Helpful Score: 8
Sorry, all. I waited the twenty years just like everyone else for the sequel to "The Eight," which happens to be "The Da Vinci Code" in the 1980s, but SO much better. So when I heard that "The Fire" was coming out, a sequel to "The Eight," you bet your britches that I put myself on the pre-order list, and eagerly awaited its release. I tend to read books very quickly, especially those that are incredible... but lemme tell you, it took me forever to read because the dialogue and events were so not at the sophisticated level that "The Eight" was. I found myself hating one of the primary characters because of the over-usage of catch phrases and sayings -- annoying! What a complete sadness I felt when I finally finished the last page. And if you've never read "The Eight," then reading "The Fire," could be a stand alone book for you, but it just doesn't have any kind of passion or energy that you can really get into at all. What a disappointment.
Helpful Score: 1
Like many readers Katherine Neville's novel "The Eight" is by far my favorite book. It's hard to compare this sequel to that. Simply put it just doesn't match up.
The Fire is at times confusing and even though Katherine Neville paved the way 20 years ago for dual time/plot novels she has attempted that here and it just left me wishing she hadn't.
Before this sequel came out I reread The Eight in hopes to refresh myself once again with that book I so love. I retrospect I wish I hadn't. I think I would have given this book a 4 or 5 star rating had I just taken it as it was and not as a sequel.
I understand why she chooses to focus on Cat & Solarin's daughter as the main character while they play a distant/supporting role. I understand why the character I so loved in the original had changed. But it still doesn't change the fact that those were the characters I have loved and reread time and time again for the past 20 years.
A good read (not great), but I still feel disappointed after waiting so long for a sequel.
The Fire is at times confusing and even though Katherine Neville paved the way 20 years ago for dual time/plot novels she has attempted that here and it just left me wishing she hadn't.
Before this sequel came out I reread The Eight in hopes to refresh myself once again with that book I so love. I retrospect I wish I hadn't. I think I would have given this book a 4 or 5 star rating had I just taken it as it was and not as a sequel.
I understand why she chooses to focus on Cat & Solarin's daughter as the main character while they play a distant/supporting role. I understand why the character I so loved in the original had changed. But it still doesn't change the fact that those were the characters I have loved and reread time and time again for the past 20 years.
A good read (not great), but I still feel disappointed after waiting so long for a sequel.
