The Immortal Fire

apfister - The third book of The Cronus Chronicles was a disappointing experience for the hype given in the last book. I expected clever comedy and heart-pounding action like the other books, but instead got frustrating setbacks from the action with blots of forgetful comedy. I liked this book, but I expected more.As stated above, this book had one major flaw, constant setbacks. Mr. Meteos, (a Promethean in the book) constantly limited Charlotte and Zee's ability to fight because they are children, which gets annoying amazingly quickly. But readers are not freed from setbacks after Charlotte and Zee separate from Mr. Metoes and the Prometheans, because the author decides to split up the main characters for a few chapters. She did this in the other books as well, but it worked. It worked in the first book, "The Shadow Thieves" because the split added weight and intensity to the climax. In the second book, "The Siren Song" Zee's character was replaced by a boy just as interesting named Jason, who the reader would eventually see as flawed, so when Zee and Charlotte are reunited readers are more grateful for Zee's characters. However in the third book, Zee and Charlotte's separation just seemed like another setback, because (of course) they worried a lot for each other, and were depressed about not having one another, which wasn't enjoyable to read. The book got boring, and by the time the cousins were reunited, you were to worn out to feel the heart-pounding action. Also, the idea of Zee's and Charlotte's parents being in the dark about where they children were just made me feel guilty during this adventure, and the fact that the author didn't write the parents and children being reunited made me feel more guilty, and annoyed. Their was the return of some characters though, which I enjoyed, and the interpretations of the other gods were wonderful as usual. Their was one portion in the book that was laugh out loud funny, which was a good release from the boredom. The main villain was (as always) fantastically twisted. However the new character of Steve could have been more fleshed out, even if he was supposed to be relatable to the readers if they were in the situation posed in the book's climax. All and all, it would be okay if it wasn't connected to this particular series, because it is, I found it a let down for how excited I was originally for this book. Plus the constant setbacks took the intensity out of the climax, which was also dissapointing. However the creativity of the plot and the characters is hard to ignore. I believe it's worthy of 3/5 stars.