Review of Plume of Fire
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Jacklyn Maher
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Review of Plume of Fire
[Following is a volunteer review of "Plume of Fire" by Marie Fostino.]
Plume of Fire by Marie Fostino is a fantasy novel that touches so close to a potential reality it is almost terrifying. Ricky and Sarah journey together through the end of days and hopefully journey towards a better reality than the one they met in. While this book has a disclaimer of being fiction at the beginning Mary Fostino takes the reality of the pandemic and morphs it into a dystopian reality that converges different literary tropes in a new and interesting way. This book is an adventure as well as a warning of what could be and what really is important in life. While Plume of Fire leans heavily on the reality of the world the globe was plunged into it doesn’t take away from the fantasy aspects of the story.
Some positive aspects of Plume of Fire by Marie Fostino are that the story itself moves quickly and readers can feel absorbed in the story without being overwhelmed. There are a variety of characters throughout the book that each have different motivations. While not all these motivations are explored there is still an understanding of why they take the actions that they choose. Marie Fostino doesn’t go to a different world to create a fantasy, but instead takes an extremely familiar situation and turns it into a fantasy “what-if” question that forces readers to look at what they value in life.
A negative aspect of Plume of Fire is that not all the characters who were introduced in the beginning have their paths looked at closely in the book. Rebecca is introduced in the prologue allowing readers to see where she was at the beginning, and they have closure at the ending of where her life had taken her but there was a gap in the middle while the book focused on Sarah. While this is obviously purposefully done it was surprising and I was left wondering when a perspective change would happen and follow Rebecca’s story instead of Sarah’s for a little. This small negative point was somewhat amended in providing closure for her at the end, but it left me wanting to know more about what happened within her life over those two years.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars because while it was an interesting concept and well put together it left more questions than answers relating to different characters who were introduced and then never built upon even though they were important characters, like the government in Wisconsin having mentions of their history but no expansion on who they were before the changes in the world. Plume of Fire by Marie Fostino is an interesting fantasy that is closer to reality than others and was a quick enjoyable book to read.
Plume of Fire by Marie Fostino is a good book for anyone who is interested in realistic fantasy and books that evoke questions of morality and humanity. There is a significant amount of allusion to religion and God and the importance of praying and believing in a higher power, but it is not exclusionary if you maintain the frame of mind that it is a fantasy novel and not a religious diatribe.
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Plume of Fire
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Plume of Fire by Marie Fostino is a fantasy novel that touches so close to a potential reality it is almost terrifying. Ricky and Sarah journey together through the end of days and hopefully journey towards a better reality than the one they met in. While this book has a disclaimer of being fiction at the beginning Mary Fostino takes the reality of the pandemic and morphs it into a dystopian reality that converges different literary tropes in a new and interesting way. This book is an adventure as well as a warning of what could be and what really is important in life. While Plume of Fire leans heavily on the reality of the world the globe was plunged into it doesn’t take away from the fantasy aspects of the story.
Some positive aspects of Plume of Fire by Marie Fostino are that the story itself moves quickly and readers can feel absorbed in the story without being overwhelmed. There are a variety of characters throughout the book that each have different motivations. While not all these motivations are explored there is still an understanding of why they take the actions that they choose. Marie Fostino doesn’t go to a different world to create a fantasy, but instead takes an extremely familiar situation and turns it into a fantasy “what-if” question that forces readers to look at what they value in life.
A negative aspect of Plume of Fire is that not all the characters who were introduced in the beginning have their paths looked at closely in the book. Rebecca is introduced in the prologue allowing readers to see where she was at the beginning, and they have closure at the ending of where her life had taken her but there was a gap in the middle while the book focused on Sarah. While this is obviously purposefully done it was surprising and I was left wondering when a perspective change would happen and follow Rebecca’s story instead of Sarah’s for a little. This small negative point was somewhat amended in providing closure for her at the end, but it left me wanting to know more about what happened within her life over those two years.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars because while it was an interesting concept and well put together it left more questions than answers relating to different characters who were introduced and then never built upon even though they were important characters, like the government in Wisconsin having mentions of their history but no expansion on who they were before the changes in the world. Plume of Fire by Marie Fostino is an interesting fantasy that is closer to reality than others and was a quick enjoyable book to read.
Plume of Fire by Marie Fostino is a good book for anyone who is interested in realistic fantasy and books that evoke questions of morality and humanity. There is a significant amount of allusion to religion and God and the importance of praying and believing in a higher power, but it is not exclusionary if you maintain the frame of mind that it is a fantasy novel and not a religious diatribe.
******
Plume of Fire
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Wolfgang's Castle by Rex W Last
