Review: Spectacular finale with surprising revelations
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 27, 2014
This book would not be suitable as a standalone novella.  However, if you have been reading the series from the beginning then you will almost certainly enjoy this final installment.As a whole, this series has been entertaining and thought provoking.  There are several "What if..." scenarios proposed, allowing readers to internally engage in moral and ethical debates, rather than just the plot and characters.  This book in particular proposes some radical concepts, the kinds that can be argued across a variety of platforms.Hell. Whether perceived by an individual as one of the possible destinations in the afterlife, overwhelmingly difficult circumstances endured here on Earth, or an alternate plane of existence, the words evokes feelings of dread and thoughts of extreme suffering.  Bonfires Burning Bright proposes the latter, though in a complex way.  When the people of Refuge arrive on this plane they endure more than horror and pain as a collective group.  Individual demons are revisited, adding further complications to an already tumultuous situation.  The ways Gilmour and Bishop explore the characters’ separate dilemmas are imaginative, and in some cases appropriately twisted.Bonfires delivers a bit less action than some of the previous books in the series, but what it does have is more intense and riveting than some of them as well.  The story also relies on irony and shock value, both of which deliver in big ways. Following the climax, while many of the questions the characters have had are answered, more are proposed for the reader.  The book’s ending is memorable and, while some may find it frustrating, one i found fitting.