The firebird

Nicola has a rare gift, she can touch an item and glimpse the lives of its previous owners. When she holds a small wood carving called The Firebird she sees a glimpse of Catherine I, wife and later successor to the Tsar Peter the Great. The Firebird is a fresh take on the time traveling romance genre, blending it with the ever popular paranormal romance genre. This is the second book in the Slains series by Canadian author Suzanna Kearsley.

My wife is a big fan of Kearsley and since this novel is partly set in Russian she thought I should check it out. There is some interesting aspects of the life and times of Peter the Great and allowed me to learn a little more about Russian history and culture. However there is something about this novel that I did not like. The Firebird is a story with no conflict and no antagonist and for me this meant it was a really boring novel. I understand people would read this book for the romance but I was uninterested in that story line, I was reading this for the Russian setting. Obviously I am the wrong person to judge The Firebird, it really was not my type of book.

This review originally appeared on my blog; www.knowledgelost.org/literature/book-reviews/genre/historical-fiction/august-2015-mini-reviews/

I cannot express how much I enjoyed this book. It is a wonderful love story with a suspenseful touch without being full of hyper-action/drama (if you know what I mean? Like if one disaster follows the other and all good characters are suddenly evil). Generally, Susanna writes perfect novels, all full of well constructed stories, heart warming persons and true love. There is no "hey, I just met you, let us marry!" - it is very realistic. Also as a reader you get to know the persons and you fall in love with them together with the protagonist. Which leads me to the next point. In most of Susanna's books - also in this one - there are two main characters, two stories, two books in one. They are connected, always in a different (more or less supernatural) way. I learned so many things through Susanna's books. In this one a lot about St. Petersburg. I want to read more about this era. I want to learn more about Anna. And I love that all of Susanna's books are stand alone novels but also are connected in a way. In each book you find a character from another. In this one, The Firebird, it was even more, that's why it's marked as the second book of the Slains series. You can read this book as stand alone without having read anything else but it is much more fun when you know "The Shadowy Horses" (also called "Rosehill") and especially "The Winter Sea" - which is so to say the first Slains book.
Ah, sigh. I'm now in my after-book-depression-mode. I need more books urgently! Come one, Susanna, write more! Honestly, I buy every book by Susanna, only because she wrote it. I don't need to read the description first - I know it is more than good.

All in all: read this book!
I recommend to read "The Winter Sea" first :)