a review by Jade Hounsell
Oracle’s Fire is the third in the Chronicles of the Tree series and delivers resolutions to the problems the characters have faced in the other two books, Tymon’s Flight and Samiha’s Song. So in saying that, I must follow with this book is definitely not a stand alone, the others must be read to have the best understanding of the whole story.
The Tree is the entire world. And that world is dying …
After Samiha is thrown from the docks in Argos city, Tymon is condemned to a life of slavery in a Tree-mine. During his ordeals, he glimpses a vision of his love and becomes obsessed by the thought that she is still alive. When disaster strikes the mine, he is left wandering the tunnels at the heart of the Tree, clinging to the hope that he might find her once again.
Meanwhile, the Saint′s crusade is tearing the Four Canopies apart, and Lace and his Masters pursue their own deadly plans. Even as Tymon travels deep into the Tree, the Envoy′s acolytes are sent out on a mission to Lacuna, the legendary World Below …’
I know that I haven’t really given much away in the way of story lines in the other two reviews; the blurb on the last book has probably given more away than I have. This really is because I think that these books need to be read to fully appreciate the world that Mary Victoria has developed and continually built upon in every book. I really was blown away with these books and was surprised that the ending wasn’t how I thought it would play out. (Sometimes it’s nice not to have a book end exactly how you guessed early on that it would!) Whereas the build up in the first two books was gentler and more gradual with a lot of world and character development, this one is more action and final explanations, you definitely are not wondering about any loose ends not being explained.
Oracle’s Fire, also like the others, gives narrative to several different characters (good and bad) throughout, although the main voice is still Tymon’s. This time around I actually found being in Tymon’s head a little annoying, he has become so fixated on Samiha having survived being thrown off the docks that he really pays very little attention to anyone or any event that is unfolding around him. Not to say it isn’t understandable, especially since he is experiencing dreams and visions of her constantly, but still a little repetitive for me.
All in all a VERY good series of books, one that I would definitely read again and highly recommend.
