Helpful Score: 1
"Ignite the Fire" frustrated and bored me in almost equal measure. I get why it had to be broken into TWO 450+ page books. It's melodramatic, full of unnecessary description and detail I didn't give a crap about, self-indulgent and way too wordy. And did I mention it bored me? Oh, I did? Sorry, it bears repeating. I've been reading these books since 2010. I inhaled the first four back to back and I LOVED THEM. Cassie's incessant whining irritated me a little, "I'm not strong enough...I don't know what to do... Nobody listens to me!
But the early stories are so jam packed with excitement and humor I pushed that aside because there is so much to enjoy. These stories are non stop action and snarky as all get out. Heaven!
Every new book I hoped Cassie would stop whining and get down to business. And every book I was disappointed. The action amped up. The plot got twistier. Most of the story elements kept me rivited, and it was OTT entertaining. But Cassie was stuck in a spin cycle. I'm not strong enough. I don't know what I'm doing. Nobody listens to me!!!!
OMG... you are The Pythia. Stop waiting for people to listen. Put your foot down and BE the Dangded Pythia already! You may not know exactly what you are doing yet, but you can't let them disrespect what you stand for. I got so sick of the pity party I took a six year break after Hunt the Moon then read the next three back to back after they issued. And got more of the same. Non stop action, laugh out loud humor, and Zero, Zip, N A D D A sticking up for herself.
However, I missed something pretty pivotal. Somewhere during the last 900 pages, an epiphany bashed me in the face like a 200 lb frozen halibut. -- Don't ask where; between the sheer volume of self indulgence and melodrama it was a traumatic read and I've blocked a lot of it out. -- Twelve real life years have passed for me since that first read. But story wise a grand total of six months have passed. OH....
All these years I've been mad at Cassie for refusing to grow; when I should have been livid with la belle Chance for taking fifteen bloody years to write SIX months worth of story.
I suppose it could be worse.
But on the other hand. I hate waiting
We had at least ten books of Cassie's learning curve. You'd think that Chance, having taken what felt like an eon bringing Cassandra to the point of actually knowing what she was doing that we would get a leveling off period. Just a tiny little period of time to adjust to Cassie actually being the badassed Pythia we all wanted her to become. But No! Virtually the moment Cassie Owns the power of the Pythia she has a BOSS.........no THE BOSS FIGHT to end all BOSS fights; barely escapes with her life, and the next thing we know she is trapped in Faery where she Can Not access her powers. At All. She must fight for her life; powerless, hopeless and alone, at the mercy of beings who have virtually none.
How little mercy they posess is detailed in shocking, melodramatic detail. And of course, now is when she begins to process. All the emotions, months of pent up frustration and self doubt come out. Not over the course of a book or two. No, they gush out like a firehose over the course of a few chapters. At one point Cassie wanted to die. And I was right there with her.
Make it Stop!
I might have shrugged off the trauma of being pummeled by that tsunami of melodrama and self pity.
BUT wait, there's more.
-- Emrys, Pritican's demon half; the part of himself he has shut himself off from for almost the entirety of his 1200 or so years of existence has manifested as a separate entity. And if you thought Pritican had demon issues, they are nothing compared to Emry's Pritican issues and Emrys is stronger, more volatile and a hell of a lot less corporative than Pritican.-- Cassie, Pritican and Emrys are essentially a thrupple now; with all the headaches of a polyamorus relationship and none of the fun.
-- And don't get me started on Mircea. Seriously, just Don't. I'm miffed at him. When the Cassie, Pritican, Mircea mess started, the complications arising from Mircea's obsession with his long dead wife were beyond irritating. But as that aspect of the plot developed, his wife became the piece that interested me most. There was a whole 'nother field of interest to follow. Why? How? WTH? I really wanted to see where that thread went. I haven't got any of those answers. (at least to date, who knows what the next decade will bring) What I got was a shell of a vampire who is drowning in regret and possibly, maybe, idaknow... shame?
Like him, or not the Master Vampire is a force to be reckoned with. He's supposed to keep his shit together. I don't care how hexed he is, or how deep the crap gets, Mircea is not allowed to have an existential crisis. He is supposed to put on his big vampire pants and fake it until they believe him.
This book was an assault; on my patience, my emotions and mostly, my temper. Ignite the Fire ignited a fire in me alright. Not a good one, but a big one.
But the early stories are so jam packed with excitement and humor I pushed that aside because there is so much to enjoy. These stories are non stop action and snarky as all get out. Heaven!
Every new book I hoped Cassie would stop whining and get down to business. And every book I was disappointed. The action amped up. The plot got twistier. Most of the story elements kept me rivited, and it was OTT entertaining. But Cassie was stuck in a spin cycle. I'm not strong enough. I don't know what I'm doing. Nobody listens to me!!!!
OMG... you are The Pythia. Stop waiting for people to listen. Put your foot down and BE the Dangded Pythia already! You may not know exactly what you are doing yet, but you can't let them disrespect what you stand for. I got so sick of the pity party I took a six year break after Hunt the Moon then read the next three back to back after they issued. And got more of the same. Non stop action, laugh out loud humor, and Zero, Zip, N A D D A sticking up for herself.
However, I missed something pretty pivotal. Somewhere during the last 900 pages, an epiphany bashed me in the face like a 200 lb frozen halibut. -- Don't ask where; between the sheer volume of self indulgence and melodrama it was a traumatic read and I've blocked a lot of it out. -- Twelve real life years have passed for me since that first read. But story wise a grand total of six months have passed. OH....
All these years I've been mad at Cassie for refusing to grow; when I should have been livid with la belle Chance for taking fifteen bloody years to write SIX months worth of story.
I suppose it could be worse.
But on the other hand. I hate waiting
We had at least ten books of Cassie's learning curve. You'd think that Chance, having taken what felt like an eon bringing Cassandra to the point of actually knowing what she was doing that we would get a leveling off period. Just a tiny little period of time to adjust to Cassie actually being the badassed Pythia we all wanted her to become. But No! Virtually the moment Cassie Owns the power of the Pythia she has a BOSS.........no THE BOSS FIGHT to end all BOSS fights; barely escapes with her life, and the next thing we know she is trapped in Faery where she Can Not access her powers. At All. She must fight for her life; powerless, hopeless and alone, at the mercy of beings who have virtually none.
How little mercy they posess is detailed in shocking, melodramatic detail. And of course, now is when she begins to process. All the emotions, months of pent up frustration and self doubt come out. Not over the course of a book or two. No, they gush out like a firehose over the course of a few chapters. At one point Cassie wanted to die. And I was right there with her.
Make it Stop!
I might have shrugged off the trauma of being pummeled by that tsunami of melodrama and self pity.
BUT wait, there's more.
-- Emrys, Pritican's demon half; the part of himself he has shut himself off from for almost the entirety of his 1200 or so years of existence has manifested as a separate entity. And if you thought Pritican had demon issues, they are nothing compared to Emry's Pritican issues and Emrys is stronger, more volatile and a hell of a lot less corporative than Pritican.-- Cassie, Pritican and Emrys are essentially a thrupple now; with all the headaches of a polyamorus relationship and none of the fun.
-- And don't get me started on Mircea. Seriously, just Don't. I'm miffed at him. When the Cassie, Pritican, Mircea mess started, the complications arising from Mircea's obsession with his long dead wife were beyond irritating. But as that aspect of the plot developed, his wife became the piece that interested me most. There was a whole 'nother field of interest to follow. Why? How? WTH? I really wanted to see where that thread went. I haven't got any of those answers. (at least to date, who knows what the next decade will bring) What I got was a shell of a vampire who is drowning in regret and possibly, maybe, idaknow... shame?
Like him, or not the Master Vampire is a force to be reckoned with. He's supposed to keep his shit together. I don't care how hexed he is, or how deep the crap gets, Mircea is not allowed to have an existential crisis. He is supposed to put on his big vampire pants and fake it until they believe him.
This book was an assault; on my patience, my emotions and mostly, my temper. Ignite the Fire ignited a fire in me alright. Not a good one, but a big one.
