A Promise of Fire (The Kingmaker Chronicles, #1)

by Amanda Bouchet

[inlibrisveritas]

A Promise of Fire is pretty highly rated and highly recommend…but I just didn’t really find this one all that captivating. I had a lot of problems with it.

So let’s start with what I did like. The world building has some pretty amazing things going for it. The use of the Greek mythos in a fantasy world is pretty cool, and I liked how involved the pantheon is in the life of the people. The use of Oracles and the different god granted powers are quite cool, though I do wish I could understand exactly ‘why’ when it comes to the more specific aspects. Cat’s powers are pretty awesome as well, and I loved the versatility of the magic she comes into contact with.

So that leaves the things I had issues with. Overall, the writing left a lot to be desired. It read a lot like a mediocre fanfiction…which I know is an odd comparison but it just sort of fits. The characters are kind of one-note and stick to a singular personality trait to define them. Cat is the quick tempered fighter, Griffin is the alpha, most of his sister personify wide-eyed innocence, etc. The plot progressed much the same way. There were moments where the plot was lost in all the “I hate you…let me kiss you” fight happening, and then moments where the plot had to play catch up to where it should be. Which also brings me to the romance…I have a problem with super-alphas. I’ve mentioned it in several reviews before. I don’t like premature ‘claiming’ and I definitely don’t like guys who are told to quit and instead give a “you know you love it” response. Maybe it’s real life seeping in and killing the allure of it, but damn if it doesn’t piss me off. I get that Cat enjoys his attention, since we are privy to her thoughts, but he doesn’t know that…further more it doesn’t matter if her back arches in pleasure if her mouth says no. A lot of people like the mega-alpha male characters, and that’s cool…but I’ve dealt with too many in real life to ever find it sexy.

Overall I like the idea of this book, and I really liked the set up of the world and magic system. I’m all for books with the use of mythology, but this one loses me on the character exploration and the execution. I’m not sure I’m going to continue this one, but if my library gets the second book in I might give it ago. It has a lot of potential.