I actually didn't mind Zachary’s chapters since he actually had a significant plot line but it also still felt like filler part of the time. Other than that there were just too many to juggle with no real purpose behind them other than to fill pages, they were just white noise. Significant portions of the book felt somewhat disjointed, like a meandering story your uncle tries to recount after he’s had a few too many. Seriously, how is it possible for a book this long to also feel like nothing happened?

One of the most disappointing and problematic aspects of this book was the fact that it did little to nothing to advance the overall plot of the series. Sure they confronted Second Empire and Grandmother was killed (by the elemental that she summoned, anti-climactic much???) but otherwise it was 800 pages of standing still. No progress with the wall; no progress with Estral's voice; we didn’t hear or see any sign of Mornhavon, you remember him, don’t you? You know, the MAIN VILLAIN of the entire series. It’s glaringly obvious that she’s making it up as she goes along here and has no real grasp on where the overall story arc is going to land. Main plotlines have been left hanging for 1500+ pages, while a myriad of new things and characters were invented to bide time for 3 or 4 more books that were bought before they were conceived.

Speaking of plot, I want to touch on the gross amount of torture that Karigan was put through in the name of “advancing the plot”. I’m a huge proponent of conflict drives plot but conflict does not equal torturing your protagonist repeatedly and leaving her in an unrealistic state of agony. But magic! Yes, they healed her with magic but magic could only heal her just enough so that she could go traipsing about and hurt herself even more. Should magic in fantasy worlds have limitations? Absolutely. But those limitations shouldn’t be defined by how much pain and suffering you can string your characters through. Stop torturing your protag to ‘keep things interesting’ and ‘drive the plot’ because if that’s the only thing you have to hang onto then you’re severely lacking.

The entire book was far too predictable for my taste, it was almost like I’d read it before…

Karigan and (Fergal) Co. go off on a long but seemingly safe message errand to (fetch rider horses) meet with the moose people - Canada, eh?

Laren is happy to send her off to get her away from Zachary because she doesn’t trust either of them.

While Karigan is away, (Estora) Zachary is kidnapped by (Second Empire) Slee who was summoned by Second Empire.

(Estora) Zachary ends up in the hands of Second Empire.

Karigan and (Fergal) Co. unknowingly stumble upon the kidnapped (Estora) Zachary and devise a reckless plan to rescue (her) him, during said plan Karigan is badly injured.

Karigan is summoned to act as Westrion’s avatar via Salvistar and they travel back to (Sacor City) Ifel Aeon in the Lone Forest to close the gate between the layers of the world that Grandmother opened up in (the Royal Tombs) Ifel Aeon.

Ahh, there it is, the same base outline as High King’s Tomb. I knew I’d seen that tree before. I bet you thought we wouldn’t notice. But we did.

The lead up to and through the climax of the book felt like watching a match of tennis. We follow Karigan and Estral to the Lone Forest; Enver rescues Karigan and Estral back to their hideaway; we go back to the LF to rescue Zachary and Lord Fiori; we go back to their hideaway; we go back to the LF to defeat Second Empire; we go back to the hideaway to watch Salvistar summon Karigan; we go back to the LF to close the Aeon Iire. Four full laps back and forth got just a bit old. (Bonus, Karigan went back to the camp to heal but then came back to the keep in the LF again to sit with Zachary while he was healing).

The premise of the book was Karigan going off to find the moose people and form an alliance with them. It takes her nearly the whole 800 pages to get there and then when she finally does she meets them she’s in and out in about 15 pages later. Anti-climactic again? The book was entirely too long for the amount of stuff that actually happened. I lost track of the number of times I caught myself thinking ‘just get on with it already’ which is probably a great tagline for the entire series at this point given the long periods between books. And then after the meandering build up the ending of the book was far too rushed, it felt like an afterthought. Not to mention the introduction of a multitude of new questions that we have no hope of getting answers to anytime soon. I feel like that section needed to be longer. Or, since it happened in the last 30 pages of the book, something else needed to happen after that continued the results of that event. The book is 800 pages - 15 pages dedicated to the whole point of the mission seems a bit stupid. And if that mission was never meant to be the main focus of the book then it shouldn’t have been set up to be.

Remember in the first book where the message she carried to Sacor City meant life or death? For a bit they thought it was nothing and dismissed it, a seemingly anticlimactic conclusion to her impromptu mission. But then it continued, it came back and played a large part in the climax of the book. This time? Karigan goes to form alliance and the climax is her serving as avatar for Westrion yet again. Then, as if an afterthought, here’s that alliance we mentioned, and oh yeah, here’s the one useful thing so far from an otherwise mute plot point about her mirror eye from the last book. SO GLAD that we spent 700+ pages of Mirror Sight so that she could get the super special eye with magical mirror powers of seeing the future, so that after another 700+ pages of Firebrand it could finally be useful for something and win over the moose people to forge an alliance against- wait who was it again… Oh, that’s right, that Mornhavon fellow, you probably forgot since you haven’t seen or heard from him in nearly 1600 combined pages.

And don’t get me started on that damn mirror eye because no, just no. It would take a significant amount of time for her to adapt to only having the one eye, not to mention the loss of peripheral vision which is mentioned only once or twice. But to add insult to injury we are meant to believe that she was still able to engage in Level 1 swordmaster skill with one month of retraining herself to acclimate to having only one eye? Doubtful, very doubtful, hardly believable.

Enver, there’s so much to say about Enver. First off, I would have preferred it if there had been no Enver. I would have much preferred that Lhean accompany Karigan to meet the moose people so we could see some continued character development. But no, we had to have another new character. But not just any new character, we had to have Enver, the halfling, who is young and has not yet mastered himself. Because then we could throw in the curveball of him falling for Karigan (because we couldn’t see that coming from the page he walked in on) and her not returning his feelings. Then to rub a bit of salt in the gaping wound, we learn about the ‘savage’ side of eletians and how Enver will become a danger to Karigan and force himself on her if she does not reciprocate. Because, you know, it’s in their nature and they can’t fight it, right? *coughrapecough*

While we’re on the subject of character development, Karigan moping about Cade was annoying at best. Maybe it would have held more meaning if their romance hadn’t felt so forced in the last book, which nearly destroyed the entire series for me. The time spent in the future, specifically with Cade, changed Karigan, and not for the better. She's mourning the "loss" of a man that she never should have gotten involved with (or remembered, don't even get me started on how Yates' pictures shouldn't even exist).

The bit with Nyssa getting in her head and “breaking” her was eliciting maximum internal screaming from me because it just didn’t feel like our strong and steadfast Karigan should have broken so easily. I know, I know, they lashed her over 26 times, her back was in ribbons, she may never (re: she will and in a surprisingly short amount of time) recover from those wounds to her back or be able to fight with a sword again. But it was the set up and delivery of the whole thing that ruined it for me. It felt very rushed and the results somewhat exaggerated for the experience. I feel like if she wanted Karigan to have a pseudo mental breakdown and question her entire resolve, her worth, and her ability then it needed to be more systematic than just 26 lashes and one stab wound. Yes, the pain in her back lingered but Nyssa didn’t even toy with her. She didn’t do hardly anything to get into her head in the first place, let alone to haunt her and cripple her self confidence the way she did. It also would have been nice if for once, Karigan was the one who was rescued instead of the one doing the rescuing. I would have liked to see Enver Lhean come across Zachary and Fiori and then have them rescue Karigan. If she was tortured, mentally and physically, while they were plotting her rescue then her breakdown would have been more realistic.

I will admit that I love the K&Z romance but even as a self declared captain of this ship, their continued pining after one another in ignorance of each others’ feelings (really, guys? everyone else can damn well tell, why can’t you?) is getting a bit old. But somehow KB did the only thing more infuriating than keeping them apart; she let them have a brief shining moment of almost, kinda, sorta being together in a vaguely defined sense of the term. Since First Rider’s Call she has only ever widened the gulf separating them, first with Estora and then with Cade. And then after all that she throws them back together, removed from Sacor City *coughLarenandEstoracough* so that in a dramatic moment, after several near death experiences, they can finally kiss. Just like that. After 19 years and nearly 6 books their first kiss happens like this?! “Overcome by having nearly lost her yet again, and by equal measures of relief that he had not, he kissed her hair, her eyes, her face, her lips…” As a shameless fan of this ship I did not wait all this time for their first kiss to be frantic, desperate, thoughtless, and fleeting. Sure, they kiss again five seconds later and it’s deeper, longer, and engulfs them is some sort of radiant light because they are heart mates (because soul mates would sound too cliche, right?), but after all this time they deserved better than that. And then it’s over, because it has to be. Because that gulf is still there. So their relationship “advanced”, just so that it could go back to what it was at the beginning of the book. Cool.

There are many more things that I could touch on, like the entire outcome of the rescue attempts hinging on Merdigen’s decision to let Mister Whisker’s out to find a mate, or Grandmother dying at the hands of the elemental she summoned rather than literally anyone else. But I think I hit the highlights pretty well. There were a few good moments in there that were reminiscent of the first few books, but I won’t be anxiously awaiting the release date for book 7 (my guess is May 2020; guess I was a little ambitious there lol). I think I’ll just imagine my own ending for the series instead.

I also wonder what kind of an average rating this book would have if not for all the fans who jumped ship after the shipwreck that was the last book, and the glossy eyed fans who are fawning over this one simply because it returned to the familiar Sacoridia we started with. I doubt Firebrand honestly deserves the highest rating of the series so far.

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

- spoiler Alert -


I did like the book, but the series as a whole is starting to show weakness. The plot was rather entertaining in previous installments so the weaknesses didn't really matter but now...It's kind of obvious.

If I were to sum up the issues of Firebrand, they would be:

1. Convenient plot solutions aka asspulls (Gryphons, the last elemental who *assisted in the finale*, Karigan's magic eye convincing characters of things they did not believe in less than 10 seconds, and many many others.

2. Karigan's luck in life: That girl has had enough, she needs a break. I love you girl, stay strong.

3. Everyone explains everything to everyone else when they meet them...... These people are like a walking Facebook.... If they had pictures, I'm sure they would share...Every encounter Karigan has with other characters usually goes like this "...and then she explained to them the story of bla bla bla and they were good listeners but asked a few thoughtful questions here and there" . Karigan dear, it's okay not to divulge everything that happens to you. Same for the rest of the cast.

4. Estora and Laren Mapstone: This series is about green riders and adventures, heroes vanquishing villains, struggles, and much more. Screen time should not be wasted on politicians and bureaucrats. I personally do no care about trading agreements, Estora's tea time, her poetry books, lame minor characters (the princeling) targeted by their bodyguard. Also, Mapstone went from an engaging character to a sycophantic bureaucrat. Her new shiny rank or gold braids fall very short when compared to Karigan's gut wrenching struggles. It's like comparing tin to gold. But yeah, there was a lot of tin in this book. The first two thirds of the book were very slow, boring and detrimental to the narrative. Estora and her sofa took more chapters than Grandmother (the main villain of the book who was also the driving force of the conflict).

5. The plot twists could be seen miles ahead, one character's death, Nari and her fate, Gryphons saving the day and then leaving, etc...

The things I find redeemed the book:

1. Zachary: I do not care about romance drama, in fact I hope the author kills it. What I did love was Zachary finally in his element. He's a berserker, a force of nature. Too much thinking in the previous books crippled this character, but in Firebrand (his book), he was phenomenal. He should be leading armies on the battle field. I hope the author reads this review. Please don't waste Zachary's potential on petty politics and bureaucracy. Don't make him passive/pensive again . No one cares about lumber trades or Kuav availability in Sacoridia.

2. Grandmother, she is despicable, malevolent, the personification of evil AND a brilliant antagonist. I was truly creeped out during her chapters because she's a demon in human skin. She did her role exceedingly well. I like plot conflict when it leads the story forward, not when it mires it in the swamp of romantic drama. Congratulations on creating this character! If it wasn't for her. The Green Rider saga would be "boring politics in a fantastical setting".

3. The tie-ins with the previous book, I didn't like Mirror Sight much but I did appreciate the characters of Cade and Raven. I loved them in fact, I'm glad they are remembered. This book made me appreciate Cade and the simplicity of his storyline more.

4. Avatar of the Gods plot line: very intriguing.

5. Karigan, I will always love her and her storylines. She truly is a hero.

6. This book had more brutal themes than the previous ones which shows the maturity of the world building.

My suggestions for future books:

1. Karigan: Please let her have her day in the sun, the hidden hero is a tiring plot line. She needs a break and more time with Condor.

2. Mapstone: She needs to stop talking and actually do something proactive. The combat lessons emphasized this point. Aside from giving orders or attending meetings, she's not very useful. Bickering with colonels and random unnamed characters is a waste of screen time.

3. The green riders: More screen time please. Also Alton needs a chance to shine. He could be something great.

4. Zachary: Needs to stop overthinking (or thinking in general) and start leading the fight actively. He's a bloody swordmaster for heaven's sake. Also, more berserk mode please.

5. Second Empire: needs to keep doing what they're doing. Those evil, sadistic fanatic assholes. They're doing it well.

6. The Weapons: more more more, they are amazing. They were pretty lowkey in this book, which was sad. I'd love to see more weapons-in-training and tomb weapons. Also, the mystic side of their craft would be amazing to explore. There were hints at spiritual and physical aspects to their swordsmanship.

7. Estora: needs to die and give her screentime to more useful characters. Period.

8. Estral: I'd love to see her development, since she showed to be a charming character with a lot of inner strength.

9. Politics and artificial conflict: NO NO NO and please no more. At the end of the day, readers signed up for Karigan, her friends and their struggles against supernatural calamities, not useless bullshit; secretaries, dignitaries, diplomats, this province, that province, bla bla bla. It's crap.

Two stars for an entertaining read. Though I hope the series wraps up pretty soon because the story is already bloated as is.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am attempting to keep this review spoiler free, but anyone who has read the previous books might guess a few things.

Reading this book made my heart sing. The time between books is so empty and this was a much needed return to Sacoridia and to the Karigan we know. I spent much of the book smiling and cheering as I read about familiar characters, the situations they had or were getting themselves into, and the advancement of the story.

Karigan has returned to her time after the events of Mirror Sight. She is learning how to handle the repercussions of the events of "Mirror Sight," while the kingdom prepares for war. I know many fans who were not thrilled with Mirror Sight, and I think that this is the book that they were expecting instead. Readers should not dismiss "Mirror Sight" though, because much of what happened in that book affects Karigan and Sacoridia in this timeline.

Karigan spends much of the book trying to recover mentally from all that has happened to her, but that does not mean that the story lacks action. There is a sense of maturity, healing, and progression as Karigan is thrown into action.

Karigan has been through so much, and I finished this book feeling as though she had begun a long process of healing, inside and out. I finished this book feeling confident that she was moving in the right direction, and that she would come out stronger and, if possible, more stubborn and strong willed than ever.

Bad guys do bad things, heroes fight (sometimes more successfully than others), and all of our characters are pushed forward as Sacoridia prepares for war. I was thrilled with this book, although "The High King's Tomb" is still my favorite of the series. My husband said that I had a grin on my face the entire time that I was reading, and I caught myself audibly shouting out cheers (and in some cases swear words) as the story progressed. I would buy the book again in a heart beat, and will be purchasing it again on it's release date. Fantasy lovers will enjoy many of the new things that come into play, and and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this book to any lover of fantasy or the Green Rider series.

[Miyu · Rating 5 out of 5]

It has a name... does it mean that we dont have to wait for the release for another 3 years? *puppy eyes*

estimated release date (according to Kristen Britain FB): 7.3.2017 :)

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review from Tenacious Reader: http://www.tenaciousreader.com/2017/0...

Just a quick reminder that while my review is spoiler free for Firebrand, there are likely spoilers for the previous books.

There is something about returning to read a new book the Green Rider series that just makes me happy. Maybe it is because I this is one of the first series I read in the fantasy genre, but I just find them to be very addictive, comfort reads that make me want to curl up with it until I finish. This one was no exception.

With Firebrand, Karigan returns to her own time, so it includes many of our favorite characters from books past. I know not everyone was thrilled with the change in setting/characters/time period with the last book, though I personally really enjoyed it. For those that were less than thrilled, fear not, this book is much in line with the first 4 books in the series.

Karigan is distraught and heartbroken over leaving Cade behind. She misses him deeply and feels guilt over leaving him, not knowing if he is still alive or not. In some ways, it was overwhelming, and impacted her personality a bit. But not so much that I felt it overdone or a departure from how she should be. Poor Karigan finally found love with someone where there were no restraints, it was wonderful for her. At least not until she returned to her time.

For readers who may have found Karigan whiny in past books (not my word, but one I have seen mentioned), you may feel some of the same issues with this one. I can’t say for certain as I have always enjoyed Karigan, so it felt like a reasonable amount of upset. But this is Karigan, so you know she won’t let it keep her from doing her duty. She always finds a well of strength when needed, and it’s why I enjoy her so much. I also loved that with this book, she earns a new level of distinction amongst her peers. (Sorry, I won’t tell you what it is exactly, you’ll have to read it to find out)

It is not long until a mission comes up that requires Karigan and her unique abilities, which seems a good way to get her to focus on something other than her loss. This journey takes her toward enemy lines and is a mission that no one is sure can be completed. It’s a long-shot, but isn’t that what Karigan does best?

In the mean time, Grandmother is back and sets her evil, necromancy hands to work trying to upheave Sacoridia. The creature she resurrects is far more evil and destructive than is first apparent. It’s abilities cause serious upset in the palace. I have to admit, I was not expecting the twist that came from this and found it to be a great read. We also got to see King Zachary taken out of his element, pushed to new limits and be tested in ways he has never been before.

Speaking of Zachary, there was the continued romantic tension between Zachary and Karigan, you could feel his heart ache for her as she was aching for the loss of Cade. One of these days, I really hope that Britain allows Karigan to finding lasting happiness with someone, because I just don’t think her heart can take more heartbreak. King Zachary is the one I felt frustrated with at times as I wished he could just stop reopening old wounds and let her move on.

While bad things happen in the book, as usual, over all I leave the book feeling positive, even if I know there is more trouble ahead for the characters (which, yes, there is more trouble coming for Book 7. We got a very interesting glimpse of it in the end), but it’s never overwhelming, and it seems like there is always enough positive achieved that it overshadows everything else. Again, I am left waiting for the next installment so I can curl up again and enjoy the ride.

[Mookie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think that after 14 some years, I've finally outgrown the Green Rider series. The writing and the plot just do not account for the length of this series. Great writing it ain't. A long series like this should have immense world-building platforms, but mostly it's tied to a "he wants her, she wants him, let's watch all the ways she gets physically and emotionally tortured during this period of wanting" formula. The romantic feelings that characters have for one another is beaten to a pulp repeatedly throughout it. We get it. And this hero worshipping of Karigan needs to stop. Now she's a swordmaster AND an avatar? It's too much. She's going to be promoted to God status next time around. The writing is ideal for young adults. Which is why a series like this is untenable for young adults considering the young adults all outgrow it.

Well, after the dumpster fire that was the last book, this was an improvement. Mainly, that Karigan is actually in her own world and none of the events were erased. It would be amazing if the last book had some relevance to this book, but no, the only thing it was useful for was to give Karigan some emotional depth through her relationship with Cade. This is a relationship-driven series. There was some advancement between Karigan and Zachary, and like the basic biatch that I am, I'll probably follow the books until the end just to see the resolution. Like everybody else. But I'll do so grumpily.

The problem is, is that I've forgotten everything about the previous books. And they're too long for me to reread. So I was just skimming through all the plot points because they no longer had any relevance for me. I refuse to reread all the book before a new release (another 3 years maybe?) just to catch up. So at this point I am only invested in the romance. I don't understand why Karigan is being tortured to the extent that she is. It's hard to think of her as a strong character when much of her time is spent in recovery. (Also, minute point, but that scene where Zachary wakes up with an erection, and has an awkward conversation about it with his valet or whatever, um, weird. Many, many dudes wake up with morning wood. Why is that subject for discussion? It's little instances like this that just diminish the integrity of the plot and makes this feel more like fanfiction than an actual series.

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alright. I've been formulating this review since I first started reading the book somewhere around 3-4 weeks ago. I'll start by saying that I have NOT been a lifetime follower of Kristen Britain's--I only started reading the Green Rider series around this time last year, and blew through the first 5 books as fast as I could get my hands on them. I love them! I finished Mirror Sight somewhere around January, and I eagerly awaited Firebrand's arrival in my local libraries (because I was, thankfully, unwilling to pay 40$ for a hardcover) and was only able to pick it up in early September.

None of the other Green Rider books have taken almost a month or longer to read, and it wasn't the size of this book that increased the duration; At somewhere in the realm of 700 pages it was probably the longest, but at this point in its lifetime its only available in hardcover and the print is excessively large which really only adds to the patronizing feel of the novel itself.

First Rider's Call had a pretty poor beginning. It took a long time to pick up and actually get the plot moving--the next few books after it definitely started better, but Britain absolutely relapsed with Firebrand. More than a quarter of the 700+ page novel was essentially Castle Life Simulator that tried and failed to be a humorous insight. There was nothing to draw the reader in--instead it was a flurry of recaps and after the events of the 5th novel, the protagonist meeting everyone and having lots of conversations that had nothing to do with anything at all. Now, I'm a fan of the 'slice of life' style stuff, but this was ham handed and dare I say, poorly written. Nothing flowed, nothing felt natural, and it was a huge disappointment after the drama that the 5th book exploded with at the end. What should have happened was a continuation of the adrenaline that the conclusion of Mirror Sight left off with, tapering down into Karigan's readjustment to life and its eccentricities. I felt like a lot of the emotional and mental turmoil that Karigan herself was privy to was toned down, glossed over, and overall just quite underwhelming. As someone who does struggle with trauma-related mental illness, seeing Karigan's trauma laid out on the page in such a poor manner was quite disheartening. It was the epitome of the "you tried" meme with the yellow star in pencil crayon scribbled out--there was an attempt made but, with the beginning at least, there is no further commendation I could reasonably give.

When the plot...................eventually started picking up, I had already grown quite disheartened and there weren't many times throughout the novel where I felt my heart rate pick up like I had with the other books. Reading on transit to and from work became a chore rather than a good point in my day, and more often than not the Sudoku app on my phone proved much more entertaining.

Firebrand seems to have been written with the idea in mind that the readers are forgetful children who need every single event from the five previous novels summed up every few paragraphs in a simplistic 2-sentence internally monologued Sparknote from the narrating character. With that being said, Britain seems to have. forgotten. how people speak. The dialogue had no flow and could have been written by someone who has never actually seen or heard other people speak or interact with each other. Many of the interactions were realistic, and the characters still maintained my interest, but more often than not even they lacked depth and appeal. There really wasn't any good internal dialogue from any of the narrating characters as there once was--Britain also seemed to forget her characters, or at least, didn't describe sufficient development for them to act in a different manner.

In terms of action, which has been inconsistently written from book to book, Firebrand was another dip in quality in that regard as well. There were DOZENS of spots in the novel where I read past what was a KEY event that was summarized with "and X told Y this". Having just read the action scene, that can pass, but it really pulls one out of the flow of the book, in a way that's comparable to some video games that suddenly skip massive periods of time and leave the player feeling confused and somewhat stranded.

also (and this really ANNOYED me), the chapter titles? spoil everything. You could grasp the entire plot of the novel by reading the chapter titles. honestly. it was bullshit. I'd finish one chapter thinking "what will Karigan do next??" and then the chapter titles says "Karigan does THIS and the next 10 pages will tell you how!" and again just destroys any natural flow the novel COULD have had. It was like reading a textbook where the contents are all easily organized in section titles, which is fine for a textbook but not when you're trying to keep a reader engaged in the progression of the plot.

there was also the matter of just..............................very hamhanded sexual content. Don't get me wrong-sexytimes in books is! Great! Sure! Does it work with the characters and plot? Great! Cool! But trying to make a character a convincing sadist and having part of her 'evil charm' be the fact that she kisses another woman and sucks a guy's dick in front of 6 people? Good god. That's just bad writing. That's not scary. That's just a poor attempt at trying to cover up the fact that you forgot how to make a compelling character with a completely out of place 'shock factor' that really did nothing for anyone. Not even the guy getting the BJ.

With regards to the plot, it was pretty good! I enjoyed the GENERAL progression of the story, although as mentioned previously, the pacing and details were pretty lacking, the bones of the story were there and enjoyable. HOWEVER. You cannot start the novel off (halfway through said novel but I DIGRESS) with the plot of "they need to do X thing!", almost disregard that for the bulk of the novel due to a new threat appearing, and then rush in the last 6 pages to solve that whole plot thread. Honestly...... save that for the next book.

There was also the matter of just HOW MANY TIMES Karigan/every supporting cast member said "why does it have to be you!!!!!!" which, yeah it sucks, poor Karigan, but its obvious at this point that in Sacoridia, every fuckin thing that could POSSIBLY happen is going to happen to Karigan. Her character is rather getting overloaded in terms of divine intervention, and I love Karigan but it's at this point where other people also need to do shit.

I love Karigan...... but her character in this novel lacked. There was too much of a GRRM-esque shifting between character's POVs, which just distracted too much from the actual protagonist. I realize that may be contradictory to my previous statement but it really made a huge impact. Especially having the (spoiler!!!!!!!!!) Aureas Slee as a character that could walk and talk was. Bad.

All in all I was rather disappointed! I'm still interested in the series and in the fate of Karigan, Zachary, Laren, and everyone, but I've definitely developed a distrust and won't be buying the next book straight off the shelf when it comes out at some point in the next decade.

2 stars because I have yet to give up hope. Yet.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

Warnings for spoilers, because I'm not holding back.

I'm not quite sure how many more books Britain is planning to write in this series (really, whatever the number is, it's still going to take a looooong looong time for them to be released), but maybe this might be where we part ways.

I've enjoyed this series for a number of years, and I still think that the earlier books are great, but these last two books - Firebrand, and in particular Mirror Sight - have been considerable disappointments. I had a number of problems with Mirror Sight, and it really didn't help that some of those plot threads I had difficulty with transferred into this new installment. Numero Uno being the character that is Cade Harlow.

Cade features very heavily throughout these 800 pages, always as a ghost figure occupying Karigan's thoughts, and honestly I was sick of him after the second or third time that he showed up and Kargian went into helpless grief-stricken sobbing. It's not that I have a problem with her grief and mourning, because I don't, but it's more the fact that (and maybe this is my cynicism showing here) I never really believed in their love in the first place, back when it all happened in Mirror Sight. Certainly not from Karigan, anyway, and the resulting emotion that followed didn't always feel real to me.

On the subject of Kargian herself, while she is a great character and I've enjoyed her journey right from the beginning, I'm really starting to get sick of the whole 'Karigan-is-a-special-snowflake-and-only-she-can-do-dangerous-missions-and-survive-and-omg-did-you-know-she's-practically-a-swordsmaster-now?-oh-and-she's-practically-the-human-avatar-for-the-death-god-and-she-has-a-freaky-eye-that-can-see-into-the-future' thing. Yeaaahhhhh. I kind of feel that maybe Britain is starting to descend into this whole thing of just trying to tell us how great and badass and capable Karigan is with how she always manages to get herself out of situations that no one else can, or do things that no one else can do (or is always bloody 'chosen' to do something that's apparently important instead of just showing it? Because in all honesty, I don't really feel that Karigan deserved swordsmaster status. We don't really see her doing a lot of sword fighting when she's in a battle or a fight, it's always described very quickly and over just as quick; it's more that we get told how great she is and how much better than her opponents and yeah, whatever, I still don't believe it.

The later scene between her and Nyssa where she's being tortured and basically has her back whipped with barbed wire? I had a few problems with that as well. A) I'm pretty sure no one could have survived that many lashes of that kind, especially with Kargian insisting on dragging herself around and being all 'hero-y' afterwards, except that of course it's our special snowflake, so why am I not surprised, and B) the actual torture scene was so reminiscent of the one at the end of Outlander (minus the sex) that it somehow ruined the shock factor for me? I mean, yeah, horrible horrible things are happening, but I'd honestly felt like 'been there, read that'. Plus, Britain's execution of it wasn't exactly smooth or seamless, and it felt unnecessarily jarring - like another means for Karigan to prove just how 'special' she was in her devotion to the king, etc. That meant that I rolled my eyes throughout the whole thing, while simultaneously mentally urging Britain to just get on with things, dammit.

Also, as a side note - what the hell was up with that random descent into jealousy from Estora and the decision that she wasn't going to let anything stand in the way between her and Zachary? Including Karigan? Um, out-of-character, much? Maybe we can blame it on the hormones - she is dangerously pregnant with - Oh Gosh, wait for it - twins, as we get reminded every two pages or whatever throughout the novel.

Fantasy books often have a reputation for being giant tomes, and at 800 pages, Firebrand is no exception. Honestly though, there is so much stuff that felt unnecessary that could have been edited out - like the fact that nothing happens for the first 200 pages except for one little magical attack that lasts maybe about 10 pages, at most. We're nearly at page 300 before Karigan finally leaves the castle for her day job - being a Green Rider, in case you forgot with all the world-saving and everything that she does.

So yeah, I had pacing issues. Particularly as the next 400 pages in a book about Karigan's mission with the Eleltians to seek out the p'ehdrose are taken up with evil machinations of Grandmother (you have no idea how excited I am because she finally died. Seriously the whole 'bubble, bubble toil and trouble, I will bring doom to Sacoridia and we will restore the Second Empire' thing was getting repetitive and annoying, particularly because it's the same thing repeated over and over), the kidnapping of Zachary and the boring travels of Karigan and Estral as they also search for her father. Oh yeah, and there's a couple of run-ins with Second Empire for Karigan. Basically after 780 pages of doing everything BUT looking for the p'ehdrose, there's maybe 8 pages like 'hey wow look we actually found them, and guess what they said they'd help us'. So damn anti-climatic.

Ugh, this review is so long already, but basically, after Mirror Sight, I had hopes that Firebrand would be able to steer the series back on the right track. Maybe for some readers it has, but overall? I was disappointed, and I honestly don't know if I'm going to continue the series when undoubtedly the next novel is released in another 5 bloody years.

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

My spoiler tags aren’t jokes. Some major spoilers under those - minor spoilers throughout. Some ranting and some typos.

Firebrand picks up shortly after Mirror Sight ended. Karigan is still reeling from her time in Mill Town and she’s going through some serious mourning for Cade. Despite the grief, we do get some lighthearted moments with her family and friends so it’s not all doom and gloom. The Eletians arrive and an alliance of old must be reforged - and of course they demand Karigan be the Sacoridian envoy. Of *course* they do. Shenanigans abound, Estora will cut a bitch if they try to come between her and her hubby even though she knows he doesn’t love her (but she keeps things super, not at all manipulatively nice, between her and Karigan), and Enver is weird. Kidnappings happen, people are tortured, and certain individuals are rescued. Gods, balance, avatar, Second Empire, etc, etc, etc. All good, then. Oh, and Karigan has the Sacoridian equivalent of a sailor’s mouth. Girl done grown up.

I was extremely ambivalent about purchasing this book. Ideally what I wanted to do was wait for the next book or two and then catch up. Because, honestly, the lagging storylines and the whole romance mess between Zachary and Karigan is getting old. How old? Well, if you’ve been with the series from the beginning like me, NINETEEN YEARS OLD. Ugh. Anyway, on the one hand I’m glad I picked it up and on the other hand I feel like I’ll be having the exact same debate the next go-around because this book has many of the same issues as those of old - hanging plot lines and Karigan gets shafted left, right, and center because our protagonist can’t catch a break. Conflict drives plot, but do you have to constantly kick someone who’s already down? By now I’d have given the gods the middle finger, put on my thickest wool greatcoat and found the deepest, coldest pond, and jumped right in. And it is 100% possible to write a compelling book without getting all angsty in the romance department. I just read a series, still ongoing, where there’s no love triangle, they actually love each other, has flawed characters, AND they have adult conversations about being in a relationship. And it’s got freaking vampires and supernaturals in it. If a vampire series can pull that off, so can this. Just putting that out there.

Plot wise it does lag in a few places, especially in the beginning. I did enjoy most of the scenes between Karigan and Enver - simply because of Karigan’s brand of ill humor. The best part of the book is the last quarter or so, though. That’s where the majority of the meat lies and it’s actually good meat, you just have to get there first.

Sadly, there is only minor resolution across the board. We do almost wrap up one largish plot that’s been dragging but by the same token we almost completely discard the Amberhill thread for the time being. There is no Amberhill whatsoever in this book except in passing. We have no clue what he’s up to right now.

We learn more about the Eletians, which I thought was pretty interesting. Poor Enver, though.

The Romance Department between Zachary and Karigan becomes even more muddled, instead of less. Yes, they do finally admit to each other that they have feelings for one another, but there’s ZERO talk or even an idle thought through either of their minds that divorce would even be an option. In fact, several times he states that marrying Estora was the right thing to do and that he does not consider being married to her to be “a duty” (and he’s still having sex with her). He also admits that he has some feelings for her, just not the same level as what he feels for Karigan. So even though he and Karigan share several tender moments, DON’T GET YOUR HOPES UP because A) Estora already vowed to cut a bitch and B) Zachary believes being married to her is the right thing and he doesn’t exactly hate her and C) Karigan’s not going to sleep with a married man. So no resolution whatsoever. Maybe Estora will die in childbirth and this god forsaken angsty drama will start to come to a close???? Come back, Cade! Karigan needs someone else living to obsess over so she can kick Cad! Zachary to the curb! And, you know, get on with her life 'cause it's not going to happen IMHO.

[Shadowdenizen · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

The Jordan Rule. This series defines that little tidbit for me. (FYI, the Jordan rule is something I implemented for myself some time ago, where I generally won't start to read a series until is at or near completion.)

While I enjoyed revisiting tge world and characters of Green Rider, I feel like I eoulve gotten morecout of this if I had read the books in short order, rather then as they came out....

That said, while I enjoy revisting the world and it's characters, I found this book a bit of a slog, honestly, and I can't quite pinpoint why. (IIRC Mirrosight seemed to have started a bit of a downhill slide with this series...)

[Josie Shinkfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ahh I loved being immersed in the Green Rider world once again.
Karigan has been irrevocably changed since her time in the future, but she is on an important mission to find the P'hedrose, a legendary moose/man race.
Zachary has a very interesting story arc in this book (I guess why it is called Firebrand).
Kristan Britain is an amazing writer, she has become an auto-buy author for me.
Now the long wait begins for Green Rider #7

[Alexandra Theroux · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finishing a book in this series always leaves me conflicted. Happy to have completed another leg of Karigan's epic story, sad to bid farewell to well-known characters, excited/nervous for what will come next, and, after the way Blackveil ended, more than slightly invested in the well-being of Ms. Britain and her continued investment in the story she has created (seriously, when it takes 3 years to write a sequel, never end a book on a cliffhanger - still not over that).

That being said, Firebrand was everything that I could have hoped for in a sequel to Mirror Sight. Firebrand picked up right back in Sacoridia shortly after Mirror Sight ended. Throwing Karigan back into the thick of everything she missed while in Mill City and into new magical dangers. Karigan spends the entire book coming to grips with her feelings for Cade and for Zachery, her memory loss, the trauma of the last 2 adventures (Blackveil and the future), and returning from the dead.

This installment handled a lot of difficult issues - namely Karigan's PTSD which has been building for the last 2 books, King Zachery's feelings for her and his feelings of betrayal by Estora and the 3 councilors over the deathbed wedding - and it handled them well. My partner is in treatment for PTSD with the Navy and Ms. Britain's treatment of Karigan's internal conflict and the response of her support system was beautifully and respectfully written. While others have noted that she seemed "whiny" I disagree - I felt that Karigan's reactions to her situation and events was appropriate and not out of character. I loved seeing her challenge her vulnerability and admit her weaknesses.

Overall, Firebrand felt like a more grown up throwback to the earlier books of the series. We got to see Karigan achieve more extraordinary feats but with more maturity and gravitas as befitting someone who's gone through everything she has. I spent the entire book with a huge smile on my face and could not read it fast enough.

I am anxiously awaiting for the next installment in this incredible series. In the meantime, I'm going to go back and re-read from the beginning ...maybe more than once.

[Carolina Bonetti · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tooooo much abuse on the protagonist. I'm over it

You wait for years for this book to come out. As a reader I sincerely feel this author has come to hate her main character. She brings closure and happy endings to minor insignificant characters you don't care about. But continues to reap such God awful situations for her protagonist. While I enjoy I good story with plot twists and difficulties, this has become a sadistic journey. I'm done reading of the abuse heaped on this character. Just awful and not the best plot to move the story forward. So much darkness with no moments of real happiness makes it uninteresting and disheartening to see a character you once liked so much endure. The book before this was crap, full of new characters you didn't care about who now haunt Karigan, and lead her on 800 of emotional and then physical abuse. Nah I'm done. This author has clearly fallen out of love with her characters.

[Emily Ever · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got a copy of this from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love this world that has been created and I love the characters. I was very wary after the last book - even though it was well written and interesting, it still had nothing to do with the plot of the story going on. In this one, the author makes an attempt to tie the last book in with the current story, with mild success.

Karigan is really broken up about losing Cade, and with good reason, but it does drag on a bit. Everything we know about Karigan leads me to believe she isn't one for excessive displays of emotions, so this whole wailing over him seems a bit much. However, she does start to heal towards the end, and it something I think I much needed to see.

I think one of the things I'm starting to realize about this author is that she doesn't follow through with the themes she introduces. What happened to the Berry sisters? To the wild ride? The sleeping Eletians? The brothel with Stevic's mistress? The King's cousin who will one day rule us all? She has a very interesting hunt for moose people (which I was very skeptical about at first but now I am ON BOARD) that is basically a side plot in this whole book. I would have loved to enjoy the discovery and wonder of this whole race of people who have hidden away, but instead it was tacked on at the end as maybe a chapter or so. Still, I'm very interested in where this is going.

This is not to say that the book wasn't interesting or action-packed, but there was a lot of opportunity missed.

Another thing - there is a reason I don't read Game of Thrones, and the torture scene in this book was a little much. I'm not mad there was torture, I think that was a good way to increase the horror of the moment, but the way that it was lovingly described in great detail was unnecessary. Definitely skimmed that part and it made me put the book down for a couple days.

Speaking of unnecessary, my final and biggest criticism is that this book was a REALLY slow burn. There were a lot of unnecessary scenes of characters talking through things around the fire - informing each other of what happened the day before when the reader was there for all of it and doesn't need to hear it again. I honestly almost put the book down for good because I just got so bored. Things picked up at the end, but it was slow going.

Despite my criticisms above I really did like this book. I loved the moose people and the kitties that weren't kitties (though their convenient appearances were a little lazy). I loved the Slee and his whole craziness. This author does not lack imagination or skill and after slogging through it, I really did enjoy it (it was a slog, though, took me almost a month).

The relationships between the characters are really far from black and white, and characters who you think will go into a cliche are portrayed as more complex. Take Estora for example. She could easily turn into the evil queen who hates Karigan, and you honestly couldn't blame her, but she doesn't. You can see she yearns for her husband's love, but kind of understands his love for someone else because she felt that way, too.

Also, I'm glad there was at least a little closure between Karigan and Zachary. I've been frustrated with the back and forth between them and even though nothing is resolved, I feel like an understanding has been reached and we will be moving forward with this in the future. I'm very interested to see where this goes.

Which leads me to Enver, who is a fascinating character. I really hope he comes about again in the next book. I'd really like to know the continuation of his story.

I'm hoping that the next book will be better edited down and the themes presented in this book will be developed some more. Even though it takes 4 years a book, doesn't mean the book has to be a million pages long.

[Émi (Slavic Reader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was much more to my liking than the previous installment. Both sucked me in though - the immersion was there - but this had the story formula I prefer. I was warned that this could be similar to the third book and would obviously feature a lot more of a certain character (hint, hint, title), so I had certain expectations going into it. However, I didn't find it that similar to the third book, nor did I think we saw an awful ton of the said character. Yeah, more than usually, but in a way, it was still the same old.

If the 8th book is truly the last in Karigan's story, then this is closer to the end than before. In terms of setting up for the finale, I did pick up on a few hints of this. Nothing massive, but it is starting to feel wearier. The characters have gone through a lot by now, and whilst I love a protagonist who suffers, I do wish Karigan could tap out now. Poor Karigan. Really hoping she gets the ending she deserves!

I'm still highly enjoying how each sequel adds further worldbuilding development alongside the story arcs. In terms of length though, it did feel a tad long for what it was. Personally I don't mind that too much, but it's not something that should necessarily be happening the closer we near the end, if the extra pages aren't going to add a ton of content. Does that make sense? I'm writing this in a rush, so maybe not.

If I had to pick a fault within the series, it would not be the page count at all. There are some slightly problematic, erm, relations? That could be seen as being portrayed in a light that's romanticising the situation. Thus far I've only been there for it because it resulted in some juicy drama, but now I'm left wondering how it will become resolved. If you've read the series, you'll know which elephant in the room I'm poking at here.

Anyway. I both dread and look forward to Winterlight, then to the big wait till the finale is released!

[Jasmin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't usually write reviews, as it boils don't to "I like it" and "I didn't like it" which is rather subjective. I've been reading the Green Rider series since I was sixteen (27 as of this writing) and everytime a new book comes out I'm at my local bookstore first thing in the morning to grab a copy. I've grown with the books and have a love for them that I don't always understand. This book, however, stabbed at me in a way that got me in a very personally way.

What you need to know about me, is I am a survivor of variously bad moments in life. Most of them leaving the scars of anxiety and PTSD. I am often at odds with characters in books, both female and male but especially female. Characters go through horrific events, moments of utter helplessness and failure. They are traumatized, injured, and almost all of them get up as if nothing happened. This isn't how it is in real life, and it can be hard to identify with characters in series that "change" in ways that aren't always identifiable. I find far too many characters walk out of stories changed, but still feeling perfectly fine. Scenes with Karigan in this book show how much she has changed since she was a girl running away from Selium. How much has happened to her, and how much of it has affected her. I had a moment of complete empathy when Karigan is ill in the later part of the book and speaks of feeling "broken." And while I have no "king" to tell me I am not broken, it is how we are with characters and written work to feel those words being spoken through them.

I love this series and will keep grabbing each book as soon as I can. I appreciate having a female character that is amazing, is vulnerable, but keeps fighting.

Even if I struggle to pronounce "P'ehdrose"

[Laura Bennett · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite the fact that I finished this book fairly quickly and hardly put it down, I am still filled with anger and a deep sense of frustration after reading the last page.

Like, really? You're really going to write in the premise for this entire book into the last 30 pages or so? As well as the god knows how many other unresolved plot lines WITHIN THOSE 30 PAGES??

The Green Rider series sparked my interest for the fantasy/high-fantasy genre but I'm pretty sure I only tolerated this book out of loyalty to the characters I once adored and my younger, more easily impressed self.

I don't think I have the patience to see this through.

[Sarah Vecchi · Rating 5 out of 5]

So the problem with this book is that I finish it and immediately want to read it again. Which means I've read it five times since it came out last year. After this latest re-read, I think it’s officially eclipsed First Rider’s Call as my favorite in the series. Not hard to believe considering what a hardcore Karigan/Zachary shipper I am. Can't wait for the next one.

[Adrianna [SypherLily]]

Um. WHAT is with that US cover???? Dislike T_T

[Jordan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rating: 2.5 stars -

I'm departing from my new rating system because this book is an anomaly - Also this gets a bit ranty and possibly a bit spoilery. I kept it all pretty vague except for the section explicitly tagged as spoilers, but depending on your sensitivity level, you may want to skip this one. But, then again, why are you reading a review for book 6 in a series if you aren't looking for spoilers?

I honestly am not sure how I want to rate this. Overall, this was MUCH better than Mirror Sight. It is honestly as if Mirror Sight didn't even happen in terms of plot because all the ties that were left loose at the end of Blackveil finally got advancement. I enjoyed it even, it was a return to the old style. HOWEVER, there were some GLARING issues.

Overall in terms of plot: we had Karigan going on a Rider mission, something going awry, the gang figures it out, and of course Karigan is subjected to the same torture that Britain puts her through book after book for absolutely no reason.

My big issue was that even if this was more of a return to the old style, and even if it was enjoyable, part of the reason that it was is because I realized that it is the bones of High King's Tomb, just recycled and changed a bit in a few places. But it was glaringly obvious as I got into it that there was no new story here, it is just Book 3 beat for beat. Some of the plotlines were advanced, some of them were tied up for good, we got an annoying amount of Zachary and Karigan rehashing the same old song and dance from the previous 5 books, and a lot of Britain torturing her MC. So even though I enjoyed reading this one a lot more than the last (which is an extremely low bar), ultimately it did not leave me feeling satisfied or pleased in any way.

Another of my issues: I do not understand why Britain feels the need to continually put Karigan through hell. I have read books where things aren't hunky dory, and I have read books that follow MCs that have terrible lives (I'm looking at you FitzChivalry Farseer), yet I don't think that I have ever read any other series where there is so much needless agony for the MC, physically, mentally, and emotionally, and so little reward to balance it out. Book after book, terrible things happen to Karigan, and while the characters lament over this, and have acknowledged this fact for several books, it doesn't make it any better, and very little good happens for her. It wouldn't be so bad if there were positive things to balance it out, but Britain seems incapable of doing that at this point in the series. I swear she just ups the ante each book and looks for ways to make Karigan even more miserable. At this point, I feel like I don't even know who she is as a character. There has been no character growth since High King's Tomb, just growth of her miseries.

There could have been some good commentary made at one point in this book about mental health, which would have been the absolute least that the author could do after forcing us to experience all these terrible things with Karigan for so long, in this book in particular. BUT here comes the calvary, no need to comment on mental health or depression or any of those things, except to focus on how debilitating they can be. I feel like for a series that spans decades at this point, there is so little growth in the writing or the social commentary. Had these all been written in the 90s or early 00s, I would have understood. But this was published in 2017. I truly don't understand.

And then there are a couple of really WEIRD storylines in this book that just really cemented my less than positive feelings, and made me feel like Britain just has no idea where she wants this story to go - strap in for even more ranting than is above:

Okay, so WTF was that with Enver's "unfolding!?" I swear, this is honestly what got me, I was feeling rather charitable and planning on giving this a 3.5 stars, rounded down to 3 for all that I mentioned because even with the flaws, I did have a decent time reading it. BUT NO. Couldn't just end it there, this just really put the nail in the coffin. After all that Karigan has gone through in this book being physically and mentally tortured to the brink of potential suicide, then the author decides that this is prime time to put together a storyline with a very big threat of rape!? One from which Karigan barely escapes?? There was absolutely NO need for that. If there was need of something to sow some discord between Karigan and the Eletians, that could have been accomplished so many different ways. This just gives me extra gross feelings when coupled with the drugging and rape of King Zachary in Blackveil. COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY.

And THEN, the Zachary and Karigan storyline. It seemed like that was going to go away after the last book, or at least dial it back and I was so pleased because I freaking hate this couple. I swear it is all these books are built on now. There is literally nothing to sustain this series other than them getting together. And I don't want that to ever happen. The ONE good thing that came out of Mirror Sight was that Karigan learned that she can be happy with someone else, that Mr. Zach isn't the love of her life that she thought he was (FOR ABSOLUTELY NO REASON WHATSOEVER, insta-love abounds in this series). Regardless of how it went down, Zachary was planning on marrying Estora and having at least one child with her as his heir, so he has absolutely no business running around and pining over Karigan. I just can't get on board with him as a character. I think he is weak and a bit of a creep for the way he handles everything with these two women in his life. This is not a love triangle, it is a man mentally and physically cheating on the woman that he pledged himself to and married. And I am not here for it at all. At this point, my guess is that Estora will die in childbirth and Karigan will end up queen. I just hate this so much.

And then the whole storyline where Grandmother is killed, apparently nobody is concerned about Mornhavon anymore, and Amberhill is going to be the big bad. What even is the point?

I just feel like this series lost control and direction a long time ago. Since it is releasing soon, I will give the next book one last shot at redemption, but I have never soured on a series so quickly or so intensely as this series. I really want it to get better because I truly loved the first three books. But I'm definitely checking Winterlight out from the library. But I honestly may just call it a day and be done with this series. We shall have to see.

So overall. I did enjoy reading this. There were just some huge issues that I had with it, and there wasn't much I could say positively for this book other than it felt familiar and like the old books. And THAT isn't even a good thing because it feels familiar due to the fact that it is a recycled story. So all that means it gets 2.5 stars rounded down to 2.

[Gina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'll give it this much: it's better than Mirror Sight. But I physically rolled my eyes at least twice while reading it, so...not by much.

It's a shame, because there are still good and compelling things in here. I liked getting to know Zachary a little better, getting to see him in situations where he was forced to struggle beyond the typical "poor me, it's so hard being the ultimate ruler of everything." Equally, I liked seeing Estora grow her skills as a ruler while pregnant with twins - and elevating other women (#ladybosses). I like the concept of becoming a Green Rider without the compulsion of magic.

I did not like the continued boring romances, as we know (by the way, so much for Cade and the 600 pages spent pining and grieving for him?). But beyond that, the cliches, the torture porn (I don't know how else to describe it), the pacing, the innuendos - it's all off. It feels at times as if the author was bored of writing it, and if she's bored, why should I be invested? Because she introduced some more cute cats? Admittedly, that helps, but it's no substitute for good writing.

I could go into more depth on a number of items, but given my novel on Mirror Sight, it may be a case of beating a dead horse, and I'm ready to wrap up with my last couple of books in this world.

[Diana]

Probably the fact that I hadn't read the previous books helps in the fact that I never managed to get into this one. Action was slow, the characters didn't catch my eye and I didn't got invested into the book.

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I devoured this book within less than a week. It was so great to be back in Sacoridia. Karigan was still reeling from the loss of Cade in the previous book, and I did feel terrible for her. She finally was loved by someone unconditionally and they had to part. But of course she and Zachary are still very attracted to each other and there is some payoff of their yearning in this book. I’m not on the Karigan-Zachary bandwagon, but I appreciate what happens here. And it seemed very appropriate for the moment. If Estora weren’t likable or capable, it would be easier to route for these two. No matter why or how he married her, Zachary should stay away from Karigan. Only bad things will happen. So we’ll see how far things go perhaps in the next book. But I continue to hope for a partner in this time for Karigan who is more her age and standing.
There are some really cool and interesting characters in this story. And there are some modern developments too. I was amazed that Estora was given the respect to make decisions whilst the king wasn’t there. Also that she elevated Laren to a higher position without his compliance. The queen proves to be a good leader in her own way.
The p’ehdrose which are half human and half moose appear near the end. They are a secretive clan and hope to see more of them in the future.
The creature villain, aureas slee, is a wintry elemental, who is summoned by Grandmother to attack the king and queen. I really enjoyed reading those chapter about its actions and feelings.
Another human villain, Nyssa, was a terribly good evil character. She showed others what a good torturer really does. She was incredible.
Estral is Karigan’s best friend who has lost her voice by a magical spell. The journey with the two of them demonstrated a strong friendship and loyalty. Enver, the half human half elf, is their other partner on the journey to find Estral’s father and he appears good at first, but then there’s something just not right about him. He’s very good at healing and is very needed throughout the story. Let’s see if he continues to be a part of it.
Karigan already has a lot on her plate with the invisibility skill and interacting with ghosts. But then other responsibilities and an unexpected and unwanted role is thrust upon her. She really endures a lot in this story. It’s almost too much for this one young person to handle. I wonder how she’ll manage going forward.
There were twists and turns I did not see coming. So I found the book fun and enjoyable to read. Although it doesn’t end on a cliffhanger, it does make you think about what else is to come.