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School of Swords and Serpents #4
Burning Core
The quest for the Empyrean Flame has begun, and a deadly new threat has appeared from beyond the realms of mortals.
As the new school year begins, Jace and his friends must puzzle out the meaning behind the map sent by a mysterious benefactor. But as Jace's daunting quest leads him to the most exotic destinations on Earth, he finds himself hunted by the last person he'd expected to oppose his mission: his own mother.
With the heretics hot on his trail and a chaotic invasion looming, Jace and his friends must overcome challenges like none they've ever faced.
Because the end of one myth is often the beginning of a new legend...
Burning Core is book four in the bestselling School of Swords and Serpents series, a tale of wuxia adventure, cultivation mastery, and lurking threats.
As the new school year begins, Jace and his friends must puzzle out the meaning behind the map sent by a mysterious benefactor. But as Jace's daunting quest leads him to the most exotic destinations on Earth, he finds himself hunted by the last person he'd expected to oppose his mission: his own mother.
With the heretics hot on his trail and a chaotic invasion looming, Jace and his friends must overcome challenges like none they've ever faced.
Because the end of one myth is often the beginning of a new legend...
Burning Core is book four in the bestselling School of Swords and Serpents series, a tale of wuxia adventure, cultivation mastery, and lurking threats.
- GenresFantasy
309 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 16, 2020
346 people are currently reading
65 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
January 16, 2021
The good the bad the ugly and the plotholes.
The good...This is the fourth book of a young adult genre blending fantasy. There's a mix of martial arts fantasy, magical school, and sci-fi throughout the series. It is told in first person point of view with no foul language. The author is able to write an imaginative tale in an interesting world with interesting characters. The friendships of the main three side characters with the main character do change and morph throughout the four books but have a real feeling to them. With all its flaws I've never had what I've considered a two-star story pull me through as quickly as this one.
The bad... This is going to be hard not to mix it with the ugly because both overflow quite a bit here. The series has been flawed from book to book in terms of continuity. The endings of previous books do not translate well into the next book. The author either forgets or decides to change facts he's already written. This has happened several times thus far and creates enough of a disturbance in momentum through each of the four books that are now considered this series a purely Kindle unlimited read only series. It's not very pleasant to come across a book that contradicts the ending of a previous book or even magical rules in grained in the first book. This creates plot holes and also gives the feel of the author deciding to write whatever sounds cool at the moment rather than checking what he's previously written.
A mixture of the bad and the ugly... I don't want to get into spoilers or book 3 but a side plot in the ending has a group of children healed and sent for protection in the dragon kingdom. In book 4 they are still in the dragon kingdom but they're no longer healed because they're performing actions that was shown in book one to be impossible once such healing had occurred. Again I do not want to get into spoilers but the profit from there this action directly impacts in ways the storyline which makes it even more distracting because how blatant it ignores what occurs at the end of book 3. There are not as many inconsistencies but there are several within the story of book four that are distracting even up into the ending. Which was bad because of a short time jump that was awkwardly done where things changed off page.
The ugly... I have to say there is a lot of ugly that has been slowly building throughout the three books into this fourth book. The authors ability to write give me a bit of blinders in the first book but they've been slowly stripped away as plot holes, inconsistencies in continuity, and outright contradictory story lines have eaten away at the draw of the story. I have to say the mother of the protagonist has been a consistent subplot through four books. And the character that is shown in book one shows no relation to the character that we see hints up in books two and three and see in book four. It is so distracting and makes almost no sense. The fact that the mother of the main character was perceived to be much older and had reached a power level that should have been much greater was said to be the same power level at the end as her son just didn't make sense either.
The different power levels of characters seem meaningless. What was an all-powerful power level in book one or a powerful character in the other books are made out to be weak even if there's so much more powerful. It just doesn't make sense and it does not flow well. You have someone who is chosen to be the headmistress of an exclusive powerful School being bullied by middling powered crime boss. It was a poor story decision and fell flat.
The last chapter of this book sucked... I can't say it anymore bluntly than that. The disconnect between the previous chapter and and it is like getting thrown in a pool of ice water. When crap hits the fan and a character blacks out the next chapter should not be them having already recovered and being days or even a week laterwith a bunch of information dumping about how things has changed.
I'm going to finish the series because the author does write an interesting fashion. At the same time I'm hesitant to read anything he publishes after the series because of the sheer lack of content editing that is obviously occurred.
The good...This is the fourth book of a young adult genre blending fantasy. There's a mix of martial arts fantasy, magical school, and sci-fi throughout the series. It is told in first person point of view with no foul language. The author is able to write an imaginative tale in an interesting world with interesting characters. The friendships of the main three side characters with the main character do change and morph throughout the four books but have a real feeling to them. With all its flaws I've never had what I've considered a two-star story pull me through as quickly as this one.
The bad... This is going to be hard not to mix it with the ugly because both overflow quite a bit here. The series has been flawed from book to book in terms of continuity. The endings of previous books do not translate well into the next book. The author either forgets or decides to change facts he's already written. This has happened several times thus far and creates enough of a disturbance in momentum through each of the four books that are now considered this series a purely Kindle unlimited read only series. It's not very pleasant to come across a book that contradicts the ending of a previous book or even magical rules in grained in the first book. This creates plot holes and also gives the feel of the author deciding to write whatever sounds cool at the moment rather than checking what he's previously written.
A mixture of the bad and the ugly... I don't want to get into spoilers or book 3 but a side plot in the ending has a group of children healed and sent for protection in the dragon kingdom. In book 4 they are still in the dragon kingdom but they're no longer healed because they're performing actions that was shown in book one to be impossible once such healing had occurred. Again I do not want to get into spoilers but the profit from there this action directly impacts in ways the storyline which makes it even more distracting because how blatant it ignores what occurs at the end of book 3. There are not as many inconsistencies but there are several within the story of book four that are distracting even up into the ending. Which was bad because of a short time jump that was awkwardly done where things changed off page.
The ugly... I have to say there is a lot of ugly that has been slowly building throughout the three books into this fourth book. The authors ability to write give me a bit of blinders in the first book but they've been slowly stripped away as plot holes, inconsistencies in continuity, and outright contradictory story lines have eaten away at the draw of the story. I have to say the mother of the protagonist has been a consistent subplot through four books. And the character that is shown in book one shows no relation to the character that we see hints up in books two and three and see in book four. It is so distracting and makes almost no sense. The fact that the mother of the main character was perceived to be much older and had reached a power level that should have been much greater was said to be the same power level at the end as her son just didn't make sense either.
The different power levels of characters seem meaningless. What was an all-powerful power level in book one or a powerful character in the other books are made out to be weak even if there's so much more powerful. It just doesn't make sense and it does not flow well. You have someone who is chosen to be the headmistress of an exclusive powerful School being bullied by middling powered crime boss. It was a poor story decision and fell flat.
The last chapter of this book sucked... I can't say it anymore bluntly than that. The disconnect between the previous chapter and and it is like getting thrown in a pool of ice water. When crap hits the fan and a character blacks out the next chapter should not be them having already recovered and being days or even a week laterwith a bunch of information dumping about how things has changed.
I'm going to finish the series because the author does write an interesting fashion. At the same time I'm hesitant to read anything he publishes after the series because of the sheer lack of content editing that is obviously occurred.
May 6, 2021
Jace, Abi, Clem and Eric are back in school for their 4th year and they are facing their biggest challenge yet. They are all four trying their hardest to advance to their next level so that they will be able to confront better the challenges before them, but none of them are managing to do so yet. Jace received a map from a secret benefactor which they needed to follow to get to the Umbral Forge, in order to re-write the Grand design. Jace was chosen by the Empyrean Flame to create a new flame and he was adamant on seeing this quest through to its end even if it killed him. He had seen the gnawing monsters which were eating the Grand Design and he worried that time was running out. Our group of four young heroes travel to distant places namely Siberia and the Gobi Desert to undo a millenia of damage done to the world by a bunch of power-hungry soothsayers. They also do this with the heretics on their heels all the way, and this is what pains Jace the most, the fact that it is his mother who is out there trying to kill him. She had become a zealot and had taken the machina into her own body so Jace knew that if she challenged him he would not think twice to kill her. They had to locate the heart of eternity and the 4 orichalcum keys, confronting skeletons and Meriwa herself as well as Mother Weaver in all her glory but he had the backing of the dragons of Shambala behind him even though his own clan ended up betraying him. I love the loyalty of our four friends who always look out for one another and who persevere at the cost to their own lives. This is one of the best series of wuxia adventure, full of cultivation mastery and so many twists and turns to the story that I have read so far, and this, book 4 managed to keep me hooked till the very end. I look forward to reading book 5 in this riveting series.
June 16, 2020
The Further Adventures of Jace
Once again Jace and his friends are called to save the world in the face of opposition from every direction. This time round there is so many people out to kill him and threats to his life that not even an insurance salesman would try to sell him life insurance.
This is the fourth book in the series and most definitely not a stand alone novel. This installment is written in the same style and formula as the previous three so if you have read those then you know what to expect. Lee Gage once again takes the reader on a nailbiting ride as his characters struggle to win the day. The outcome of this battle is certainly not a foregone conclusion and the reader is left wondering whether Jace and his friends will succeed and if so, at what cost.
If you enjoyed the previous three then this is a must!
Once again Jace and his friends are called to save the world in the face of opposition from every direction. This time round there is so many people out to kill him and threats to his life that not even an insurance salesman would try to sell him life insurance.
This is the fourth book in the series and most definitely not a stand alone novel. This installment is written in the same style and formula as the previous three so if you have read those then you know what to expect. Lee Gage once again takes the reader on a nailbiting ride as his characters struggle to win the day. The outcome of this battle is certainly not a foregone conclusion and the reader is left wondering whether Jace and his friends will succeed and if so, at what cost.
If you enjoyed the previous three then this is a must!
August 27, 2020
Good conclusion (?)
I think my only confusion about this book is whether or not it is the conclusion. It is effective at tying up many of the loose ends that remain in the series to complete the story - but it does leave room for another book... so I’m uncertain.
Regardless, it is a good story - and fits the series quite well. Jace is dealing with more in this book than he ever has before, and those difficulties make for a good story. Action, relationships, and loss feed into a wonderful tale.
I think my only confusion about this book is whether or not it is the conclusion. It is effective at tying up many of the loose ends that remain in the series to complete the story - but it does leave room for another book... so I’m uncertain.
Regardless, it is a good story - and fits the series quite well. Jace is dealing with more in this book than he ever has before, and those difficulties make for a good story. Action, relationships, and loss feed into a wonderful tale.
June 17, 2020
Satisfying read
Jace has a lot on his plate but i enjoyed how he is torm between his previous decisions and what he now has to do to save the world.
As his quest develops we see even more of how he is and also get a deeper bond.
Very good ending on this one but leaves a lot open for further books.
Jace has a lot on his plate but i enjoyed how he is torm between his previous decisions and what he now has to do to save the world.
As his quest develops we see even more of how he is and also get a deeper bond.
Very good ending on this one but leaves a lot open for further books.
July 1, 2020
Good and a little sad
Another good book in the series. Left me a little sad but it was well written and a good read. This is the only cultivation type series I've read but I've been pleasantly surprised.
Another good book in the series. Left me a little sad but it was well written and a good read. This is the only cultivation type series I've read but I've been pleasantly surprised.
September 3, 2020
Simply excellent
This is easily my favorite book in the series so far. Well written and extremely enjoyable to read. I couldn't put it down! I'm a fan of this series forever now and am looking forward to the bext entry!
This is easily my favorite book in the series so far. Well written and extremely enjoyable to read. I couldn't put it down! I'm a fan of this series forever now and am looking forward to the bext entry!
November 19, 2020
Great addition to the series! I really enjoyed the plot of this book. There was a lot of adventure and we found out more about his mom in this book. The progression has slowed a bit from the early books but we still get a little of it.
December 14, 2020
This just gets better as the characters interact so well as they all progress, im also increasingly drawn into this reality and how well thought out the overall series is. As expected at this stage Pavis narration is very good and someone i shall keep an eye out for on other books.
March 27, 2023
I can’t tell if I’m overly critical or the writing just isn’t good enough. Overall, an enjoyable distraction, but not memorable enough to recommend as anything worth recommending. “It’s really not bad,” hardly seems like mush of an endorsement.
Read
June 19, 2020Great read
I enjoyed reading this book very much and would recommend it highly to anyone that like litRPG type of books.
I enjoyed reading this book very much and would recommend it highly to anyone that like litRPG type of books.
June 23, 2020
Great continuation
Really enjoyed the book! Wish it had gone a little bit further in depth on some of the middle trips but enjoy the characters and the progression!
Really enjoyed the book! Wish it had gone a little bit further in depth on some of the middle trips but enjoy the characters and the progression!
June 25, 2020
Good read
A little slow at times, but overall it was a great book. I liked the work up for certain things.
A little slow at times, but overall it was a great book. I liked the work up for certain things.
July 1, 2020
Excellent book!
Damn this book grabs a hold of you from the get go and doesn't let go! If you like action/adventure/sci-fi then this series is for you! Keep them coming please!
Damn this book grabs a hold of you from the get go and doesn't let go! If you like action/adventure/sci-fi then this series is for you! Keep them coming please!
July 2, 2020
Rushed
It feels rushed. The characters always know what to do and there doesn't seem to be any stakes or chances of failure
It feels rushed. The characters always know what to do and there doesn't seem to be any stakes or chances of failure
July 17, 2020
The ending is typical for that kind of story plot. Even so its pulling and I want to see how it will continue.
November 10, 2020
A satisfying read
Brings many story lines to completion. Yet still leaves room for more. Will have to wait impatiently and see. Book
Brings many story lines to completion. Yet still leaves room for more. Will have to wait impatiently and see. Book
January 8, 2021
Still good
Entertains and enjoyable. What more is needed from a book. Though I would like to leave it succinct and not need so many words to submit.
Entertains and enjoyable. What more is needed from a book. Though I would like to leave it succinct and not need so many words to submit.
December 30, 2020
Good American cultivation wuxia - I enjoyed the ride. :) There's enough at stake here to keep me interested and the writing and ideas are fun.
October 30, 2020
It's wonderful to see how much Jace has grown ever since he set foot in the Schools of Swords and Serpents. This is a kid who hasn't had things easy. He's fought for everything he needs, wants, and believes in, refusing to bend to other's rules. His tough demeanor has gotten him into many difficult situations. Though he's overcome them all, adversity seems to pop up in front of him at every turn.
Another wonderful addition to this series, we're given a better glimpse of Jace's trials and tribulations. He's learned to use the powers that course within him, though they've come with a cost. In his mind, he wants nothing more than be what he always thought he'd be—someone special and capable in his mother's eyes. Knowing what he now knows about her, he realizes that will never happen.
Gage Lee has crafted such a suspenseful story full of many gamer elements. He weaves these elements around martial arts in such a way that you end up picturing everything that happens every step of the way. It's like a movie unfolds inside your head with every turn of the page. Whether Jace and his friends succeed in finally setting all wrongs to right remains to be seen. Can't wait to see what comes next for this eclectic bunch of miscreants.
Another wonderful addition to this series, we're given a better glimpse of Jace's trials and tribulations. He's learned to use the powers that course within him, though they've come with a cost. In his mind, he wants nothing more than be what he always thought he'd be—someone special and capable in his mother's eyes. Knowing what he now knows about her, he realizes that will never happen.
Gage Lee has crafted such a suspenseful story full of many gamer elements. He weaves these elements around martial arts in such a way that you end up picturing everything that happens every step of the way. It's like a movie unfolds inside your head with every turn of the page. Whether Jace and his friends succeed in finally setting all wrongs to right remains to be seen. Can't wait to see what comes next for this eclectic bunch of miscreants.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews