Fireby Kristin Cashore
Dial Books. 2009. 461 pages. Young Adult
In the Dells there are normal animals and then there are monster creatures. These creatures look just the same as a horse or bird might, but they are painted in brilliant hues. They also have strange powers to mesmerize their prey. Fire, named for her hair color of flaming oranges and reds, is the last of the human monsters. She has lived a life of solitude because she fears the control she has over other people’s minds. Her father enjoyed using his powers and nearly destroyed the kingdom because of it. Now with the Dellian realm on the brink of war with its neighbors, Fire has been asked by the young King Nash and his brother Brigan, the commander of the king’s army, to travel to King City to use her powers to help the kingdom against its enemies. Fire knows she is despised by the royal family for the part her father played in the collapse of the kingdom and is afraid if she uses her powers, she might become like her father.
I quite enjoyed reading this book. The world and people Kristin Cashore creates are so fascinating that I had a hard time putting the book down. I think it is very misleading to call this book a companion to Graceling because there is only one tiny connection between the two. They are set in vastly different realms (although still in the same world) and the magical elements are completely different. I would also give a warning that this book is more appropriate for older teens. There is a lot of sleeping around going on in the book although it is only mentioned, not described.
AJ
2 comments:
I read this book before "Graceling" and I was not lost or confused at all. The books really did not have much to do with each other. It was a fun, quick read but I do agree that it is more appropriate for an older audience.
Kristin Cashore has talent. Her debut novel "Graceling" deserved all the good reviews it received and I looked forward to reading her next work. Although I was itching to know more about the characters lives from "Graceling" I was appropriately dazzled with the new vista of Cashore's fantasy world in "Fire". Although her heroine, Fire, is in some ways the opposite of troublesome Katsa, it seems Cashore has mastered the talent of building a character we can easily sympathize with. Fire is almost alien in her beauty but it is easy to slip into her head. My only quibbling point with Cashore is she seems to have a not so hidden agenda against generally accepted conventions she's pounding out in these novels. In "Graceling" Katsa refused marriage. Fire refuses motherhood. I rankle against an author who can't disappear and let her beautiful storytelling do all the work. Still, I can't wait until her next book.
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