Fire

Cashore, Kristin ~ Fire ~ Thorndike Press [originally Dial Books for younger Readers], 2010 ~ front matter map by Jeffrey C. Mathison, prologue, epilogue, 32 chapters, 592 pages ~ Audience: teens, some adults ~ Rating: excellent.

Opening:

“Larch often thought that if it not been for his newborn son, he never would have survived his wife Mikra’s death.”

Fire [now 17 years old] is the name of the main female character. Her father was a monster human and her mother was human. She has several monster powers including mind-reading and mind-shaping.

Publication History:

Graceling was the first book in what could be considered a series. However, Fire may be read without familiarity with the earlier work. In a sense, Fire is a prequel to Graceling.

Setting:

This is a fairly typical medieval setting with castles, swords and the like. We learn little about government, the economy, or society except for brief descriptions. Cashore does a good job with the descriptive writing but does not go into much detail with the settings.

Fire lives in a stone house in a small isolated community far from the King’s city where she must go.

Plot:

The Dells, where the story takes place is neighbored by unfriendly Pikkia to the North. In the Dells, Lords Mdogg and Gentian hope to defeat the King and rule the Dells with help from Pikkia.There are also bandits, criminals, and spies to worry about.

Fire will leave her stone house in the woods to help young King Nash [27] and his military commander and brother Prince Brigan [22]. They seek her help in mind-reading suspected spies. She is uncertain if that is ethical. Too, Brigan hated her father for his power and corrupt life style, especially what he did to his father the inept and corrupt King Nax. He does not trust Fire at all.

Characters:

1. Fire is the main character. Besides her mental powers, she is brave and has some warrior skills. Fire is also unusually beautiful, especially when her bright multi-colored hair is revealed. Nearly all men are insatiably drawn to her and that’s a continual problem. Her father, Lord Cansrel, effectively controlled the kingdom until his death. He was widely hated and feared.

2. King Nash is basically a good person, but he is easily tempted and is certainly drawn to Fire.

3. Prince Brigan is an unusually effective and efficient leader. His men love him. He is everything that his brother is not. However, he does not want to be king. Princess Hanna is his daughter. Her mother is dead.

4. Lord Archer has been close to Fire since they were young. She loves him, but does not want to marry him. He sees himself as her protector. His father, Lord Brocker, was formerly the Kingdom’s most successful military commander before he was crippled and exiled by King Nax.

5. Queen Roen is the mother of Nash and Brigan. She is thoughtful, intelligent, and a source for good advice.

Several other characters appear as the story develops. They fit well into the story and are developed as needed.

Physical Book:

This is a large print young adult trade “cloth” edition. Print and font are substantially larger than in the normal adult trade book. See through and paper are worse than usual, but allow reasonable readability. Binding is excellent. The front matter map is clear and quite helpful in keeping track of the geography of the story. Jacket art by Kelly Eismann shows a stylized Fire in the background with a bow and arrow in the front [Fire is an excellent archer]. The image is nicely done and appealing. The colors and the lips at the top of image fit Fire well.

Recommendation:

Graceling was Cashore’s first novel. It received considerable praise. 

While there is certainly enough action, the focus is really on Fire’s character development as she moves away from her isolated home and experiences the wider strife-torn world. Too, her powers inevitably involve ethical issues in interacting with others, especially since she is so beautiful and appealing.

The raptor monsters range from small kittens, to large flyers that can easily take a man off his horse. They are distinguished by dramatic color combinations. With skill, they may be killed but remain a continuing challenge for all who live in the Dells.

Given the quality of the story-telling and well-developed characters, this is an excellent choice for YA and adult fantasy collections.

In this prequel to Graceling which happens long before those characters are born Cashore creates a world that fantasy readers will love. She creates a world full of vivid storytelling, strongly realized alternate world, well-drawn characters, interesting and convincing fantasy elements, gripping and exciting adventure scenes, and last but not least a memorable love story. A great read.