This is the second book in the Breath of Earth series; I got it through Edelweiss to review. I really really loved Breath of Earth. Unfortunately for some reason Call of Fire really fell flat for me; there was just too much war and rioting and running from place to place.
Ingrid and crew are fleeing to Seattle from San Francisco but the plot involving Ambassador Blum and the subjugation of the Chinese people continues. There are a lot of politics, rioting, airship travel, and running around in this book. Sadly I really struggled to stay interested and almost stopped reading it a few times. There just wasn't enough of the neat geomancy and devices that caught my attention in the first book.
I think maybe it's because there are so many characters in the book, but I just never really connected with any of the characters all that well. The relationship between Ingrid and Cy was sweet but lacked teeth and passion; I feel like Ingrid herself lost some of her bite and intelligence in this book was well.
There were things I did enjoy. I enjoyed learning about Ingrid's ancestry, enjoyed meeting some of her family and learning more about her father. Lee isn't in the book nearly as much and I missed him some. Cy was just so cloyingly sweet with Ingrid that I lost a lot of respect for him in this book; I am not sure why...I usually like these sweet relationships.
Overall this was an okay read but I didn't like it nearly as much as Breath of Earth. I really struggled to stay engaged and interested in this book and found myself skimming through portions of it. There were too many politics and not enough adventure for me. In addition I felt like there were too many characters and they weren't filled out all that well so I struggled to engage with them. I loved the first book in the series, but I struggled with this book enough that I don't think I will continue the series. The cover is absolutely stunning though!
Ingrid and crew are fleeing to Seattle from San Francisco but the plot involving Ambassador Blum and the subjugation of the Chinese people continues. There are a lot of politics, rioting, airship travel, and running around in this book. Sadly I really struggled to stay interested and almost stopped reading it a few times. There just wasn't enough of the neat geomancy and devices that caught my attention in the first book.
I think maybe it's because there are so many characters in the book, but I just never really connected with any of the characters all that well. The relationship between Ingrid and Cy was sweet but lacked teeth and passion; I feel like Ingrid herself lost some of her bite and intelligence in this book was well.
There were things I did enjoy. I enjoyed learning about Ingrid's ancestry, enjoyed meeting some of her family and learning more about her father. Lee isn't in the book nearly as much and I missed him some. Cy was just so cloyingly sweet with Ingrid that I lost a lot of respect for him in this book; I am not sure why...I usually like these sweet relationships.
Overall this was an okay read but I didn't like it nearly as much as Breath of Earth. I really struggled to stay engaged and interested in this book and found myself skimming through portions of it. There were too many politics and not enough adventure for me. In addition I felt like there were too many characters and they weren't filled out all that well so I struggled to engage with them. I loved the first book in the series, but I struggled with this book enough that I don't think I will continue the series. The cover is absolutely stunning though!
