Catalyst (The Passage of Hellsfire, #1)

by Marc Johnson

[Lianne]

Catalyst is complete with dragons, wizards, elves, dwarves, ogres, kings and princesses. It is also a coming-of-age novel as Hellsfire not only comes to terms with his new-found abilities but also matures with new knowledge about his heritage as a wizard as well as his new responsibilities and expectations as a wizard-in-training.

The story was interesting, pretty straightforward in what is expected of Hellsfire but it kept my attention. A few scenes felt repetitive and some moments felt a little slow but given that Hellsfire’s training was important for the road ahead, it made sense that a considerable amount of time was spent with him coming learning more about his abilities. Otherwise the rest of the story moved pretty quickly, especially as Hellsfire found himself in one place to another, meeting his fair share of allies and enemies along the way.

Overall, Catalyst was an interesting start to a fantasy series. The supporting characters were diverse and in a way were more interesting than Hellsfire himself; Cynder is probably my favourite because of his general sassiness. It sounds like the next volume will be introducing the more nitty-gritty aspects of his journey to defeat the Premier. Fans of high fantasy with a coming-of-age story may enjoy this title.

You can read this review in its entirety over at caffeinatedlife.net: http://www.caffeinatedlife.net/blog/2013/09/16/review-mrs-poe/