Review: Firebrand by Gillian Philip

Firebrand by Gillian Philip
Published: August 13th, 2010
Publisher: Strident Publishing Ltd
Pages: 384
Source: For review
Challenge: 100+ Reading Challenge, 350 Page Books Challenge
Other: First book in the Rebel Angels series. The second book, Bloodstone, was published on August 16th, 2011.
Buy the book: Bookdepository

It’s the last decade of the sixteenth century: a time of religious wars in the full-mortal world. But the Sidhe are at peace, hidden behind the Veil that protects their world - until their queen, Kate NicNicven, determines to destroy it.

Seth MacGregor is the half-feral son of a Sidhe nobleman. When his father is assassinated, and Seth is exiled with his brother Conal to the full-mortal world, they vow not only to survive, but to return to reclaim their fortress and save the Veil.
But even the Veil’s power can’t protect the brothers when the brutal witch-hunts begin…

This was not the book for me.

In this book, fantasy and history are combined on both sides of the Veil. In the Sithe world, everything is normal - if you can call hearing eachothers thoughts normal - while in the full-mortal world, the witch hunts have begun.

I had difficulty getting into the story. The book alters between flashbacks and the story itself - which is told by Seth after the story finishes, if that makes sense. It didn't make sense to me, to be honest. Whenever a new chapter started, the story would have skipped a little piece in the story and I was struggling to find out where we were now and what had happened in the time between the last chapter and the beginning of the new chapter. I do not like to be puzzled about that when it's not intentional. It took so much pleasure out of reading for me, because the storyline itself is original and pretty good.

Seth is a likeable character, and I liked him for most part of the story. He was strong and stubborn and didn't know when to shut up, which I found entertaining. However, when Seth and his brother Conan come back from the full-mortal world, he changes into a completely different person. I know, he's a teenager, but at moments he appeared to be high on hormones.

Philip does write a great message in the story: in the Sithe world, men and women are equal and Seth is shocked when he sees that the opposite is true in the full-mortal world. In his eyes, women are fighters just as much as men are, and what use is it when you just sit at home?

Overall, I'd say this is an action packed story with strong characters. The writing in this book was what broke me up while reading. It's a fantasy book, and I wanted to be entertained and not constantly trying to find out what was going on and what happened before that. I really hope other people may enjoy this more than I did, because like I said, it just wasn't for me.

My overall rating:


Three stars for Seth and his Sithe clann - and a bone for the wolf puppies to play with