Firestorm - Reviews

[Mark Robson]

Here's the first:

Firestorm | Fantasybookspot

[Joel007]

Can't wait to pick it up off Waterstone

[Ian Whates]

Not a bad way to start, Mark. Congrats, and may it be the first of many!

[Threddy]

Cool, well done Mark.

You have to go and ruin it though and make us wait until August!

[Teresa Edgerton]

Originally Posted by Ian Whates

Congrats, and may it be the first of many!

My sentiments exactly.

[Mark Robson]

Originally Posted by Teresa Edgerton

My sentiments exactly.

Thanks everyone.

And Teresa, I'll be reviewing A Dark Sacrifice soon. I'm over half way through now. It's taking a while only because I'm so busy. Getting frustrated with my own reading speed actually, as it's a fascinating story.

[Mark Robson]

Here's another. I particularly liked his parting comment!

Dragon Orb (Firestorm) by Mark Robson - TheBookbag.co.uk book review

[Joel007]

Good review, I like the part about your vivid characters!

[rune]

I enjoyed this first book, and so like the dragons

[M@.Price]

Congrats Mark.

Oh, I also updated you Wikipedia with the Dragon Orb information.

[Mark Robson]

Thanks, Matt.

Just had this lovely review through from Chris d'Lacey, author of the popular Icefire series:

'I found Firestorm very enjoyable and think it will be a great addition to dragon fantasy lore, especially for top juniors. I was particularly impressed with the way Mark handled the fight scene with the hunters. Very gripping. There were also some breathtaking and very convincing descriptions of flight involving the dragons. I envy his military flying background for that!

This has all the elements of good children's fiction. I think the young readers will latch onto the characters very easily and be looking out for the next book in the series as soon as they've finished the first.'


You can read more about Chris's books at his website: eyegate

[Mark Robson]

Another wonderful quote, this time from Sarah Singleton:

“Tightly-plotted, full of action and adventure, Mark Robson’s Firestorm is a thrilling read with three engaging young heroes. I particularly enjoyed the incursion of the dragons and their riders into the ‘real’ world and their meeting with the World War I pilots - a deft and original touch in a fantasy story - and best of all, for me, the evocative descriptions of the terrors and delights of flying.”

To get such wonderful quotes from other authors leaves me feeling dizzy!

Check out Sarah's website here: Sarah Singleton

[Mark Robson]

This review will appear in July's edition of 'Books for Keeps':

Firestorm: Dragon Orb
***
Mark Robson, Simon & Schuster, 320pp, 978 1 84738 068 5. £6.99 pbk

Dragon Orb, first in the ‘Firestorm’ series, is another story about young people flying around on dragons. Once again, they learn how this is done the hard way, overcoming scary dragons and learning to fly. Once again they must work together. Once again, the dragons have their own way of communicating. We’ve flown this way before.

This time there’s a difference. ‘Firestorm’ breathes a little fire into the hackneyed motifs with two magical qualities. Firstly the book is imbued with a real sense of what it actually feels like to meet your dragon and fly away. The characters are engaging and the narration effectively immerses the reader in their shocks and fears, as well as the magic of flying and realising ‘They had only been flying a matter of minutes and he was already further from home than he had ever been before’.

Secondly, and vital to the latter ingredient, the characters comprise a gaggle of truly believable youths, resulting in a story that has a genuine voice. Scenarios, such as one young dragon master’s figuring out of his future with his father, the suspicious tension between the youths and their realisation that the magic is real, all come across as believable. Add to this some truly quotable lines, such as: ‘The eastern sky was brightening by the heartbeat’ and we have a great story.

I have one qualm over the book’s approach to obsessive disorder and fear, and did feel the fear was tricked through rather than overcome, but this is a small qualm in an otherwise superb start to this new series. HTh

[M@.Price]

Lots of great reviews! Can't wait...

[Threddy]

Originally Posted by Mark Robson

Dragon Orb, first in the ‘Firestorm’ series,

I thought Firestorm was the first in the Dragon Orb series.
Am I being silly or is this review wrong?