Post by Charlynn on Jun 17, 2013 13:20:30 GMT -5
Fire Along the Sky by Sara Donati
Ten years following the events from Lake in the Clouds, the War of 1812 finds the Bonners. As a haunted Hannah returns home from the Indian wars out west, Daniel and Blue-Jay leave for the latest disagreement between the newborn United States and its recently overthrown oppressor, Great Britain. Meanwhile, his twin, Lily, enters into her own battle - one of the heart, fleeing Paradise under the guise of studying art in Montreal. There, she stays with her eldest half-sibling, Luke. While walking a tightrope between his personal and professional responsibilities during a tumultuous time of war, Luke is also forced to confront his own romantic feelings when a widowed Jennet travels across the ocean to join her Bonner relatives in the New World, to finally be with him. And then there's precocious Gabriel, the youngest of the Bonner children... for now, Gabriel who adds a much needed sense of levity to his parents' lives when everything else around them - familial loss; the scandal of forbidden love twice over; debilitating grief and sorrow; military intrigue, danger, capture, and injury; and then finally a kidnapping - is so heavy. Despite everything they and theirs must face, Nathaniel and Elizabeth persevere the only way they know how: with love, faith in family, and support from their friends.
Despite the jump in time between novels and the sheer amount of major, dramatic events which take place, Fire Along the Sky still feels like a stopgap. Now, this doesn't mean that the book is any less enjoyable or important to the series. Major changes to the Bonner family occur in this piece. Characters evolve, develop, and change with the maturity that comes both from time and experience - some in positive ways, some at a detriment. Lives are lost; new additions to the family are made. Yet, at the same time, despite all the movement in plot and character development, the story seems to ebb sideways. There's no regression, but there is a lack of resolution as well. Everyone seems caught up in circumstances out of their control, many of the storylines left dangling for what will hopefully be their conclusion in the series' next work. Unlike Donati's other novels, Fire Along the Sky is not merely complimented by the books it is sandwiched between but dependent upon, a piece that cannot stand alone on its own. Some readers, myself included among them, will find this to be a detriment to Fire Along the Sky. In addition, it was disconcerting to see Liam Kirby reintroduced into the Bonners' story late in the novel, only to be killed off. This conclusion for the sometimes polarizing but always interesting character felt like a waste and a letdown. No doubt, he could have proved extremely useful to the Queen of Swords.
Three out of Five Stars
Ten years following the events from Lake in the Clouds, the War of 1812 finds the Bonners. As a haunted Hannah returns home from the Indian wars out west, Daniel and Blue-Jay leave for the latest disagreement between the newborn United States and its recently overthrown oppressor, Great Britain. Meanwhile, his twin, Lily, enters into her own battle - one of the heart, fleeing Paradise under the guise of studying art in Montreal. There, she stays with her eldest half-sibling, Luke. While walking a tightrope between his personal and professional responsibilities during a tumultuous time of war, Luke is also forced to confront his own romantic feelings when a widowed Jennet travels across the ocean to join her Bonner relatives in the New World, to finally be with him. And then there's precocious Gabriel, the youngest of the Bonner children... for now, Gabriel who adds a much needed sense of levity to his parents' lives when everything else around them - familial loss; the scandal of forbidden love twice over; debilitating grief and sorrow; military intrigue, danger, capture, and injury; and then finally a kidnapping - is so heavy. Despite everything they and theirs must face, Nathaniel and Elizabeth persevere the only way they know how: with love, faith in family, and support from their friends.
Despite the jump in time between novels and the sheer amount of major, dramatic events which take place, Fire Along the Sky still feels like a stopgap. Now, this doesn't mean that the book is any less enjoyable or important to the series. Major changes to the Bonner family occur in this piece. Characters evolve, develop, and change with the maturity that comes both from time and experience - some in positive ways, some at a detriment. Lives are lost; new additions to the family are made. Yet, at the same time, despite all the movement in plot and character development, the story seems to ebb sideways. There's no regression, but there is a lack of resolution as well. Everyone seems caught up in circumstances out of their control, many of the storylines left dangling for what will hopefully be their conclusion in the series' next work. Unlike Donati's other novels, Fire Along the Sky is not merely complimented by the books it is sandwiched between but dependent upon, a piece that cannot stand alone on its own. Some readers, myself included among them, will find this to be a detriment to Fire Along the Sky. In addition, it was disconcerting to see Liam Kirby reintroduced into the Bonners' story late in the novel, only to be killed off. This conclusion for the sometimes polarizing but always interesting character felt like a waste and a letdown. No doubt, he could have proved extremely useful to the Queen of Swords.
Three out of Five Stars