Fire by Kristin Cashore turned out to be one of those amazing stories I was not at all expecting to read. I'm not really a big reader of fantasty stories but almost from the first, this story and its characters drew me in and kept me hooked.
Synopsis: She is the last of her kind...
It is not a peaceful time in the Dells. In King City, the young King Nash is clinging to the throne, while rebel lords in the north and south build armies to unseat him. War is coming. And the mountains and forest are filled with spies and thieves. This is where Fire lives, a girl whose beauty is impossibly irresistible and who can control the minds of everyone around her.
One word of note: I am in the middle of reading Graceling right now. I have not read it before but I had to return Fire to the library so I started there. I don't think having read Fire first has hindered me in anyway though because I completely understand and could imagine the world of the Dells.
What I enjoyed immensely in this book:
Fire. She is a fragile, strong, scared, lonely, but happy girl. She has not had an easy life by any means. Her father was responsible for much of the mayhem that had gone on in King's City. He was a cruel and cold man who lived for two things: his own pleasure, and his daughter, odd as it may seem. Fire has his monster abilities but she wants none of the pleasure/pain he so relished in life. But at the same time, life in the Northern Dells is somewhat boring for her until mysterious archers keep trying to hurt her. Thus begins her quest to figure out not only what is going on but who she is.
Fire is used to be on the outside but in King's City, she starts to find a place for herself, a niche she is carving out.
Romance. Yes, this book has it in spades and it all revolves around the seemingly (at first!) hard-hearted Brigan, commander of the King's army, and Fire, a girl who sees so much viritrol and impurity in mens' thoughts and feelings. But when it comes to Brigan, he is a rock that not even her powers can penetrate. Their relationship is a very slow building up of trust but it is so beautiful to watch as it emerges, as their feelings start to change. Brigan is shouldering so much responsibility and pain because of a position he did not necessarily want but has taken on regardless. There are many complications between these two but as they come to better understand each other, as love grows, well lets just say this is a one of a kind romance. Fire does not have to change who she is for Brigan. He comes to accept her, monster abilities and all, as he better understands her.
The world of the Dells comes to life on the page but fortunately, Cashore does not go into minute detail about it, or at least, not the minute detail that bores me as a reader. I could easily imagine both Fire's northern home, a simpler life, and the grand palace of King's City, the large gala that was to be held, and even something so pivotal to the plot, Fire's immense beauty, her monster hair. But Cashore does not fall into a trap of overburdening the text with details. That is often where fantasy authors lose me because I just do not like reading pages upon pages of description. I found this to be a very nice balance.
The mixed bag of characters in this story adds intrigue, spite, love, and harmony and dissonance. There are enemies, there are allies, and they all eventually come together into a massive war which stays far enough off the pages to not take up the story, but also remain pivotal to the balance of these characters. Cashore has a deft touch all in all in this story.
One of my favorite quotes from this text hits the nail on the head: "Why did hatred so often make men think of rape? And there was the flaw in her monster power. As often as the power of her beauty made one man easy to control, it made another man uncontrollable and mad."
So much of this story is about female power, the struggles females face against male, while also being equal to them in many things. Fire is struggling to find that balance of power and equality versus the anger and hatred she sees in the hearts of many men.
Cashore's writing is amazing. I truly felt swept away into this story and did not want it to end. I really think both teen guys and girls could find something to enjoy in this story. There is military strategy and war, there is evil and the pursuit of riches, but there is romance and fairness, humor, and a questioning of our roles. This story has a slightly medieval flavor to it with the roles of King, Princes, and Ladies, but there is so much of the current world also.
Can you tell I loved this book, lol? Because I really, really did. I can't believe I put off reading Cashore for so long. As an atypical fantasy reader (as in, one who rarely reads anything fantasy), if you're like me and you've avoided these books because of their fantasy elements, I definitely recommend giving them a try anyway.
One final quote:
"A strange thing happened inside Fire: Quite suddenly, she lost her fight. She stood back from the feeling this city bore for her and saw it plainly. It was undeserved. It was based not on her, but on stories, on an idea of her, an exaggeration. This is what I am to people, she thought to herself. I don't know what it means, but it's what I am to people.
I'm going to have to accept it."
