Thursday 9 August 2018

The Fire Eye Refugee by Samuel Gately

Book Title: The Fire Eye Refugee
Author: Samuel Gately
Genre: Fantasy
My Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥
Source: E-book review copy provided by the author

Plot Summary: A spy must face her past or die in exile.
As lanterns stream up towards the Fire Eye, a woman weaves through the crowd, eyes down. Kay is a fetch, a finder of lost children, and she’s been saddled with a case she couldn’t refuse. A child is missing among the refugees beyond the walls. Before she is found, Kay will face her past as an exile, the loyalties which divide her by heart and blood, and an enemy who would have his spy back on her leash or content himself to watch her hang. A killer has returned to the city, war looms, and, above it all, the Fire Eye hangs open, watching.
Thank you, Samuel Gately, for providing me with a review copy of this book. Also a big thank you goes to Esme over at the Weatherwaxreport for setting up TBRindr.

What did I think?

3.5 Stars.

This book has a fantastic cover. It's also entered into Mark Lawrence's fourth SPFBO contest, and I'd like to thank the author for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Kay finds lost children. She's a character with a dangerous past threatening to catch up with her. Gately developed her well, and she's smart, independent. She's got mixed blood and finds herself in the middle of racial tensions between the Gol and the Farrows. In fact, Gately deals with some very dark issues in this book, and racial and social tensions are high in the city of Celest.

I highly enjoyed reading about Celest. It's a great setting, and Gately describes it well. I would have wished for a bit more world building and background to the current conflict.

Gately's prose is accessible and straightforward, and the novel is well edited. It's a fairly short read, fast paced and the plot is entertaining. At its heart it's a mystery, and reminded me a bit of the Sherlock Holmes novels.

Overall, it's a solid book with an exciting premise and everything necessary to make a great fantasy novel. Sadly, I had trouble connecting with any of the events or characters. Somehow, I did not manage to build an emotional rapport, and towards the end I realised, that I didn't actually care all that much whether the protagonist succeeds or fails.

I recommend this one to fantasy fans looking for a quick read that deals with a refugee crisis, and the problems resulting from a clash of different cultures.

5 comments:

  1. It does have a fantastic cover! Sorry it didn't quite pull you in as much as it might have.

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  2. Glad I caught your review for this one since I have it too! I couldn't say no to that cover lol. That's good to know that it's a fast-paced, straightforward kinda book since I'm a mood reader, so I'll wait until that's what I need :-)

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  3. I know exactly what you mean about not caring what happened to a character Olivia!
    Now than I'm working so hard on my MS I can't help but obsessed about how relatable my characters are LOL

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