Almost as good as the first one! Definitely a good follow-up. I love the Neville's style -- and the way in which the world is turned upside down. The books are similar to most historical adventure fiction, full of suspense and thrills. Neville builds amazing characters, and she takes you to fantastic places. I loved the start of this all being about the game of chess. If you mystery and intricate details, this is a good book to read... but definitely read The Eight first... it's a two-book series. I wish she wrote more!

About Me
For those new to me or my ... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you'll also find TV & Film , the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by. Note: All written content is my original creation and copyrighted to me, but the graphics and images were linked from other sites and belong to them. Many thanks to their original creators.1-fiction 3-multi-book-series76 s Linda9 1 follower

I really, really wanted to love this book. Really. I d it okay... but the love just wasn't there. It's a sequel to one of my favorite books ever - The Eight - and I had high hopes, but also reservations about whether the author could capture the magic of The Eight. Unfortunately, she did not. I can't even tell you what it is about The Eight that gives it that extra spark - or that extra bonfire - whatever it is that makes it one of the coolest books ever. But The Eight has it, while The Fire does not.

It's a good book. We get a glimpse at some of our old favorite characters from the original book - Cat Velis, Alexander Solarin, Ladislaus Nim, Charlot, Tallirand. But mostly the book is about Cat and Alexander's daughter Alexandra and her friends. Its fun and adventurous, but nothing the original.

If someone can tell me why the two are so different, when they appear, on the surface, so much the same. I'd appreciate it.

But for now, I'll just wait my usual 2-3 years to forget the details, then enjoy The Eight all over again.
26 s Marijan ŠiškoAuthor 1 book76

koliko god da to ne želim, moram knjizi dati trojku. Sva je nekako...nedovršena. Likovi su površno odra?eni, radnja je uglavnom predvidljiva a kraj je jednostavno...meh. Da nema nekoliko svijetlih momenata, ne bi dobila ni to.14 s Ariannha1,140

"Todo jugador de ajedrez que se precie conoce la famosa frase de Thomas Jefferson: "Creo mucho en la suerte, y he descubierto que cuanto más trabajo, más suerte tengo."

Después de haber leído El ocho que me encantó y estará siempre dentro de mis favoritos, tenía muchas ganas de leer esta segunda parte, pero no ha cumplido de todo mis expectativas, quizás porque la autora ya había dejado el listón muy en alto.

La autora repite fórmula, narrando la historia entre dos líneas de tiempo, 1822 y la actualidad, y un mismo impulsor, hay un ajedrez que da un gran poder a cualquiera que junte todas sus piezas.

“El Fuego” es un libro denso, con numerosas referencias a la simbología, incluso en los nombres de personajes. La manera en la que se entrelazan las historias místicas, la trama amorosa entre los protagonistas, y el desarrollo argumental principal de la obra hace que te despistes y te pierdas la relación existente entre los personajes.

Así como El ocho me enganchó, “El Fuego” me ha costado más leerlo.12 s Leigh StathamAuthor 17 books268

Ok.. I really really really loved reading Katherine Neville's book "The Eight" several years ago. I still think it's a great little book. So I was super excited to hear that she wrote a sequel. It was all down hill from there. I struggled through the opening chapters full of obscure middle eastern names and theories but I hung in there because I thought it would pay off in the end. Every corner that the story turned I thought I would finally get to the good part. But every time the bad guy was going to get them, somehow it all just fizzled out. Every single climax in the book just seemed to fizzle out. And isn't there a rule about how many "oops.. I forgot my phone was bugged" scenarios you can have in one book? or "Ooops.. I forgot to check for listening devices before I told you all my secrets in this totally public place"???

I don't know.. maybe I just didn't get it. I've never been good at chess, but it seemed her other book was a lot more exciting. This seemed to be a lot of crazy people sitting around talking about crazy things and drawing completely crazy conclusions totally out of thin air. Yah.. there was waaaaaay too much talking. At least there was some nice hot steamy bathroom boat sex *gag*gag*gag* 11 s NancyAuthor 21 books1,083

I am very disappointed to say that I had to give up on this book about halfway through. (See below to read what I had to say when I began it.) It's not awful, but ... it was way too easy to put it down and pick up other books. Oh, well.

I wrote earlier: [I've been waiting for this sequel to THE EIGHT for ever. Hooray! Okay, sure, I admit that in countless ways THE EIGHT was preposterous and silly. I loved it. Which makes me as frightened to read THE FIRE as I am eager... what if it's not as fun and absorbing? (Her other books weren't). But maybe it will be. Plus, I got hold of an ARC! Frabjous day!]11 s Patricia AyusteAuthor 0 books265

Puntuación: ???? (4/5)

Una nueva partida, dos equipos enfrentados y una cuenta contrarreloj para vencer al enemigo.

Colorado, 2003. Alexandra Solarin acude a la inesperada invitación a la fiesta de cumpleaños de su madre, Catherine Velis, para descubrir que la vivienda está vacía, su madre desaparecida y hay unos invitados con los que no contaba. Siguiendo las pistas que su madre le ha ido dejando, Alexandra se verá en medio de una nueva partida de un juego ancestral que sus padres habían ocultado años atrás para evitar que nadie pudiera juntar de nuevo el ajedrez de Montglane y descifrar el peligroso secreto que oculta.

Katherine Neville teje de nuevo esta complicada historia en la que nada es lo que parece, las alianzas se tambalean y la tensión se mantiene desde el principio. Una digna continuación para la magistral novela "El ocho" que, con un objetivo similar, arranca un nuevo juego en el que las cosas están todavía por decidir.

?? Puntos fuertes: intriga, ritmo trepidante, trama adictiva, lenguaje sencillo, los personajes.

? Te gustará si: buscas una lectura adictiva, una novela de intriga, si te gusta el estilo de la autora y has leído "El ocho".novela-contemporanea7 s Caroline34

Uch.

I didn't even finish the book, which is rare for me. This was just so painful and tedious to read, I couldn't stand it. There were parts where it seemed Neville just took her historical research and put it into the mouths of the characters (and I use that term loosely) verbatim. The whole book felt an attempt to cash in on the "DaVinci Code" craze for powerful-hidden-conspiracies-uncovered-by-deciphering-clues novels.

I am dreading going back and taking another look at "The Eight," to which this was the sequel. I loved that book (I read it in college) and I wonder if this one was really that different.8 s Paola C453 55

Parte de este libro me ha encantado y parte la he aborrecido... La primera parte me gustó demasiado y eso quizás ha hecho que mis expectativas estuvieran muy altas.
Aún así la trama de Alexandra me atrapó desde el principio y por suerte los capítulos que hacían referencia al pasado son minoría.8 s Krbo326 42

au, jedva izdržah do kraja

zašto sam joj zbiberio "sjedni jedan"?

monstruozno dosadno - baš cijelu knjigu se odvija neka priprema, strka za nešto, nekog vraga, stalno se ?eka da ve? po?ne radnja (koja ima vezu s Monglanskom garniturom) i tako do?emo do kraja i ništa, baš ništa, neki apsolutno bezvezni završetak s kvazi filozofijom.

sve li?i na odvratne beskona?ne trke i proganjanja u ameri?kim filmovima (konji, ko?ije, automobili, ?amci i ino što oni veselo izmišljaju), a udrobljeno likova za 3 knjige

i ne, ni na kraju nemam pojma "ko je koga" u njoj

veze ovo s odli?nim prethodnikom "Osmica" nema, jednostavno zaboravite da postoji, valjda je izdava?u i g?i zatrebalo para

7 s Jessica49

The author herself describes the predecessor to this book (The Eight) by saying there were no other books it. She goes on to say that she never intended to write any followups. She really should have taken her own words of wisdom to heart (as Key would say).

This book had too many ideas, names, subnames and places and not nearly enough action. There is literally one action scene, 15 pages from the end of the book and it is tied up nicely, ex machina, with no one getting hurt. The characters are not interesting enough to hold together a novel of this length and the mystery is literally talked out rather than hunted down. On more than one occasion people are sitting in a room when they suddenly discover the secret to it all. They look at each other and say some variation on "Of course, why didn't we see it before!" only it is completely impossible they could have figured it out by just sitting there saying "the board is the key" over and over again. There is far too much exposition to explain the secret clues and puzzles, especially since everyone who could answer these questions is alive and were only moments before embracing the adventurers. They could have just told them. Why the mystery? In fact, the larger question is what mystery, a big question since the mystery was supposed to be the driving force of this novel.7 s Rodrigo1,235 643

Continuación muy por debajo del nivel de su antecesor como fue "el ocho". Tramas sin sentido. No me ha gustado. 3/10histórica misterio-y-suspense paper ...more6 s apple105 11

Giving "The Fire" only one star might not be fair, but I just can't help it, having waited FOREVER (and even sounding a Twilight Fangirl here) for a sequel of the ingenious "The Eight".

Since the predecessor was SO very very good it robs me of any more creative adjectives, I had such a high expectation of "The Fire".
But it didn't really deliver... What's with the lead character going on and on about...food, and not to mention total lack of chemistry whatsoever between Alexandra and her beau. Just compare that to the scene when Cat first met Solarin *sign* and hopefully you'll understand my reason for the one lonely star there.

This book is supposed to be a two-tiers story...So where's the other "tier"? In "The Eight", the story in the past (so-called the other tier) is even more mesmerizing than the present-day part.

I've already blogged about how Katherine Neville out-Dan Brown before Dan Brown was even Dan Brown, but in "The Fire" there is not even a single element of mystique that made "The Eight" so ahead of its time.

All in all, I don't want to be all whiney about how good "The Eight" was I would whine about how I miss the 80's (and I DO miss the 80's) but taking "The Fire" as a stand-alone and not as a sequel...well, I still wouldn't recommend it. Now, let me crawl quietly into the corner with my battered copy of "The Eight" and cry..suspense-thriller5 s Serafim Silva40 4

A base da história até é interessante, mas com tanta rainha branca e preta, duplicações e peões, torna-se maçador.5 s Elentarri1,702 34

Rating:  3.75 stars

The Fire takes place 30 years after the events described in The Eight, and follows the same style of bouncing between events in the past (Albania and Greece in 1822) and the present (USA in 2003).  Alexandra Solarin, daughter of important characters from The Eight, doesn't have a very active role in this novel, compared to her mother in the previous novel.  She does, however, have very interesting and helpful friends and relations.  There were several twists that made this novel different from the first one, and which particularly appealed to me.  The Fire is not nearly as intense as The Eight, but it's still an entertaining story with interesting and quirky characters. books-read-2022 fantasy-and-sf festive-tasks-2022 ...more4 s Jennie 204 61

??????,??????...??? ?? ????? ?? ????? ?? ?? ??? ???? ?? ??????..
?????? ??? ???? ????
???????? ??? ???? ???? ??? ?? ????
???? ???? ?? quotes ???? ???? ??? ???? ????????? ??? ??? ????? ????. ???? ???? ???? ???? ???????????. ???? ?? ???????????. ?? ???? ?? ???? ???? ??? ???? 567 ???????(???!) ?? ?????? ????? ????????? ?? ????? ?? ?? ???????????. ?? ???? ???? ????? ??? ??????? ?? ??? ?????????? sequel ???? ??????? ??? ????? ????. ????? ??? ??? ???????????? ?????? ??? ????. ???? ??? ???? ????? ????. ???????? ??? ?? ???????. ??? ?????????? ?? ???? ??? ????? ??????. ??? ????? ??????????. ???? ?? ??? ?????? ???? ????? ????? ????? ??????. favourite-books-stories fiction mystery ...more4 s ????? ???????Author 66 books48

??? ?? ??? ?????? ?????? ??? ??? ????????. ?? 8 ?? ???? ???????? ???? ??? ????? ?????? ??? ??????? ??? ??? ???? ?????? ????. ? ????? ???? ???? ??????? ???????????, ????? ????? ??????? ?????? ??? ?? ???? ?? ????????? ????? ??? ??? ???????? ????. ??? ????? ???? ???? ???? ?????? ??????? ??? ???? ?? ?????? ?? ??????? ??? ???? ??? ??????? ????????, ??? ???? ??? ????? ??? ??? ????? ??? ??????. ??? ???? ????, ???????? ?? ?? ?? ?????????????? ????????.4 s Iowa City Public Library703 76 Read

It’s been five years since The Da Vinci Code triggered an avalanche of imitators–thrillers featuring codes and ciphers, arcane knowledge, and ancient conspiracies. To me, the book that most resembled it was Katherine Neville’s The Eight, which was actually written 15 years before the Code. Positing a thousand year old chess set with alchemical powers, and a larger Game with geopolitical implications, the book acquired something of a cult, and, after 20 years, a sequel.

The Fire finds Alexandra Solarin, a former child chess prodigy who gave up the game after her fatherÂ’s murder, summoned to her estranged motherÂ’s home in Colorado. Her mother is missing, but carefully encoded clues, and the arrival of several other people place her smack dab in the middle of the GameÂ’s newest round, forcing her to decipher both the rules and the roles of others (friend or foe?) as she goes. The action moves to Washington, DC, Jackson Hole, Kamchatka, and back in time to France, the Sahara, and the Greek islands where we find Lord Byron and Tallyrand, among others, involved in the intrigue.

This sequel seems to me less successful than The Eight. Neville has done so much research that it slows the action, and I struggled to keep up. The rules of the Game remain unclear, and a half-resolved ending suggest that another volume might be in the works. Still, one could do worse than a book this brainy and ambitious. --John

From ICPL Staff Picks Blogfantasy fiction john ...more3 s megHan604 89

I picked this book up at a local thrift store that sells as many books as you can fit into a Walmart-esque bag for $4.99 (and I can fit a lot of books into this bag). So far, I have picked up books I have never heard of and have been extremely satisfied with my choices. I did not, until after reading it, discover that it was the second book, and yet I really had no problem understanding the story, despite some of the chess talk I didn't quite understand. A great book!! Full of action and intrigue, adventures and secrets, danger and conspiracy. She is invited to a strange party and left even stranger clues by her mother which sets her off on an adventure to find the hidden pieces of the Montglane Service, a chess set once owned by Charlemagne, and on this adventure she's unsure who to trust as she finds out the truth about herself and her family. (You can always tell whether I've read a book by the sticky notes stuck inside the first cover - notes, quotes, thoughts I've had while reading it - and you know I've loved it when there are a lot. The whole inside of the front cover is full. Enough said.)my-favorites3 s Beth64 6

I got an Advanced Reader's Edition of this title and was so excited as The Eight is a book I recommend to everyone.

This book was extremely difficult for me to be engaged with as there were too many characters and the plot seemed somewhat disjointed.

fantasy3 s Jenny53 1 follower

The Eight is one of my favorite books and sadly the sequel does not come close to being as enjoyable. I highly recommend The Eight and suggest skipping this one. 3 s msleighm752 47

Audiobook.

Second time trying this, and second time DNFing. I loved the first one so much I felt I had to give it another try. Though I did get further this time, I can't justify continuing when there are so many books I want to read. The best way I can describe my feelings while reading this book... it's a poorly made tapestry with loose threads trying to be cohesive, but they meander and twist into indifference.

The narration is fine, though I upped the speed a little to try and push through; obviously, it didn't work.audio-dnf mystery-thriller own ...more2 s Sara211

He who has an ancient chess board and all the pieces could have unlimited power. No one has had everything, the chess pieces and the board for centuries. The king and queen pieces have been killing each other to attain everything for these same centuries. I found it hard to follow sometimes. New characters were introduced and at times,I thought, what century are we in? The potential black king and white queen have fallen in love. Will their unity end the game?2 s AlexNms239 48

"? ?????" ????? ?? sequel ??? "????" ??? ?????? ????? ??? ????? ?????? ??? ????? ????????? ??? ???????. ???? ??? ?? ????? ??????, ? ??????? ????????????? ???? ??? ?? ????? ??? ???????? ?? ????? ?????? ??????????? ??????? ??'??? ?????? ????????????. ??? ??????? ??? ?? ????? ???? ??????????? ??? "????", ???? ?????? ? ?????????? ??????? ?? ??????????? ??? ?????? "? ?????".

????????? ??? ??? ??????? ??? ?????????? ??????? (???, ?????? famous) ??? ????? ??? ?????? ????? ??? ??? ????????? ???????. ? ?????????, ?? ??????? ??? ????? ??????????, ???????? ?? ?????? ??? ?????????? «?????????» ??? ??????????. ????? ?? ?? ????????? ??????? ??? ????????? ??? ????????? ??? ?? ????? ????????? ??? ??????? ??? ???? ?????????? ???????? ???? ????? ?????? ??? ?????? ??? ????????? ???? ?? ???????? ???. ? ????????? ???????? ??? ????????? ???? ??? ?? ?????????? ??? ? ?????? ??? ????????? ??? ?? ???????????? ?????????? ??? ???????? ?? ????? ????? ??????? ?? ??? ??? ???? ?? ?????????? ??????????? ??????????. ????, ?????????? ?? ?????????? ??? ??????? ???????? ????? ???? ??????? ??? ???? ?????? ? ?????? ??? ??? ?????? ??? ????????? ?? ?????????? ?? ???????? ??????? ??? ?????????? ??????? ??? ????????.

? ????????? ??????? ??????? ??? ??? sequel ????????????? ??? ?????? ??? ???????? (1822 ??? ????) ??? ??? ?????, ??? ??? ??? ??????, ? ?????? ?????? ????? ??? ??????? ???? ??????? ??'??? ???????? ???? ????. ??? ??????? ??????? ?? ????????? ???? ??? ??? ????????? ??????? ????? ? ?????, ? ???? ??? ??? ????.

???? ?? ??????? ??? "? ?????" ???????? sequel ??? "????", ??????? ??? ??? ???? ??? ???? ???. ??????, ??? ???? ????????? ????? ?? ???? ????, ?????? ??? ?? ???? ?????????????????. ??????????? ???? ?????? ???? ??????? ??? ?????????? ??? ???? ???????????? ???? ??? ?? ????? ???? ?? ???????? ?? ????? ????????????. ???????????, ???? ??? ????? ??? ??? ?????? ????? ??????? ??? ????? ??? ??????????? ?????????. ??????? ??? ?????? ???????? ???? ????????????? ??????? ?? ?? ?? ?????????.

? ?????????, ?? ????????????? ??? ???? ??? ???? ???????? ??? ? ?????? ??? ?????? ??? ????? ?? ?????????? ????? ??????????? ???????? ??? ???????? ??? ??? ?????. ???????????, ?????? ?????? ???????????, ??????????? ??? ????? ?? ?????????????? ????? ??? ???? ??? ???????? ???? ???, ?????????????? ??? ??? ???????????? ?????? ?????????? ???? ???????.

??????, ??? ?? ?? ??? ??????? ????? ?????? ?? ???? ??? ????? ? ?????????? ?? ???? ??????? ??? ????????? ???????????? ??? ??????? ??? ????? ??? 1822 ??? ????????, ???? ??? ????? ?? ?? ??? ??????????? ??? ?????????????? ??? ???????????? ?? ???????? ??????. ??????????? ???? ??????? ??????????? ??? ?? sequel ?? ????? ???????? ??? ????. ??? ???? ??? ?? ?? ?????????? ?? ???? ?????? ????? ??? ?? ????? ??????. historical-fiction2 s Elizabeth K.804 39

I have very mixed feelings about this, it's the sequel to The Eight. It's the kind of sequel where you very much have to have read the first book, it wouldn't stand alone very well at all. Now, I almost always a sequel AT LEAST in the sense that I to know what happens to everyone after. Sometimes I have heard people, when talking about a favorite book, claim that it's better NOT to know, that a sequel would only ruin things. That, my friends, is the talk of crazy people. So on the one hand, I was glad to catch up with the characters from The Eight again, although I was also a little disappointed that for them, overall, life after the events of The Eight was ... well, mostly a bummer.

To set the stage, The Eight is about the hunt for a mysterious ancient chess set, told in two stories: one search taking place around the time of the French Revolution, and the other in the 1970s. The Fire is the next generation of chess set seekers.

One of the things I d the best about The Eight is that it was a good mix between adventure (which I found very suspenseful and engaging) and the rather new age-y story about the significance of the chess set (which I was not overly interested in, but whatever). In The Fire, the scales have tipped in favor of the mystical, and the adventure took a backseat. I was half-way though the book when I realized the characters hadn't even GONE anywhere yet, and then they ended up going to Washington D.C., which is where my class went on its 8th grade field trip so it doesn't seem to me to be an overly exotic destination. And because I am a nitpicky annoying person, I was also peeved that there were a few places where the plot turned on points that seem to be contradictory to the parameters set up in the first book about how the chess game worked.

Despite all of that, I found myself liking the ultimate resolution of the fate of the centuries old chess game. Odd that I wasn't overly impressed by how the author got the characters to that point, though.

Grade: Meh
Recommended: If you are a big fan of The Eight you will probably find this hard to resist.
2008/412008-new-reads2 s Lou855

Empezaré diciendo que terminé de leer The Eight a pura fuerza de voluntad porque me pareció que la escritora alargó demasiado la historia y que por eso se había vuelto pesada. Pero le di crédito por crear misterio y drama.

Pese a ese antecedente, compré el libro porque quería saber el verdadero final de la historia. Sin embargo, con esta secuela me he convencido de que no volveré a leer más los libros de esta autora. La historia de Solarin y Cat se repite con su hija... en muchas maneras. La narración es confusa y parece como que las palabras salieran disparadas sin sentido y como que ha querido poner demasiada información en poco espacio.
He tenido que pasarme varias hojas para seguir la historia pero al final, me he rendido y no he conseguido terminarlo (cosa que raramente me ocurre porque siempre termino lo que leo).

Ha sido un gasto de tiempo y dinero el leer este libro. Espero que otros encuentren este libro mucho más entretenido que yo.mystery romance2 s Julie Adams135 3

A dismal disappointment, especially because I was so enthralled by "The Eight" that I've reread it several times.

It's fairly easy to determine what happened here. Neville had advertised for years that she was working on a sequel to "The Eight," but it never materialized. My guess: the higher-ups at the publisher finally called in their chits.

Nearly every thought here is underdeveloped or, worse - OVERexplained. There is much chasing after clues . . . but the clues don't seem to flow from the storyline. And, this book displays the worst curse of the bad novel: an unfulfilling ending. There is no substance to what the protagonist finds. I was left feeling cheated that I spent the money on this one, and - truthfully - wondering if I should re-evaluate my love affair with "The Eight." 2 s ?? Sarah ?? (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans)2,417 7,685

What a huge disappointment! Granted, writing a sequel to the amazing "The Eight" wasn't an easy task (far from it!) but this was just much too slow and confusing. The plot is thin and very predictable and the historical parts of the story added nothing to the story. They were, to be honest, quite boring. So much so that I ended up skipping them altogether...

If you haven't read "The Eight", go ahead and do so you won't regret it! Just keep this sequel for desperate times only, when you have nothing else to read...bookcrossing bookmooch mysteries-thrillers-suspense2 s Christos R. TsiailisAuthor 7 books109

Not quite what I've expected. I prefer The Eight and The Magic Circle. This book was too much retrospect or irrelevant heroes of the past. No real, authentic plot. 2 s Helena Martin?evi?127 7

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