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Title: The Phoenix Unchained (Enduring Flame, Book 1)
ISBN: 0765315939
Author:
Mercedes Lackey
James Mallory
Publicate Date: 2007-10-16
Publish: 2007-10-16
List Price: $27.95
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Hardcover
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $8.11
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $4.09
Amazon Merchant Price: $16.27
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Very good story
I think it's appeal may be more for teenagers but I enjoyed it also. I admit to hesitating before buying the 2nd book. This story plodded along at times, kind of dozing at the wheel. When the action sequences came along they were good.
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2: Standard, but entertaining, "lite" epic fantasy
I picked up The Phoenix Unchained, the first novel in The Enduring Flame trilogy by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory because I haven't read Lackey before (and I wanted to) and this book was available on audiobook (and I needed something for my commute). The Phoenix Unchained is a sequel to The Obsidian Trilogy which, unfortunately, is not available (yet) on audio, and which I haven't read. However, I had heard that this new trilogy can stand alone, so I decided to give it a try.
The Phoenix Unchained begins as best friends Tiercel and Harrier are attending their city's celebrations of legendary events that happened in The Obsidian Trilogy. It's also Harrier's birthday and, as a gift, his strange uncle gives him a book about magick which Tiercel asks to borrow. Tiercel soon finds that he has some magick abilities and catches the attention of a Wild Mage named Bisochim who is far away but wants to make sure that Tiercel does not disrupt his plans for allowing some dark magick back into the world so that he can save the life of Saravasse, the dragon he's bonded to. Tiercel begins to have bad dreams, so he sets out with Harrier to find a Wild Mage who can help him.
What follows is a standard coming-of-age epic fantasy quest involving lots of slow travel, several magical creatures (centaurs, unicorns, dragons, goblins, elves, fauns, etc), and a lot of sarcastic bickering such as teenage boys tend to engage in. The Phoenix Unchained is not high literature, for sure, but it's solidly written, and the heroes are likeable, if not particularly exciting. There are, however, several borrowings from Tolkien and others (gosh, the elves look just like Legolas!) and some explanations and motivations are vague or unbelievable: Why doesn't Bisochim just go after Tiercel himself instead of sending spells or lackeys--sorry--who don't get the job done? When and why did Bisochim and his dragon fall in love (we see this happen, but I wasn't convinced)? How will letting in some darkness extend the life of Saravasse and why is Bisochim (who started off well) willing to let a lot of people die in order to do that? And if he has this potential for evil, why does Saravasse love him? Is Tiercel the only human with high mage powers, as the elves suggest, or is High Magick a skill that many people may be born with (as Tiercel says).
The plot is not particularly tight, and it's hardly original. Nonetheless, I found myself decently entertained and, since there was a major plot-twist/cliffhanger on the last page, I'm curious to see where the story is going. I may or may not go back and read The Obsidian Trilogy first. Lackey and Mallory give enough background and history that I easily understood what was going on and the basics (I thought) of the history I needed to know. However, I found out later in the book, once the boys meet some very ancient characters, that some of the legends that had been passed down for 1000 years where amusingly inaccurate. I missed this humor because I wasn't familiar with the original trilogy. I probably missed some other information that may have helped inform or entertain me, too. For example, what is a mage price? How does this magic work? Is a "balance" between light and dark necessary (as Bisochim maintains)? What is the "phoenix" mentioned in the title?
The Phoenix Unchained is recommended for anyone looking for a "lite" escapist fantasy epic. The audiobook is a good format for this one -- William Dufris's reading is dynamic and well-nuanced, though occasionally whiny as he depicts typical teenage angst. --FanLit.net
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3: Another Trilogy
If you liked the Obsidian Trilogy, then prepare to be...disappointed. This book is set thousands of years after Kellen and his adventure. The Obsidian Trilogy's story has become myth while humans live side by side with fantasy creatures and Wild Mages in the City of the Golden Bells, yet nobody believes in High Magick anymore.
The main character, Tiercel Rolfort, a boy interested in ancient history, discovers High Magic and accidentally sets his room on fire. He then sets out with his best friend and a centaur to find a "cure" for his magic problem (good luck).
While the story line seems interesting enough, this book is another "get-to-the-point-already" page by page. The reader already knows that there isn't a solution to the character's problem about getting rid of magical powers, yet Lackey deems it worthy enough to keep developing the story's plot around it. I do like how this book flips the world around by having the villains in the last trilogy become the heroes in this new one (High Magic versus Wild Magic). The sequel better start shaping up or I am going to stop reading the trilogy.
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4: Phoenix Unchained review
The book was shipped quickly and came in excellent condition. It's a great read too!
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5: A nice continuation
It is a solid continuation of the obsidian trilogy. Though it is a stand alone series, you should read the first 3 before you read this JUST to get all the bang for your buck as they say.
This book takes place about 1000 years after the events of the obsidian trilogy, and many of the characters are referred to in it...many many times.
If you like your fantasy books to have some humor in them, this might be a good choice. Fleshed out characters, drama, action, all while being well written, I would recommend this book as much as I would the Dresden Files or Codex Alera books.
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