The Fire King

De: Kevin Hopson

Narrado por: Terry Jenkins

The planet Oabrora faces a perpetual winter after a human mage, Vico, causes all of the volcanos in the dragon homeland of Jifihx to erupt. Three dragon siblings (Mianth, Tulvir, and Hirador) survive the blast and set out on a journey to bring Vico to justice. However, when they cross paths with two humans, they discover a far worse enemy than Vico.

©2017 Kevin Hopson (P)2017 Kevin Hopson

Dragons' quest for revenge...

Would you listen to The Fire King again? Why?

Probably yes. It's a short listen and quite a good adventure with dragons as the main characters and humans as the villains... It's also intriguing enough to engage the listener, even though I'd like to have some more world-building or a little bit more background information of what happened to the world before the book starts...

What did you like best about this story?

The main characters - the dragon siblings Mianth, Tulvir and Hirador. They are very human in their behaviour, so much so that their personalities make the listener/reader forget they are dragons, except in a few action-packed scenes of fights/battles... Compared to them the human characters in the story are definitely less interesting, less developed, we don't know enough of them to really care what happens to them - that's the weakness of the story, and that's why I've given it only 4 stars.
Also, the first part (the book consists of two parts) was dragging a little, although there was a good twist ending it; the second part was a little bit more logical. Still I found some scenes unnecessary or confusing as to their purpose for the plotline, one scene particularly so (no details for the "no spoilers" reason:))...
But on the whole the storyline is interesting and the pace is quite fast, with some good descriptions of dragons fighting their enemies. And I think young(er) readers/listeners will like the book a lot more than (older) grown-ups, though:)

What does Terry Jenkins bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Terry Jenkins' narration is good, I liked the voices he gave all the characters, especially the dwarf (sorry, no name here as I only listened to the book and have no idea how to spell his name:)). I've given the performance 4 stars instead of 5 because at times the narration seemed a little flat (for the lack of a better word...) - Mr Jenkins is great at reading dialogues, but a little monotonous when reading the narrator's parts...
On the other hand, I loved Mr Jenkins' interpretation of all the male characters; each one of them was perfect and each "voice" excellently conveyed the personality of the given character. Female characters were also well done, though it's always more difficult to voice well the characters of the opposite sex:)

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

As it is a rather short audiobook (a little less than 3 hrs) it can easily be listened to in one sitting; it's also interesting enough to make you want to do it without taking breaks:)

Any additional comments?

DISCLAIMER: I was voluntarily provided this review copy audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator.

Sci-fi? No. It's an YA story.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Not really. The book is categorized, imo. This isn't a sci-fi book from any angle. It's a YA story. I do read YA novels and some of my friends do too. But this particular book didn't quite make a good impression in that genre either.

What could Kevin Hopson have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Imagining that the author was really going for a YA Fantasy genre, the book would've fared better if the story lasted longer and had more depth. With its short runtime, the characters got no time to develop or make any lasting impression on me. The story itself went by too fast. And I moved on as soon as the story was over. That's not sign of a good book. That's just my experience with the book though.

Any additional comments?

I voluntarily received a free copy of this book from the author / narrator / publisher and I'm leaving an unbiased review.

Young adult fantasy

The story is well written as a young adult fantasy story. This was a great listen for my sons who enjoyed it with me. As an adult it was lacking in the depth I have come to expect in a fantasy novel. The narrator did a great job and the author streamlined a story that if flushed out would rival any epic fantasy novel out there. Great stuff. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

Dragons meeting teenagers

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I realised it was a YA book after getting this book. I figured I'd give it a chance.
The storyline is going at a really fast pace. I would of like if the plots were more detailed instead of going from one quest to the other with no rest. This book could of be divided in several longer books.
The teenagers just met the dragons and already they were at the end of a some extraordinary journey with nonstop epic twists, but it felt like everything happened in 2 or 3 days.

Would you recommend The Fire King to your friends? Why or why not?

If I had teenage nephews or nieces who were into fantasy, I would recommend it to them.

Could you see The Fire King being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

May be a cartoon.
Or a teenage tv series or animated series

Any additional comments?

The narrator did a good job.
"This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review."

The Fire King

I really liked this book. The story was based on a dragon's point of view. The narrator did a great job with the various characters voices which made following who was speaking. I look forward to the next book in the series.