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Baptism of Fire by Stephen Argyle

Book review

By Chloe GilholyPublished 4 years ago 3 min read
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How I came across it?

I was in a writers class at one of my local art centres in Banbury and the author, Stephen Argyle was one of the people who I met there. He is a wheelchair user and is a resident of a Leonard Cheshire home near my flat. He was left blind and parylized after an accident when he was nine, but it hasn’t stopped his passion for writing. It’s very admirable and I believe that disabled people deserve to have a voice in the world of fiction.

I purchased and read his first book, Fields of Destruction and I was really looking forward to reading the sequel as it’s part of a trilogy. I don’t know when the conclusion will be published, but I have a feeling that it is currently being drafted up as we speak.

The book follows on with the adventures of disabled veteran, David Salters when he and his friends are thrown back into Cold War politics and curuption. There’s tales of love, births, deaths, revenge and marriages.

Where did I get it?

I bought Baptism of Fire through Lulu’s bookstore, the same place where I bought its predecessor. As far as I know Lulu is the only place to get this book at the moment. The site, Lulu itself has had a huge upgrade but many authors are having problems at the moment which I hope get fixed soon.

What I liked about it?

I liked that it was easy to read. It was nice seeing David Salters again and the book is just as fast-paced as Fields of Destruction. The author really tries to add something for everyone here. It works well here, but I think it worked better in the first one. There’s romance, action, mystery and thriller.

David Salters is an engaging character along with Malcolm Ross who’s past really shakes things up in this book.

The most important reason to why I bought this novel is because of representation. I think it’s great that the author was able to publish two books despite his condition. I’m also happy that he is getting the support to do so. It’s been a few years since I last saw him but I plan to write a letter to him that the carers can read out to him when I’ve got some days off work.

I also can see improvements from Stephen as a writer. The settings feel a lot more vivid. I got through this book a lot quicker than Fields of Destruction and it was nice to see some of the characters getting the happiness they deserved after difficult circumstances from the war.

What I didn’t like about it?

Even though I enjoyed this book, I felt there wasn’t as much action as there was in the first. It’s a good book, but it doesn’t really stand well on its own. There was a lot of the characters getting together and raising their own families. Whilst this was great, I felt it would have been stronger if there was more emphasis on the action. It pulls out well in the end though.

One scene which I didn’t really like that much was when one of the characters has a miscarriage and the physician is like: don’t worry she can still have some more.

How it made me feel?

I am looking forward to seeing how this series will conclude. It felt rather cozy and it was a quick read which I was able to finish in one day. I found it amusing that there were two characters that shared the names of my best friends from work.

Would I recommend it?

I would, but I think you need to read Fields of Destruction first to get a real feel of the characters and to appreciate some of the domestic bliss shown in this book.

literature
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About the Creator

Chloe Gilholy

Former healthcare worker and lab worker from Oxfordshire. Author of ten books including Drinking Poetry and Game of Mass Destruction. Travelled to over 20 countries.

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