Fire by Kristin Cashore
Gollanz, 2009. ISBN 9780575085121
(Age 14+) Highly recommended. Judged by US
Publishers Weekly
as one of the Best Children's Books for 2009, Fire is a
companion novel
to
Graceling, the winner of the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for
Children's
Literature
2009, and one of YALSA Teens Top 10.
Monsters live in the Dells. They take the shape of
living
creatures but are exceptionally beautiful to look upon and have the
ability to
entrall anyone who sees them. Fire is
the last of the human Monsters and she is feared because of her beauty
and her
ability to control minds, especially as her father Cansrel has grossly
misused
his powers as advisor to the King.
The world that Cashore has created is complete and
fascinating and her characters are well rounded and memorable. There is
a slow
paced romance and lots of action, fierce battles and court intrigue,
but it is the
moral dilemmas that Fire faces that make this book so outstanding.
Should she use her powers to help in the war
that is developing? She longs for children but she knows that if she
continues the
human
Monster line, there is the possibility that any children she has may
misuse
their power in the same way that her father did. Cashore subtly drew me
into
considering the difference between right and wrong and the use and
misuse of
talent, and has left me thinking of complex issues long after I
finished
the
book.
This novel can be read as a stand-alone. It is set
in a different
kingdom to Graceling, and has only one overlapping character, a
boy
with
different coloured eyes.
Fire is outstanding fantasy. Beautifully written,
with a
strong heroine, compelling characters and plot, it is a book not to be
missed.
Pat Pledger