Cashore, Kristin - Fire
Tue, Nov. 17th, 2009 10:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterI really enjoyed Cashore's first book, Graceling. Fire is set in the same universe, albeit a few decades before, but it's more a companion story rather than a prequel.
Fire is the last human monster in the Dells. Monsters can be any animal, and they're usually brightly colored (Fire is named after her hair) and supernaturally beautiful. Fire finds all these traits a burden, particularly because her monster father was nearly the ruin of the kingdom.
But soon, she gets entangled in court politics, despite many people's suspicion of her and her background.
The book has many of the same drawbacks that Graceling did; the villains feel rather two-dimensional to me, the prose is very clunky in the beginning, and the names are... not great. However, Cashore is very good with her characters, and some of the same things I loved about Graceling show up here again, particularly Cashore's politics about sex != marriage or true love.
Fire is very different from Katsa; just as unsure in ways, but quieter and more obviously feminine due to her monster beauty. I liked her a great deal, though, and she reminds me a bit of some McKinley heroines. I also really loved the romance in this book, although like Fire, it's more traditional than the one in Graceling.
Cashore still has some rough edges to work out in her books, but I love her people and her point of view. Really looking forward to Bitterblue, whom I loved in Graceling.
Links:
-gwyneira's review
-coffeeandink's review
Fire is the last human monster in the Dells. Monsters can be any animal, and they're usually brightly colored (Fire is named after her hair) and supernaturally beautiful. Fire finds all these traits a burden, particularly because her monster father was nearly the ruin of the kingdom.
But soon, she gets entangled in court politics, despite many people's suspicion of her and her background.
The book has many of the same drawbacks that Graceling did; the villains feel rather two-dimensional to me, the prose is very clunky in the beginning, and the names are... not great. However, Cashore is very good with her characters, and some of the same things I loved about Graceling show up here again, particularly Cashore's politics about sex != marriage or true love.
Fire is very different from Katsa; just as unsure in ways, but quieter and more obviously feminine due to her monster beauty. I liked her a great deal, though, and she reminds me a bit of some McKinley heroines. I also really loved the romance in this book, although like Fire, it's more traditional than the one in Graceling.
Cashore still has some rough edges to work out in her books, but I love her people and her point of view. Really looking forward to Bitterblue, whom I loved in Graceling.
Links:
-
gwyneira's review-
coffeeandink's review