Shield of Fire, by Boone Brux
Shield of Fire, by Boone Brux
Bringer and the Bane, Book One
Reviewed by Ciara
Publisher’s synopsis; In one night, Ravyn’s life plunges from barely tolerable to deadly. Forced to flee the only home she’s known, she stumbles headlong into the clutches of Icarus, a powerful demon intent on stealing her powers.
Unfortunately for him, she has no intention of cooperating.
When Rhys realizes the woman he’s rescued from the Bane Demon is no mere human, his obligation as a Bringer dictates he protect and train her in the ways of his people. But he’s unprepared for the intense desire he feels for the fiery Ravyn. To surrender to his need may mean her death.
As the Demon King’s desire for ultimate power escalates, fathers are slated against sons, and foes are made allies. The Bane threat upon them, Rhys and Ravyn must quest to unite the last of the Bringers-and explore a passion too powerful to ignore.
For the most part, nothing happens in this book. There are four or five skirmishes with the enemy, the Bane, demons whose King aspires to rule the world, basically.
In between these skirmishes, the main character, Ravyn, trains to fight the demons, is introduced to the other characters, shops for clothes and wonders whether or not she is falling in love.
Ravyn doesn’t progress as a character in this book, at least, not in a logical way. One moment she is meek and respectable and proper, the next she is tugging her dress down to reveal more of her breasts and flirting with strange men. There’s nothing wrong with either, but the progression is too sudden.
I thought the romance, while interesting and spicy, and which involved a very attractive man, was a little unsubtle. From the moment they meet, the pair are internally mooning over one another. Just a little conflict in that relationship (Brux does attempt some, but it’s never entirely believable and is short lived) would have added a little much-needed tension to this book.
As it is, the author effectively grabs the reader by the shoulders, shakes them and shouts, “This pair will fall in love!”
After all that lack of subtlety, there is altogether too much subtlety in one scene, after a will-they-won’t-they moment, and the reader is left wondering for 5-6 pages, did they or didn’t they?
This opacity in Brux’s writing applies equally to the motivation of her characters. At one point, Ravyn refuses to join the fight against the demons. Then, a few pages later, for apparently no reason, she is fully devoted to it. I struggled to understand the motivation for some of the characters’ actions in this book.
Yet again, there are scenes in which the motivation is made blindingly obvious- as a character takes 3-4 pages of internal dialogue to explain it. The lack of consistency made the book difficult to enjoy.
There is a very hot sex scene in this book, but there is only one, so if you’re looking for a steamy paranormal romance, you may look elsewhere. There is a hint of more to come in future books, though.
Judging by reviews on GoodReads and Amazon, I seem to be in the minority of readers; most enjoyed this book immensely. The plot is fabulous, the characters are for the most part believable, but the writing let the story down, I felt.
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