The Legends of Eve: Book of Fire (Legends of Eve book 2) by Anonymous
I received an arc copy from the author in exchange for an honest review. This book doesn’t come out until January 2020, so I will update the book summary once it comes out!
Book of Fire picks up shortly after A Warrior’s Past ends. Vayp has been whisked away to the realm of the Shadow Army, and the remaining survivors of the Mecha attack have traveled to GroundStone, the school of Earth. While Retro’ku was able to complete the fire challenge and add his orb to the Book of Eve, Vayp’s departure means that there isn’t someone powerful enough left to complete the Earth challenge. That leaves S’rae - but she needs to train first and truly master the element of Earth.
I loved the concept of GroundStone! A school devoted to protection and nature, everything about this location was dedicated to nature. From the bed made of branches and vines to the “rain shower,” I really enjoyed all of the natural aspects that GroundStone contained. This was also where the greatest Harry Potter references came into play. There are various classes teaching everything from defense to Sols, and the professors for each class are written to embody their subject. S’rae experiences the Trust Fall (similar to the Sorting Hat but this determines the specific Earth element that students will study). There’s the Boulder Dash game. And there’s even a Solermony ball.
But don’t be fooled - Book of Fire isn’t an adaptation of Harry Potter! The plot is still very unique and retains it’s “circular history” plot, although the hints are much more subtle here in book two. A few characters experience deja vu, and readers are still treated to Destrou’s story as Vayp reads it. I really enjoyed these sections because I loved Destrou’s story in book one and needed to know what came next for him and Ranmau. What’s exciting is that their story only gets more exciting here in book two! I’m curious how much more there is to their backstories before it fully catches up with the present.
We also see some great character development out of S’rae and Fujak. Fujak has already started to mature just from the events at the end of book one, and due to the danger he’s put in throughout book two, we see his real colors start to shine. I’ve definitely joined team Fujak, and I hope that he becomes an important leader later in this series because he definitely has the mentality for it. S’rae... she goes through even more. I loved the first chapter flashback of her origins. All book one I was asking where she came from and why her home town of Opella matters so much to her, and chapter one delivered those answers. We also hear more about S’rae and Vayp’s childhood in a very epic scene! Through loss and heartbreak, S’rae is being forced to develop and figure out who she is, and OMD the cliffhanger at the end of book two sets her character up for so much more in the books to come.
I’d say the only places where Book of Fire fell short were in location descriptions. Because GroundStone was so large, at times I couldn’t tell where certain parts were in relation to the others. There was a school, an arena, a forest, underground tunnels, a forest...! And then characters didn’t get around by walking - they had a Sandsportation spell which transported them to their destinations.
Thank you so much to Anonymous for this arc copy of Legends of Eve: Book of Fire. The story is dynamic and fun, and it’s easy to tell how much thought Anonymous puts into each character and plot line. I’m sad that I now have to wait a year or so for book three, but it will definitely be worth the wait!