⇒ [PDF] Free Frost Arch The Fire Mage Trilogy Book 1 edition by Kate Bloomfield Children eBooks

Frost Arch The Fire Mage Trilogy Book 1 edition by Kate Bloomfield Children eBooks

Download As PDF : Frost Arch The Fire Mage Trilogy Book 1 edition by Kate Bloomfield Children eBooks

Frost Arch The Fire Mage Trilogy Book 1 edition by Kate Bloomfield Children eBooks

I wanted to like this book because it had good reviews and is by an Australian fantasy writer, but I only slogged through it to make sure it didn't get better before writing this review. I really wish I had read Angela Perry's review as I think it sums up most of my feelings perfectly. My first problem with the book was the appalling grammar. Wrong words, wrong tenses, wrong possessives... over and over again. I know copy editing is becoming a lost profession, but I believe that is one of the functions of the writing groups to help new writers. The next problem is that it is all tell and no show. **Spoilers** The world is an interesting concept which is why I think a lot of people have given the book higher reviews, but it needs more development. Plus, it should be revealed in a more interesting way. The main character seems to have lived 18 years in this world a mere day's drive away from the city the novel takes place in and knows NOTHING ABOUT IT which is just bizarre. Yes, she wasn't very social, but she should have picked up the basics like who runs the nearest city and the basic power structure of her world. I also have an issue that the first thing the main character does is steal the fox without really any knowledge of whose fox it was or what they were going to do with it. She guesses that it is going to be harmed, but that isn't really clear. I get the general feeling that we are supposed to think Elvira Frost is an evil woman considering the climax of the book, but we really never get enough information about her to know for sure. Even at the climax she is just defending herself from the main character who is trying to steal from her again. All we really know about her is that she runs the city, she makes it snow all the time because of her power, she commissioned the creation of a flying fox guard animal that was stolen from her by the main character, and when the main character tries to steal it again, she defends herself and her property. Overall I was disappointed in the writing and the predictable plot. I will note that as someone in my 30's, I was not the target audience, and I would likely have been more forgiving at 13. However, there are lots of better teen fantasy that I would recommend to my 13 year old self. I do think that writing a book at all is an accomplishment, and I hope that the writer seeks out writing groups and other resources and continues to write, write, write as time and experience should improve the writing and story quality.


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Frost Arch The Fire Mage Trilogy Book 1 edition by Kate Bloomfield Children eBooks Reviews

I very much enjoyed my time spent with this book. Though the book had some issues with grammatical errors and spelling at times, it wasn't so bad as to ruin the experience for me. In fact I love the world that Kate Bloomfield created. She gives just enough detail through the eyes of Avalon that we can picture the surroundings ourselves, but not so much that our eyes grow tired from reading description after description. Though we spent most of our time in one of the mansions of the city, I loved the detail, descriptions, and especially the history of the city of Frost Arch. I can't say there's a character in this story I didn't like, unless they were written that way. There was a small plot hiccup in the middle of the book that I didn't quite agree with, but besides that I really enjoyed following Avalon on her journey. Her progression from a girl who isolated herself in her parent's house to a woman who would do anything for her friends and stand up for herself was written very well.

The story was very enjoyable overall. It starts off slow, not in a bad way though, and builds very naturally to a tense and frightening halfway point, only to sky rocket towards its conclusion. Like others I wish we had a little more insight as to how the mages came to be, or how things will heat up between them and the humans, but as we all know this is book 1 of a trilogy, so all will be revealed in time. With that said I thought Frost Arch gave us plenty to chew on as we wait for book 2 later this year. I'm very interested to see what decisions and events that took place in Frost Arch will carry over into the next book. Flamethroat, book 2 of the trilogy is right around the corner, and I am excited to follow Avalon on another adventure!
The prologue gives an excellent overview of the setting and culture where Avalon lives. This is a world over 1,000 years after the collapse of our world, a popular setting. There was a huge war between the magic power-weilding Mages, and the technical Humans. The Mages won, and all Humans were treated as nothing more than work beasts, without rights or feeling or language. ---- It was feared that Avalon's little sister had been born a human, and their family went to great lengths to hide her.

----- Basic Plot ----

Avalon is a Fire Mage, but she has very little control of her powers. Both of her parents are also Fire Mages. She also has a younger sister which shows no talent at all. After several near disasters with her sister, Avalon decides that the best choice is for her to run away.

She finds a ride with the old man that has a delivery mail service. He allows her to ride in his carriage, with the instructions to leave a small box alone - as it contains a dangerous animal found in the wild. By the end of the ride, she decides to rescue the little animal from a life as a science experiment.

She finally arrives at a city, Frost Arch, where it is the depth of winter. In fact, it is always winter here. She quickly finds a job, lighting fires at the Forsythe manor house, and warming up the tubs of water. She meets a young man, Jack, who is the Healer there, and helps her find the house and get settled. He teaches her all the duties that she will be performing, and helps her learn her routines. She enjoys his friendly helpfulness and counts him as her first real friend. She learns most of what she needs to know to survive in the real world from Jack. She also meets a black haired girl named Raeven, who works at the post office.

Her first night, she discovers that the little animal that she rescued and she thought she had let free, was still with her. It was a tiny fox with wings, and he is able to camouflage himself, and appears to be able to understand her. It doesn't stay tiny for long, and by the end of the week, Jack has discovered her pet, and joined her in an attempt to hide it.

Jack talks to his friend Camryn, who raises and trains the Master's Pegasi horses. Camryn reluctantly agrees to hide the pup in a stall, and quickly becomes attached to the little creature. Within days, he has grown as large as most of her horses. They decide to train him to fly, but Hawthorne seems to be tethered to the ground and is unable to soar.

The Forsythe's have two grown children named Noah and Rain. Avalon catches Noah's eye the first night he arrives. He quickly becomes attached to her and grants her many favors, seeming to enjoy her company. She has no idea why Jack and Camryn are so concerned that she stay away from Noah. It is apparent that they know something they are hiding from her, and so she hides his growing attention from her new friends. One night ends very badly, and Noah is gone the next day. Avalon is much the wiser; unfortunately, the event has caused her to lose her powers.

Nothing Jack does seems to help her regain her powers, but he teaches her to light fire the old way, with matches.. Charles lets her stay, for now, doing more housework and other light duty in hopes that she will recover her powers. During this time, Jack urges her to try getting Hawthorne to fly with her on his back, and it works. And then suddenly, Hawthorn disappears.

Things go from bad to worse, as Avalon gives in to curiosity, and finds a door at the top of a forbidden staircase. She slips inside and finds that her Master has much to hide - forbidden items from the ancient days are throughout the room ..., and then Master Forsythe returns. Almost - she gets away with it by hiding, and then something happens; she is discovered and damages many items, including Mr. Forsythe's face, while she tries to escape. She is now a fugitive. Soon she is captured, and placed in a prison for humans.

To her amazement, Jack and Raeven rescue her. After recovering at Raeven's house, the three of them make plans to rescue Hawthorne, who has been captured by Miss Frost - the ruler Mage of the city.
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The book is fairly well written, and I found myself easily drawn into the characters and the story. It was easy to become involved in the world, but it did seem to take forever to develop the plot. Plus, if you were reading carefully, the ending is quite predictable. It is a lengthy book, but enough new material keeps popping up to keep it more enjoyable than not.
I wanted to like this book because it had good reviews and is by an Australian fantasy writer, but I only slogged through it to make sure it didn't get better before writing this review. I really wish I had read Angela Perry's review as I think it sums up most of my feelings perfectly. My first problem with the book was the appalling grammar. Wrong words, wrong tenses, wrong possessives... over and over again. I know copy editing is becoming a lost profession, but I believe that is one of the functions of the writing groups to help new writers. The next problem is that it is all tell and no show. **Spoilers** The world is an interesting concept which is why I think a lot of people have given the book higher reviews, but it needs more development. Plus, it should be revealed in a more interesting way. The main character seems to have lived 18 years in this world a mere day's drive away from the city the novel takes place in and knows NOTHING ABOUT IT which is just bizarre. Yes, she wasn't very social, but she should have picked up the basics like who runs the nearest city and the basic power structure of her world. I also have an issue that the first thing the main character does is steal the fox without really any knowledge of whose fox it was or what they were going to do with it. She guesses that it is going to be harmed, but that isn't really clear. I get the general feeling that we are supposed to think Elvira Frost is an evil woman considering the climax of the book, but we really never get enough information about her to know for sure. Even at the climax she is just defending herself from the main character who is trying to steal from her again. All we really know about her is that she runs the city, she makes it snow all the time because of her power, she commissioned the creation of a flying fox guard animal that was stolen from her by the main character, and when the main character tries to steal it again, she defends herself and her property. Overall I was disappointed in the writing and the predictable plot. I will note that as someone in my 30's, I was not the target audience, and I would likely have been more forgiving at 13. However, there are lots of better teen fantasy that I would recommend to my 13 year old self. I do think that writing a book at all is an accomplishment, and I hope that the writer seeks out writing groups and other resources and continues to write, write, write as time and experience should improve the writing and story quality.