Circle of Fire by Riva Shaw.

Circle of Fire by Riva Shaw.

(YouWriteon.com, 2010.)

Review by Laura Parish.

A great beginning to a promising trilogy.

Part One of the Circle of Fire trilogy.

In the kingdom of Subia, Nick Trayer became the youngest ever Warrior of the Circle of Fire it was widely predicted that a great future lay ahead of him. Now, years later, he is content to live as a farmer, working side by side with this tenants, trying in vain to forget the tragedy which caused him to turn his back on glory. On the day that Nick is due to marry Catherine, his childhood sweetheart, the King of Subia is killed in a hunting accident. His fourteen year old son, Rowan inherits the throne and Nick is once more called to his King’s service. Nick must confront his past and fight a new battle between love and duty.

This book is proof of that old cliche that you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover or in this case, a book by the genre you assume it belongs in. When I read the synopsis, I felt that this maybe one book that wasn’t for me and more my husband’s type of read. I couldn’t have been more wrong. From beginning to end this book had me hooked to the plot. Riva does well to not give too much away too soon in relation to the plot but gives you enough information to really start to care about the characters. It reminded me of a cross between Lord of the Rings (a man who has turned his back on his destiny) and Stardust (the overall imagery.) That is not to say that this book is simply an imitation of these books. It holds it’s own as far as I’m concerned and I am very eager to find out what happens next in the trilogy. I couldn’t put this down and had read it within 24 hours, a record for me. Well done Riva. Can’t wait for the next instalment.

by

Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.