Thursday, May 5, 2016

Patricia Briggs - Fire Touched

Tensions between the fae and humans are coming to a head. And when coyote shapeshifter Mercy and her Alpha werewolf mate, Adam, are called upon to stop a rampaging troll, they find themselves with something that could be used to make the fae back down and forestall out-and-out war: a human child stolen long ago by the fae.
Defying the most powerful werewolf in the country, the humans, and the fae, Mercy, Adam, and their pack choose to protect the boy no matter what the cost. But who will protect them from a boy who is fire touched?
 

Comment: This book belongs to one of my auto-buy series and it's installment #9 in a series I clearly remember feeling rather suspicious of because it hinted at a love triangle and was narrated first person. How glad I feel every time a new book comes out that I decided to go for it anyway!

In this recent addiction to the series, Mercy and Adam and the werewolves must deal with a huge "trollish" problem caused by the fae. At the same time, a new character shows up and Mercy does something to ensure his safety but that might bring consequences to the pack. The thing is, the person the pack is now protecting was stolen from the fae and is being searched for..but he is a child, no matter his experience in the fae world. Can Mercy and Adam maintain their character and position when it comes to those who need help or are their actions finally be punished?

I'm a fan of this series because I really think the author is talented, thoughtful and writes well, featuring clever and well structured plots. It's always a pleasure to read a book by her.
This story is a continuation of previous situations which seem to conduct to a certain idea but probably the next book will show that (it's an idea that seems to develop with each book). I don't think anyone has to red previous books to understand the main plot but I strongly advise readers to read in order...so many things only make sense if we do and so many others need to be read with previous knowledge so little details are explained and have context.
I especially like how every sentence seems polished, well thought, the best way to present a situation, a concept, a feeling or emotion...the author is wonderful, she truly is.

The story focuses a lot on Adam and Mercy as a team. The issues and tasks they have in this book aren't a joining of forces, they are sharing the same mind set and are true partners. I love to see them this way, acting as a united team, being a loving couple. It seems some voices wanted more of them together and this book gives us that.
I love them as a couple but in the past, despite all the love, all the proofs they love one another, there was still some doubt about how committed they were, especially Adam because of his position as alpha. In this book he makes a statement and convinces us all of how much he loves Mercy. We, faithful readers, already knew that but it was wonderful to see it happen.

As for the plot, it mostly deals with the fae and their weird politics. It seems things are progressing a certain way but the actions of some fae don't portray the ideas developed in previous books and I feel slightly confused about it. I love how the author imagined and showed us the world's working and the "rules" and how that helped us to create an idea about it. I also like how every little thing, from personalities of each being (shapeshifter, fae, human, witch) matches - or not- the behavior of characters within each species to the workings of the groups' mind set has impact in each storyline and consequences to others. This sounds complex and it is but on the page it feels easy, fluid, obviously necessary to enrich the book. I think the author thinks a lot about everything and in this case, the fae have come to a point I feel there's no turning back. Let's see how that influences things from here on, especially because of how that affected others.
I think that, despite all the good things, the focus wasn't as perfect as I'd have liked, the child they help protect matters but several of the scenes about him didn't look as powerful as I imagined.

I liked the glimpse of a secondary romance here, I liked how pack dynamics and relationships evolved for the better. 
Something happens to the pack that changes a bit of out perception of the whole main storyline but I feel it is a good change. This is usually my favorite thing in the stories, to see how things progress and why certain actions/behaviors happen.
I'm looking for to read more books about Mercy and Adam, their family and their path to immortally forever love!
I think a fan won't be disappointed and will appreciate every nuance and hint about possible things and ideas and that leaves us to imagine and wish and hopefully some of the things we want to see happen can be real in the next book. Here's to hope!
Grade: 8/10

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