Into the Flame (Darkness Chosen, Book 4) | Christina Dodd

Into the Flame (Darkness Chosen, Book 4) | Christina Dodd | Terrific ending to a terrific series!

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Into the Flame (Da...

	Into the Flame (Darkness Chosen, Book 4) Christina Dodd Signet, 2008 - 400 pages average customer review:based on 28 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Enter this flame

Christina Dodd's Into the Flame is a gorgeous follow-on to Into the Shadow. Her lead characters are vastly different from one book to another, with completely different dynamics in entirely different situations, making the books wonderfully separate. I'm not so fond of series where each book feels like a rehash of the previous. We get to see a different portion of the Varinski family as the family goes on the offensive.

Doug and Firebird make a fantastic couple for this sort of book. They have enough of a history that we don't waste the climactic novel of the series watching the introductory dance-steps of a relationship. Instead, we watch them try to deal with the fallout of what came before and how they handled it (or failed to). Ms. Dodd has a particular couple of strengths as a writer that eliminate some of the plot frustrations that are often present in novels. She doesn't artificially prolong the keeping of a secret, and she doesn't force the characters to be artificially stupid in order to keep them from realizing something important and acting on it. She acknowledges that the characters have brains and will use them, and goes with it. Any misunderstandings that occur between her characters make sense for those characters and are resolved in their proper time---they aren't blown out of proportion or, again, prolonged artificially.

One of my favorite aspects of the Darkness Chosen series is the lack of black-and-white answers to everything. The series deals with a literal pact with the devil, yet it doesn't seek to turn every decision into a hard-edged black-and-white thing. Sometimes justice is harsh. Sometimes triumphing over evil requires killing. And just because someone has done wrong doesn't mean he or she cannot be redeemed.

Doug and Firebird's reunion isn't easy, but it is beautiful. The climactic battle of this series is suitably destructive and kept me glued to the pages. I highly recommend checking out Ms. Dodd's work if you haven't already.

[Usual adult material warning: moderately explicit sex scenes.]

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Terrific ending to a terrific series!

I couldn't have asked for better! Upon some revelations (that were brought forward in the third book and revisited at the beginning of this novel), Firebird is determined to find Doug and bring him home. The father of her child, he actually really is the fourth Wilder son, who had been kidnapped at birth and left in the desert to die. She's determined to explain who he is, what he is, and to bring him home to her son and her family. She first thought he was a Varinksi, having witnessed him changing from a golden cougar to man. She thought he was getting close to her to get to her family. While that part is true, it's more complicated than that.

Doug thinks that Firebird left him suddenly because of her family - her brothers brought her home - and his recon excursions have him believing she's being held against her will. He believes he's a Varinski left for dead and is determined to get Firebird back and hand over her family to the Varinskis. Nothing could have been just as close, as well as just as far, from the truth. He learns that, while he is a Varinski, he's a Wilder, and guilt assaults him when he realizes that he gave up his family, the woman he loves and his son, to the men who want them dead.

Conspiracies revealed, lots of action scenes, tension abounds, admissions of love, blind faith... together the Wilders beat the Varinskis and the prophecy foretold by Serena in the first book becomes true. A beloved does walk through fire and a child really does the impossible. Perfect ending to a perfect series, I hope Dodd write another like it.

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Different but good

I really enjoyed this book. Despite the fact that Doug and Firebird's relationship is not the focus of this book as much as the larger war against the Varinskis and the conclusion of the prophecy, I thought the action was paced to move quickly, and I ended up devouring this book. I thought Doug was a unique, interesting character (I'm pretty sure I've never seen a campus cop in romance before) and his motivations were sound. This book was different because we meet Doug after he and Firebird have been an item and broken up and their struggle is an issue of trust in that aftermath, and that is, again, a subplot. Dodd, however, gives us enough glimpses of their time together that their feelings and internal conflict are believable. I particularly liked Doug's stalking scenes (eerie), and seeing the prophecy played out. My only qualm was probably that I would have liked to see Doug apologize clearly for his dastardliness but I guess they were preoccupied with the life and death issues, lol. And after all, he did redeem himself by the end. All in all, it was a satisfying end to the story (that's what it was, more than a romance) and tied up all loose ends. Dodd did have more snappy, back and forth banter in this one, often with the women complaining of the men and vice versa, but I thought it was well done, clever and amusing, and it fit in well with the close-knit Wilder family we've come to know.

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Disapointing conclusion

I bought this book eagerly anticipating Firebird's story, but found it tedious. The "big misunderstanding" plot device is used over and over again to keep Firebird and Doug apart. The romance was not there...why did they love each other? And the humor was ridiculously cheesy. Not a good read, let alone a great read. I'm getting my money back.

Unrealistic fantasy

I know the title is a bit of an oxymoron but hear me out. I read "Into the Shadow" and despite the beginning, I thought it was a good book. I picked up Into the Flame and thought it would be equally as good.

*Spoilers*
Everything was great up until the last 3/4 of the book. I was even able to get over my...incestuous feeling between Firebird and Douglas. There was action and emotion. But then the book started to rely too much on misunderstandings. After a while I got really annoyed with them and started flipping through the pages.

Also, Douglas seemed like a really likable character. He really was a great, average guy. He and Firebird were dating from the start of the book and their relationship was really cute. The idea of him being an orphan and wanting a family was really appealing. Unfortunately, it did not deliver. When Douglas finally met his family there really wasn't any reaction. The author threw in a few emotional lines but it felt fake.

Douglas was also tortured pretty bad towards the end of the book. He was mutilated, beaten, stabbed, and I believe even shot. Yet he didn't even blink an eye. The guy had his nipple and finger cut off and he didn't even wince. Apparently, the author realized that too because she threw in the ever convenient "He knew he'd feel this tomorrow" line. His leg was also broken but he was able to walk just fine. Now, I know this is a fantasy book and these characters are stronger than normal, and quick healers but....seriously, that doesn't mean he doesn't feel pain.

Firebird also started to annoy me after a while. She leaves Douglas due to a misunderstanding and even after realizing her mistake, she continues to jump to conclusions without ever thinking things through. She went back and forth from loving Douglas to despising him.

I probably won't reread Into the Flame again, but I'm sure there are many readers who can look past the things I couldn't. The biggest appeal to me in the book were the flashbacks when Jasha, Rurik, and Adrik were boys. It was very cute.

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, page 4, 5, 6

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