Review: This story is brilliant!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 2, 2013
Before I started the Firelight of Maalda, I'd read in the reviews that the story actually improved in the second book.  I didn't think that was possible until I read it.  It didn't disappoint.  The Firelight of Maalda is the most romantic, most action-packed adventure I've read in a long time.  Kudos to Melissa Douthit for writing a fantastic story that is so well put together.The story starts where the first one left off with Chalice and her friends in the underground city.  With the help of Ben's portal (wormhole?), they make it to Portalis where they are introduced to the twofold nature of their civilization: the chasm between the Terravail and the Naeon.  There Chalice is pulled away from her Naeon family and thrust into a new one.  She is forced learn their ways, with which she firmly doesn't agree, and in the process, finds the means to thwart the people who would control her, imposing her own will on them.  She makes enemies along the way and is almost killed before she and her companions set off on a journey to Maalda to free the deadly creatures that would threaten their world if fallen into the wrong hands.What I really loved about this book is the rich details the author weaves into the text.  The details about the underground city, the secret it holds, and the problems inherent in the cultures that live there.  I love the details about the personal conflicts the characters go through and how they resolve them, especially Chalice.I've seen other readers call Chalice a bit of a bully but that's not how I see her at all.  I think she's tough.  I think she has to be.  First of all, she's female, against which there seems to be a major bias in her Terravailian culture.  Secondly, she's young which is another drawback to her authority as the First of the Ielierian.  In order to get her subjects to see her as their leader, she has to get their attention and gain their respect.  This is not even mentioning the power she's up against.  The power that brought her father down in the first place.  How many daughters have to fight against the man who took out her father?  A man who everyone in her world fears.  Even the toughest men.  In order to do that, you have to be strong.Another aspect of the main character's personality that I admire is that she is so willing to sacrifice herself for her people and for the people she loves.  She is constantly putting herself to the hazard for them (much to Jeremiah's dismay).  She's not afraid to stand up for what she's sees as being right, no matter what kind of danger it puts her in.  That's courage.In this installment, the author answers many questions that the first book presents, but also adds a few more mysteries that I assume will be revealed in the third.  Like, for example, the mystery of the fountain and Chalice's odd flashback:"She looked up at the three golden dauphain on the circular platform and then, suddenly, had the most peculiar feeling.  Something told her that she had done this before - been at this exact spot, sitting at the fountain, brushing her hand through the water, and looking at the statue of the three creatures.  It was a crazy notion, she knew, because she had never been here before, at least not that she could remember, but the feeling was so strong and so real, she couldn't help but wonder."And the mystery of the fountain's broken spout:"The spout itself was incomplete or unfinished, as if the artisan who had originally shaped it decided to quit drilling the hole into the interior of the platform, leaving a shallow, flat, perfectly circular hollow with a tiny golden bar running across the top."Another mystery is the presence that Chalice senses watching them on the hill when they are going back to Cedarwood:"Chalice turned her head toward the hills in the north and squinted.  "Someone is watching us, Ardenne.""Some of my favorite scenes are Chalice and Jeremiah's introduction to the Archive (got goosebumps reading that chapter), Otis's story, the battle with the Draaquan ships which is really one of the greatest fighting scenes I've ever read.  And finally, my favorite scene also happens to be the most heartbreaking.  The scene at the end when Chalice is faced with the decision to die or let go and Jeremiah returns the ship.  Talk about a veritable cliffhanger.  The end was so emotional, I literally cannot wait for the third book.Really, you can't compare this story to any other.  It just doesn't do it justice.  It has elements of fantasy, of sci-fi, of paranormal and of romance all mixed into one.  I see people saying that this or that character or situation in the story is a rip-off of this or that other book, but the truth is that this story is very original.  It is also unique in that it is the first futuristic fantasy that I've ever read.I'd like to end my review with a quick note about this author.  I don't know her, but I don't need to.  Her stories speak for themselves.  Before I started this trilogy, I read the negative reviews of all her books and in each review, I checked the reviewer's name and looked it up on Goodreads.  Every single one of them were part of the group of people who attacked this author on Goodreads and told lies about her.  So it didn't surprise me that their reviews of her books were all scathing and spiteful.It's fairly easy to spot amateur reviewers too.  The ones who continually use the cliched criticisms like "too much telling and not enough showing," or "too much use of the passive voice."  This thinking is not only very adolescent, it's archaic.  Seasoned readers don't think this way.  When you've grown up as a reader, you learn that there are really no rules when it comes to an author telling a compelling story.  In the end, a good story will speak for itself whether or not it's told in the passive or active voice, or whether or not there is a lot of showing or telling.  A good story is a good story.  Therefore, in my opinion, if you like fantasy and you're looking for something new, ignore the trolls and download this one.  You won't regret it.