By Crystin Goodwin

He built his life on lies, never dreaming they’d come true.

Marius steps into his new mansion, ready to take his proper place in the world, only to find that things are not that simple. Even fire blessed must pay their way. Driven by pride, Marius seizes every opportunity, using secrets to control Lucien, Kisara, and even his own wife. But eventually the truth comes out, forcing Marius to choose between the power he sought and the friends he spurned.

The first half reads like the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, but unlike Rosencrantz, Fire Blessed offers no new insights or meaning about the story as a whole. Instead it merely fills in the gaps, referencing the events of Unblessed so that audiences understand where these new scenes fit.

Relationship based subplots continue to drive the story, but gradually founder when the characters fail to grow or change. Summaries hurry audiences from one chapter to the next; sometimes skipping over years without offering any information about what happened during that missing time. And yet the story still feels slow.

Scenes frequently revisit the same conflicts, using secrets and misunderstandings to keep the tension up. Unfortunately the characters themselves are too underdeveloped to properly engage the story’s underlying issues. Instead the characters suddenly burst with unexpected intensity, all in the name of drama. Once in a while the story manages to surpass these shortcomings, but large portions feel like a draft in need of further revision and development.

*Relationship focused subplots dominate
*Very young
-underdeveloped ideas/themes
-cyclical/repetitive plot patterns
-Underdeveloped characters

2/5

Next Time…
Ice Blessed (BoM 03)
2017/02/09