By: Kristin Cashore
Published by: Dial Books
Released on: October 5th, 2009
Sourced: Bought, signed
4.5 stars: I Really Enjoyed It
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound
It is not a peaceful time in the Dells. The young King Nash clings to his throne while rebel lords in the north and south build armies to unseat him. The mountains and forests are filled with spies and thieves and lawless men.
Then Prince Brigan comes to bring her to King City. The royal family needs her help to uncover the plot against the king. Far away from home, Fire begins to realize there's more to her power than she ever dreamed. Her power could save the kingdom.
If only she weren't afraid of becoming the monster her father was -quoted from Goodreads
I absolutely love Kristin Cashore's writing, her incredible world building and her entire fantasy element she has created. Everything about it lures me in and always leaves me wanting more. I loved Graceling, and much like how Graceling started off for me, Fire started off a little slow, but once I got into the book there was no putting it down. I'll admit, I bought Fire when it first came out. In-fact I had called the book store that Kristin went and signed Fire at when it came out and ordered and a signed copy of Fire, and I started to read the day I got it. For some reason when I started reading it, it was a book that I didn't connect with so I put it back on my shelf where it sat until this past week. It's funny how sometimes you can struggle with a book, but when you let it be and go back to it awhile later you find you can't put it down. This is what happened to me with Fire.
This prequel is a wonderful edition to Graceling. While I missed Katsa and Po, I liked the new characters Kristin introduced me to, especially Fire and Brigan. Fire for me is a well written flawed, heroine who in remarkable strong through out everything she has to deal with. I didn't like I would like her as much as I loved Katsa, but I was hugely mistaken. She's a fighter, she's fierce, loyal, independent and she's someone I cheered on the entire time. There's something about her that makes her an enduring character.
To match Fire's personality are two guys that I really came to adore, Archer and Brigan. Archer is the strength Fire needed up to the a certain point in the story, and I really like the way their relationship was developed and the realistic direction it went in. Talk about a drawn out, sexy relationship between to unlikely characters, Brigan and Fire had the type of character chemistry I love when reading fantasy. I loved how their relationship developed over the entire book, it was fabulous! It hooked me and it made me eager to find out what was going to happen between the two of them. I have to say, at first I didn't see that one coming, and I liked being caught off guard like that.
The world building is just as intriguing as it was in Graceling. I enjoyed meeting a whole new cast of characters and loved the royal family. There's a lot of twist and turns in Fire's plot, plenty of action and a incredibly fascinating world. There is a lot more casual sex than I had excepted in this story, and as I say that it's also fitting for the time period in which the story takes place. Kristin does a fabulous job at keeping these scene clean cut and to the point, meaning there's nothing graphic. She also incorporates the method they use for birth control and the consequences that come from these relationships in the story. Now that I've read Fire, I'm very curious to read about what elements and characters of this story will be seen in Bitterblue. If you're a fan of Graceling, I highly recommend picking this book up!