Curious One? If you haven’t gotten the Elemental Origins series by A.L. Knorr yet, you have GOT to stop waiting! This series needs to immediately be moved to the #1 spot on your list of books to read!! I am very serious! This is the discussion about my curiosity for Pyro: A Fire Novella – the companion novella to Born of Fire.
So, I thought I was in love with A.L. Knorr already, but man, it has been notched up even more. I know I have said this in my previous discussions before, but how much more realistic can this whole Elemental Origins environment get??!
(I will be discussing each book in the series. Skip down to the Release Schedule!)
Rolling on to Pyro: A Fire Novella
Pyro picks off literally hours after Born of Fire ends. Saxony lands back in Canada to greet her family after her Italian ‘vacation’ as an au pair. You are finally given a family dynamic into Saxony’s life. You got a small glimpse of it in Born of Fire, but now you get to see and understand more of what is happening.
Due to her voice changing drastically, Saxony’s parents are very worried she is sick. Naturally. She even goes to a human doctor and gratefully it wasn’t some crazy plot twist that took away from the story line direction the novella was going.
Jack and RJ are her brothers. RJ is older and fully immersed in sports and cars and maybe one of Saxony’s best friends. He seems like a good, goofy older brother who expresses nothing but love and caring towards her and the other members of the family. Jack on the other hand. I had a WTF moment with him! I mean, really, he greets her with anger and rudeness that was absolutely out of character to what you expected from hearing the little bit about him in Born of Fire.
He was so rude and throughout the entire novella, he got worse and even accused her of the arson attacks going on in their town!
Fire Everywhere
A quick rundown here of what I mean by arson attacks. The story Jack believed is that Saxony was starting the fires (he changed his mind eventually, but wow man, he was so angry…). There were a handful of arson attacks in their town of Saltford which started the same night that Saxony came back home.
So, with all the family drama going, Saxony meets a man named Gage and goes on a date with him. They get coffee and over the course of the coffee, he tells her that he thinks the fires are being started by the ex-girlfriend of his brother Ryan in retaliation to him breaking it off with her. He shows compassion and concern and fear of what he should do. An all-over good guy, in my opinion.
Then you get a quick call to Rafael! I was excited that happened. I like Rafael. Anyways, he convinces her that her family is important and she trusts them and that maybe she should tell them about what happened. They deserve to know and it would be the right thing to do.
(Remember to check out The Library where you can find links to purchase books like Pyro: A Fire Novella discussed on Time for a Book and see how else you can support!)
Enter Basil Chaplin
Saxony FINALLY calls Basil Chaplin. The man from the black card given to her by Enzo, Dante’s father (hopefully you have read my previous discussion and are still following along with me). After a short disbelief on Basil’s end, he calls her back and tells her that in order to be accepted into his school – Arcturus – she has to tell her family. Mostly it was for their safety. Apparently, people can blackmail a fire mage’s family in order to get them to join in their nefarious schemes. Totally believable.
So, in the wake of that call, Saxony talks to her family and tells them everything that happened to her; including the forced burning. Her mother is heartbroken and her father is furious and Jack leaves the table while RJ gives comfort and perhaps a bit of a jealous attitude. Because of their family interactions, I think the way the reveal went down and all of their individual reactions were absolutely realistic. It is so far, the best thing about the style of this author.
The family now knows, so they call up Basil and after showing him that she can actually produce fire and that she is who she says she is, her and her father take a trip to Arcturus (the school Basil has created specifically for fire mages).
I have to say here that I think Basil has a few suspicious traits. While he was testing her, he was sweaty and appeared nervous, which doesn’t make sense. I have some questions as to the history and true reasons behind his motives. Anyways, she passes all the tests with flying colors and is explained about the school and what she will be doing there.
While touring the school, she gets a call from Jack who apologizes and promises to talk to her when she gets back (there was another fire while she was gone so he now doesn’t believe it was her at all). Thank goodness Jack finally came to his senses. I mean, really? I needed more information at this point, but I was willing to hold my horses until the time came to reveal his thoughts.
Waking Up In Pyro: A Fire Novella‘s World
Saxony and her father return to Saltwater and after sleeping till 4am, she wakes to the smell of smoke in the distance. She calls 911 and is waiting for the fire department when she hears crying from the burning building. Of course, we know she is a natural hero personality, so she goes in and scares Calisto – the ex girlfriend of Gage’s brother Ryan – out of the house she set ablaze.
Saxony, during this experience, saw a white noise type of static over the girls face and head. Only her face and head. She gets out of the burning building and is putting her clothes back on and running back home when she runs into Ryan. It turns out that Gage and Ryan are twins and are ALSO fire mages! Coincidence? I don’t think so! Also, they are the godsons of Basil! How many coincidences can be crammed into one chapter?!
After getting rid of Ryan she gets back home and finally has a chance to talk to Jack. He went through his own change this summer and believes he is an empath. He can feel what others are feeling. It was why he was so rude to Saxony and certain that she was the arsonist. He can only see fire, fire, and more fire from her. She is hot and he also mentioned her being loud. Like a hissing, static, fire burning loud. The kind you get when a forest is aflame, the deafening silence of burning woods. It made me forgive him a little bit. Just a little though. I would have thought that he would have fought to believe she was a better persona than that, growing up with her his whole life, but anyways…
The family decided that she would be attending the Arcturus school for fire mages the following year and that they would embrace their new lives together, as a family. It ended beautifully with them gathering around with popcorn for a movie night.
Moving on from Pyro: A Fire Novella
I cannot say enough times that if you have even the slightest feeling of curiosity towards these books, you have GOT to bet them and read them next. They are absolutely worth it, Curious One! Keep on reading and I hope you look forward to my discussion about my curiosity of the third installment of the Elemental Origins series, Born of Earth. Read a little every day and while you decide on finding this collection or not, I hope you keep checking out my own curiosities. I already have another book…
Curiosity Release Schedule for Elemental Origins Series
Book 1: Born of Water – August 30th, 2020
Novella 1: The Wreck of Sybellen – September 1st, 2020
Book 2: Born of Fire – September 4th, 2020
Novella 2: Pyro: A Fire Novella – September 6th, 2020
Book 3: Born of Earth – September 9th, 2020
Book 4: Born of Aether – September 12th, 2020
Book 5: Born of Air – September 15th, 2020
Book 6: The Elementals – September 18th, 2020
I really hope you follow me along my journey of curiosity with the Elemental Series by A.L Knorr. I loved it and I hope to see some other curious faces visit my thoughts.
Make sure to visit A.L. Knorr’s website or her Twitter @ALKnorrBooks!
My next discussion will begin with the third book of the Elemental Origins Series, Born of Earth. I’d love to see you there, Curious One!
You can support Time for a Book by visiting The Library! Every book discussed on the site will have links to purchase. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Those will help keep the site up and running. Thanks!
You can like us on Facebook, follow on Twitter, or follow on Instagram as well!
