Okay, I'm going to start off by saying that I got a little lost at times and wasn't always sure about what was going on. I'll try to describe the story as best I can, but I could be wrong about a few things.

Azar is a city located at the foot of a volcano. The people of Azar used to perform rituals to appease the goddess of the volcano, but that didn't stop the volcano from occasionally erupting and destroying everything. Eventually the Cult of the Goddess left Azar and established a new home for themselves, the Golden Capitol. It's now many, many years later, and there's a rebel group called the Third Wave that's convinced that the Cult of the Goddess is keeping the goddess captive, and they want to free her.

Keegan is the goddess's daughter. She tries to help the rebels, but something goes wrong, her mother ends up dead, and Keegan becomes the new goddess. At that point, she becomes determined to go back to Azar, the home of her ancestors. However, the Cult of the Goddess isn't her only enemy. An emissary from the water goddess is after her, and there's a prophecy that Keegan's return to Azar will mean its destruction.

This was an ARC my mom picked up for me at a conference. As far as I can tell, this volume collects the entire series. It doesn't appear to be a spinoff of anything, although it kind of felt like it was, and I can't find anything about any sort of continuation, even though the ending leaves room for more story.

I didn't like the artwork at all, but Tamra Bonvillain's coloring helped paper over some of its shortcomings and almost make it pretty, at times. There was some really nice use of cool vs. warm colors.

The story was intriguing enough, but confusing and a bit choppy. I had thought the Cult of the Goddess would be important in some way, but after the confined goddess was dealt with, they might as well have been written out of the story. It felt like they had been, after Adria rescued Griffin. Who, by the way, was not worth any amount of Keegan and Adria's time and energy. I don't know what either of them saw in him. He was a quick way for the author to establish a basis for Adria and Keegan's more human rivalry before their goddess rivalry added fuel to the fire.

I don't know that this was necessarily bad, but it definitely could have been better. The story and characters just left me cold.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

Firebug is a glimpse at a bigger story. It does have a beginning, middle and end, but leaves a lot of unanswered questions. I wasn't 100% sure where the story was going when I started reading, an old guy moaning about progress, the loss of the woods around his property and such. But it quickly escalated and took a rather bizarre turn. I must admit, the twist in the tail end really is what secured this short story it's 3 stars. It was over so quickly, but rather juicy, in a horrific sense. The writing style is simple, with the exception of the drawl-like speech of the old man. It should be easily accessible to most readers. An interesting tale and very quick read.

  Lish McBride throws you smack dab in the middle of the fray with Firebug, as the reader your force to run to keep up the action that is Firebug from page one. Along the ride we join our firebug Ava whose stuck in between a rock and a really crappy job as a hired assassin for a magical mafia called Coterie. Her team and best friends of the half-druyd Lock and were-fox Ezra go out and clean up and take out anyone who has crossed the Coterie leader Veuns.

  But when Veuns puts out a hit for one of Ava's dear friends, she revolts and now she along with those she loves are on the run and must find allies to finally make a stand.

 I adored Ava and her snarky sense of humor and her deep love for her love ones. Ava doesn't pull her punches and that can get her into some hot water, but she stands-fast to her morals.
 Along with the awesomeness that is Ava we have her crew with the smooth talking/mother hen cutie Lock and the "Foxy", flirty, and funny Ezra make up some great characters that keep everything moving and balance along with some great secondary characters.

 The action takes true preceded from page one and that was great almost felt like a video game, but the beginning of Firebug felt like I was placed in the middle of a chapter instead at page one. This was a tad confusing but the story quickly unfolds and your caught up in the story to truly notice.

 I love this debut and thankfully this didn't end on ending cliffhangers but did leave with a few loose threads that I'm looking forward to more from this series.

awesome!

"Firebugs" are what Emma and her sister Amelia called fireflies as children. Twenty years later, Special Agent Emma Behrent is hunting a different type of firebug. A serial killer with a penchant for setting fires and killing redheads, her sister Amelia, being one of them. With a firefly left in the throat of his victims, Behrent must catch this sicko before he kills again.

My favorite author does it again. :) Firebug is an awesome short story from Michael McBride, the author of Sunblind and most recently - CONDEMNED.

© 2015 by  Andi Rawson of Andreya's Asylum