The Watermight Thief (The Fire Queen's Apprentice Book 1)

Having loved the Steel & Fire series by author Jordan Rivet, I couldn’t wait to immerse myself back into the world full of fantasy, mystery, and suspense! In The Watermight Thief, Rivet gives us everything we loved about the Steel & Fire series and more, in a brand new adventure! Expect well developed characters, both old and new, more dragons, more magic, and the same level of intensity and excitement! The Watermight Thief will have you sitting on the edge of your seat from start to finish. I found myself devouring page after page and completely unable to put it down. This book is simply a must read for fantasy lovers! I know by now you’ve read the synopsis, so I’ll get to the details you’re looking for without oversharing. I absolutely loved how the tale is told alternating from Tamri and Selivia’s perspectives. While they’re nearly complete opposites, they’re both strong and intelligent young women, fighting for those they care for against stacked odds. Rivet flows easily from character perspectives and has exceptional plot progression. Prior to reading this book, I was unsure what to expect from the spin off series. After loving Steel & Fire as much as I did I was both equally excited and apprehensive to begin The Watermight Thief. Would this be the same caliber series as Steel & Fire? Would I love these characters as much? Would the story be as engaging and exciting? Yes, yes, and YES! Jordan Rivet delivers yet another incredible start to a series. Although I do recommend that you read the Steel & Fire series first, (mostly because it’s amazing) The Watermight Thief can easily be read as a standalone; however there are some spoilers for the other series. If you enjoy strong characters, a world filled with magic, dignified dragons, sorcerers, and a bid for power, then this young adult fantasy is for you! Step back into the world of Steel & Fire with The Watermight Thief! Enjoy, xo

This is the story of two women, Tamri and Selivia. Tamri is a gutter urchin in the city of Pendark, who uses her ability to wield Watermight to steal it and sell it to the highest bidder. She does this primarily to make money to take care of her ailing grandmother. But one day, she gets roped into being a spy for the King of Pendark, and sent to gather information in the mountain kingdom where the Fire Queen runs a school for students to learn to use the magical substances, Watermight, Fire, and Air. Selivia is the sister-in-law to the Fire Queen, and is on her way to a neighboring kingdom as she is betrothed to a nobleman there. Their betrothal is hopefully going to strengthen the alliance between those countries. But when she gets there, she finds out that her betrothed has gone missing. Selivia investigates his disappearance, which is likely due to his latest research on magical substances. Seems he may have gotten himself into some shenanigans. This book apparently takes place after the events of a different series by this author, and it should be said that I have not read that series at all end yet had no trouble getting enjoyment from this book. This was a dragon-filled YA romp through several different lands. I started out not completely convinced that I was going to like it. Mainly because I didn’t start out really liking Tamri as a character, but it also took me a while to get really into the story. I did get there, though. This one got markedly more interesting as it went along, and as Tamri grew as a character, I was more and more on board. I listened to the last half of this one in one sitting, to put that in a bit of perspective. The magic system is somewhat similar to Avatar’s idea of bending, though people are able to wield more than one element and require a specific magical substance to do anything. Each region in this world has a source of at least one of the magical substances, and so it is more likely that people from that region will learn what is the most available. Tamri starts out being quite talented with Watermight, as that is what there is abundant in Pendark, and yet learns to somewhat control Fire while at the Queen’s school where Fire is more abundant. There is consequence to not learning both at once from the beginning though. Because she is already so proficient with Watermight, it hurts Tamri to wield Fire, and she struggles to find ways to overcome this weakness. I enjoyed that the magic system had this complexity, consequences for its use and so on. There is a bit of romance in store for each of the main characters, and I will admit that I was absolutely on board for both of them. The relationships were quite cute at times, and fleshed out really well, and as the book went on and I started to like the characters more and more, I cheered for them to end up happy in the end. The romance between Tamri and her beau felt a little rushed at times, considering his circumstances with other characters, but ultimately I cheered for the two of them. As this was an audiobook, I have to say that the narrator, Caitlin Kelly did a pretty great job. She has a great tone of voice for narrating teenage/early twenties female characters, and I found that she made Tamri and Selivia seem more real to me. There are a few accents sprinkled here and there as well, which gave it a bit of depth that I probably wouldn’t have experienced in the print version. So, all told, I thought this was a well-written and enjoyable YA romp, with a slower start, but plenty of action, intrigue, magic, romance, and dragons overall. After that ending, I’m interested to see where this series goes!

** spoiler alert ** Wow! I had difficulty putting this book down to do my daily chores. Yes, it is that good! Tamri and her gramma Teall live in the humid slums of Pendark amid the stench of canals and the dregs of society. Pendark has a wealth of Watermight which is a silvery magical substance that enables the wielder to become stronger and perform many magical feats. It is coveted my many neighboring countries. A local gang- leader named Pel talks Tamri into a daring heist involving stealing Watermight from the carriers of a neighboring country. There is only one problem, the carriers are dragons. Tamri steals enough Watermight to lasso the dragon and fights the beast for control as they fly across the city where she lives. The dragon finally lands and they wrestle for control until another dragon with a rider lands beside them and gains control. The dragon rider then returns to the King of Pendark's castle and hands her over to the local authorities. The Princess of Vertigon is there when Tamri is brought before the king and when she finds out that Tamri stole a dragon with Watermight she intercedes with the king of Pendark and requests that Tamri be surrendered to them since she stole from Vertigon. The King releases Tamri to the Vertigonians but then binds her with a Watermight Oath that will kill her if she doesn't become his spy and send him everything she can learn about Vertigon. He also threatens to harm Gramma Teall if she fails. Tamri goes to Vertigon and is placed in the Queen's academy for magic wielders and is taught Fire magic. Her life is filled with tension because of the Watermight Oath and she is forced to send messages to the king of Pendark telling him everything she learns. There is danger everywhere for Tamri as she begins to care for the people in Vertigon and she worries constantly that her lies and secrecy will be discovered. This is a marvelous beginning story for the series, The Queen's Apprentice. I can hardly wait to begin the next book.

I’ve been on a bender of sorts, reading like crazy while not stopping between series to write reviews. This pandemic has me spending what spare time I have (who knew one’s family staying home could create so much extra work?) reaching for my drug of choice: books. And while I’ve been rereading old friends, I have discovered some new authors who I sincerely enjoy and only wish I had discovered them earlier. Jordan Rivet is one of those authors I recently found. I raced my way through The Fire Queen's Apprentice Book 1 and 2 and Steel and Fire Book 1-5 and had an absolute blast. The world-building is immersive, the characters engaging, and the stories complex and nuanced. I absolutely believe each world while I am drinking of their depths and the stories just merge smoothly into a wonderfully cohesive whole. I’m very pleased to discover a new author of Jordan Rivet’s caliber. I’ll be adding their books to my must-preorder list. Altogether satisfying and enjoyable and a grand escape to new worlds.

*****Spoilers***** I admit to a little frustration with the book at first with the point of view changes between Tamri and Selivia. However, once the story progressed to the mountain with the lightning, I could better understand and appreciate the reason for the split. It does make me wonder what the next will be like now that the two viewpoints seem to no longer be needed but we'll see. Another frustration of mine was Tamri, better said the whole we'll kill your grandmother if you don't do this theme. Sighs. Even though Tamri feels she doesn't have a choice but to save her grandmother, for once I think I'd like a character to call the bluff. Even though it didn't seem like it, I thought that Tamri had more leverage over the king's request for a spy at the school. Tamri heads off with an oath she can't break that ties her to the pendark king and she has to send reports to him regularly to save her neck and keep her grandmother well taken care of in her absence. Slowly Tamri starts to feel guilty for the spy reports she sends as she builds relationships with the folks at the school, the most intriguing to the Pendark King is the knowledge of another magical power. Lightning. Selivia's intended, Latch, rediscovered it and went to the island where the power rested only to be sucked in and entrapped. Thanks to Selivia's calls for aid, her brother King Siv and Queen Dara along with the Wielders from the school come to the rescue. The Queen fails in her attempt to rescue Latch but Tamri doesn't and she's able to get Latch out and away they all go. It'll be interesting to see what's next for the power of Lightning. I wasn't really buying Tamri and Heath in terms of a couple. They barely had any interaction after the first few days and saw one another sporadically after they reached the school for Wielders. In any event, by the end of this book, there's something developing there between them.

It's not very often authors are able to return to a world they've built literally out of thin air and take you on a journey that's fresh enough to be a new series, but Rivet has done just that. Having established an entirely new magical system with limitations and rules already in Steel and Fire, I was glad to revisit nostalgic characters and learn of new ones. Pendark is hands down one of the most thought-provoking fantasy cities I've come across in a very long time, and complete with a water magical system, political hierarchy, and common strife existing outside of oligarchy. Tamri is an underdog, and you cannot help but root for her from the very beginning. Her witty responses, charismatic swagger, and ability to think on her toes has me grinning from ear to ear as she takes on challenge after challenge. Side note, Pendark is officially on my top 10 list of mythical places to visit. Selivia returns from the Steel and Fire series. In the original series I had a tough time identifying with her so I simply blazed through her chapters, however in Watermight Thief Rivet re-introduces her and gives her more depth that I initially realized. Looking forward to more of Rivet’s captivating and magically-woven world(s) that continue to keep me on the edge of my seat!

Great! The Watermight Theif- The Fire Queen’s Apprentice Book One To be posted on Amazon as Kimoeagle and also Gooreads

This was a slow read, dont really love the storyline but the characters are interesting enough to continue reading. I think Tamri messes up the vook for me. I find her immature and not a strong lead. Still, I'm hoping something interesting happens between her and Heath, will keep reading. I found Siv and Dara interesting but the other characters didn't really grab my interest.

Amazing world building so good you feel as though you could visit, characters that leap of the page as you join them in this incredible adventure. An extremely well written action packed journey through amazing lands and situations and there are Dragons lots of Dragons. I must confess dragon fantasy is not usually my thing but in this case I'm so glad I read it, absolutely brilliant, highly recommend a must read. I'm off to find book two I can't wait to continue this awesome series, Baz.

If you enjoyed the Steel & Fire series, you’ll enjoy this one too. Another heroine overcoming a tough background, fighting to Wield magic to protect her family, but tougher & scrappier than Dara, with a likeable personality. A new magical substance enters the scene, but it’s not like the others & King Siv, Queen Dara & Princess Selivia are all back in the picture. Another book you’ll want to read without a break

Another great story to start the sequel series to Steel and Fire. Like the first series it is well written and entertaining.

An imaginative and entertaining series. Well written with excellent world building. The characters were engaging and I loved the dragons. A fun read.

This was good. Good to see all the major characters back and the loveable Princess Sel. Don’t know what to make of Tamri yet