#fire wave

These views are on fire! 🔥 Taken with my favorite camera and lens: Sony a7 III and my Sony 24-70mm f2.8 G Master.

This lens is great for a few reasons: I can capture wide landscapes, I can zoom in and get tighter shots, it's super sharp, and it's fast! The perfect versatile lens for my travel and landscape work, as well as in my studio for product photography.

Fire Wave by Ana Stanojevic

"She remembered being trapped in the Dark Realm until something had come along, molding the ball of darkness that she now was. If she had once thought she couldn't have gotten any darker, she had been wrong."

Year Read: 2022

Rating: 3/5

About: When her workplace, Ihode Labs, is the second chemical company to be attacked in Iron City, Aiyana decides to take the investigation into her own hands. What begins as snooping around in a mask quickly develops into a full-on superhero persona that she calls Fire Wave. As Fire Wave, Aiyana discovers that something ancient, powerful, and other-worldly is threatening planet Earth--and she might be in way over her head. I received a free e-copy from the author in exchange for an honest review. Trigger warnings: death, body horror, fire/explosions, injury, threats, ableism.

Thoughts: This is a fast-paced and action-packed superhero origin story, and I would recommend it for fans of books that are heavily plot-centered. The novel opens on Aiyana first deciding to investigate an attack on her own, and nearly every one after shows her learning the ropes of her new superhero persona, investigating, or fighting off villains. While she doesn't have any super powers (à la Batwoman), her technology and weapons are creative and interesting, and there are several fun, well-described fight scenes between her and the book's major villain where Aiyana has to be smarter in order to survive against someone with actual super powers.

The book is weaker in character though. While I really enjoyed Stanojevic's sassy female villain, Opsidia, and her commitment to evil, we know almost nothing about Aiyana. She has no history, no friends or significant connections, and almost no conversations with anyone outside of Opsidia or the police force, and it shows. I had no idea why she suddenly decided to investigate something in her city or what personal motivations drove her to become Fire Wave. Had she been established more effectively, I think some of the later plot points would have gone over more smoothly.

DAY 1: VALLEY OF FIRE - OVERTON, NV