Fire (Graceling) (Reprint) (12/26/10) - By Kristin Cashore

I'm glad I waited a bit before I decided to write this review because, otherwise, I would have ranked this a lot lower than I did.

First, I knew that she was going to focus on something a little less Graceling but I wasn't expecting it to be this different. I was taken aback by how little she touches on the Gracelings in this book. In fact, that was the reason why I was so determined to give this book a lower score because of my belief that all books in a series should be in the same world. And, this... this wasn't the "same world" as Graceling.

But, it was still a good read. I probably would have given it five stars if it was a new realm to begin with.

Now, on for the actual review, I love her writing. I absolutely do. She is such a good writer that the way she composes her prose makes you want to continue to flip the pages. To me, it didn't feel like reading at all and the images came easily to me. Especially for the action scenes. The thing is that most writers can't write action and it goes two ways: either the writer places too many extra details and bogs down the mood or the writer doesn't give enough details and make it seem as though you're continuously blacking out in the middle of the fight. Kirstin Cashore managed to find the perfect balance so you're never confused on any of the details.

Her characters are more human than a lot of her contemporaries.. even the love interests. They're not perfect and it's very easy to see their bad qualities (jealously, untrustworthiness, etc.) which is why I think I like them a lot more. Granted it didn't make me go "I wish I had a bf like him" but it certainly felt as though I bonded with the characters (like friend-wise) more than some of the other books.

In general, don't open this book expecting to catch more glimpses into the workings of the Graceling realm but, rather, as a new adventure in a "new realm" from an amazing author.

Originally published at [...]

If you don’t like it four or five chapters in, you may not like it. But give it that long. The characters come from uncomfortable places and so their beginnings are difficult to see. But eventually that initial difficulty is outweighed by far by the growth in Fire and her friends, and the narrative picking up. This is probably one of my favorite YA books. Stands alone and worth everyone’s time.

This is a great coming of age story. Fire has a magnificent gift to read and control people's minds, and yet has never used it to any great length. Taken away from her home, she is forced to face the truth of her gift and learn to use it for good not evil. She fights against who she is, until she is faced with many truths that set her apart. She learns what true friendship means. The story is well written, however it does start of excruciatingly slow and only starts to pick up about halfway through. Definitely not as engaging as the first book in this series, however still a solid story. Although it is the second book in the series, it is also a stand alone story, in that you need not have read book 1 in order to appreciate book 2, although it does provide a little insight. Overall I rated it a 4 out of 5, simply because it took forever for the story to get going in any true direction. As for family friendliness I still rate it a 5 out of 5, but encourage parents to read this book with their children. There are a lot of wars in this book, however no gory killing scenes of any nature. This book did an excellent task at characterization and teaching about what it means to be true to who you are, regardless of what others may think of you. A worthy lesson to learn at any age.

I'm honestly in love with this book. Kristen Cashore crafted an entirely real realm in which I felt and cared for the characters. Her writing is so real and beautiful, it makes the reader just fly through the book. Plus, her storyline, while it is a high fantasy book, is completely realistic. For example, she takes into account that girls get periods (wipe that grossed out look off your face boys! It happens) and utilizes that in her book.

As a prequel to Graceling, it really delved into how Leck becomes what he is, exploiting how twisted he is, even as a toddler, which was honestly sort of creepy. I'm not one for insta-love, so this book was perfect in the sense that Brigan and Fire, while they didn't full blown hate each other, didn't exactly care that the other was in existence.

This book had some palace intrigue, which is always interesting to see how the author makes it her own. Let's just say, I loved it. A lot. Brigan is a prince, and he has three (I'm pretty sure) siblings that are all great characters, in their strengths and weaknesses. That's what I also really like about Cashore's writing, even though the characters screw up, sometimes majorly, you can't help but love them or love to hate them.

A brilliant book that deserves your attention. While it is number two in the series, you don't necessarily need to read Graceling (though you definitely should) before you read Fire.

Happy Reading!!!

I had read Graceling a couple months ago and I really enjoyed it. It was my first foray into "real" fantasy, not the trendy dystopian novels, not urban fantasy, but the real stuff. I liked how Kristin Cashore built a beautiful and complete world, gave us a kick-ass heroine who could always save herself, a sweet romance, and excellent secondary characters. I was hesitant to try Fire though, because I read some spoiler-free reviews that said it wasn't really a sequel, but a separate story set in the same world. Lucky for me, the county library had the eBook for loan and when it was available for me to check it out, I decided to give it a whirl.

This is the story of Fire, a beautiful "lady monster" who struggles with family baggage and demons as the kingdom she lives in is under siege by greedy lords. She is a very well-rounded heroine who evolves over time and really learns a lot about herself, which I very much appreciated. I loved all the secondary characters and I think the choices plot-wise Cashore made were all very wise. My favorite thing though, is the way she writes. Her prose is gorgeous. Every word is chosen with care and the descriptions are so real; nothing is overdone or belabored. Her words are spare and elegant. Rarely am I take so much with the way the words come together. It was there in Graceling, but even moreso here. I also liked that we got a little background on the villain from Graceling, Leck. After finishing it, I was just completely satisfied and happy. Not many books make me feel that way. I will definitely be reading her third book set in this world, Bitterblue.

A note about some opinions I have read in a ton of other reviews: many feel that Kristin Cashore has an anti-marriage slant and is promoting promiscuity with her heroines. I disagree. I feel like both Fire and Katsa had very real, legitimate reasons for being afraid of marriage and the way Cashore developed them and showed their thoughts and actions, this was very obvious. Other characters in the world are married and have kids and do all the "traditional" stuff, so I'm not really sure what the problem is.

All in all, loved it. 5/5.

Also posted: [...]
~ C

"Fire," by Kristin Cashore, is a fast-paced Young Adult novel filled with political intrigue, adventure, and romance. It is the second book in the Graceling Realm Trilogy. "Fire" is a prequel that takes place thirty years before the events of the first book in the trilogy ("Graceling"), although it can act as a stand-alone novel in its own right. It works to read the books either in trilogy or chronological order.
The plot is relatively simple. Fire is a monster; she can read and control minds. She's faced with the choice of using this power and potentially becoming like her cruel and tyrannical father, or denying her power and living peacefully in the Dells. When intruders are found near her home and inside the King's City, Fire has no choice but to utilize her power in order to protect herself and save the Dells from impending war.
The compelling story of Fire's journey of self-discovery quickly captivates the reader and keeps her engaged for the duration of the book. Kristin Cashore is among the few, gifted authors who is as talented at creating an elaborate fictional world as she is at crafting a complex story. The Dells are both beautiful and rich in history, populated with a host of unique characters and creatures. The author's intricate description of The Dells allows the reader to easily visualize Fire's world.
Cashore's depiction of Fire's inner turmoil endears the reader to her; one can easily sympathize with her struggle to define herself independent of her father's legacy. This book is particularly good for fans of fantasy, action, and romance, as it posses all three; think "Lord of the Rings" meets "The Hunger Games." I highly recommend this book.

I wasn't sure going into this if I would like it as well as Graceling. Turns out, I liked it even more. Book 2 in the Graceling Realm series could be a standalone. In fact, I really hope the author will take this book and go forward with it. There is so much potential here...Here's what I loved: The setting, the characters, the originality of the story, the plot twists, the emotion the author drew out, the descriptiveness, the tie in to one of the characters from Graceling - That's all I can think of for now, but I'm sure more will come to me later.

Fire is amazing. I love her and the idea of her. The last human monster. The monsters are beautiful and deadly, but Fire especially. She's beautiful, she's strong, she's not afraid to show emotion. She's also afraid of herself. She is afraid she really is the monster everyone believes her to be. It's really heartbreaking watching her as she resigns herself to the fact that everybody hates her. She can't see how wonderful she really is. Luckily, the people who love her can. Now, don't worry...she's not one of those winy girls who sits around feeling sorry for herself because nobody likes her. She understands why they don't and accepts it. It's her way of life.

There is romance in this book, but it is an underlying theme and doesn't take over the story, which is fast-paced and action packed from beginning to end. And, wow, the twists the author throws at you. There is no way you could see them all coming.

The one thing that bothered me a bit at first was how similar Fire was to Katsa (Graceling). I actually made a list of similarities and decided it was not coincidence; they were definitely based on the same person. However, as the story went on, Fire became an individual. She was most definitely not Katsa, but her own strong character.

Fire is a companion novel to Graceling. It takes place several years before the events of Graceling in another country called The Dells. Instead of people with Graces, some people (and animals) are Monsters and have mind abilities. They are also irresistible and can drive people mad. I didn't go into Fire expecting to love it. I wanted to continue to live in Graceling's world and wasn't sure if I was interested in a completely new setting with new characters. But, happily, I was wrong! I really enjoyed the new kingdom and the new characters, especially Fire and Brigan. Fire really struggles with her father's legacy. Her father was a very twisted and evil man and she continually comes up against it. Topped with the fact that the very sight of her drives men (and some women) into a frenzy and she is constantly being attacked by Monster animals who thirst for her blood. (It is a lot less silly than it sounds). I found Fire to be remarkably level headed considering all she's up against. And the relationship that develops between her and Brigan is very swoon-worthy.

I thought long and hard if I wanted to address the most common complaint against Kristin Cashore's books but if you read any other number of reviews you will run across it. I know some people feel she an anti-marriage, pro-sex agenda. I can't say I necessarily agree with that. I think the characters offer a different viewpoint than the status quo. I personally don't have a problem with that. Many of the negative reviews I read really seem revolve around this point. I think it either bothers you or it doesn't. And if it bothers you it will probably affect your feelings towards Kristin Cashore's books. So, proceed with caution, I guess?

But like I said, I didn't have a problems reading this book. I loved Graceling and thoroughly enjoyed Fire as well.

This book is not your typical sequel. It is set in the same mythical realm as Graceling (book 1), but the characters are completely different. So, Fire is a whole new story.

Fire starts with the story of a young Graceling, who can compel people and uses his powers for evil. It turns out this is Leck, who is the main antagonist from Graceling (I did not get this immediately, it was a long time since I read Graceling). After this, he does not show up for about three quarters of the book, which I found a bit annoying. I was constantly waiting for him to show up.

Then we meet the protagonist, Fire. She is a female monster who posseses the gift of altering and reading people's minds and she is incredibly beautiful, both of which she tends to dislike. She resides with her friend Lord Archer (who is in love with her) after her evil monster father died. From the beginning I did not like Archer. He seemed to care for Fire, but he was short-tempered and tried to hold Fire on a sort of leach.
Then Prince Brigan came to take Fire to the King's City. At first he was cold to Fire, since her father helped destroy Brigan's father's kingdom. But soon they get to know each other and you can just sense something is going to happen there. In the King's City Fire develops her powers, which she first refused to use. She slowly tries to accept her being a monster and using her powers for good, to question the King's enemies. King Nash, Brigan's brother I found a bit weird. From the beginning he was telling her he was in love with her, even when he did not know her. Later he turns by, but he still can't properly look at her. This makes him look a bit weak.
Brigan has a major character change and turns out to be a very kind, caring man with a secret daughter, Hanna, who Fire becomes friends with. When Archer comes to court, he has a fight with Fire and he takes off on a trip to catch a mysterious archer (who already showed up a few times) but not after impregnating 2 girls. This made me dislike him even more. But after Fire is caught by the mysterious archer, who turns out to be Leck (finally we meet him again), she discovers Archer is killed by Leck. This made her terribly sad, which made me also quite sad and take my disliking of him back. In the end she escapes and is found again by Brigan. A war between the Kingdom and its enemies is now really starting and King Nash gets hurt. But everything turns out well and Brigan and Fire, who have confessed their love for each other, live happily ever after..

I really liked the character of Fire. She is very strong, has good morals and she cares for everyone. Although people tend to dislike her at first because she is a monster and because of her father, everyone warms up to her once they get to know her. She only uses her powers for good and is willing to sacrifice herself for the ones she loves.
The descriptions of the landscape and the characters were very well-written and detailed. She could just see Fire's beautiful hair before you when the writer described it.

What I did not like about this book were all the enemies and their schemes. Fire has to find out who is on the King's side and who's not, because there is the threat of war. This was all quite confusing and I still do not really understand who was on who's side and why.
Also the revelation of Brigan and Archer being brothers was too quickly explained, I do not know how it all fits together. I found this story arc to be unneccesary, just put in to have a little shock before the end.

I would certainly recommend this book. The story is captivating, the characters are well-written and the fantasy elements are beautifully described. I'm looking forward to reading Bitterblue, book number 3.

http://www.evelinesbooks.blogspot.nl

I'll admit, I was a bit hesitant about this book. Graceling was one of my favorites of the year and although I was excited about this book I was a bit leery because it was a prequel. I don't always like those, especially when the only character that appears in both is not one that I like. I was very pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed Fire as much, if not more, than Graceling.

Fire is set in the land neighboring that in Graceling. There are no gracelings in the Dell and Dellian people have never heard of them. What the Dell does have is "monsters." These are animals and/or people that are similar to "regular" animals/people except for their color and beauty. A monster kitten may be emerald green or fuschia. The smaller monsters don't pose much of a threat but larger ones are predators. They can manipulate a person's mind to make them walk willingly to die. Monster people can control the minds of others with their beauty and their own mind. Fire is a monster female with flame red hair. She knows what she is and what she is capable of. At 18, all she wants is to be "normal." She has no desire to control and does not seek the reaction that her appearance brings. However, her kingdom is in a time of great turmoil and her "special" abilities may be just what are needed. She fights against her past, perceptions, and her feelings in order to find what is right for her. See is a character that I could relate to and admire at the same time. The other characters in the novel are also strong and capture your interest.

Cashore is a beautiful storyteller. I love how well you get to know the main characters in her books. They are not perfect and we see the imperfections. I also like that nothing is as it seems. There are twists and turns, secrets and truths revealed. found myself getting really involved in what was going on. I cared about what happened to the characters and feared for them when they were in danger.

If you liked Graceling you won't be disappointed with Fire.

Review Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: Exceptional fantasy that will have you entranced by the world and brokenhearted for the people who live there.

Opening Sentence: Larch often thought that if it had not been for his newborn son, he never would have survived his wife Mikra's death.

The Review:

Fire is a monster. Born with unnaturally colored hair and a gift for reading and influencing other people's minds, Fire is the only human monster left in The Dells. As a monster, people are strangely attracted to her and monster animals are attracted to her blood. Fire has tried to avoid people as much as possible because of how they react to her. She has lived on her own since she was fifteen when her monster father was mauled to death by one of his pet monsters, but she has been watched over by her close friend Archer and his father.

A war is looming in The Dells and poachers have been encroaching on the lands near her home. Fire is injured by a poacher whose mind is strangely muddled and then he is mysteriously killed before he can reveal who he works for. Fire is then sent to King's City to see if she can find out who is responsible for the muddled minds and poaching, to see if it is one of the rebel's that want to go to war. She is escorted by King Nash's brother Brigan, the leader of the King's Army. Brigan is cruel to her because of what she is, but they slowly develop an understanding for each other.

Fire begins to learn more about herself and her powers while she is at King's City. She does things that she said she would never do, but she manages to do it in a way that stays true to herself, while helping the kingdom combat a pending war. Everyone seems to think that Fire wants to use her evil ways to marry the King and then corrupt the country, but Fire only has eyes for Brigan, even though she believes he hates her. The personal and political intrigue that Fire learns will change her life forever and it will also change the way she perceives the people in her life.

Fire is an intelligent teenage woman. She knows she has the potential to do horrible things but she doesn't want to be like her father. She defies everyone's expectations of her. Fire has to be my favorite character is this series so far. She is stuck in the middle of the political intrigue and action and this novel flows much more smoothly because of it. I always looked forward to the scenes between Fire and Brigan.

The Graceling Realm is expanded in a magically different way from Graceling/Bitterblue. The world is littered with beautifully colored monsters that I would love to see but as blood thirsty as they are I am glad I don't live in this world. An evil character makes his appearance from Graceling to tie the books together. One thing I have learned from Kristin Cashore novels are that the main characters are left physically and/or mentally scarred. One event was predictable to me from the very beginning but I don't want to spoil it for new readers.

Overall, Fire was another entertaining installment into the fantasy world of the Gracelings. I did not read this series in order but I did wish that I had read this before Bitterblue to better understand events in it but it isn't necessary.

The Graceling Realm Series:

1. Graceling

2. Fire

3. Bitterblue

FTC Advisory: I purchased my own copy of Fire. No goody bags, sponsorships, "material connections," or bribes were exchanged for my review.

Fire is Kristin Cashore's second book, but it is set thirty-five years before Graceling. Fire is set in the Dells, a land over the mountains from Monsea. It is mentioned briefly in Graceling, and this is because King Leck told tales of the Dells to the people of Monsea. And that is because Leck had visited Monsea. And he is the baby in the opening paragraph of the prologue. He is the only character from Graceling also in Fire. But the main character is Fire herself a "monster", a beautiful human with the ability to get inside people's minds and control them (there are also animal monsters too.) There is turmoil in the Dells: King Nash's father and Fire's father ruined the kingdom. Chaos reigns. And then Fire meets Prince Brigan, the younger brother of Nash. She can't get inside his mind, and is somehow drawn to him. It gets complicated.

Anyway, I wouldn't say I liked Fire as much as Graceling, but I still loved it a lot, in its own way. It was nice to read about another world over the mountains from the seven kingdoms. But I thought it was kind of strange that they hadn't had much contact before; surely at least someone from one of the kingdoms would want to explore over the mountains? But that's really irrelevant to this story. I liked Fire and Brigan a lot, but certainly not as much as Katsa and Po. Fire was an entertaining read, and I would recommend to anyone who loved or liked Graceling, and wants more Kristin Cashore. It really was a good book, gripping, and just as suspenseful as Graceling. So I'm not sure why exactly I liked a bit less. Probably the characters. But it's still a 5 star for me...

All of my reviews can be read at my blog novareviews.blogspot.com.

Fire is the second book in the Graceling Series and the only think common between this book and the first book is the story how "LECK".
I am still not sure why that story is present in this book. The only guess is that the two worlds will come together in the third book or future books.
Coming back to the book, Its a good story of a monster who can alter peoples mind and , the looks of whom have drastic effect on people.
The story of Brigan , archer , clara , garan all revolve around FIRE, although each one them are capable of having a book for themselves.
The story seems to move little slow for most of the book , with some revelations here and there.
The so called twists don't seen to have much impact on the story.
The thing which i dint like was the monologues of the way FIRE is thinking feeling, blah blah. These dragged the book for me .

Overall the story element is not much, but the book is readable for the characters.
I will rate it 3.5/5

4.5 stars

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!

At first, I was a little turned off by the idea of monsters, since they were never mentioned in Graceling (or, at least, as far as I can recall). But Cashore's writing is so solid that I quickly warmed up to the idea and sunk into this imaginary world where the characters are plagued by these oh-so-colorful creatures running about. With that being said, Fire was completely different than Graceling was, and with the exception of one character (Leck) who shows up in both books, the two stories had little to do with each other. Where Graceling was charged with action and personal survival, Fire was charged with emotional drama, which was actually nice for a change of pace. Cashore was smart to create a character completely different than Katsa: Fire's personality is a mixture of sensitivity, vulnerability, and independence, which blended together nicely, given the situations she faced throughout the book. Blessed, or in Fire's opinion, cursed, with exquisite beauty, she is constantly bringing out the worst desires and feelings in people, including--more often than not--rape. Sex is big deal and a major theme of this book, one that I think Cashore handled well for the most part, given the difficult nature of that theme in young adult fiction.

Like a good chunk of teen novels out there, this was really a coming of age story. Fire eventually learns that her power isn't necessarily bad or something to fear, and if wielded in the right way, can be used to help people, especially when they are in pain. At the beginning of the book she is an outcast, hiding beneath headscarves, plagued by daddy-guilt issues. But at the end, she evolves into the fantasy version of Florence Nightingale. Her transformation took a little while to achieve, but came naturally in a way that I found believable. And, better yet, she didn't do it alone. Like Katsa in Graceling, Fire has a support group of friends who are loveable and love her. Cashore's ability to handle minor characters was very impressive; the King's family manages to be both endearing and despicable, and even the members of her guard, are unique and memorable. In the end, I wanted the supporting cast to have just as much happiness in their lives as I did Fire.

All-in-all, I loved just about everything in this book, and can officially say I've become a Cashore fangirl. I'm really looking forward to when she decides to combine the characters in Graceling and Fire. Maybe in the upcoming book, Bitterblue? One can hope. We'll have to wait and see.

I stumbled upon Kristin Cashore via Graceling. This book, the second in the Graceling Realm series, has a bit of backstory, but not the same charm, for me, as Graceling did. I had a hard time reconciling that Fire's world and the world of Katsa were one and the same. There had been no mention of the same sort of monsters in the latter that inhabit the former.

What intrigued me about this book was that Cashore, yet again, works with a late adolescent female, and carves out a character that has both strengths and weaknesses, experiences bigotry and prejudice, yet inspires tremendous loyalty and devotion in those who break through her shell. There is, again, a non-traditional view of love, sex, and marriage, but I've long ago learned that how I have lived my life might not be the norm for others. I wonder how the younger end of the YA reading spectrum might relate to some of this, as well as the prominence of the problems Fire's umm... monthly monster week (aka that time of month).

I didn't feel as drawn to this book as the first, but it still was well written. Use of some terms distracted me -- odd that they'd have the same month names in that world as our. August, huh? There must have been a Caesar back in the history of the Dells. I do recognize how hard it is to escape using words that time date or location date you in a fantasy world, but for some reason, this was particularly jarring for me. Not enough to keep me from passing this on to my granddaughter, who is chaffing at the bit for it, and not enough to keep me from reading the next in this series, but enough to keep me from giving it higher stars.

On the other side of the mountain from the realms populated by the gracelings is a different world of monsters: the Dells. Fire is the last of the human monsters (animals that are very similar to normal, but have striking beauty and are very much noticeably different in coloring). Fire has the ability to control minds, but she must decide what makes her a monster: her ability or her decisions.

This story was a bit dramatic taking turns which were (for the most part) expected. Several characters were sleeping around (to the point that you could almost make all the main characters related somehow). Nothing went easy for Fire at any point and you didn't expect it to.

In the graceling we found people that had special abilities and though rare, there were many. In this book there is only one special person, our protagonist. She is special by her mind reading ability and her striking beauty to stupefy both women and men. The Dells consists of a world ruled by a king with feuding lords, but the main draw for the reader is the monsters. They are like their normal counterpart in almost every way, but they are deadly, colorful, and attractive to most humans. Quite a combination I wouldn't want to be around. While this was considered part of the graceling world, it was completely different and only had one character that traversed between the sides of the mountain.

I favor the story of Graceling over this one, but it was good on its own also. I have read bitterblue and ths sory connected graceling to bitterblue.

I intend to make this review short because I don't have much to say. I expected this one to be as good as Graceling, maybe even better, but it didn't live up to that expectations.

The premise is good but the plot dragged on. The pacing of the story is very slow especially in the beginning up to the middle part. There are times that I already wanted to give up and get another book to read but I kept on reading, hoping that it will get better. The characters are not so easy to connect with. The heroine is not very likable but I'm glad that she's not irritating. She's smart and strong and stunning, but I think there's something missing about her. There's also a bit of romance flavor you'll want to indulge with, but obviously, it's not the focus of the story. Halfway through the book, I finally found myself enjoying it. There are unexpected twists and gripping moments too. I'd say that this book is quite good. Not great but not a waste of time. It could have been better though.

I don't want to compare Graceling and Fire, but I can't help it since they're literally connected. Fire is the second book on Seven Kingdoms Trilogy, Graceling is the first one and it built an amazing foundation for the series. Sadly though, I don't think Fire will be able to support it.

Over all, this book is a good read. Not great but still good. Don't let my opinion stop you from reading it 'cos you may actually like it. You may want to read other reviews, there are people who actually loved this book. Maybe my timing was wrong, or maybe my mood was... nevertheless, I still enjoyed it, and I hope you can still give this book a try.

Of the books in the Graceling series, Fire is my favorite. (Also, Fire wins the award for best cover in the Graceling Realm series in my mind--the symbolism was simple, but genius.)

Fire's story line was even more compelling to me than Graceling's, largely because it feels as though Fire has more at stake that she risks to lose (and to gain) than Katsa. Plus, the area known as the Dells is wild--no pun intended. I loved the worldscape and brilliance behind it!

Highlights of Fire: the romantic relationship(s) that develop, Fire's growth and acceptance of herself, and the political intrigue. And again, I thoroughly enjoyed the culture and depiction of the Dells.

Disconcerting parts of Fire: Fire was a bit formulaic, but not so much so that reading was unenjoyable. Besides, the characterization of Fire makes up for it. The voice of Fire overall, however, seemed to be strikingly similar to the voice of Katsa...and I found this to be distasteful because I expected variation. Not all dark beauties need sound the same, right??

Fire is my favorite of the three novels Cashore has penned, and I highly recommend this companion novel to Graceling.

This book was a slow burn for me, it took a while to get into the world of Fire and her relationships but once I was drawn in I became much more interested than I thought I would be! What an interesting land the Dells is with its Monsters and human monster protagonist! By the time I was just settling into who Fire is and how she relates to her world all kinds of interesting plot started happening and then I couldn't put the book down until it's conclusion. I also enjoyed that this is a continuance of the world built in the previous book Graceling but not a continuance of the same characters, except a small connection. I would recommend this to anyone who read Graceling for sure, but I feel this book could stand on its own since it very much has is own plot.

Fire is Kristin Cashore's second book, but it is set thirty-five years before Graceling. Fire is set in the Dells, a land over the mountains from Monsea. It is mentioned briefly in Graceling, and this is because King Leck told tales of the Dells to the people of Monsea. And that is because Leck had visited Monsea. And he is the baby in the opening paragraph of the prologue. He is the only character from Graceling also in Fire. But the main character is Fire herself a "monster", a beautiful human with the ability to get inside people's minds and control them (there are also animal monsters too.) There is turmoil in the Dells: King Nash's father and Fire's father ruined the kingdom. Chaos reigns. And then Fire meets Prince Brigan, the younger brother of Nash. She can't get inside his mind, and is somehow drawn to him. It gets complicated.

Anyway, I wouldn't say I liked Fire as much as Graceling, but I still loved it a lot, in its own way. It was nice to read about another world over the mountains from the seven kingdoms. But I thought it was kind of strange that they hadn't had much contact before; surely at least someone from one of the kingdoms would want to explore over the mountains? But that's really irrelevant to this story. I liked Fire and Brigan a lot, but certainly not as much as Katsa and Po. Fire was an entertaining read, and I would recommend to anyone who loved or liked Graceling, and wants more Kristin Cashore. It really was a good book, gripping, and just as suspenseful as Graceling. So I'm not sure why exactly I liked a bit less. Probably the characters. But it's still a 5 star for me...

All of my reviews can be read at my blog novareviews.blogspot.com.

Fire is the second book in the Graceling Series and the only think common between this book and the first book is the story how "LECK".
I am still not sure why that story is present in this book. The only guess is that the two worlds will come together in the third book or future books.
Coming back to the book, Its a good story of a monster who can alter peoples mind and , the looks of whom have drastic effect on people.
The story of Brigan , archer , clara , garan all revolve around FIRE, although each one them are capable of having a book for themselves.
The story seems to move little slow for most of the book , with some revelations here and there.
The so called twists don't seen to have much impact on the story.
The thing which i dint like was the monologues of the way FIRE is thinking feeling, blah blah. These dragged the book for me .

Overall the story element is not much, but the book is readable for the characters.
I will rate it 3.5/5

4.5 stars

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!

At first, I was a little turned off by the idea of monsters, since they were never mentioned in Graceling (or, at least, as far as I can recall). But Cashore's writing is so solid that I quickly warmed up to the idea and sunk into this imaginary world where the characters are plagued by these oh-so-colorful creatures running about. With that being said, Fire was completely different than Graceling was, and with the exception of one character (Leck) who shows up in both books, the two stories had little to do with each other. Where Graceling was charged with action and personal survival, Fire was charged with emotional drama, which was actually nice for a change of pace. Cashore was smart to create a character completely different than Katsa: Fire's personality is a mixture of sensitivity, vulnerability, and independence, which blended together nicely, given the situations she faced throughout the book. Blessed, or in Fire's opinion, cursed, with exquisite beauty, she is constantly bringing out the worst desires and feelings in people, including--more often than not--rape. Sex is big deal and a major theme of this book, one that I think Cashore handled well for the most part, given the difficult nature of that theme in young adult fiction.

Like a good chunk of teen novels out there, this was really a coming of age story. Fire eventually learns that her power isn't necessarily bad or something to fear, and if wielded in the right way, can be used to help people, especially when they are in pain. At the beginning of the book she is an outcast, hiding beneath headscarves, plagued by daddy-guilt issues. But at the end, she evolves into the fantasy version of Florence Nightingale. Her transformation took a little while to achieve, but came naturally in a way that I found believable. And, better yet, she didn't do it alone. Like Katsa in Graceling, Fire has a support group of friends who are loveable and love her. Cashore's ability to handle minor characters was very impressive; the King's family manages to be both endearing and despicable, and even the members of her guard, are unique and memorable. In the end, I wanted the supporting cast to have just as much happiness in their lives as I did Fire.

All-in-all, I loved just about everything in this book, and can officially say I've become a Cashore fangirl. I'm really looking forward to when she decides to combine the characters in Graceling and Fire. Maybe in the upcoming book, Bitterblue? One can hope. We'll have to wait and see.

I stumbled upon Kristin Cashore via Graceling. This book, the second in the Graceling Realm series, has a bit of backstory, but not the same charm, for me, as Graceling did. I had a hard time reconciling that Fire's world and the world of Katsa were one and the same. There had been no mention of the same sort of monsters in the latter that inhabit the former.

What intrigued me about this book was that Cashore, yet again, works with a late adolescent female, and carves out a character that has both strengths and weaknesses, experiences bigotry and prejudice, yet inspires tremendous loyalty and devotion in those who break through her shell. There is, again, a non-traditional view of love, sex, and marriage, but I've long ago learned that how I have lived my life might not be the norm for others. I wonder how the younger end of the YA reading spectrum might relate to some of this, as well as the prominence of the problems Fire's umm... monthly monster week (aka that time of month).

I didn't feel as drawn to this book as the first, but it still was well written. Use of some terms distracted me -- odd that they'd have the same month names in that world as our. August, huh? There must have been a Caesar back in the history of the Dells. I do recognize how hard it is to escape using words that time date or location date you in a fantasy world, but for some reason, this was particularly jarring for me. Not enough to keep me from passing this on to my granddaughter, who is chaffing at the bit for it, and not enough to keep me from reading the next in this series, but enough to keep me from giving it higher stars.

On the other side of the mountain from the realms populated by the gracelings is a different world of monsters: the Dells. Fire is the last of the human monsters (animals that are very similar to normal, but have striking beauty and are very much noticeably different in coloring). Fire has the ability to control minds, but she must decide what makes her a monster: her ability or her decisions.

This story was a bit dramatic taking turns which were (for the most part) expected. Several characters were sleeping around (to the point that you could almost make all the main characters related somehow). Nothing went easy for Fire at any point and you didn't expect it to.

In the graceling we found people that had special abilities and though rare, there were many. In this book there is only one special person, our protagonist. She is special by her mind reading ability and her striking beauty to stupefy both women and men. The Dells consists of a world ruled by a king with feuding lords, but the main draw for the reader is the monsters. They are like their normal counterpart in almost every way, but they are deadly, colorful, and attractive to most humans. Quite a combination I wouldn't want to be around. While this was considered part of the graceling world, it was completely different and only had one character that traversed between the sides of the mountain.

I favor the story of Graceling over this one, but it was good on its own also. I have read bitterblue and ths sory connected graceling to bitterblue.

I intend to make this review short because I don't have much to say. I expected this one to be as good as Graceling, maybe even better, but it didn't live up to that expectations.

The premise is good but the plot dragged on. The pacing of the story is very slow especially in the beginning up to the middle part. There are times that I already wanted to give up and get another book to read but I kept on reading, hoping that it will get better. The characters are not so easy to connect with. The heroine is not very likable but I'm glad that she's not irritating. She's smart and strong and stunning, but I think there's something missing about her. There's also a bit of romance flavor you'll want to indulge with, but obviously, it's not the focus of the story. Halfway through the book, I finally found myself enjoying it. There are unexpected twists and gripping moments too. I'd say that this book is quite good. Not great but not a waste of time. It could have been better though.

I don't want to compare Graceling and Fire, but I can't help it since they're literally connected. Fire is the second book on Seven Kingdoms Trilogy, Graceling is the first one and it built an amazing foundation for the series. Sadly though, I don't think Fire will be able to support it.

Over all, this book is a good read. Not great but still good. Don't let my opinion stop you from reading it 'cos you may actually like it. You may want to read other reviews, there are people who actually loved this book. Maybe my timing was wrong, or maybe my mood was... nevertheless, I still enjoyed it, and I hope you can still give this book a try.

Of the books in the Graceling series, Fire is my favorite. (Also, Fire wins the award for best cover in the Graceling Realm series in my mind--the symbolism was simple, but genius.)

Fire's story line was even more compelling to me than Graceling's, largely because it feels as though Fire has more at stake that she risks to lose (and to gain) than Katsa. Plus, the area known as the Dells is wild--no pun intended. I loved the worldscape and brilliance behind it!

Highlights of Fire: the romantic relationship(s) that develop, Fire's growth and acceptance of herself, and the political intrigue. And again, I thoroughly enjoyed the culture and depiction of the Dells.

Disconcerting parts of Fire: Fire was a bit formulaic, but not so much so that reading was unenjoyable. Besides, the characterization of Fire makes up for it. The voice of Fire overall, however, seemed to be strikingly similar to the voice of Katsa...and I found this to be distasteful because I expected variation. Not all dark beauties need sound the same, right??

Fire is my favorite of the three novels Cashore has penned, and I highly recommend this companion novel to Graceling.

This book was a slow burn for me, it took a while to get into the world of Fire and her relationships but once I was drawn in I became much more interested than I thought I would be! What an interesting land the Dells is with its Monsters and human monster protagonist! By the time I was just settling into who Fire is and how she relates to her world all kinds of interesting plot started happening and then I couldn't put the book down until it's conclusion. I also enjoyed that this is a continuance of the world built in the previous book Graceling but not a continuance of the same characters, except a small connection. I would recommend this to anyone who read Graceling for sure, but I feel this book could stand on its own since it very much has is own plot.

Fire is a sort of prequel for Cashore's Graceling. (On the book's cover they call it a companion novel, but it takes place before hand, so I choose to call it a prequel.) It takes place primarily in the Dells, a kingdom in the mountains above the seven kingdoms where we spent Graceling, during the childhood of the King Leck. We learn about Leck's childhood and how he became the evil king we know him to turn out to be. But though he plays his part in the story, it is actually Fire who we follow.

In the Dells, instead of having Gracelings (people with extreme gifts), there are monsters, beings of extreme beauty and allure. Fire is a human monster, so painfully beautiful that people instantly love or hate her, with the ability to exert her will over other people's. She spends her life hiding her hair and wearing the simplest clothes she can manage to avoid attention-monster creatures desire her blood and men desire her in one way or another. Her father, also a human monster, was a destructive force in the kingdom and nearly drove the kingdom to ruin. The kingdom is still in trouble as other lords want to overthrow King Nash. Despite their distrust of her, this king and his family ask Fire to use her unique abilities to help save the kingdom.

Like Graceling, Fire is an engrossing novel of love and self-acceptance. It's easy to love Fire's personal journey and connect to her attempt to find herself in an unfamiliar world. She fights to resolve who she is against who she knows her father was. Is she, by her very nature, really a monster? Does that make her superior to other humans and give her the right to control them-as her father believed? Is it her responsibility to use her abilities to help protect the kingdom? On the one hand, her extreme beauty is something that teens may find it difficult to connect with. You can't help but think "if only my biggest problem in life was that I was too beautiful." At the same time, self-conscious teens might appreciate the idea that beauty is not as great as you would think it is.

My biggest issue is that I dislike this blending of worlds where there are Gracelings and monsters. It seems almost redundant, like the author couldn't decide which magical world she wanted and which magical system she wanted and so she just threw them both in. While it was nice to see how Leck became Leck, it seems like the story would be stronger without the Graceling world at all. At the same time, Fire did need someone who could compete with her on her level, so I understand why she felt the need to include him. Perhaps what we needed was a second monster, a true equal, instead of a pseudo-equal.

I didn't like this book as much as I liked Graceling, but it was still an enjoyable book. It's strong point, for me, was in the way it dealt with Fire and her father.

I hadn't picked this one up right away, because I heard that Katsa, the star of Graceling, was not in it... and I loved Katsa so much, I couldn't picture the Seven Kingdoms without her. What a mistake! This was a fabulous book, and almost more of a companion novel, rather than a true prequel. On the other side of the mountains, completely cut off from the Gracelings, we get a glimpse of a parallel world. To be honest, it nearly could have been a different series altogether if it weren't for the brief inclusion of creepy Leck, who possesses the "Grace" of mind-control.

The titular character of this novel, Fire, grew up in an isolated mountain retreat with her best friend and sometime lover Archer and foster father Lord Brocker. In this world, technicolored super-versions of every species are referred to as "monsters." Fire is a human monster, with telepathic powers. She can influence others thoughts, read minds, and communicate through telepathy. Her mere presence is usually enough to provoke strong feelings in other humans and in the monster-creatures around her. Fire's father Cansrel was the advisor of King Nax, who led the kingdom into ruin with his penchant for drugs and parties. Cansrel was an exceptionally cruel person who delighted in torturing others, and reveled in the stupefying effect he had on ordinary humans. Fire wants, more than anything, to be different than him.

Prince Brigan approaches Fire to ask for her help with a delicate political situation in the capitol, which she initially refuses to do, until his thoughtfulness and kindness finally win her over. He is less susceptible to her magical aura, and provides her with a group of female bodyguards to escort her. At the climax of the story, Fire stretches her mental powers to the utmost, by keeping track of an entire castle-full of occupants during an evening of espionage at a state dinner and carefully nudging players to be in the right place, at the right time.

I wondered whether most teens would be interested in reading about Fire's intense conflicts on whether it would be right for her to have children, and her ultimate decision not to have children, not wanting to create more "monsters" like herself. This was a powerful and engaging story, however. The writing is lyrical and vibrant and the world-building is incredible. Many of the themes verge on the adult, including patricide, making this a more appropriate choice for older teens.

Graceling was one of my very favorite reads of 2008 and the year's best YA I would venture to say. And before you get all up in arms, let me assure you I enjoyed The Hunger Games as much as the next person. But Graceling was just the one, you know? And I have this feeling that Kristin Cashore is something special. I was positively thrumming with anticipation when I heard she had a second book to follow. And it's the one I chose to take home with me on the plane ride home from BEA. FIRE is, in point of fact, a prequel/companion novel to Graceling and takes place 30 years or so prior to Katsa and Poe's story. It is also set in an entirely different land, though definitely in the same world, and (as I am sure you have already heard) a certain terrifyingly familiar character from Graceling makes an appearance in FIRE. Otherwise, it is its own story and it stands completely on its own feet.

Fire is a monster. A human monster. And the last of her kind. In her homeland, the Dells, there are all manner of monsters from lizards and mosquitoes to leopards and raptors. But they all have one thing in common--their incomparable beauty. These creatures come in a gorgeous riot of color and texture and are so beautiful they literally impede rational thought in the humans they come into contact with. With the ability to control the minds of those around them, they inspire an uncomfortable (at times deadly) mixture of fear, hatred, and absolute longing in the people of the Dells. And no one is more hated or sought after than Fire. Her father was King Nax's most trusted advisor and closest friend. He was also the one responsible for the king's untimely death and for the current chaotic state of the realm. When Fire's service is requested on behalf of the young King Nash and his brother and war commander Brigan, Fire is thrust out of her quiet life and into a mounting war. Forced to reconcile her questionable abilites with her own demanding conscience, she is immediately caught between right and wrong, a dark past and uncertain present, and a pair of brothers determined to win at all costs.

This book made short work of me. There was just so much hope inside me wrapped around how good it would be and when it turned out to be approximately ten times better than all that wrapped up hope....well....I was a goner. I looked forward all day long to the moment I could crawl back in bed and read more about the Dells and Fire and Brigan and Archer. And the list goes on. These characters are breathtakingly real and the way the gorgeous, understated writing tugs and pulls and builds a complex and lovely world around them makes the whole package irresistable. Best of all, Fire herself struck a chord deep within me and I held my breath as I watched her move through her world, worried she wouldn't meet with enough care, hoping someone in the messy throng of plotting, planning, warring kings and soldiers would recognize her for what she was. Like Katsa before her, she is so very strong, an outcast her entire life, and yet she never turns her back on those who need her. Even when they have no idea how desperately they do. Even when she herself is afraid. FIRE is, wait for it, even better than its predecessor. It's subtle and thoughtful and throbbing with genuine emotion--three qualities I often find lacking in my reading. It is, without a doubt, the most difficult of combinations to achieve, but when the right note is struck....magic.

The world that Cashore has created in Fire, like the one is Graceling, is magnificent. I love when a setting jumps on the page and becomes real, and that is what Cashore does in her novels.

The plot was very well-done. There were only a few times that I felt is dragged a bit, but then again, I was just really eager to get to the action. Besides action, there was plenty of political and palace intrigue, which is such fun.

Fire as a character was complex and genuine. While her outward appearance as a "monster" inspired both terrible and wonderful feelings in others, she possesses a unique mental power that has the potential for great destruction but also great potential to benefit and help others. The journey Fire makes from unsure self-loathing to forgiving herself was one I was more than willing to experience. She seems older than her age at times, but, traumatic life experiences can really make someone grow up before they ought to, so I felt that was appropriate.

The secondary characters were all unique and added a lot to the story. The only one I didn't like was Archer because he made very immoral decisions and treated Fire like he owned her. Part of it isn't his fault, but a lot of it is. I was glad that he ended up NOT being the love interest in the story.

In general (most of this has to do with Archer), I didn't like the near abundant amount of casual intimate relationships. While nothing was described in detail, it was certainly my least favorite aspect of the entire novel and, in fact, I don't think the story would have suffered to have at least a few instances removed (specifically one of Archer's "relationships"). Although there is nothing graphic, because of this aspect of the novel, I only would recommend this for older, more nature teens.

Although it wasn't "amazing" for me as Graceling was, I still thoroughly enjoyed Fire, and eagerly await the next book, Bitterblue!

FIRE takes place in the same world as GRACELING, but with very little crossover. It is supposed to be a prequel, set at least a decade before GRACELING, and only one character appears in both books. These two books don't have to be read in order for you to understand Fire, but once you have read FIRE, you will want to immediately read GRACELING.

The Gracelings live over the mountains in kingdoms that are relatively peaceful, living on what the Gods have offered them. But over the mountains live the the kingdoms of the Dells, where many unusually monsters live among the people. The nobels of the Dell work with some of these animals to plan rebellious plot against the young king . In this country, the are monsters, brightly colored, beautiful, and often dangerous from normal animals.

Fire is a human monster, the last of her kind. Fire is an outcast in her society, with her vibrant and unnatural red hair color - a clear indicator she is a monster - and status as a powerful mind controller. She resists using her ability, remembering the terrible example of her brilliant, twisted father. When the king's brother Brigan arrives to ask for her help against the rebel lords, she is pulled against her will into the turmoil enveloping the kingdom.

King Nash is struggling to hold on to his kingdom as enemies from the north and south threaten to overthrow him. Both Nash and his brother, Brigan, distrust Fire at first because of the damage her father did to the kingdom before his death. Brigan would like nothing more than to kill Fire, but they manage to find a way to resolve their differences and work together.

Fire is a strong heroine - tough and fiercely independent - but loyal and kind to others. She is thoughtful, and concerned for the other people she has befriended. She especially struggles to reconcile her own nature and her father's actions, to become the person she wishes to be. Katsa's was a stong heroine in GRACELING, but I think Fire has developed into an even stronger character in the book, FIRE.

Although FIRE is not a happy, warm and fuzzy book all of the time, after all it does deal with death and violence and the cruelties of life. Cashore has a talent with writing optimistic and sensitive material, and inserting rare scenes of romance and humor to keep the story moving along at a fever-pitch. She is definitely a YA fantasy writer to be watching because her writing style and subject matter will attract not only the young adult population, but the adult population (like myself) who enjoy an excellent fantasy story. If readers weren't already in love with Cashore after reading GRACELING, they will be after reading Fire

This complicated and layered story made for the perfect summer read. The characters are amazing and complex, intense and believable and written with great prose and feeling. FIRE (and GRACELING) are excellent books. The characters will satisfy readers who like adventure, intrigue, and romance even the villains are interesting, intelligent people. The twists and turns of the plot are unpredictable and keep you turning the page until the wee hours of the morning.

I was prepared to dislike Fire from the start. I enjoyed Graceling, but my interest lied with Katsa and Po's relationship rather that the world they lived in. The idea of a prequel (which I don't usually like) in the same world, but with completely different world-building, and all new characters just did not appeal to me. People kept telling me how great Fire was and eventually I caved and read it, but in all honesty I read it so I could tell them all how wrong they were.

Yeah, they were right. Should have seen that coming. Fire took a long time for me to get into, partly because of my reluctance to read the book in the first place and partly because it took me a while to grasp what Fire was. In Fire, there are normal animals and there are monster animals. The monster animals have abilities that go beyond their normal counterparts. Fire is a monster human and has mind control abilities. Her monster-ness also makes her so attractive that people (usually men) either hate her instantly, or they become overcome with lusty feelings for her. I understood all that. What I didn't understand was how she was a monster human. Sure, her dad was one too, but how did he become one? Or even the animals? There was no explanation to it and it distracted me from the book until I realized that is was just another form of supernatural, much like I can understand vampires or werewolves without having to know their specific origin mythology in each instance.

About a hundred pages into Fire, I really started enjoying the book. Fire is a great character. Her struggle against the power of her abilities and the way it's linked to her feelings about her father is interesting. More than that, her relationships with both Archer and Brigan were the highlight of the book for me. Kristin Cashore definitely has a way with character romance, because the couplings in her books are the main reason I enjoy them so much.

Beyond romance, Fire's interactions and relationships with people were amazing. With Brigan's family, her guards, even the prisoners she interrogates, Fire's shines as a thoroughly unique character. Her ability to care for others makes her who she is much more so than her monster abilities.

Surprising me completely, Fire ended up being even better for me than Graceling. Having gone into the reading ready to dislike the book, Fire wowed me. I loved all the characters, and Fire's abilities were definitely intriguing. I hadn't planned on reading Bitterblue whenever it's finally released, but I will now.

War is coming to the Dells, a land already rife with lawlessness and trouble. Fire, the last remaining human monster, knows this better than most.

Part monster, Fire's beauty is enough to strike a man (and some women) dumb. Sometimes her flame red hair and striking eyes are too much. Sometimes those who behold her are driven to violence in their efforts to possess her while monster animals are just as drawn to her hair and blood. It was easier for Fire's monster father. Cansrel loved the attention, loved using his beauty and his mind to control people and get whatever he wanted. Cansrel loved being the monster advisor to King Nax and helping the weak man drive the Dells to the brink of ruin.

Fire doesn't want that kind of depravity and the danger of her powers is frightening. She is content to lead a quiet life in the north away from the intrigue and machinations of King's City where Nax's children struggle to hold the kingdom together.

Unfortunately events soon conspire to draw Fire away from her home. Mysterious archers seem to be hunting her. The royal family seems to want her help; something Fire is unwilling to give lest she turn into the monster her father was. But war, and maybe something else, is coming to the Dells and Fire has a role to play whether she likes it or not in Fire (2009) by Kristin Cashore.

Fire is a companion to Cashore's popular debut novel Graceling and the second book in her Seven Kingdoms Trilogy. It is set about thirty years before Graceling and further east beyond the seven kingdoms readers of the first book would recognize. The two books could easily stand alone though they do share one very important common character.

Though Cashore returns to familiar territory here, she has created new characters and a new story that stands apart from her earlier novel. Fire lacks some of the flash bang action that made Graceling so gripping but it does have an abundance of political intrigue, character development and romance.

Fire is a complex heroine and, perhaps as its title suggests, Fire is very much a study of her character. Fire often felt fully realized and compelling, but other times it felt too much like Fire was being pushed toward certain decisions by Cashore which made parts of the story clumsy and incongruous.

It was at times frustrating because Fire as a character seemed to fall into many of the same patterns as Katsa (Graceling's heroine) even though the two women are really nothing alike. Self-sacrifice and just plain old sacrifice play big roles in Fire--something else that was bothersome about the story. There is a line between creating conflict or tension in a story and creating needless suffering in a story. Fire crossed that line several times.

Fire is a subtle, charming book that will quickly draw in many readers. Unfortunately, it might push away just as many.

Possible Pairings: White Cat by Holly Black, The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan, Graceling by Kristin Cashore, Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, Once a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough, Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta

A very creepy opening for this story. It features a child born with a type of magical mutation, a graceling ability that's condemned by the society. The father should turn the child over to the royal authorities but is unable to, raised his son, and runs off with the boy when he's old enough to start to manifest openly. Over the first ten pages it becomes increasingly clear that his adoration for the child is driven by the child's grace that allows him to manipulate emotions. Fifteen pages in the son, more grown, coldly murders his father when he starts to show signs of resisting his control; growing up with that type of power meant he never had to learn restraint or respect for others' feelings making him an overgrown child, which is to say a sociopath.

The larger book doesn't follow up on this tone very much. The plot connects eventually, with the evil magic child shown grown as a villain in decline, but overall it's a much different style for the book. I don't know that I would have liked the book if it kept in the style that seemed promised by the opening--that degree of power leveled with a lack of conscience could easily turn disgusting and overly alienating. Still, I have to say that the larger story we are given isn't too my taste either, it being strangely lacking in force and far less vividly written than the lead-in. There's some effective character work and vivid moral debates given, but the book turned increasingly to what seemed an overly routine nuts and bolts establishment of the fantasy story. Political intrigue, growth of characters into emotional and magical maturity, assassination threats as part of the general menace to the realm.

The book had a lot of engaging and productive elements, but in the end I struggled a bit to finish the last two hundred pages, and several months after reading it I have to struggle even more to recall main elements of the plot. That constitutes a significant double strike against this work as an effective book, although it has enough compelling moments and potential that I may seek out the author again.

Better than: The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

Worse than: The Steel Remains by Richard Morgan

: Fire is the last human monster-and she intends for it to stay that way. Fire's father, also a monster, was the king's best friend who used his power to get what he wanted. He did terrible things just because he could. Fire was the only person her father loved and who was never under the influence of his power. Over time Fire realized her father was not good. After her father's death, she vowed never to have children-that the line of human monsters end with her.
The novel starts with Fire getting shot with an arrow. The shooter is one of the many men being found around the kingdom who have clouded minds and don't seem to understand what they are doing. Fire is asked to help the royal family interrogate prisoners with her ability to reach into people's minds. However this proves difficult since Fire refuses to do anything bad with her ability. On top of that, she also has to deal with Lord Brigan who seems to be set in hating her, King Nash who keeps declaring his love for her at every opportunity, Archer's (her lover) growing jealousy, and a boy with different colored eyes who gives her the chills. The story is set during a tension filled time leading up to a huge war which takes place has the story progresses.
I LOVED this book! I read it twice and still couldn't stop thinking about it. Fire is such a strong character and yet ironic character. Fire's beauty drives men mad. Many try and kill her because they know they can't have her. Others harass her and then turn to violence. She is hated by those who hated her father and even worse, is only trusted by her close friends. Throughout the course of the story she has to overcome all of these difficulties.
Lord Brigan. I couldn't imagine a hotter knight in shining armor. He's so strong and was forced into the army at a young age by Fire's father in hopes that he would die. Instead, he emerged a hero. He grew up distrusting monsters and because of that distrusts and hates Fire. However over time his heart softens and he sees Fire as a human instead of a monster.
This story was just riveting. I was engrossed in the novel from the very first page. It had suspense, adventure, and romance. It was epic. I thought it was so much better than Graceling even though it is a prequel or companion novel. It takes place years before Graceling. Also, I love reading books that have a redhead protagonist because, well, I am one! Overall, I highly recommend this book. I borrowed it from the library, and will probably one day buy it so that I may reread it a million more times.

Oh, Brigan, how I love you. Please come riding up on your horse to whisk me away. I want to stare into your steely eyes and try to find the warmth you hide behind your tough exterior.

Oh, oops, sorry, got carried away there. I loved this book. It was very romantic with a slightly formal feel. Perfect for a historical-type fantasy novel.

Fire was a great main character. She was very relatable, with her desire to be the opposite of her father, and only use her abilities for good. All of the royal family were enjoyable, although I obviously loved Brigan best. He's one of the few characters I could swoon over.

I listened to the audiobook version, and am so happy about it. The narrator had a slight upper-class English accent that fit the feel of the story perfectly.

The description of the book stated you didn't have to read the first in the series, and this was definitely true. I haven't read Graceling, although now I really want to. I would actually prefer to listen to the audiobook version, but my local library doesn't have it.

Overall, this is a great book that I highly recommend you read. I will admit that around the 3/4 mark Fire's attitude and actions made me want to shake her. But the ending reaffirmed my love of the story, so I can forgive her behaviour.

I really liked this book. Maybe I'd read too many good reviews about Graceling but I was a little disappointed. I enjoyed it but that was it. I didn't think of it again and just went on to something else. I decided to read Fire last night and really enjoyed it. Good story in an interesting world of colorful monsters. I read a lot of books so I love new ideas like that. I read for entertainment not to grade a book like a term paper.
Parents, please read this before your younger teens as there are troubling adult issues and you need to decide if they should read it.

I recently read all three of the books in this "series." Since I had all of them available (a friend lent them), I read Fire before Graceling, which I think plays a significant part in how I feel about it. I've been reading some of the negative reviews of this book and made a correlation to those reactions to the order in which you read them. And because of reading the negative reviews, I kind of wanted to defend this book a little.

I loved Fire. Sometimes I think it's Ok to have a female lead who is not ridiculously strong. Not everyone in the world is all girl-power-y like Katsa is in Graceling (which I liked less than Fire, but didn't hate.) Especially with Fire's background, I felt that her character was pretty spot-on. She wasn't sniveling and ridiculously afraid of things all the time (like a certain vampire-loving MC we know.) In fact, she did some brave things to protect people even when those people hated and distrusted her. When you come from a family legacy of abusing extreme power over others, you either respond by doing the same or desiring to do the opposite. I think Fire's strength and bravery came from her unwillingness to use her abilities to hurt others the way her father had.

I do agree that this book (as well as with her others) deals with sex in a flippant sort of way that is a little disheartening. It's something that should affect these characters more than it seemed to. People can pretend that sex doesn't change them or affect them, but it does and should be reflected in these characters.

All in all, though, I really enjoyed this book and think it's worth reading. Maybe even before Graceling to prevent a bias from forming.

I want Fire's hair. It just sounds so lovely. Fire by Kristen Cashore takes place before Graceling. Fire is a beautiful monster that lives in the Dells where all the monsters live. The monsters are captivating and able to control weak minded people. Fire is the last human monster; she is able to control minds but usually chooses not to as it is stealing the secrets of innocent people. Most humans either fear Fire or desire her. Fire's father Cansrel destroyed the kingdom along with Nax who was the former king. Fire is called upon by Nash the Dellian king to help investigate a plot against the crown. Prince Brigan does not like Fire but he eventually grows to respect her. The main part of the story is focused on Fire and how she learns to wield her power in a way that helps others and the budding romance between Fire and Brigan. I thought Fire was different from Graceling in many ways. Probably the most notable one is Fire is more introspective and dependent than Katsa but she is stronger in her own way. Fire only contains one character that was in Graceling but we learn more about them and their true motivations. I like the vivid description featured in Fire and am eager to see how the two books are connected in Bitterblue. I would recommend Fire to fantasy and romance fans and readers who enjoy books with a strong heroine.

This book was amazing! I have to be honest and tell you there were parts that kind of bugged me or confused me, but the rest of the book went above and beyond making up for it.

If you read Graceling, you will know that Cashore writes strong female heroines. While Fire is not nearly as lethal as Katsa (although she could be I suppose), she is still a powerful woman who knows what she wants. Fire is such a compelling character. The journey of self-discovery she makes during the course of the novel is brilliantly written. In fact all of the characters grow and develop in some manner.

Something that bothered me in both Graceling and Fire was the naming of characters and various places. In Graceling the biggest annoyance was the name, Princess Bitterblue. It made me involuntarily twitch every time I read it. Also, the names of the regions of Katsa's world had the creative equivalent to North, South, East and West. In Fire, Lord Mydogg is quite possibly one of the worst original names I have ever heard of. And guess where the king lives? The very originally named, King City.

When I wrote my review of Graceling, I read some of the other reviews posted on the store. Many people complained about the sexual relationship between Katsa and Po mostly because it was a `casual sex' relationship in a young adult book. The characters had no intention of marrying or producing children, they merely had an ongoing physical relationship. If this bothered you in Graceling, it's even worse in Fire. I'm not really one that is bothered by this, however, the actions of Fire's best friend/lover, Archer, were absolutely deplorable and no one seemed to be bothered by it. He constantly was spouting off about how much he loved Fire, but then had sex with everything that moved. Because Fire didn't want to marry him, she didn't seem to care and in fact smiled at his sexual exploits at one point. Without giving too much away about the ending, I think that Archer paid the consequences for his actions. The bad behavior in the beginning, really set up his character. So, even though his actions bothered me, I believe it was the author's intent to have his actions make the reader squirm a bit. Long story short, if it bothered you in the first book, it will bother you more in this one.

The idea of the `graced' in the first book was so original and unique, and the `monsters' in the second book did not disappoint. I felt it was a bit confusing at first to understand the concept, in conjunction with the concept of the gracelings. Monsters are basically super-beings. There is everything from human monsters to mouse monsters. They are all stunningly more beautiful than their standard counterparts. They also all have the ability to sense and change emotions and thoughts. This varies from the gracelings because they are only graced in one area. Anything from sword fighting to cooking to reading minds. Another important thing to note is that the monsters are not in the same geographic areas as the gracelings. This took me a while to grasp. I'm sure it was explained, but I just didn't pick up on it.

Past all of that, I thought it was brilliant. Very worthy of the 5/5 rating I gave it. Even though I was super-busy, I read it in a little over a day. This is one of those books that I am glad I own, because it would be very worthy of a re-read. One last note...It was written either on the book or on the blurb on the store that you don't have to read Graceling first to understand or enjoy Fire. While this is true, I think that Graceling would miss a large mystery and intrigue regarding a certain crossover character whose history is explained in Fire. If you know his history, then I think you miss out on part of the fun in reading about it in Graceling. The opposite is not true. In my opinion, you must read Graceling first and Fire second.

Fire follows, Kristin Cashore's debut novel Graceling, which garnered quite a lot of praise from reviewers, including this one. A coming-of-age tale set in the Seven Kingdoms, where some are born with a particular "grace" or talent, Graceling focused on Katsa, whose grace seemingly is death. Many readers loved Katsa's fiercely strong and independent character, as well her compatriots Po and Princess Bitterblue; loved to hate the creepy villain; and found the idea of Graces intriguing and ripe with potential. By the end, it was clear there was more to tell about this land and these characters.
So what does Cashore do for a follow-up? Write a story set decades earlier in a different (but neighboring) land about wholly different people (save one, and that appearance is relatively brief if significant). I have to admit, I was already on Cashore's side with Fire just because she didn't take the familiarly easy road to book two--a simple sequel with the same old characters using their same talents to deal with similar, if superficially, different dangers (you authors know who you are). But while the characters and setting are new, the story has many of Graceling's strengths and even improves in some ways on the first book, though it also has its flaws.
Fire is set in the kingdom of the Dells, a land of "monsters"--beautifully colored, vital, and often aggressively predacious versions of typical animal species. The main character, Fire, is the last human monster, whose beauty fogs the mind of humans (especially men) with powerful emotions and drives them to desire her, please her, rape her, kill her. She also has the ability to manipulate minds with her own, though strong-wills can resist her. Her dangerous beauty (she can hardly ever uncover even a strand of her hair) and potentially dangerous ability forces her into a life of nearly total loneliness, broken only by her best friend and informal lover Archer and Archer's father Brocker.
The other barrier between Fire and people is that her father, who had the same mind-manipulating ability, was a sadistic, depraved, and brutal figure, adviser to the former King Nax, himself somewhat deranged and depraved. By the time they died, the two of them had driven the Dells to near-ruin and at this time the kingdom is barely being held together by young King Nash and his brother and army commander Prince Brigan, who have to deal with potential rebels, an almost-sure to happen civil war, and a mysterious new threat from beyond the Dells (one that will be familiar to readers of Graceling). Against the backdrop of these events, Fire's seclusion--part forced upon her and part self-imposed/desired--starts to shatter and she must find her way to a sense of herself and her place in the world.
Fire has some clear connections to Katsa of Graceling: both are strong women whose talent (Fire's mind-manipulation, Katsa's death-dealing) makes them objects of fear to others and makes them terrified of themselves and of how their gifts might be abused/exploited. But there are interesting and clear distinctions. Katsa's talent was physical while Fire's is mental and Katsa's was more conscious--she could choose or not to kill. Fire can choose to use her mental ability or, as has been the rule for most of her life so far, not to use it, but she has no control over how her beauty affects others--the terrible things it makes them want to do or attempt to do, the danger it brings her and also them, the shame it brings them afterward (if they haven't been killed to protect Fire), their fear at her mere presence.
Fire's coming-of-age is also more adult; she isn't so much an adolescent trying to figure out who she is as much as an already fully-formed personality trying to first remain in her lonely yet stable life then trying to see how her old self fits or not in the fast-changing world around her. The romance is more adult as well, more slowly drawn out, more rife with complexities and shadings, fears and insecurities, more intertwined with lives beyond those of the two potential lovers.
Certainly the strongest aspect of the book is Fire's characterization, her gradual opening to the world, the realistic portrayal of its glacial pace complete with backslips. She's a character one comes to care for and about and is enough to carry the book. King Nash, Prince Brigan, Archer aren't quite as fully drawn. They aren't two-dimensional; they do have their complexities--Archer's semi-unrequited love for Fire and his propensity for other women, Nash's inability to control himself around Fire, Brigan's hatred of what the times force him to become--but the complexities feel somewhat a bit singular and one-note and are maybe "announced" too often rather than shown in more subtle fashion. Even side characters, nicely drawn as they are, tend toward this pattern of having a single bad act or aspect.
But none of this detracts from enjoying their presence or significance to the plot. The plot itself is less action oriented than Graceling, focusing more as it does on Fire's internal struggles and political intrigue, but it is mostly compelling. The weakest aspect is probably the single link to Graceling, the non-native threat to the Dells, but I won't go into more detail so as not to spoil things save to say this plot thread never felt fully thought out or integrated. The same can be said to some extent for the worldbuilding--the Dells felt a bit thin, more like a crafted backdrop made for the story's purpose (like those "towns" in Westerns) than a fully realized world unto itself--I would have liked a richer sense of how the whole thing worked. But again, it didn't really detract much from the story. And there is one clunky section of exposition (I confess to a pet peeve when one character says to another "you know all this . . . " but then proceeds to outline everything anyway).
Before I read Fire, I already wanted Cashore to succeed based on her choice to ignore the easy path to a sequel and introduce a whole new land and group of characters. Fire--both the book and the eponymous character--certainly succeeds.

I think this will be one of the hardest reviews I have to write. I will begin by saying I stayed up till 4:30am reading FIRE by Kristin Cashore and then proceeded to dream about it. Ok talk about being stuck in your head! This book is brilliant and words can't do it justice.

Cashore is a brilliant writer. Her plot is rich and although it extends many years she never loses steam or bores the reader. Her pacing is smooth when it needs to be and fast and thrilling other times. But most of all her plot is one that is full of many gems and secrets and is fascinating. She creates a world that is rich and vibrant that transport you in the heart of the action. There have been few books that have achieved what Cashore does so well in both GRACELING and FIRE when she makes the reader a part of the action and the adventure.

But her characters... oh what wonderful characters! The genius that is Fire and Brigan and Archer! Take Fire, for example, who is a human monster that is gifted with unparalleled mind abilities and beauty! Although Fire processes this unfathomable beauty she is haunted by a lifetime of mistakes and memories. As I read the book, Fire became such a real person and one that not only can I relate to but I can sympathize with. And her journey is beautiful, sad, and wonderful, and I was captivated from page one. Cashore writes such vivid characters that although of a fictional realm are mature and real with realistic expectations and issues.

The relationship in FIRE are so complex yet sweet and wonderful. I loved Fire, loved Archer, loved Brigan and the rest of the royals and non-royals. Each character had a purpose and each character was real and I loved it! The romance within these complex relationships was both achingly beautiful and achingly painful and I found myself crying multiple times. I wanted so much for these characters and Cashore delivered that and more! Suspense, action, and romance are neatly and magically intertwined within FIRE's pages to deliver a heartbreaking yet beautiful adventure of a young woman who's overcome much in order to overcome her nature.

You couldn't write it better than Cashore and I am eagerly anticipating BITTERBLUE. I didn't think anything can match GRACELING but Cashore has outdone herself and if this says anything it's that Cashore has a long writing career ahead of her and I will gladly devour each morsel she throws at me!

I have to say that before I begin talking about this book, I absolutely love the covers for both Graceling and Fire, by Kristin Cashore. She was extremely lucky to get a great cover designer for her books, which is a blessing especially if you are an author going with a traditional publisher.

Anyway, I bought this one with the hope that I would experience something close to Graceling, so I have to say it was a bit of shock when it turned out to be much different. Because of this, it took me a while to actually get into the story. Where Graceling was very action packed, from the beginning, Fire was more of a coming of age story where the reader gets a lot of information about the heroine's life as flashbacks of her memories. In Graceling, Cashore did a lot of showing. In Fire, she does a lot of telling. To be honest, I enjoy both approaches in a novel, as long as the story holds me. Also, where Katsa, the heroine of Graceling is a strong, independent fighter, Fire plays more of the traditional female role, not completely though because she does have her own unique powers that play into the story.

In this story, at the beginning, we get a glimpse of King Leck of Graceling when he is a child. Then, from there, after the prologue, we are introduced to Fire, a beautiful monster human who lives beyond the mountains in the far away lands that are seemingly unattainable by the denizens of the seven kingdoms. In these magical and mysterious lands, dwell two types of beings or creatures - normal and monster. Monsters are normal creatures that have a certain something that makes them beautiful and powerful. Some monsters have the special ability of mind-reading and mind control, such as Fire.

The story starts off where she is accidentally shot by an archer who mistakes her for a forest animal that he is hunting. She manages to take control of his mind and makes him carry her home where her caring but jealously obsessive lover, Archer, is waiting for her. In the process of healing from the wound, she discovers that there was something very strange about the mind of the archer who shot her but she can't quite put her finger on it. She speaks with Archer and his father about visiting Queen Rowen at her palace to gather information on how events are going in the Dells, where there are two rivals for the throne, plotting and scheming to overthrow Rowen's sons, King Nash and his battle commander brother, Prince Brigan. During her stay she runs into these two men who mistreat her in their own way because she is a monster and monsters seem to have this strange affect on people, bringing out the best and worst in them. Also during her stay, she senses a strange, furtive mind that doesn't belong, creeping about in King Nash's chambers and alerts Queen Rowen to its presence. A search is held but the strange person gets away. At one point, before Fire returns home, she saves Prince Brigan's life by baiting herself in front of two hundred raptor monsters. From there, in the story, the relationship between Fire and Brigan grows.

She returns home with Archer and his father and Brigan arrives with a few dozen of his men, come to request the special services of Fire's ability at mind-reading and mind-control to catch spies in the palace at King's City. Much to the dismay of Archer, she accepts and leaves with Brigan and his men. During all of this time, the reader is learning about Fire's history and about her dead monster father Cansrel who abused his monster powers to the detriment of everyone around him. We learn how his affect on King Nash's father almost destroyed the Dells and killed Prince Brigan. We also learn of the hatred and rivalry between Prince Brigan and Cansrel and how Brigan's feelings toward her late father, leads him at first to hate Fire, threatening to kill her.

As the story progresses, we learn new pieces of information bit by bit and come to understand how Brigan and Fire eventually become friends and then lovers. Their relationship develops very slowly but upon closer examination of it, this turns out to be a beautiful thing. The dymanic of their relationship is so sweet and reserved, which is a refreshing change from Graceling's Katsa and Po. I would describe Graceling as being a good, full-bodied ale that you can wash down while sitting with your friends at a pub. And Fire as a fine wine, harvested from the vineyard and aged in oak barrels until it is ready to be sipped and savored slowly for its artistic creation as well as its taste.

Fire is a novel filled with elegant prose and fine poetic diction. It is slow moving but once you get used to the pace, it is hard to put down. This is a story that I will read over and over again, as I do Graceling. As I do any story that I love and want to revisit from time to time. I wouldn't recommend this book for teens under thirteen because of the loose morals of some of the characters and the sexual promiscuity, but older teens and adults will enjoy it. Overall, because I finished and will read it again, I give it five stars.

Happy reading!

~ Melissa, Melissa Douthit's Blog, (...)

I must say that I don't remember a ton about "Graceling," but I do remember enjoying it more than "Fire." I'll start with what I liked about "Fire."

I really enjoy Cashore's writing and the way she builds tension, especially the romantic tension. The anticipation for the main couple to get together was perfect. I gotta say I was more into the romance really than the plot. Plus I love novels where the characters hate each other at first.

I love that Fire had to sacrifice in the end, and that she learned that no one's perfect. I think Cashore does try to show that with Fire not being the most together woman. I guess she tried to show that by how awful her "bleeding" was. It almost seems like Cashore made her more "womanly." I gotta say though her crying jags got on my nerves after awhile. Though I shouldn't talk; I'd be sobbing if I went through this. Maybe this really is more realistic then, if not as enjoyable to read about.

I thought her gift was very interesting, though I kind of wonder more about monsters in general. I don't think it was explained very well. My favorite part of the novel was when she needed to get the enemies into the rooms all while keeping tabs on everyone else. It was very suspenseful. And the mystery about the archer was really interesting. I always enjoy with these novels their use of bow and arrow. I think they're just really cool weapons.

I can't say I didn't enjoy the baby drama and "whose father was whose" episodes. I liked the soap-opera drama of it all with secrets always being revealed.

One problem I found with "Fire" was the lack of action scenes. I don't know why but that was something that bothered me about this. She wasn't a fighter like Katsa was, so I understand why there wasn't more fight scenes, but I loved all the fighting in "Graceling," which I missed in this one. I also found that there weren't as many colorful characters as in "Graceling" and the best villain by far was of course Immiker or Leck. The other ones weren't very scary or interesting. I couldn't help but get a little bored once everyone trusted her. I loved the danger of Fire needing to keep tabs on everyone. I gotta say I liked her as a character much better in the beginning when she wasn't so vulnerable around everyone.

I was really enthralled with this novel despite it's flaws. I would recommend it to anyone who read "Graceling" or someone looking for a YA fantasy.

FIRE begins before GRACELING, connected only by the character of Leck. It is set in the land of the Dells, home to beautiful monsters. The ending, however, implies that the Dells may not remain separate and unknown from the other lands for long.

Fire is beautiful and irresistable, the last of the human monsters. She'd rather be plain and unnoticed, for her cruel father caused the previous king to lead the land into disrepair. The civil war is reaching a height, and recent events prevent Fire from remaining apart from the action.

She also dislikes spending time with Prince Brigan, whose shields can prevent her mind control, and who reminds her of her father's worst actions. Fire nurses her guilt, and it only becomes clear as the novel continues how much she holds herself responsible for. She's both a larger than life heroine and a young girl who likes to play with puppies.

Once more, the characters are the standout, though some are certainly irritating. I like that Cashore doesn't condemn sexual relationships nor ignore possible consequences. There's a tangled web of relationships in FIRE, on par with the most glorious of soap operas. It makes a nice background to the war and Fire's place within it.

The only problem with the climax is the knowledge of what happens in GRACELING. It dims some of Fire's triumph, though she and Brigan certainly accomplish many other things. FIRE moves just as quickly as GRACELING. I can see why fans of YA fantasy have been going crazy over these novels. I know I'm already ready to read the third.

Review copy
From In Bed With Books

I checked this out at the library then I had to buy it!

I then went on to read Graceling (good!!!) and Bitterblue (pretty good) and still love Fire the best. I love how it's deep and melancholy and so so so romantic. She is an amazing heroine who is strong and brave.

Kristin Cashore is a fantastic author who reminds me so much of Robin McKinley -- her depth, romanticism, kick-butt heroines. I can't even wait for her next book! Another series I hope!!!

I know there is a debate over which is better, can't we all just agree that it's wonderful to find a series/trilogy in which we can all find books we love, and we don't have to call any others boring or bad just because they don't resonate with us? I find good things in each book in this trilogy but I love Fire the best, Graceling next, and finally Bitterblue. But they are all good!!!! Let's just all be positive, folks!

Fire is set in a world called the Dells, which is in a state of turmoil and war. I will say that I have NOT yet read Graceling, Cashore's first novel, so I have no comparison to make in that regard but Graceling is definitely going to be on my "to be read" list. The book begins with a disturbing prologue that tells the story of an evil child which is is very unsettling. We then are introduced to Fire, the namesake of the tale who is half human, half monster. Not an ugly monster, but beautiful because in the Dells monsters are exquisitely beautiful and terrifying creatures. They can enter the minds of others and have power over their thoughts and feelings. Fire is the daughter of a particular terrifying and cruel monster named Cansrel and even though she does not take after his cruel nature, she lives in the wake of his evil legacy.

Because of Fire's talents of sensing thoughts and feelings she is drawn into the mix of political intrigue and is needed by the royal family, although they fear and distrust her. Fire is in a position of power and has much responsibility and at the same time is going through the pain of trying to figure our her place in the world. She finds herself having a particularly strong connection to Brigan, a warrior who is also a prince in the kingdom, even though she cannot enter his particularly strong mind.She is plagued by sadness, loss, the inability to trust, fear of loving someone and losing them.

There is a lot of interpersonal drama and battles with inner demons in addition to the action of the battles and fights. There is the element of coming into one's own and finding your place in the world. The relationships are very mature and complex. The world that Cashore builds can be confusing to those who aren't into the political intrigue and strategies of war but she is very original. Although there are no dragons in the Dells, fans of Eragon and other epic fantasies will enjoy this story. Fans of Tamora Pierce will enjoy the strong female lead.

Just east of the seven kingdoms we all came to love in Graceling, is a land called the Dells. In the Dells, beautiful creatures named monsters inhibit the valleys, mountains, and everywhere in between. While these creatures resemble normal animals, such as cats, dragonflies, fish, etc. they have brilliantly colored and they have the power to manipulate human's minds'.

Some of these monsters even come in human form, but now seventeen-year-old Fire is the last one left. Like all monsters she is unfairly gorgeous and attracts all the men, but she also shares the ability to control people's minds, which can get her in some serious trouble. While many people are drawn towards Fire, many others detest her and frown upon all she does. Thankfully a family takes in her, becoming the only family she really knows.

When political issues begin to rise and powers from the north and south start to conspire against King Nash, him and his brother Brigan have no choice but to call in the help of Fire. Together they learn to put aside their vast differences and try their hardest to dispel the ideas of King Nash being overthrown. Through it all they encounter war, several conspiracies, and worst of all - a small boy with strange two-colored eyes and an unusual ability that Graceling readers will find eerily familiar.

Wow, just wow! This book was just plain phenomenal and honestly it is quite difficult to put in to words how wonderful I thought this was. The characters were so real and I could literally feel the wind in my face and hear the birds overhead. The plot was also extremely interesting and I loved the connections it made to Graceling - although it is not necessary to have read Graceling before hand.

I very much enjoyed Fire's spitfire attitude and independence - as I believe it is essential for a strong female character to posses these traits. Her attitude quickly grew on me and I found myself cheering for her along her journey and tearing up along side her sorrows.

I also loved the few connections that it made to Graceling. They were subtle, yet obvious at the same time and just made me smile. They also made me go "so that's why this happened."

With a fast paced, action packed plot, fantastic characters, and seamless writing there is no way you could go wrong picking up Fire. It will take you to the mystical world of the Dells and leave you there even after the last page despite the fact that you'll never want to leave. This has definitely become one of my favorite books and dare I say that it is better than Graceling!

Heartbreaking yet hopeful. Kristin Cashore’s Fire is an emotionally charged, painfully powerful story of love and doing one’s duty. One of my favorite books.

Fire is a monster, a girl who inspires lust or hatred out of every person who sees her. She lives her life in hiding until the King’s army marches through her land and recruits her for a task. When fire visits the palace she must decide if she truly is the monster people fear she is, or if she can rise up and become a force for good.

Fire is one of my top five literary characters. Kristin has written a character who is deeply conflicted about her past, her own goodness and about her worthiness of being loved. Rarely do you meet a character who is pulled in so many directions. The Prince, Brigand, is similarly torn as he pushes himself to the breaking point to save his country while learning to trust the monster Fire. As the story unfolds the two face a journey together that molds their lives into one unifying story. The plot is exciting, the character development is rich and emotional, and the touch of romance is perfect without being sappy.

Kristin’s writing style is excellent. She writes with just enough detail to create a beautiful picture while letting your imagination run wild. The prose was smooth enough that I easily forgot I was reading a book for hours at a time.

Fire is a powerful story because Kristin harnesses the power of sadness and tragedy to develop emotional depth. The characters’ lives are so filled with sadness that the happy moments are powerfully moving.

The plot was rich. The characters were well developed. The ending was satisfying. Excellent book Kristin Cashore, I will read it book again and again.

-Lindsay Hiller, author of bestselling YA novel REAPER

Fire is a monster. Not because of who she is or what she's done, but because of what she is, and what her father was. Monsters are not uncommon in the Dells, all being bright and beautiful and unnaturally coloured, what is uncommon is a human monster; and Fire is the last.

However, not all monsters are distinguished by their bright vibrant rainbow of colours. Some are the most unassuming of people, others are greedy and hateful men, and others still are dark memories that refuse to rest. In a world on the edge of disaster, is Fire the one to fear as the bringer of destruction, or will she be the only chance of survival?

Fire must make a choice, between what she was born to be, and what she wants to be. There is a war coming, enemies at every turn and murder on everyone's mind. Everybody has a secret, and the past is fast catching up with the present. Not everyone will survive and those that do will have blood on their hands. But not all is lost, for one way or the other the war will end, and with that ending there will be a new beginning.

In Graceling we are introduced to stories and rumours of rainbow coloured monsters in the land beyond the seven kingdoms. In Fire we learn that these stories are true. Fire may have been born a monster, but she is more human then most. And as Fire discovers, some of the scariest monsters were born human.

Fire is a story that draws you in, taking you on a journey that is full of twist and turns and surprises. It is both intriguing and insightful as death, loss and heartache are experienced. But this fast paced and entertaining story also holds hope, love and new life. Fire is a strong and powerful character that has also the ability for vulnerability. Despite her monsterness and great beauty she is warm and relatable; a stunning heroine.

Graceling was very good, while a little slow-going at times. When I finished Graceling, I was quite pleased with it and looking forward to Fire. Well, right off the bat with the telling of Leck's history, Fire exceeded my expectations! I REALLY enjoyed it. It's not great literature, it's YA; with that in mind, however, this novel did have a more "adult" feel than Graceling. Rape is a pretty commonly discussed topic; premarital sex, abortion, pregnancy, adultery, murder all find a place in the story line. Despite that, Fire doesn't feel trashy or dark; I found it interesting and driven. I could barely put it down and read it in about 5-6 hours. Fire (the character) was a little less likable than Katsa; there is also less clarity about Fire's abilities/powers. Is she powerful or is she a target, able to be harmed by regular men? Katsa felt less vulnerable and fearful (and I liked her a bit more). That said, I quite enjoyed this. Did I follow all the war stratagem? Does Fire always act in a manner that made sense? Nah... Was it a fun ride? Sure thing!

I'd finished Graceling the same day that I had started Fire. So I jumped right into this. And yes, we meet a young Graceling, first thing. However, this book isn't really about Gracelings. The review blurbs peg it as a prequel to Graceling. Time wise this may be true. It would almost be more true to say that while written first, Graceling is a spin-off of this story.

In this story, the Graceling is almost irrelevant. At the times he makes his appearances, he seems pivotal to the story, but truth be told, this story could be told without him. It's more a story of a land of monsters. A land where a Graceling fell through a mountain and made cameo appearances.

Fire is the main focus in this story. She's half human, half monster -- literally, her father was a monster. Being what she is, causes her to be so beautiful that everyone is drawn to her. Monsters want to eat her. Humans just want her. Her flame red hair is something she hides, as it amplifies this effect. She attempts to cover her body. But nothing she does can truly hide who she is, they all know. She's essentially alone, despite everyone knowing her, as she's the last human-monster being in existence. Her parents dead. All she has is her best friend Archer and his father, who helped to raise her. And her music.

And then one day, she's called away to help the Dells, the land of her mother, the land which her father nearly destroyed. Fire, she has the power to get into people's minds. The royal family in the Dells fear a war is brewing and they need Fire to get into the minds of prisoners, for they want to try to get insider information.

Fire has trouble with this, not wanting to become a controlling, manipulative monster as her father had been. But could she do this? Make up for what he once did to them? Show their prince (whom she's started to fall for) that she's not her father? Help him save his land? Save her new friends? Or does she just let the war happen naturally? She'll have to decide, before it's too late.

Fire was a good novel, but because I had Graceling so fresh in my mind, I can't help but compare the two. For me Graceling was 5/5. I think I'd recommend reading Fire first. It technically being a prequel. It's the weaker story. 4/5. It's good, just not as good as Graceling.

It's 2 in the morning but I just finished reading Fire by Kristin Cashore and I had to write about it. I have to say, I was a bit worried when I heard that it was about a different set of characters entirely because I'd grown to love Katsa and Po. But within the first 10 pages my worry was proved to be totally and completely unfounded.

I loved the book.

Maybe more than I loved Graceling. I'm not quite sure. It was that amazing. I absolutely adored it. The description of the colors and all of the monsters that lived in the Dells. I liked that it was a bit of a prequel.

And while it seemed like a different world ENTIRELY from the world we come to know in Graceling, it's still completely and entirely believable that the two worlds are right next to each other.

I can't wait to read Bitterblue!

I'm sad I got Graceling and Fire from the library. I think I will go out and buy them simply to say I own them. That's how amazing they are. And I recommend them to anyone and everyone that loves fantasy. I mean, Fire is such an incredibly strong woman who just gets stronger in the face of adversity and all of the odds stacked against her. Another novel without a tiresome love triangle too! Not in the way MOST love triangles are anyway.

Not sure what I mean? You have to read it to find out! Kudos Kristin Cashore. The world that you've created, and the characters in that world.... outstanding.

I wish I could speed read. When I try, I have to go back and re-read what I sped through. It's not that I want to be through with the book. It's the fact that I can't go to sleep until I know how it ends. At 2am, I finally put Fire down and couldn't wait to write my review.
Fire, which is a prequel to Graceling and has one common character, is just as good as Graceling. A problem I had, before I even started reading it, was about the character that is in both books, Leck. He is evil and I worried about him and how he would affect the book the whole time I was reading. Does he have a part in the book? Yes. I thought, because we know that Leck becomes King of a different kingdom in the future that everyone in this book would die or be hurt. Wrong way to think if I want to become attached to the characters. It was unsettling the whole time reading. I would recommend reading Fire first and then Graceling if one had a choice.
I really enjoyed Fire's character. I felt her pain that she went through, her struggles, and how she loved whom she loved. The characters are well developed and in the end, I got what I wanted. Therefore, of course, that made me a happy reader. The story had several similarities with Graceling and I almost laughed when one more would pop up. However, it is a different story towards the end and one that I liked. The back-stories were very interesting and I really loved the character of Brigan. How he handled Fire, his family and his daughter Hanna was special. He is a good role model and deserves love. All the characters mature and especially Fire.
What did I not like about the book? Well, I don't like how quickly she was able to escape from Leck at the house. I don't like what happend to Archer. In addition, I wonder what happened to Kristin that she hates marriage so much. Does she think a woman can't be strong and independent if she is married? This is the second book (out of 2) that she has written the heroine not getting married even though she is in love. Interesting...

I seriously can't express in words how much I LOVED this novel!

After reading Graceling, I was worried that Fire wouldn't live up to it, because Graceling was one of the most amazing books I've ever read. Though, Fire, was just as good and it went far past my exceptions.

The world Kristin Cashore created in this book was filled with love, mystery, and rich history. I adored her descriptions of Dells and the people and creatures she created within.

Fire, being one of the people/ creatures she created, was one of my favorite parts of this novel. I love how Kristin has such strong heroines in her novels that are sometimes afraid of their potential in the world even though are extremely brave and fearless. By the end, I came to admire Fire a great deal. I loved how she always put other peoples needs against her own and never stopped fighting to make Dells a better world. I also adored the royal family ( Princes Brigan, Nash, and Garan along with Princess Clara and Hanna and Queen Roen). It was funny to see their constant squabbling over how to rule the country along with how when it came to there family they would go high and above to protect each other. Lastly, Fire's guards, Archer, and Brocker, were characters I came to love and admire by the end.

Though, the thing that really just amazed me with this was book was Kristin Cashore's writing. She is an author that constantly has tricks and secrets up her selves that continue to amaze you to the end. I love how she weaved together the history, characters, and problems of Dells in a way that you felt that you were there with them. She just has magnificent talent that will become even more powerful and amazing as time goes on!

Overall, Fire was one of the most fantastic books I've read in '09 and I seriously can't wait for others to get their hands on this novel so that they can see the power in Cashore's writing and characters as I have!

Grade: A

Having read and loved Graceling, Fire by Kristin Cashore had a lot to live up to. I should have known that it would exceed my expectations and then some, quite possibly trumping its predecessor.

Fire is the last remaining human monster living in a war torn kingdom called the Dells. Once filled with beauty and wealth, the Dells have fallen into ruin by the hands of her monster father, Cansrel and his human conduit, King Nax. Though both have been dead for several years, the kingdom remains in a vulnerable state, as neighboring kings are attempting to conquer the lands and steal the crown from young King Nash and his commander brother, Brigan.

As a monster, Fire has the ability to read and control minds; however, due to her fear of becoming the monster her father was, she has spent years denying her power and has attempted to disguise who she is to protect both herself and those around her. When Fire is attacked by a mindless poacher, Fire travels to Queen Roen in search of answers and aid, but a fateful meeting puts her in the direct path of the very two people she has tried her best to avoid, Nash and Brigan. Knowing all the power Fire posses and the potential that power could have in saving his kingdom, Nash calls on her to use her power for the greater good. But when does power become destructive? And who can tell when the lines have become blurred? What follows is a beautiful story about embracing who you are and conquering your fears.

I found Fire's world to be well drawn, expertly woven and colorfully written. Each character is a delicious shade of gray, possessing both light and dark tendencies; much like we do in life and Cashore does a remarkable job of creating a realistic royal family in a fantastical setting. Fire was an extraordinarily heroine that I found very relatable in spite of her monster nature. A story of love and loss, hope and fear, forgiveness and passion, Fire provides a wondrous journey through a magical land that you won't soon forget.

Gold Star Award Winner!

Fire lives in the Dells - a land filled with beautiful creatures called monsters. There are monsters of every kind.
Monster kittens, monster bugs, and the most fierce and dangerous of all, monster raptors. The monsters are covered in fur and feathers of the most vibrant and iridescent colors. Their beauty traps humans, allowing the monsters to control their minds.

Monsters can influence humans - make them stand still and allow themselves to be killed, alter their thoughts and decisions, or compel them to do something against their will. Fire is the last human monster in the Dell and people are afraid of her and tend to stay out of her way or try to kill her.

Fire is aware of the danger monsters pose to the people around her and takes care to remain respectful of their privacy and free will. The only time she attempts to claim a person's mind is in self-defense. Her life is a comfortable rhythm of hunting and spending time with her best friend, Archer.

Fire has spent seventeen years within the safety of her own grounds and surrounded by people she can trust, so when the Prince from King's City comes to ask for her help in getting information out of captured spies, she can't help but say yes. Fire has wanted to see King's City for a long time.

Fire's abilities and conscience are pushed to the limit once she joins the fight to save the crown.

FIRE is a companion novel to GRACELING. You absolutely don't need to read one before the other, because FIRE takes place approximately 30 years before GRACELING's timeline picks up.

FIRE is a beautiful story. I listened to the audiobook that Xanthe Elbrick narrates. Xanthe's voice made Fire come alive and I was almost sad when the story was over. If you like fantasy, you definitely need to read FIRE.

Reviewed by: Karin Librarian

I liked Fire, but not as much as I liked Graceling. Now, granted, my full appreciation of Graceling didn't occur until months later when I'd really had time to think about and remember the story. But from what I remember after all these months, Fire didn't quite match up.

Entertaining? Yes. Fire is an interesting heroine, she just seemed a bit predictable to me. The royal family kind of lost interest for me and the characters that seemed to have the most intrigue about them were b...more I liked Fire, but not as much as I liked Graceling. Now, granted, my full appreciation of Graceling didn't occur until months later when I'd really had time to think about and remember the story. But from what I remember after all these months, Fire didn't quite match up.

Entertaining? Yes. Fire is an interesting heroine, she just seemed a bit predictable to me. The royal family kind of lost interest for me and the characters that seemed to have the most intrigue about them were barely used in the story. That disappointed me.

I remain glad that this was not a sequel to Graceling and that the same characters were not used and hashed out more. And once again, Kristin Cashore has taken me to an world I could not have come up with on my own and made my imagination burst with color. This is the reason Fire gets so many stars from me, despite it's predictable faults. I was thoroughly entertained.

I've waited patiently to read this book. I got the first from the library and was waiting for them to get this one as well. It was well worth the wait. Like Graceling, it builds slowly. But, the characters slowly start to grow on you. Fire was very similar to Katsa in my opinion. Both young women did not like who they were and how their powers could be used and abused. Fire was just as strong in this one. Although, I think she was more afraid of her own abilities. It was like she had to come to terms with the fact that using them did not make her a bad person. It would be how she chose to use them. Brigan was just the sort of male character you can't help but love by the end, and maybe drool over as well. The author built him up so fantastically. Brigan and Fire's relationship was built up well. It wasn't the typical see each other and fall in love sort of moment. It has much more substance too it. There isn't as much action in this one. It seems to be more about relationships. But, I still thought it was wonderful. My only issue was the author seems to have a agenda with female empowerment. I got a little tired of the talk about birth control, abortion, etc. I'm all for women's rights, but it seemed a little bit much in this one.

I truly adore reading the previous book, Graceling, so I was greatly looking forward to reading Fire. At first I was worried about remembering the previous book in order to enjoy this one, but quickly understood that this is a companion book with a different setting and characters. Cashore took us to the Dells (a place across the mountains) with their mysterious, colorful monsters. It was hinted at in the previous book, and it was fun reading how Cashore brought this strange, dangerous land to life. The people in this place really live a very unusual and scary life.

Fire is the last monster human and she is determined to BE the last. Her blood calls to other monsters, so she is always under attack. Her father was not someone to be proud of during his life, and he left nothing but choas in his wake in the kingdom as an advisor to the previous King Nax. Now Nax's son, Nash rules the kingdom with his brother, Brigam (spelling?) as his war commander. The kingdom is under attack from two fractions.

Fire lives in the country away from all this, but is drawn to the problem when Prince Brigan arrives with a "request" from the king for help.

The book with action packed, heartwarming, and romantic. I adored it and hope and look forward to any more visits to this unusual world. Hopefully Cashore has more ideas up her sleeve.

Great companion novel to Graceling, but doesn’t require reading that book first. Another great show of world building; the land is fully imagined and the main character is fleshed out with lots of development in her internal character. There are some adult situations, but they’re not graphic. Recommend highly!

Overall, I found this book was much better than the first of the series, Graceling. Though, I see this book as more of a prequel to Graceling than a sequel. It does introduce different characters, but it had strong ties to one character in particular from Graceling, revealing his background and some reasoning to his actions in the first book.

What I didn't like was how the plot turned in the third part of the novel. I loved, through parts one and two, how much Fire had grown as a character. However, in part three, I almost felt that the events had caused a setback in that growth. Also, I was a little disappointed in the ending. I was kind of hoping for some link to the first book, maybe using the character Leck in some way.

Kristin Cashore's second book, Fire, is even better than her first, Graceling. For those readers who haven't read Graceling yet, don't worry, you don't need to. While Fire takes place in the same world as Graceling does, it's set in a different location where, instead of gracelings making a scene, beautiful, powerful monsters roam the land. Fire, the heroine of the book, is one such monster. Already a young woman, Fire must choose her path in life. Does she buckle under and hide from the cruel, destructive heritage left to her by her father, or can she stand up, claim her 'monstrous' powers for herself and use them for the good of the kingdom?

Fire, like Graceling, is billed as a Young Adult book. Cashore does not let that label prevent her from tackling serious issues, however. In this novel, Cashore takes a sophisticated approach to the standard fantasy trope of 'heroine uses special power to save her kingdom'. In this, Cashore does not romanticize war, and fighting for one's country. Instead, Fire is forced to face the grim realities of war: people you love will die, and carrying out violence against other people, even for a just cause, can deeply change a person. Yet in the face of these hard truths, Fire, and the cast of well-developed supporting characters, find the strength necessary, both in themselves and in each other, to carry on for the good of the kingdom.

This book was a real page-turner. Cashore definitely hits another one out of the park with Fire, and I can't wait to see what she comes out with next!

Fire takes place in a world where there are ordinary animals and then "monster" versions of every animal. For example, there are the ordinary birds that we know, and then there are "monster" birds that are extremely colorful and large and dangerous. This book is about a "monster" version of a human, a girl named Fire, who has colorful hair and gifts of beauty and power that she can't control and doesn't want. There's wonderfully believable characters with genuine emotion, great plot, political intrigue, and a very moving romance.

As you continue to read and go further into the political plot, you learn more and more about Fire's back story. Following her journey as a girl who hates herself becoming a person who knows herself is an absolute pleasure to read. There's a depth of morality and character here that I don't see in many books.

While I enjoyed Graceling, Fire is definitely my favorite of the two. Since the two have only a character in common, you don't need to read one to understand the other. The author does a great job of making each book standalone and both have very intriguing, beautifully-built worlds.

This is perhaps the greatest heroin adventure/drama novel ever written. There are so many fiction books in the last 20 to 30 years with strong female leads. However I don't believe these characters for the most part. They are not feminine. They are basically female versions of strong men characters. They have no baring on all the graceful strong women who are good leaders that I have know. That is they are characters I like but whom I have never meet.

It is such a heart felt character that really shows power and strength are empty and don't matter as much as people from a female standpoint. It is written as a YA novel but any age can enjoy it. It is Extremely Well written Despite the language being closer to high school grade level. Overall in my mind this wouldn't really go on any 21st century Classic   literature when it comes to Fantasy our YA literature.

Fire is an outcast in her society, her vibrant and unnatural hair color an indicator of her monster status and her dangerous powers of mind control. She's the only one left of her kind, and she resides far out in the country where she is safe from those who fear her and would harm her.

Meanwhile, King Nash is struggling to hold on to his kingdom as enemies from the north and south threaten to overthrow him. Both Nash and his brother Brigan distrust Fire for the havoc her father wreaked on the kingdom before his death, and Brigan would like nothing more than for Fire to be killed. But now, unless they find a way to resolve their differences and work together, they'll never win the impending war.

In this prequel to Graceling, Kristin Cashore has woven an intricate and brilliant tale that reveals a whole new world beyond Katsa's seven lands, full of fantastic creatures, strange powers, and a land teeming with political tension. For the most part, the characters in Fire are made more mature than Graceling's protagonists by the complexities of their past. Fire is a strong heroine, tough and fiercely independent, but loyal and kind through and through. She is genuinely thoughtful, and her concern for others stands out, especially as she struggles to reconcile her own nature and her father's actions with who she wishes to be.

The beginning of the book is slightly slow, but in no time at all it speeds up as Fire is launched out of her comfortable world and into an unknown and dangerous one. Cashore's plot is wonderfully complex and elaborate, but tight and solid. Fire also deals with many emotions--guilt, regret, fear, love, and empathy--in a very affecting way. Cashore is a master at using all of these elements to create a suspenseful, surprising, and totally engaging read. Though Fire is not a happy, warm book all of the time--it deals with death and violence and life's cruelties, but in a sensitive and optimistic manner, it has its moments of humor and romance. Cashore's talent for pulling off such an epic and engrossing read makes her one of the best YA fantasy writers since Tamora Pierce first introduced her character Alanna to the world. If readers weren't already in love with Cashore after reading Graceling, they will be after reading Fire.

After reading Graceling, I felt excited for another book since it was such a treat to read. I read Graceling and Fire after I had read a review about its feminist agenda, and I knew that they would instantly appeal to me. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy this book, but when I finished reading Fire entirely, I felt sad and disappointed. I felt like there were a few loose ends that I would have liked to have fixed, as well as a general feeling of emptiness.

I really became involved in each of the characters, and the book was written in a way that I could empathize with their situations. This being said, the book was an emotional roller coaster for me.

After reflection, I think that Fire made me seriously question my own beliefs. You can't help asking questions while reading this book, because many of the actions of the characters create strong judgment calls on the part of the readers. While I personally disagreed with some of the characters' lifestyles or decisions, it reinforced my beliefs on other issues. Primarily, who am I to judge what or how somebody decides to live their life? Who am I to tell somebody what to do with their body? I consider myself pretty liberal, but it is obvious in her writing that Cashore is far more liberal than I.

I believe that this book is too strong a book for the Young Adult genre, especially since it hits hard on topics like sexual promiscuity, incest, rape, infidelity, birth control, pregnancy, ownership, and other things like that. I have found discomfort in both Graceling and Fire when it comes to animal abuse, child abuse, and violence against women. The books also make you really hate some of the male characters, much less frequent than the female ones.

I look forward to reading Bitterblue this year, though I am apprehensive to see how many sexual escapades Cashore can cram into those 500 pages.

If you haven't read Graceling yet, no biggie...I say read Fire first and have a greater knowledge of a character in Graceling. Either way, you WON'T be disappointed. I completely and totally fell in love with Kristin's writing while reading Graceling and well now I'm just obsessed and won't truly be happy until I know when her next book will be out.

I can only imagine that authors just love having fans beg them for a new book when they have just recently poured all their heart and soul into their recent release but like any addict I don't care, I just want more!

Fire is almost too complex and wonderful to put into words. The characters are multi-dimensional with flaws and greatness that make them both loved and hated. Their relationships and stories so well crafted and intertwined that you will lose yourself in the depth of it all.

A true masterpiece. If you haven't read Graceling or Fire yet buy them, borrow them, go to the library, just read them now...you won't be disappointed!

Best suited for 9th grade and up.

Not knowing exactly what to expect in a prequel, I was pleasantly surprised by Fire. Cashore does an excellent job of creating what feels like a very believable world and setting the rules to that world in a tangible way. Ultimately, the best fantasy tells a good story, like any book, and this is a good story. Fire, the main character, is three-dimensional and carries a lot of depth and complexity in her character and conveys a strong arc throughout her journey.

The rest of the elements are also good. There are multiple layers of conflict and subtle plots and themes that weave throughout the larger more obvious ones in a way that makes the story rich. Unlike many of the books in this class, which lack foundation and rely too heavily on fantasy tropes and fast-paced action rather than any level of development, Fire is a tale that speaks to its readers with maturity on topics like self-image and personal responsibility and carries the weight of a story that offers multiple interpretations. I recommend this to all readers 15+.

-Lindsey Miller, [...]

Words cannot describe how much I enjoyed this book. Fire was so much more compelling as a narrator than Katsa. I loved watching Fire develop from someone who was weary of her powers to someone who uses them without fear. The pacing was great and had plenty of action. The entire world was intriguing, especially the monsters. There is plenty of humor. While some might be against the increase of sex in this novel, its a teen book not a children book.

If you enjoy mental based abilities, such as myself, you will love this book. Cashore described telepathy perfectly and did it in a new way. Not to mention the prologue to the story is dark and intriguing. It was great to see how mental abilities can be used for evil. You are hooked straight from the beginning and drawn into the world of those with mind altering abilities.

Over the mountains across from Graceling is the land of Dells. It is an enchanting, wild land that is inhabited by humans and monsters. This is Fire's home. She is the last human monster. Beyond beautiful, she stops people in her tracks with her perfect skin and red flamed hair. She has the ability to sneak into people's minds. A talent that scares her more each day. When the royal family calls on her help. She goes against her own rule, to help save the kingdom and the people she loves.

I love this book and had a hard time putting it down, very much a page turner. I fell in love with Graceling and now Fire. Ms. Cashore has created two different worlds that are amazing and wondrous, that take you on a fantastic journey. The character Fire pulls you in with her beauty and her strength, she's a very lovable character. Fire is an adventure filled with intrigue, acceptance and love. This book is not to be missed.

Fire is a companion/prequel to Graceling, but there's no reading order. You don't need to read Graceling to enjoy Fire.

Fire is a fantasy book about a girl who is a telepathic, mind-controlling monster, a mutation of a normal species. As the last human monster, she has to help solve the civil unrest in the kingdom of the Dells, a mythical world created by author Kristin Cashore.
Sounds like an amazing book right? Not really, as I have not read the book Graceling, the book this a companion to, I don’t know much about what happened prior to or after the events of Fire that connect to Graceling. It appears that the only character in this book that is in Graceling or has any connection to Graceling is a character named Leck. The prologue chapter explains his origin since birth and how he got to the Dells. This is a really good part of the book since it builds up an important character and paints an interesting world.
Then we get to the main character of the story, Fire, who is the last human monster living in the Dells. She is an interesting main character who is attempting to deal with the morality of her own mind control ability after experiencing what her evil father did with his monster abilities. He was a fearsome dictator. She shows her bravery in some but not many parts of the book such as the part where she helps protect the battalion leaving Roens fort.
The main problem in the book is that for a good chunk of it, absolutely nothing interesting happens. Most of the book is spent with Fire just sitting in a castle and occasionally using her power to interrogate people. Meanwhile, in the beginning of the book she almost sacrifices herself to protect a small group of army members from a group of monsters that were about to attack them. That is the only interesting thing she does in the book.
The character development in this book is also a problem. Characters will go from unreasonable people that can’t understand that the main character is just a reasonable person to being just fine with her for little to no reason. Even Fire’s character development is confusing. One moment she refuses to use her abilities for interrogating prisoners and less than a chapter later she is suddenly fine with it. Throughout the book she ironically goes from a character that will sacrifice herself for others to a character that does basically nothing at all.
Overall this is a book people should read if they liked Graceling or are extremely interested in fantasy books. This is a slow-paced book with little action and uninteresting and annoying characters.

This was another great book by Kristin Cashore! The visualization was wonderful and the characters were so different than anything I had ever read about before! I really think that Kristin grew a lot from when she wrote Graceling!

Fire was a different character, she was unlike any character I have ever come across before. She was tormented by her father and his death, and we learn so much about her, and her torments through flashbacks, which normally I don't like but in Fire it was necessary. I like how Kristin kept us in suspense for most of the novel about Fire's past.

The plot flowed beautifully and was beautifully written. I enjoyed the level of political intrigue in this book. And Immiker drove me nuts, but I believe that it is important to read Graceling before you read Fire becasue if you don't the ending of Graceling will be ruined.

Even though Graceling is still my favorite of the two I have a new literary crush in Nash! Po and him are very close, and I love both of them! I cannot wait for Kristin's next installment in this series Bitterblue! This is definitely a series you need to read. And an author you need to keep your eyes on!

A female protagonist with vibrant red hair and the skills of compelling those with a weaker mind. Did I also mention she is half monster? Fire is the name of the main character, and the name of the book. This book is apart of the Graceling Realm Series, and is the second book in the series.
The whole “female protagonist with vibrant red hair and the skills of compelling those with a weaker mind” called out to me, but I was disappointed in the end. The beginning of the book was fascinating, but as the story went on, it got less and less interesting. Fire was an intriguing character, but she was a bit whiny and always put herself in danger. As for the other characters, there were too many with all too similar names, for example: Mydogg, Murgda, Musa, and Mila. There were also very tiny events that went on between the characters that I personally thought were irrelevant to the plot. The book had some mature content that sometimes got a little to extreme, there was a lot of harassment towards Fire and unwanted feelings from other males towards her. One of the males being King Nash, who repeatedly could not control himself around Fire, and became weak minded and vulnerable around her. The plot itself was one big mess, the only storyline I found that was very eye-catching was Immiker/Leck’s storyline. He was a young boy with two different colored eyes, and had similar powers as Fire. He is what they call a Graceling, “someone who is graced, or has a certain skill.” And because of their skills and what they are called, they belong to the king. But his story is another story to tell another time.
Overall you could say that I did not enjoy the book, with an exception of a few parts. This was such a long book, for such a short story. If the book was shorter and got rid of a few parts, I think I would of enjoyed the book a lot more. In conclusion I would not recommend this book to anyone, unless they have a lot of time on their hands. This book was very time consuming, and was really long and boring.

Fire is a human monster who is so beautiful she causes men to literally lose control. With such a title character it is easy to see how "Fire" ended up considerably darker in tone, more erotic, and complex than Graceling. Whereas Graceling was full of action, adventure and straight forward romance, Fire is more about intrigue, politics, and ethics. As an adult, I really enjoyed this book. However I would have some serious qualms about recommending it to anyone other than older teens. My only reservation about the book was that i often found myself wanting more details, more information about characters and further expansion of some themes that were merely touched on. I think though, that the authors ability to tell such a great story without being bogged down with all of those details I was missing is what makes this a truly great young adult novel. This novel is a young adult construct with adult themes. A treat to read.

This book was so good. Within the first few pages I was pretty much hooked. I loved the character Fire and the idea of there being "monsters". I dont wanna ruin anything for anyone but just know this was a great book. I will say that if you loved Graceling you may not like this book as well, if because of nothing other than the main characters of these, and even Bitterblue are way different and follow completely different plots and have different "voices" so to speak. I personally loved Bitterblue and Fire way more than Graceling. I thought there was a lot more mystery and "meat" that i could really sink my brain into. Whereas Graceling was more action. So keep that in mind when reading these books. Theyre companion novels. Sisters, not twins!
:)

I loved, loved, loved this book. As I got to the end, I actually tried *not* to finish, because I didn't want it to end. It goes straight to my favorite all time Top Ten list. It was perfect in every way. I loved the story, I loved the characters, I loved the language. I'm an adult reader and not even a fantasy novel fan, so all my raving is even more impressive. I want to buy a copy (I got the copy I read at the library), but, even though it came out last fall, the paperback isn't due out until January 2011. Boo hiss! I'm really looking forward to her third book in this series, even though the main character in this book is unlikely to play a major role in that one. I thought her first book was good, but she's gotten better - this book flows more consistently, and is more complex, and even more fascinating, than her first one. I can only imagine how terrific her next book will be.

****SOME MAJOR SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW!!****

****YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!****

I started off really liking this book. I thought the concept of the main character was interesting and I enjoyed most of the side characters. Towards the middle, the book got a little slow, and the end was downright boring.

The prologue was awesome. I read it and got all excited, as I found Leck to be a fascinating villain in Graceling. So I kept reading and reading and reading, and Leck doesn't show up outside of a few scenes. I know there is the kidnap thing, but that whole storyline really fizzled and just seemed like a plot device in order to kill off Archer. I was expecting Leck to have a much bigger part of the story considering the prologue, but he was really nothing but a small side plot.

From about 60% on I just got bored with the book and started skimming. I got tired of Fire. I usually prefer a strong female character, and I liked Fire at the start, but towards the middle/end she just got so whiny and boring. She had to have a constant guard of at least 6 people to protect her. She doesn't do a heck of a lot except mope around and wait for Brigan to return from wherever he went (which probably would have been much more interesting to read about).

The book just drags. A lot. The few moments of action were anti-climactic (the escape from Leck, and the final battle scene where Nash gets shot, for two examples). I feel like most of the action happened off screen and instead we get to sit around waiting with Fire while everyone else is out there kicking ass.

I am not a religious person and I'm not a "wait til marriage for sex" person at all, but even I found Cashore's anti-marriage, pro-casual sex thing to be over the top in this story. Archer and Fire are having sex, and he also has sex with plenty of other females but Fire doesn't care. She actually prefers that he bangs other women sometimes because she thinks her room would get too crowded if Archer was always there. When she starts to fall for Brigan, she dumps Archer, who immediately bangs everything that moves in the castle and impregnates two women (one of which is only 15).

There are no consequences to the rampant casual sex either. The 15-year-old who has a baby doesn't face any hardships. She immediately starts banging the King, so it's all good.

Then bring in all the other baby daddy drama (I'm mad that you knocked up my wife, so I'm sending some of my men to go rape and knock up your wife). There were so many "Guess what? I'm your real dad!" moments that it got kind of silly.

I am about to start reading Bitterblue, and I'm really hoping that it's better than this. I didn't hate Fire, but I feel like the book didn't quite live up to it's potential.

I loved Graceling and was excited to read Fire. This was a good book, but it less action packed and has a less fiery heroine than Graceling. I enjoyed it but didn't like it as much as Graceling. I missed the fighting and found some of the fantastical creatures hard to picture.

Fire lives in a world that is on the opposite side of the mountains from the world in Graceling. It is a world full of brightly colored monsters and plagued by unrest. Fire is half-monster and struggles against her monster nature and the way her blood draws monsters to her. Without meaning to she is drawn deep into the politics of the realm when two royal brothers want Fire to use her mind reading capabilities to aide the kingdom.

This book is a prequel to the events in Graceling. The book is set in a sister land to Graceling and does describe some of the events of Leck's childhood.

Fire is a much much different heroine than Katsa. That's not a bad thing, but to be honest I didn't like her as much. Fire spends a good portion of the book hiding. She hides from other people, from her monster nature, and from her own beliefs. This leaves her a lot of room to grow as the book continues, and she does grow. As you can imagine this leads to a much less action packed story. This book is a lot more about politics, court intrigue, and spying.

Fire's struggle is about believing that she can be a good person despite her monster nature. She also has to learn where to draw the line in using her mind control powers; at first she won't use them at all but then she begins to realize maybe they can be used for good. She also learns to start standing up for herself, where before she has let strong male figures mold her life.

This book is less romance driven than Graceling. Fire ends up longing for a certain someone, but he is out of the story a lot traveling. So while there is a bit of romance in here it is subtle, sweet, and in the background. Just like Fire comes across as much more tame than Katsa, when she falls in love she does it in a quiet way...not in the fiery way Katsa does. As such while the romance was sweet, it wasn't as engaging or as emotionally involving as it was between Katsa and Po.

There are a lot of great characters in this book; even the side characters are well filled out and interesting. I still enjoyed the characters in Graceling better, they just seems a bit more engaging.

The world is an interesting one, full of brightly colored monsters. The magic system is based more on monsters than anything else. That being said I had some trouble really picturing and imagining this world of brightly colored creatures. It seemed a bit less realized to me than the complex world we were presented with in Graceling.

The story is a complete one and fills in some of the background behind how Leck got where he was in Graceling.

Overall I enjoyed this book. I didn't like Fire as much as Katsa, she just wasn't....well fiery enough. The romance was much more understated and less engaging than in Graceling. I also had some trouble picturing this world and its brightly colored monsters. This is a book that focuses more on politics and less on the adventure/quest. All that being said this was an entertaining read with some wonderful characters and an interesting world. I recommend this to fantasy fans who enjoy intrigue and politics with a touch of romance.

I gave this book three stars because it just did not equate to my expectations. After reading "Graceling" I had high hopes for this one. I thoroughly enjoyed "Graceling" and loved the story. In this book; however, the author seems to love her scandals and moral disturbances a little too much. I lost count of all of the rapes mentioned, and the inappropriate sexual behavior between teens and their "lovers." This is supposed to be for ages twelve and up? I think it should be for ages twenty and up.

This was not a light read. It was heavy with war, violence, promiscuity, and an under-developed love story. Did I mention that there were also countless chapters talking about Fire having her period? We understand that she attracted other monsters with her "monthly bleeding", but we really don't need to be reminded every other chapter. She also talked about periods in her first book as well.

I did give it three stars because it kept me hooked...now I don't know if it was because I was worried for all of the pregnant ladies and animals, or I just liked the basic outline of the story, but I did keep reading. I think the book definitely should have focused more on the love story between Brigan and Fire, then on the endless details of war. If a book is surrounded with such war, then the main character should be able to participate in the war. Fire was on the outskirts of things. That's why I liked "Graceling" so much because of the strong female lead character.

If I were to recommend to a friend a book, I would probably pass on this recommendation. I'm interested to see how "Bitterblue" turns out.

The first thing you need to do before you read Kristin Cashore's FIRE is to forget everything you thought you knew about monsters. Monsters of all kinds populate the pages of Cashore's latest work, but they're not the creepy, drooling, under-the-bed kinds of monsters that you're used to. Instead, they're beautiful, alluring creatures that have the form of more familiar animals but whose colors are both more vivid and more glamorous than the ones we know. Their beauty masks hidden dangers, though: they have the power to enter and even control humans' minds.

Seventeen-year-old Fire is the last remaining human-shaped monster. With her bright red hair, she is stunningly beautiful and well aware of the power her beauty holds over men (after all, she can enter their minds). She is also a fiercely independent warrior, a keen shot with her arrow, and can be brutally stubborn, especially when someone (like her longtime friend and current lover, Archer) tries to rein her in. Furthermore, she is haunted by memories of her father, a monstrous man whom she both feared and loved. Her monster side relishes the skills he passed on to her, but her human side fears becoming like him.

Fire lives in the Dells, a rocky central land (near the Seven Kingdoms that were the setting for Cashore's debut novel, GRACELING) whose territory is constantly under threat from both the south and the north. The young king of the Dells, Nash, is desperately trying to hold his kingdom together. His brother, Brigan, is cold and critical --- Fire can't read his mind and takes an instant dislike to him. When Fire is enlisted for a mission that will utilize her special skills, she must discover her own unique identity, embracing her family history while blazing her own remarkable trail.

Although there is plenty of political intrigue and power mongering afoot in FIRE, the real focus here is on Fire's maturation as a woman and a warrior, even as her emotional and physical well-being is threatened repeatedly by tragedy, injury and death. Cashore excels not only at bringing an imaginary world to life but also at creating a flesh-and-blood heroine whose personal failings, insecurities and desire for a real family make her an appealing human --- even if she is a monster.

Readers of GRACELING will instantly recognize the creepy little boy who appears in the prologue, but FIRE can stand alone as a complete novel in its own right as it is set some 30 years before the events of the previous book. Those hooked by Cashore's stunningly realized heroine, however, will want to read both titles --- as well as the forthcoming third book --- set in this vast, richly imagined world. Cashore's fantasy novels are strong, fresh additions to the genre, and her mature approach to subjects ranging from sex to war will appeal to adult readers as well as older teens.

--- Reviewed by Norah Piehl

Kristin Cashore is absolutely brilliant and my new favourite author.

In Fire, we meet whole new cast of characters (excluding Leck, that is, which is where the ties to Graceling comes in), just as lovely as the first- I know before I said I was disappointed, but that was before I met them! I think this time around, I felt a bigger connection to the characters than I did in Graceling.
Especially Fire and her struggle against what she is. She has problems with her beauty, constantly has to cover her hair in order to fend off men, women, and monsters- think of a moth and a candle it'll get so close it'll kill itself because it's attracted to the light. Her period also puts her in danger, from what I understood, it was the scent of her blood that drove monsters wild, not totally with desire, but because she was monster prey. Her journey is full of heartache and she really pulled my heart strings. I like how fearless she is, even when faced with something dire, she kept pushing.

Archer, Fires friend (and lover at times), was one I really liked up until he got the dreaded jealous lover syndrome. Otherwise, I liked his hothead and how cocky he could be. Really, I pretty much liked every character, the bad guys, the royal family (our grey eyed prince, Brigan), the guards, I can't find a lot of fault in them.

Personally, I think Fire was even better than Graceling. The story itself is enough to make you keep reading. I teared up a bunch of times, because there are times that are just so heartbreaking and it was all I could do but sniff. Not that the story is incredibly sad and dreary, most of the time it's fast paced and you're glued to your seat just begging to find out what's next. You get a lot of questions by the time the book has ended, but you're left with even more questions that have been answered.
What I really liked though was the monsters throughout the story. Monster leopards, monster cats, monster mice, monster raptors, all with different colours. Reds, golds, greens, just weird looking monster animals. I loved reading about them and I think having Fire as a monster made me even more fascinated.

I want to comment on the debate of sexuality in Fire. For some reason, it's getting people riled up. The writing alludes to sex, and gives no descriptions, but it seems that a casual attitude for sex is just unforgivable. Fire stated she does not want children, therefore she takes a medicine after having sex to stop pregnancy from happening- a birth control. If Fire has a casual attitude toward sex, I don't see it. She was having a relationship with her best friend -a person she loved-, a relationship that gradually became more. If having sex with one person counts as casual sex, then off with their heads and everyone elses who has had sex at seventeen!
While, yes, people are having sex, getting pregnant without meaning to, producing illegitimate children, but doesn't this happen in real life? Don't people cheat in real life?

Again, Fire is better than Graceling, just as good, but it surpasses it when it comes to the characters. If you loved Graceling, you'll love Fire even more.

In the Dells, there are animals, and then there are monsters. The only way to distinguish between them is that monsters have unique coloring, impossibly alluring beauty, and sometimes even the ability of mind control. That's what makes monsters so dangerous, to humans and to each other. That's why Fire lives such a careful and guarded life; this flame-haired young woman is actually a human monster. The Dells, the land she calls home, is experiencing supreme instability now that rebel lords are attempting to overthrow King Nash. Spies and other suspicious people are everywhere, only increasing the danger. And somehow, Fire fits in the midst of all this, because this beautiful girl can influence the minds of those around her. Wanted as an asset by each opposing side in the brewing war, Fire must determine the path she will follow, to save--or forsake--her land.

Talk about a page turner! Fire, though lengthy, is a fantasy filled with excitement, danger, spy work, brewing plots, and even romance. Cashore's writing draws the reader easily into her fictional world of monsters and royal court intrigue. Generally, I find the settings in most fantasy stories difficult to adjust to since they generally include new lands and terrain, wording and languages, species, laws of nature, and occasionally magic; however, with Fire, part of the reason why it was so easy for me to get into the story was because the setting and atmosphere were really quite simple. The most unusual aspect of the Dells is the monsters, and those were quite easily explained and able to be understood. It's amazing to me how Cashore so successfully creates a vivid new world with a realistic cast of characters. Character development is so well done, especially for strong protagonist Fire, that the characters hardly feel like they're just part of a fictional story. I suppose there are segments of this story that are a little boring, but I feel that fades away next to the excitement that action, drama, and romance bring to the plot.

Fire is by far one of my favorite fantasies yet, and I cannot wait to read Graceling, for which Fire is a prequel. This novel will most definitely be enjoyed by fans of The Abhorsen Chronicles by Garth Nix, Trickster's Choice and Trickster's Queen by Tamora Pierce, Foundling by D.M. Cornish, and The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Over the mountains from the kingdoms of _Graceling_ are the Dells, where rebellious nobles plot against the young king, and where some animals are monsters: brightly colored, beautiful, often dangerous versions of normal animals. Fire is a human monster, the last of her kind; she is irresistibly, wildly beautiful and has the ability to control minds, though she resists using it, remembering the terrible example of her brilliant, twisted father. When the king's brother Brigan arrives to ask her for her help against the rebel lords, she is pulled against her will into the turmoil enveloping the kingdom.

It took me a while to get into _Fire_, perhaps because it's rather different from _Graceling_ (which I'd just reread). Cashore's writing style has become more polished, which is nice to see; the very interior narrative reminded me rather of Robin McKinley, in fact, which is a high compliment. The book as a whole is more inward-focused than _Graceling_; there's less action, which seems fitting given that Katsa's Grace was an exterior, physical one, but Fire's power is very much more internal and leads to even more internal conflict about how she should use it. By the end of the book, I was still feeling that it was a little overlong, but I had become fond of the characters and impressed by Cashore's characterization and style. I wouldn't say I liked either book more; I liked them differently.

The cover calls _Fire_ "a companion to _Graceling_", which is a good way to describe it. Although the events in it precede those in _Graceling_, it's not a direct prequel. The books have only one character in common, and since the jacket copy seems not to want to spoil that, I won't either (although it's revealed very early).

Eighteen-year-old Fire lives in a world where she and certain animals and insects are known as "monsters." But they are not monsters in the way we normally associate with that word. They are all gorgeous, particularly in the exotic color of their hair, fur or skin. And the most astoundingly beautiful of all are human monsters like Fire. Fire was named for her most remarkable feature, long, lustrous hair which is predominantly red, but in reality is made up of multiple colors not found among regular humans, such that it is like rainbow-hued flame. The beauty of monsters, human and non-human, serves to entrance human prey. But far more dangerous than their seductive beauty is the ability of monsters to hypnotically sway the minds and hearts of humans. This innate talent is strongest of all in a human monster like Fire, who is able to not only manipulate the emotions of animals and humans, but to shape their thoughts as well, thereby gaining control over them.

Fire inherited this gift from her monster father. He used his magical powers for evil and encouraged her from earliest childhood to do the same. But Fire made a vow to herself long ago that she would never go down her father's dark path, and she's kept that promise ever since. Until the moment arrives when the king and prince of her kingdom desperately need her to help them protect the people of their country from the invasion of an enormously strong enemy army.

I absolutely loved Graceling, even though I normally don't much like sword-and-sorcery type fantasy, because the book is brilliantly done. In fact, I loved it so much, I was initially sorely disappointed to hear that this book is a prequel, not a sequel, to Graceling. But within pages of diving into Fire, I became every bit as enthralled with this story as Graceling.

Fire's personality is completely different than Katsa's, but they have some strong similarities. The main one is that both have magical powers, and each sees herself as an isolated freak in her society. In both books, Cashore also uses flashbacks to give us crucial glimpses of her heroines' formative years and the main influences that shaped their character. In both societies, women have access to birth control that gives them a degree of control over their fate that is not usually associated with pre-pharmaceutical historical eras. In both stories, the heroines have a powerful growth arc across their story, both in their understanding of and ability to use and control their magical powers, and, even more importantly, in their understanding of themselves as fierce young women who will stop at nothing to protect those they love--especially helpless children and animals. In both Fire and Graceling, there is a wonderful romantic subplot. Though the personality of the love interest in Fire is very different than Po in Graceling, he's equally appealing in his own way. Finally, though Fire, like Graceling, is primarily a magic-based "coming of age" story, with all the internal conflict and mental confusion that entails, there is plenty of action and adventure to keep fans of exciting, external conflict happy.

I highly recommend this book not only to teens, but to adults who enjoy fantasy novels with strong characters and excellent, tight plotting. It's a joy to read from start to finish.

Plot Summary: This prequel novel is based in the same fantasy world as Graceling, but it's set in a far away land and thirty years preceding the events in the first book. The kingdom of the Dells is populated with `monsters,' which are exquisitely colorful and breathtakingly beautiful versions of common animals. There is one human monster named Fire, and her beauty attracts dangerous attention from monsters and humans alike. Fire's one defense is the ability to control minds, but she's reluctant to use her gift because her father was infamous in his abuse when he served as the former King's advisor. Now the kingdom is on the brink of war, and the royal family asks for Fire's help.

It is official. I am a HUGE Kristin Cashore fan. After I gobbled Graceling a few months ago I assumed that Fire wouldn't be able to equal it. Well, I was wrong, because Fire beat it. If I didn't know these were young adult novels before I picked them up, I would never have guessed it. In my opinion, these fantasies are equal to the excellent stories written for adults by Maria V. Snyder and Jeri Smith-Ready. This is one of those times that readers need to ignore the YA label if it bothers them, because these stories will appeal to all fantasy fans, regardless of age.

I'm going to fess up right now and admit that I cried through several parts, and I'm pretty sure I cried during Graceling too. I don't know why some stories touch me and others don't, but it's certainly due to the skill of Ms. Cashore's storytelling. I was completely sucked into Fire's plight, and the endless complications that arose from her monster beauty. True friends were few and far between, and worse, she never knew who would be driven into a mindless rage by her very presence. Even the King himself was unpredictable and mercurial in his moods whenever Fire was near, and she needed a constant guard to keep her safe. This also meant she never had any privacy, even at night when she tried to sleep.

Being the focus of so much emotion - lust, desire, jealousy - it's no wonder that Fire is eventually drawn to the one man who has complete control of his mind. I found the romance touching and sweet, and frankly a good role model for all the teens who read these books. They don't play games, or manipulate each other; they just give each other their unconditional love and support. At this point it's going to be a long, impatient wait until I can read Ms. Cashore's upcoming book, Bitterblue, which she's still in the process of writing. However I am heartened by this line from Ms. Cashore's blog, "Bitterblue is longer, more complicated, and more ambitious than anything I've ever done." That sounds perfect to me.

After reading Graceling, I was super excited to pick up anything with Kristin Cashore's name on it. I went to the store in search of her next masterpiece, only to find her next book didn't involve any characters from Graceling. In fact, it was termed "a companion". The word companion usually means nothing good in the world of a reader, and I didn't buy it. If I were honest, I flat out refused. But shopping at McKay's used bookstore here in Nashville, I came across a beautiful, pristine copy and picked it up for almost 75% off. I wasn't disappointed.

Where I thought that Kristin Cashore couldn't match the characters in Graceling, she most definitely did. Fire is lyrical, witty, funny, and lovable. She is so different from Katsa, an entirely different species in fact, yet I found myself loving her just as I had done with Katsa. The characters are beautifully woven, like fine silk and rubbed to perfection. Fire has weaknesses, but she's not weak. She's complicated, ashamed of herself, but so utterly and undeniably human at heart you can't help but want her to come out on top.

Of course there's a romance, no novel from Kristin Cashore could be complete without one, and it's fairly obvious who is going to hook up with whom. However, in another typical Kristin Cashore plot thread, you never can quite predict much else. Fire had me entranced, where no chapter was boring and I only skipped ahead once just to make sure nothing horrible (such as the world ending) was about to happen before I turned in for the night. This is a rare feat for me, since I have little control over my eyes and brain impulses with books.

Pick it up. If you didn't want to because there was no Katsa, do it anyways. You will love Fire and you will adore the complicated Archer and the elusive prince and his brother the king. You will not go wrong and it will be money well spent.

I put off reading Fire for a long time, because of the mixed review I'd seen floating around. Now that I'm finished with it, I can tell why there were so many different reactions to this book.

Cashore can write - the prologue to Fire was one of the most chilling and enticing that I have ever read. I don't take issue with any of the writing technique used throughout the novel, and that skill is what earned most of those three stars.

The big problem I have with this book is to do with the subject matter. Cashore seems to be trying to create characters with non-traditional ideals related to marriage and children, but the way this is presented made the whole thing seem repugnant.

[Spoilers ahead]

The `point' of Fire's relationship with her childhood friend Archer seems to be that a woman can have a prolonged sexual relationship with a male friend and not fall in love. Fine, I could be convinced of that. But for Fire to continue a relationship with Archer for so long with the knowledge that he loves her and that she will never love him back is cruel. It made me dislike Fire, when I otherwise might have sympathised with her.

When we are introduced to them, most of the other prominent female characters in this novel seem as strong and resourceful as the male characters, but later on their actions fly in the face of their characterisations in ways that left me dismayed. Clara and Mila were characters who I particularly admired, who then both have affairs with Archer behind Fire's back.

What is the message here? That women will be strong, intelligent and honest until there is a hot guy involved, at which point all bets are off? Fire considers these women her friends, and they seem to be under the assumption that she has romantic feelings for Archer, and yet they sleep with him regardless? What a dismal portrayal of the gender.

I don't have a problem with all the casual sex going on in this novel, but why can't they at least be healthy interactions? Can't these women have encounters that don't end in shame and anxiety? Why is female sexuality shown as such a diabolical thing?

It is probably fair to say that Archer should be held as accountable as Clara and Mila, but I knew all along that Archer was capable of that kind of disregard for others' feelings. We're shown throughout the novel that he is a deeply flawed person who might do or say anything he pleases. Clara and Mila are shown to be professional, highly thought of, capable women, and then they BOTH conceive unwanted pregnancies, even though there were simple, readily available preventatives.

I don't know what the message of this story is, but the feeling I got from it was `don't trust your female friends', which is wrong on so many levels.

Also, the plot twists in this novel aren't twisty. If you just go in with the assumption that everyone has a family member they don't know about, the revelations are not all that unexpected. Aside from that, the plot did drag quite a bit.

Cashore is a highly talented writer, and she has the skill to create life-like characters. However, in Fire the treatment of the female characters was distasteful and I don't know if I will end up reading Bitterblue.

I am a little unsure what rating to give this book. I liked "Fire" and I will read it again, but there were many issues in the book that I couldn't overlook. It would probably be fairer to give it 3.5 stars.

There is a lot of improvement in Cashore's writing. "Fire" is a more complex book than "Graceling," but at the same time it is definitely less romantic. The world-building is more elaborate: the history of Dells, the political structure, the intrigues are rich in detail and the descriptions are vivid. Some scenes are truly marvelous.

But there are also many things that are questionable IMO. The concept of "monster" is while intriguing, often confusing. Up to the very end you don't fully understand the extent of Fire's powers as well as those of monster animals. Some plot choices are strange, considering that "Fire" is an YA novel: an abundance of illegitimate children (literally, almost everyone in the book is a bastard or a result of a rape), too much casual and adulterous sex. In the end the book starts having a soap-operish feel to it. Lastly, I think Cashore is strangely fixated on portraying heroines that have problems with having kids. Katsa doesn't want kids, Fire wants them badly but chooses to mutilate herself to not have them. I just find this strange and really of little interest to YA readers. Overall I think the book is in need of some more editing and tightening up.

In spite of these concerns, I did enjoy this book and I will read Cashore's books in future. I think she has a lot of promise. Maybe she should move to adult fiction though...

Where to even start?! First off, I can tell you that Graceling was not a fluke. Kristin Cashore really is a remarkable writer - I have every confidence that I will enjoy every book she writes, if not love.

Fire was a thoroughly enjoyable read. Fire, the main character, is just as well written and engaging as Graceling's Katsa. Although, I will admit that I may be liked Katsa a bit more... Fire was still an amazing character though - I definitely felt that she was a strong heroine.

I loved that Fire was set in the Dells. It is such a magical and intriguing land and I felt that there was so much left to explore at the end of the novel. I hope that Kristin Cashore takes us back to the Dells in a future novel - perhaps during Katsa's time, as Fire takes place before the events in Graceling.

The romance between Fire and Brigan was well written. I am a fan of love stories that where the two characters overcome some obstacles before falling into one another's arms, and I think that Cashore does a wonderful job at writing this type of romance. I felt like there was bit more sex in Fire than in Graceling, but it was tastefully done and necessary to the plot. Everytime another illegitimate child was discovered it was a bit of a shock though, this novel was full of them!

I'd like to mention that it is not necessary to read Graceling before Fire - in fact, I think it would be interesting to read Fire first.

Now that I've read Fire I'll have to go dream about reading the next novel from Cashore, Bitterblue. I love Kristin Cashore's novels - they're just a bit painful to wait for! At least she doesn't leave us with a gigantic cliff-hanger...!

Fire is Kristin Cashorn's 2nd novel. Her first novel, Graceling, is one of my all-time favorites. And I want to start by saying if you haven't read Graceling, please do so before reading this novel because in all honesty, I probably wouldn't have read Graceling if I read Fire first. I guess I'm a little disappointed with this novel. For starters, the book was too long. I mean the plot dragged. And where the love story in Graceling sizzled, the romance in this novel just kinda fizzled at luke warm. In some ways this story kinda reminded me of a historical-romance novel, where the main character and main dude have this long overdue build-up, until they finally get together--i.e. confess their love and do it. But in the end, Fire lacked the romance and the hot love scene like a good romance novel guarentees. There were parts I enjoyed...I mean the monsters were interesting as was Fire herself. But I kept waiting for Kristin to kick it up a notch--have Fire really come into her power and start controlling everything, the other monster raptors, all the people--whatever. I felt she was a little lame, and got far too mopey at the end. It seemed Kristin had to add Leek (the bad-guy from Graceling) into the story somewhere...but his placement felt funny, not really relevant to the story, just confusing.

You might disagree. Plenty of people who have read it and loved it, just check on the other reviews. But I wasn't one of them. Read it and see for yourself.

Although written second, Fire is actually a prequel to Graceling with only one character in common between the two books. Like Graceling, Fire is the story of a young woman coming to terms with her own power, in this case the power to control the minds of others. Known as "monsters" people with such powers are feared more than respected and Fire (our protagonist) has to decide whether she is willing to use her powers to help prevent the overthrow of the king by rebel lords.

As you may already have gathered, this book is extremely similar to Graceling. Both involve a girl with frightening powers but who is actually really nice. In both cases, the girls have to decide what is a good use of their power and prevent others from abusing their powers. And in both cases, the girls meet a prince who has an abnormal level of resistance to their power who they eventually come to love. This isn't entirely a bad thing. I like that in both cases we had a strong female lead with a supportive guy as a secondary hero who doesn't steal all the glory. The powers of each girl are creatively described and integrated into the world Cashore creates. Unfortunately, despite liking some of the similarities, these books just felt too similar to me. In fact, a general description of the two books would be basically the same.

The similarity would be more acceptable if Fire has felt like an improved version of Graceling, but I didn't like it quite as well. First of all, I like happy endings. And while this book has a generally happy ending, it felt more bittersweet than Graceling. Second, the ending was also less climactic. There was no one really evil bad guy to be defeated, just a war. The main difference between the two sides was just that one side happened to have inherited the throne, not that they were necessarily much better rulers than the other side might be. For me, that made the final showdown feel like less of a big deal.

Despite my complaints, this is definitely only a negative review because I didn't feel Fire compared well to Graceling and that's partially because some of Graceling`s appeal was it's uniqueness. Fire is still really well written, with interesting characters and set in an interesting world. It's still a good, fun fantasy novel with a strong female lead. And it's still a good book, with a different enough plot to be enjoyable.

I really enjoyed this book!

My favorite thing about it was how it showed a conflicted female character who does not wish to be a mother or controlled by possessive men in her life. This concept is extremely unusual in this day and age and it was a breath of fresh air to read the exciting story of a character who is so independent, yet not cruel.

It was slightly slow in some parts, but I never felt bored and was always completely invested in the characters and the world.

I enjoyed Graceling, and was expecting a lot from Fire... It met and exceeded my expectations.
Although I was longing to know more about Katsa and Co, I understand this is a complete different setting, with a very interesting plot. Sometimes I found difficult to follow the relationship between the characters, but it was a minor issue, and I was able to enjoy Fire a lot.
There are times where the book goes too slow, but its good that you find yourself submerged on a very well written story. I like the way Cashore describes the settings and the feelings, and this book didn't dissapoint me.
I really recommend this book, specially if you have already started the Graceling Realm and want to know more about it.

This is a prequel to Cashore's Graceling, which I tore through years ago but didn't find very memorable after the fact. So I figured I'd enjoy this book, but wasn't in a huge hurry to read it, and eventually just borrowed it from the library. Now that I've read it, I'm thinking I may have to buy my own copy after all, and I'll probably purchase Bitterblue new in hardcover to support the author.

So, this means I liked Fire a lot. It was very different from Graceling, being set in almost an entirely different world. In the Dells there are "monsters", brightly-coloured but potentially more deadly versions of regular creatures. Fire is the only surviving human monster, with a beauty that makes weak-minded people helpless before her and an ability to read and influence other people's thoughts and feelings. She's obviously very powerful, but reluctant to use her power and in many ways ashamed of it because of the horrible example set by her father.

Much of this book is about Fire's struggle to come to terms with herself, and I enjoyed seeing how she adapted to a new environment and eventually opened herself up to other people. I also really appreciated the fact that many of the major conflicts in the book were mental. It's a YA novel, so there's almost inevitably a romance angle, but with none of the "OMG he's so hot!" aspects that you might expect. The romance is based on an intellectual and emotional connection, and I found that incredibly refreshing.

In other ways, too, this is unlike your typical YA novel. The YA classification actually surprised me sometimes, because Fire, despite being seventeen in theory, acts a lot older and has concerns that might seem more fitting to someone in her mid-twenties. I could easily relate, for example, to her reaction to seeing people around her getting pregnant: she desperately wanted children herself, but couldn't have any, because she didn't want to bring another potentially destructive creature like herself into the world. I don't share the latter concern for myself, but I do look jealously at my friends' cute children on Facebook while my own life is delayed by at least six years thanks to graduate school. But at seventeen, this wasn't something that I really thought about at all.

So, I can see this as a book that would appeal to older readers of YA: the world is interesting and fresh, the romance has depth, and the more mature protagonist is easy to relate to. I do wonder a bit about how much it would appeal to actual YAs, but that's not really my concern.

I cannot describe how much I LOVE this book! This is the most well written book I have ever read, and that is saying something because I have read A LOT of books. Fire is so well written and the characters are so real that when I was reading I totally thought I could be in the Dells with Fire. The descriptive language is so beautiful, I think my most favorite description of a setting for a book is when Kristen Cashore describes the Winged River and how it flies off the cliff to meet the sea. Fire and Brigan are my two most favorite characters of all time. I have finally found a book that usurps my old favorite, Ella Enchanted, which I though would never happen! The characters are so spectacular and the plot so detailed and well developed it astounds me. Kristen Cashore can weave such a complex plot but yet you don't get lost, you don't bored, every detail is there and the story stays exciting from the spectacular beginning to a very satisfying conclusion. I love the Graceling series, and Fire is by far my favorite out of the novels. To me this is a 6 star book!

About three decades before the adventures of Katsa and Po in GRACELING in the Kingdom of the Dells reside the monsters with incredibly delicate beautiful coloring. However, the realm is changing as seventeen year old Fire is the last human monster who has the ability to read minds and more significantly control people mentally.

Her corrupt father served as the prime adviser to the pathetic King Nax until the monarch's recent death, which his advisor caused. The new ruler King Nash and his brother Commander Brigan want Fire on their side of the apparent upcoming civil war for obvious reasons. Meanwhile her sire who exiled her to the countryside does not want to lose his position of affluence and power so will do anything including selling out his country, his king, and his daughter.

Although set before the heroine of Graceling is born and in another country with only one reasonably important tie between the novels, fans will fully appreciate stand alone FIRE, a strong profound thriller starring an incredible lead monster. Fire has psychological issues over using her powers as directed by her father and her king, but understands her dilemma because her mind control would probably lead to less blood flowing, yet free will is a right she believes in. Fans will enjoy this strong drama as security and liberty are debated inside an exciting fast-paced character driven tale that ironically will lead to a demand for a tweener book that ties the female heroines, Fire and Katsa, together.

Harriet Klausner

I am a little unsure what rating to give this book. I liked "Fire" and I will read it again, but there were many issues in the book that I couldn't overlook. It would probably be fairer to give it 3.5 stars.

There is a lot of improvement in Cashore's writing. "Fire" is a more complex book than "Graceling," but at the same time it is definitely less romantic. The world-building is more elaborate: the history of Dells, the political structure, the intrigues are rich in detail and the descriptions are vivid. Some scenes are truly marvelous.

But there are also many things that are questionable IMO. The concept of "monster" is while intriguing, often confusing. Up to the very end you don't fully understand the extent of Fire's powers as well as those of monster animals. Some plot choices are strange, considering that "Fire" is an YA novel: an abundance of illegitimate children (literally, almost everyone in the book is a bastard or a result of a rape), too much casual and adulterous sex. In the end the book starts having a soap-operish feel to it. Lastly, I think Cashore is strangely fixated on portraying heroines that have problems with having kids. Katsa doesn't want kids, Fire wants them badly but chooses to mutilate herself to not have them. I just find this strange and really of little interest to YA readers. Overall I think the book is in need of some more editing and tightening up.

In spite of these concerns, I did enjoy this book and I will read Cashore's books in future. I think she has a lot of promise. Maybe she should move to adult fiction though...

Where to even start?! First off, I can tell you that Graceling was not a fluke. Kristin Cashore really is a remarkable writer - I have every confidence that I will enjoy every book she writes, if not love.

Fire was a thoroughly enjoyable read. Fire, the main character, is just as well written and engaging as Graceling's Katsa. Although, I will admit that I may be liked Katsa a bit more... Fire was still an amazing character though - I definitely felt that she was a strong heroine.

I loved that Fire was set in the Dells. It is such a magical and intriguing land and I felt that there was so much left to explore at the end of the novel. I hope that Kristin Cashore takes us back to the Dells in a future novel - perhaps during Katsa's time, as Fire takes place before the events in Graceling.

The romance between Fire and Brigan was well written. I am a fan of love stories that where the two characters overcome some obstacles before falling into one another's arms, and I think that Cashore does a wonderful job at writing this type of romance. I felt like there was bit more sex in Fire than in Graceling, but it was tastefully done and necessary to the plot. Everytime another illegitimate child was discovered it was a bit of a shock though, this novel was full of them!

I'd like to mention that it is not necessary to read Graceling before Fire - in fact, I think it would be interesting to read Fire first.

Now that I've read Fire I'll have to go dream about reading the next novel from Cashore, Bitterblue. I love Kristin Cashore's novels - they're just a bit painful to wait for! At least she doesn't leave us with a gigantic cliff-hanger...!

Fire is Kristin Cashorn's 2nd novel. Her first novel, Graceling, is one of my all-time favorites. And I want to start by saying if you haven't read Graceling, please do so before reading this novel because in all honesty, I probably wouldn't have read Graceling if I read Fire first. I guess I'm a little disappointed with this novel. For starters, the book was too long. I mean the plot dragged. And where the love story in Graceling sizzled, the romance in this novel just kinda fizzled at luke warm. In some ways this story kinda reminded me of a historical-romance novel, where the main character and main dude have this long overdue build-up, until they finally get together--i.e. confess their love and do it. But in the end, Fire lacked the romance and the hot love scene like a good romance novel guarentees. There were parts I enjoyed...I mean the monsters were interesting as was Fire herself. But I kept waiting for Kristin to kick it up a notch--have Fire really come into her power and start controlling everything, the other monster raptors, all the people--whatever. I felt she was a little lame, and got far too mopey at the end. It seemed Kristin had to add Leek (the bad-guy from Graceling) into the story somewhere...but his placement felt funny, not really relevant to the story, just confusing.

You might disagree. Plenty of people who have read it and loved it, just check on the other reviews. But I wasn't one of them. Read it and see for yourself.

Although written second, Fire is actually a prequel to Graceling with only one character in common between the two books. Like Graceling, Fire is the story of a young woman coming to terms with her own power, in this case the power to control the minds of others. Known as "monsters" people with such powers are feared more than respected and Fire (our protagonist) has to decide whether she is willing to use her powers to help prevent the overthrow of the king by rebel lords.

As you may already have gathered, this book is extremely similar to Graceling. Both involve a girl with frightening powers but who is actually really nice. In both cases, the girls have to decide what is a good use of their power and prevent others from abusing their powers. And in both cases, the girls meet a prince who has an abnormal level of resistance to their power who they eventually come to love. This isn't entirely a bad thing. I like that in both cases we had a strong female lead with a supportive guy as a secondary hero who doesn't steal all the glory. The powers of each girl are creatively described and integrated into the world Cashore creates. Unfortunately, despite liking some of the similarities, these books just felt too similar to me. In fact, a general description of the two books would be basically the same.

The similarity would be more acceptable if Fire has felt like an improved version of Graceling, but I didn't like it quite as well. First of all, I like happy endings. And while this book has a generally happy ending, it felt more bittersweet than Graceling. Second, the ending was also less climactic. There was no one really evil bad guy to be defeated, just a war. The main difference between the two sides was just that one side happened to have inherited the throne, not that they were necessarily much better rulers than the other side might be. For me, that made the final showdown feel like less of a big deal.

Despite my complaints, this is definitely only a negative review because I didn't feel Fire compared well to Graceling and that's partially because some of Graceling`s appeal was it's uniqueness. Fire is still really well written, with interesting characters and set in an interesting world. It's still a good, fun fantasy novel with a strong female lead. And it's still a good book, with a different enough plot to be enjoyable.

I really enjoyed this book!

My favorite thing about it was how it showed a conflicted female character who does not wish to be a mother or controlled by possessive men in her life. This concept is extremely unusual in this day and age and it was a breath of fresh air to read the exciting story of a character who is so independent, yet not cruel.

It was slightly slow in some parts, but I never felt bored and was always completely invested in the characters and the world.

I enjoyed Graceling, and was expecting a lot from Fire... It met and exceeded my expectations.
Although I was longing to know more about Katsa and Co, I understand this is a complete different setting, with a very interesting plot. Sometimes I found difficult to follow the relationship between the characters, but it was a minor issue, and I was able to enjoy Fire a lot.
There are times where the book goes too slow, but its good that you find yourself submerged on a very well written story. I like the way Cashore describes the settings and the feelings, and this book didn't dissapoint me.
I really recommend this book, specially if you have already started the Graceling Realm and want to know more about it.

This is a prequel to Cashore's Graceling, which I tore through years ago but didn't find very memorable after the fact. So I figured I'd enjoy this book, but wasn't in a huge hurry to read it, and eventually just borrowed it from the library. Now that I've read it, I'm thinking I may have to buy my own copy after all, and I'll probably purchase Bitterblue new in hardcover to support the author.

So, this means I liked Fire a lot. It was very different from Graceling, being set in almost an entirely different world. In the Dells there are "monsters", brightly-coloured but potentially more deadly versions of regular creatures. Fire is the only surviving human monster, with a beauty that makes weak-minded people helpless before her and an ability to read and influence other people's thoughts and feelings. She's obviously very powerful, but reluctant to use her power and in many ways ashamed of it because of the horrible example set by her father.

Much of this book is about Fire's struggle to come to terms with herself, and I enjoyed seeing how she adapted to a new environment and eventually opened herself up to other people. I also really appreciated the fact that many of the major conflicts in the book were mental. It's a YA novel, so there's almost inevitably a romance angle, but with none of the "OMG he's so hot!" aspects that you might expect. The romance is based on an intellectual and emotional connection, and I found that incredibly refreshing.

In other ways, too, this is unlike your typical YA novel. The YA classification actually surprised me sometimes, because Fire, despite being seventeen in theory, acts a lot older and has concerns that might seem more fitting to someone in her mid-twenties. I could easily relate, for example, to her reaction to seeing people around her getting pregnant: she desperately wanted children herself, but couldn't have any, because she didn't want to bring another potentially destructive creature like herself into the world. I don't share the latter concern for myself, but I do look jealously at my friends' cute children on Facebook while my own life is delayed by at least six years thanks to graduate school. But at seventeen, this wasn't something that I really thought about at all.

So, I can see this as a book that would appeal to older readers of YA: the world is interesting and fresh, the romance has depth, and the more mature protagonist is easy to relate to. I do wonder a bit about how much it would appeal to actual YAs, but that's not really my concern.

I cannot describe how much I LOVE this book! This is the most well written book I have ever read, and that is saying something because I have read A LOT of books. Fire is so well written and the characters are so real that when I was reading I totally thought I could be in the Dells with Fire. The descriptive language is so beautiful, I think my most favorite description of a setting for a book is when Kristen Cashore describes the Winged River and how it flies off the cliff to meet the sea. Fire and Brigan are my two most favorite characters of all time. I have finally found a book that usurps my old favorite, Ella Enchanted, which I though would never happen! The characters are so spectacular and the plot so detailed and well developed it astounds me. Kristen Cashore can weave such a complex plot but yet you don't get lost, you don't bored, every detail is there and the story stays exciting from the spectacular beginning to a very satisfying conclusion. I love the Graceling series, and Fire is by far my favorite out of the novels. To me this is a 6 star book!

About three decades before the adventures of Katsa and Po in GRACELING in the Kingdom of the Dells reside the monsters with incredibly delicate beautiful coloring. However, the realm is changing as seventeen year old Fire is the last human monster who has the ability to read minds and more significantly control people mentally.

Her corrupt father served as the prime adviser to the pathetic King Nax until the monarch's recent death, which his advisor caused. The new ruler King Nash and his brother Commander Brigan want Fire on their side of the apparent upcoming civil war for obvious reasons. Meanwhile her sire who exiled her to the countryside does not want to lose his position of affluence and power so will do anything including selling out his country, his king, and his daughter.

Although set before the heroine of Graceling is born and in another country with only one reasonably important tie between the novels, fans will fully appreciate stand alone FIRE, a strong profound thriller starring an incredible lead monster. Fire has psychological issues over using her powers as directed by her father and her king, but understands her dilemma because her mind control would probably lead to less blood flowing, yet free will is a right she believes in. Fans will enjoy this strong drama as security and liberty are debated inside an exciting fast-paced character driven tale that ironically will lead to a demand for a tweener book that ties the female heroines, Fire and Katsa, together.

Harriet Klausner

The book is a little confusing at first... keep reading.
Nice story. If you have read graceling 1st, this story really helps link alot together. I think the author made a good decision in the order of these books.
This is a story of how leck came to be without leck being the focus.
Fire is a wonderful naive character that you watch develop into More. The twist with her father's story was done well. The war was not drawn out excessively. The battle were not done in gory detail. Some things are nonsensical and don't seem important but with the author writing style, I imagine if I reread graceling and then read bitterblue, it will all come together.

Having read Graceling, I was of course very hopeful for this story. I was definitely not disappointed. Fire is a different sort of book from Graceling. The lead characters are themselves very different people, both with interesting histories. With Fire, there is a gradual revelation of backstory that greatly enriches the ongoing plot. This is a solid, mature work focusing on characterization--and make no mistake, these are works of characterization first and foremost, with fantasy as a secondary feature. By the end of this story, you will probably love most of these characters. Cashore has a gift for creating interesting scenes as well, and this novel is no exception. While Fire's mind is a very different place from Katsa's mind, I am sure that you will not want to leave it when the story is done.

It gets a three because I love Cashore's writing: a huge, delectable helping of character development with a side order of plot. Fire coming to terms with her monstrous beauty, abilities, and past was a powerful tale that kept me engaged. The males vying for her attention were all well-developed and you couldn't help but root for one then the other. But...

I am getting a little annoyed at Cashore's blatant attempts to redefine commitment. And I have a suspicion that my annoyance comes because this is a YA book. Yeah, fairytales messed my head up, but free-love is the wrong direction. The idea is threaded through the first, second, and I'm willing to bet third books, and its getting preachy. Same with her issues of maternity. All the mentions of pregnancy prevention pre-coital, post-coital, and first tri-mester -that threw me and I'm pro choice. Again, her ideas on this were refreshing in Graceling, but they read like a platform in Fire.

I am not done cracking up at the ghetto-ness of this book. There were actually ghetto-twins: children with the same father, different mothers, born really close together! WT effing F! At some point I expected Maury Povich to show up with DNA envelopes. "Nax, you are not the father!"

The "flexibility" of the royal family and the whole world of the Dells just left me looking down my nose. I don't buy a princess with an illegitimate child or a king who marries a soldier who's also a teen, single mom with an illegitimate child. It was just a little too much for me.

I must say every time I read Kristen Cashore's books the better they get. I ended up reading this book twice in the same day. Unlike her first book it centers around Fire, a young woman who lives in the country of Dell. Now I'm not going to spoil it for anyone who is thinking of reading it. But what I can say is this book is beautifully written, it draws you in from the moment you open the book.

The story does center around the times before Graceling and yes there is a character in it that was in the first book. Unfortunately I'm not going to tell you. The flow of the book is very beautifully done, and has no rough patches like her first book seemed to have.

I loved the heroin most of all, it makes me think of today's teens. She has to deal with being in a lot of ways a "monster" of beauty, and how she is trying not to become like her father. (Very scary guy mind you.)Also how she has to grapple with her feelings about not just one guy but two. This book would be great for anyone, no matter how old!

This is one of the few books I can is a must read. Go to your store, buy, check-out at a library, or "borrow" from a friend book...

I am very much looking forward to her next book... BITTERBLUE... coming out next year.

After reading Graceling, I was intrigued to read Fire. However, I didn't love it as much as I loved Graceling.

Fire's story was magnificently written; few parts were slow but majority of the chapter were laid out appropriately. At first, I hated how some of the events in the book were left out not answered as soon as they occurred but Kristin Cashore had very good ways in unraveling them. I guess I was just too impatient.

Overall, this book was pretty good. I laughed, I cried; I got confused, i understood. Although I found all the details a bit too much to carry in one book, I still enjoyed reading it and I'm looking forward to Bitterblue.

This book is labeled as a " companion" to Graceling. Chronologically, it's a prequel, but they are truly independent stories. If Graceling was about learning how not to be a weapon, Fire is about learning that conscientious objection may not always be the correct path. It's also about not being who your parents were*. That can be good or bad.

Those of you who have mentioned that it is not as strong as Graceling are correct, but if I had read them in reverse order, I would have been pleased at Cashore's growth as a writer. I wonder if either the publish order does not reflect the writing order, or if Graceling, as a first novel, got a bunch more polish.

I do appreciate the romance themes of unrequited love, acceptance-of-flaws, jealousy, mourning, de-coupling sex and love, and equal partnership. Cashore's greatest strength as a writer is portraying the complicated ways we love each other without ever making me feel like fated love is the same as boring love.

Read if: You liked Graceling and have patience for a sophomore effort. You want to have an antidote to chosen ones who are whiny. You are trying not to be like your own parent.

Skip if: Graceling was perfect in your mind and you will resent this book for not being that. You dislike being deceived by characters you like. You prefer evenly implemented telepathy rules.

*At about the third surprise!paternity moment, I began to wonder if it was thematic or just lazy storytelling.

Even though I'm in my 20's, I still read the occasional YA novel. Fire is a stunning story about a young girl dealing with being different; sometimes in a good way and sometimes not. The only thing that surprised me was the adult content such as the abundant amount of casual sex, a few mentions of unwelcomed and forced sex and there were a few violent scenes. I'm NOT in any way a tremendous prude but if I had a 12-year-old daughter, I would feel a bit uncomfortable if she was reading this book. I think it does still belong in the YA category but for the older, more mature ages when they can understand the themes of the story better.
The writing was splendid. The author did a marvelous job in her descriptions of places and people. I especially like her description of the main character, Fire. I also liked that she gave the readers a look into Fire's mind when she was struggling with her feelings and emotions. That really helped in the character development. The boy in the prologue gave me the creeps and I was fascinated and alarmed by his appearance at the end of the book. I know he was a tie into her first novel Graceling, which I have not read but I plan on reading since I liked Fire so much.

actually I didn't read the whole book because I read the series out of order and I couldn't stand to read any more about the bad guy in this series. He is so evil and sick that I didn't want to spend any more time getting to know what he had done. I also didn't like the fact that most of the main characters in this series didn't want to get married, or have children. Most of the children were you met either had only one parent, or were the result of rape and conventional families didn't seem to be the norm or even desired.

This book has very little romance. I brought it thinking it was a romance novel. Even though that disappointed me the book was good enough to overcome that drawback. My first foray into fantasy was Quinn Taylor Evens Merlin Legacy books. After getting hooked into fantasy world I searched for more. I came across this book and loved the ideal of it.

Fire and the world she inhabits is pretty amazing. Human and animal monster that are so beautiful it inspire instant hate or love. The author gives you a good feel of that world. I can imagine it. It leaves me dazzled and wanting more. It was sad that Fire is the last of her kind and choose not to have kids. That monsters our too powerful and should not be in her mind. I love Leck response to that. It can't be unnatural otherwise they wouldn't exist. Over time Fire grows and come to accept who she is to a point. This book could have done more with the world. I would like to see a human give themselves over to a monster, be in the mist of battle with Brigan and actually see some of the experiments of the medicine in action instead of only being told how wonderful it is. Take me there. I don't just want to Hear about it but Experience as a reader. I like this book and will read her others. It leaves me wanting more and that is what matters.

To many casual relationships in the book. I'm all about women empowerment and independence but it doesn't have to be all or nothing. My biggest problem is that all romance happen off scene. The only relationship that builds is Fire and Brigan. Even that is minimal. The only character I felt like I really knew was Fire. If the book had some of the other characters point of view than it would've been better. I could accept the lack of romance if it wasn't listed and geared toward romance fans.

A wonderful companion to Graceling. I love how the two worlds from the two books coexist. I love fire. She is such a great lead character. The story is told so wail that the story comes alive and it's easy to get lost in the world. I love this series and can't wait to pick up the next book. All the characters are so likable and you really fill for them. I kept picturing the Girl from Brave through out the book though. lol. I definitely recommend it.

I LOVED this book! I listened to it three years after the first book and actually had no idea they were connected. It stood alone very well. I loved the main characters and the unique and intriguing world that the author built. It's fantastic but believable at the same time. Now I will have to read book three.

I really don't know exactly how to put it, it's a good book that never made me feel bored or tired of it while reading, but I also couldn't make an emotional connection with any the characters, the way she describes the Dells is really good that I could picture it all, but for me there was no real climax in the story; no parts that made me feel sad, really happy or intreaged for what was coming next, I think the problem was the real lack or romance and action in this story, if she would have focussed on one of this aspects or both of them really in the story it would have been a great book, not just an ok book

cashore's books are special. she cares about what her characters feel and how they grow - while offering enough magic, excitement and detailed world building to more than satisfy the demands of those whose dominant criterion is the speed at which the story encourages the reader turn the pages. the action and confrontation scenes - the final shoot-outs with the bad guys - in both fire and graceling are brief considering the level of detail and patient preparation the author gives to building up the central conflict. cashore is more interested in her characters' reactions to violent confrontations than in wringing the maximum amount of gleefully nefarious excitement, a la butcher, from said confrontations. but why not? they're her books - and they give a good ride, one that is smart and deeply-felt.

The second book in the Graceling trilogy brings us back to an earlier time and a different world. But the story is mesmerising and gives you a story of before! Fire, our main character proves to be the key to all the other characters in the book as well as an insight to the first book in the series. You will not want to put the book down. Fire brings courage, strength warmth, determination and love to all she touches, whether it be man or circumstance. I hope you enjoy this series as much as I am!!

I love this writer so much so far. I agree with the saying that there are no favorite writers but favorite books. But I have to say that Kristin Cashore books have the characteristic of putting a permanent smile on my face when reading them. Yes of course its a fantasy with drama, but it's the way she writes that it's positively inspiring. Anyway, Fire is a very entertaining novel. Graceling is one of my favorite fantasies of all time. Fire is not better. It's a bit more soapy but I fell in love with the characters and the story is very entertaining, hard to put down. I give it 5 stars because it's that good, but in the same scale from 1 to 5 I would give Graaceling a 7.

I read the reviews of so many books that have five stars and then I come to a book like Fire by Kristin Cashore and see that it has a few one stars. How is that possible??? This is someone who understands her craft and delivers compelling characters, a tight and consistent story line, and beautiful writing. We need to rethink this whole rating system, or have people above the age of ten and with IQ's above the single digits reviewing books. And no. I have never met the author, I'm not her sister or her best friend, I simply read the book and was greatly impressed and think there is so much garbage out there that this book should be a straight five stars across the board in comparison.

Yeah, you read right. I loved this book for many reasons. The plot is unique, I think. The characters are gripping to a point that when the Prologue is over you kind of want to take a shower for how horrible and gross one of the antagonists is. Despite what another reviewer thought, I loved Fire. I found her to be a character of great depth. She is this beautiful thing to most people, not a person, a monster. They either hate her or want to possess her, few of them ever just want to stop and talk to her. Men can't look her in the eye with out professing undying love that Fire knows is only a side affect of her being a monster. She is scarred on the inside and the outside and can't find anyone who can see her for who she really is. Enter Brigin. At first they hate each other, Brigin thinks Fire a horrible freak of nature and Fire thinks Brigin a stuck up conceited jerk. There enters the Mr. Darcy similarities. I am not saying that their relationship mirrors Pride and Prejudice exactly. I'm just saying I enjoy the who aspect of thinking you know someone, and then getting to actually know them. I love the tension. I love the polaroid moments that make them easier able to understand each other.
I love books with deep characters and driving plots and this was definitely one of those. Easily as good as Graceling, if not better.

I opened this book and did not stop reading until it ended. This is a wonderful companion to GRACELING. Cashore is such an accomplished writer that you are tranported to this fantasy land and you feel the chill of the wind and the cold of the water that is thrown in Fire's face. You agonize over the moral issues that she faces right along with her and you cry when she cries. The love story is sweet and the reader knows even before the H/h that it is love that they speak when they talk of other things. This is romance at it's most literary.
There are adult themes that may not be suitable for younger readers.

Kristin Cashore does it again! She creates an epic world that is completely and truly engaging. This book is a companion to Graceling and not a sequel. It adds to the fantasy world first described in Graceling but is its own stand alone piece. Although I did enjoy Graceling even more, this is a riveting book that held my interest through out. It is about beautiful girl with a monstrous power set on the eve of a great war. If you like epic fantasy with a dose of romance, you'll love this!

The Inadvertent Thief (The Thief)

Separated by the mountains, the kingdom of Dells exists next to the land of Graceling. In this world, they have Monsters instead of Gracelings. Human monsters are beautiful and terrible. With unnatural vivid hair color and equally unnatural beauty, Monsters drive others crazy including animal monsters. People wildly fall in love with Monsters and animal monsters crave human Monsters' flesh. The protagonist of this YA fantasy Fire has hair color of flame (thus nicknamed "Fire") and drives men crazy. Monsters are also feared and hated because they can read and control others' minds. In the past, many human Monsters, especially Fire's cruel father Cansrel, brought miseries to the people. After Cansrel's unexpected death, Fire became the last remaining human Monster, and she wants to keep it that way for the sake of others. She refuses to marry her protector and lover Archer.

Meanwhile, the kingdom is falling apart. The young king Nash lacks charisma and some powerful lords are planning the uprising. There are spies all over the kingdom. Nash falls in love with Fire with violent fixations. Nash's brother Brigan is a talented leader, but he hates and distrusts Fire from the beginning.

Although Archer has been Fire's only friend, their relationship changes as they get involved in kingdom's crises. Fire struggles with Archer's obsessive love while trying to keep their friendship intact.

The Novel Fire deals with many complex issues including teen's sexuality, love and friendship, hereditary condition (Monster), pregnancy, morality, family, and so on. Fire is more mature than Graceling and I enjoyed both Graceling and Fire.

I enjoyed reading this book, and especially the character development. Cashore seems to have a talent for making you FEEL what her characters do. The story flowed very smoothly and it is overall a good book. But readers should not expect it to be quite as good as Graceling. I also felt that the side story line was unnecessary, and could have been left out altogether, leaving the book just as good. I see why she had it in there (to connect this story to Graceling) but I just didn't need it to enjoy the MAIN story in Fire. A companion book was nice, but I am still hoping for a Graceling sequel!

When I read Graceling, I did so with the understanding that it is written for a teen audience. With that in mind, I enjoyed the book and was eager to read this one. Like others have mentioned, I, too, wished the author had chosen to continue the story of Katsa and Po rather than introduce a new type of character. This story is more about Fire, and monsters in general, than about Gracelings. The only link between the two stories is Leck, but he's not even the main character.

Fire does have some very interesting sub-plots, but the author's primary focus on the love story between Fire and Brigan. For me, the most interesting characters in this story died before our story even begins--Cansrel and King Nax. I'd definitely tune in for a story involving them as the main characters.

The second book in the series was far from disappointing. Even though the book was separate from the previous story the characters were just as enthralling and exciting to behold. I wasn't so gung-ho about the heroine this time but I did end up liking her overall and the hero - woah! My only complaint is that there seemed to be so many breaks overtime which I understand were needed for the storyline but still made everything a little choppy. I am more than excited to dive into the third book!

Amazing. Amazing. Amazing.
I cried and felt everything that happened in this book deep in my gut. Now I need to go back and read the first book. I can't stop thinking about this world and these characters.
Amazing.

(It is difficult not to compare an authors' different books when you've read them one after the other. So let me get this out of the way--while FIRE is a wonderful read in its own right, I enjoyed GRACELING more and felt more deeply for the latter's heroine, Katsa.)

The story of FIRE is engaging and compelling enough; there are several plot twists and interesting relationships and characters to see you through. But perhaps because of the nature of Fire's "monstrous" (i.e. staggeringly beautiful) qualities, it was a tad more difficult to relate with her as a character, and to empathize with whatever struggles she faced. I found the other characters more interesting, to be honest, such as Brigan and his siblings. Ultimately, we find Fire using her power for good, and realizing she is more than her father's daughter or her monstrous appearance/abilities. But there is no surprise here, as you know from the very beginning that she is a good person inside, with her own mind and independent spirit. In other words, there was little in the way of further character development.

Fire was my first exposure to Kristin Cashore and her world. In this story she takes what could be a predictable storyline and allows it naturally to go in unexpected directions. Her most despicable characters have elements that make them human, and her most heroic characters have flaws that not only feel real, but drive the action. Her world has magical elements to it that follow their own rules in a way that seems completely logical.

Disappointing. I loved Graceling, and expected some amazing story in Fire, althought there is a very strong plot, the story is lacking, felt like the author ran out of ideas after Graceling and this book was just random toughts and ideas, at times it was difficult to follow, too many caracters were introduced and complecated the story even furter. But if you read first book, and plan or reading 3rd, you shouldn't skip on Fire.

My husband brought Fire home from the local library for the younger children in our family to read. After all, it was listed as an Accelerated Reader book for 6th grade. Parents...this is not a book for your middle schoolers. Nor are your young boys going to want to read it.
Between the main character's monthly cycles, which she needs extra guards for so the monsters who smell it won't be able to attack and kill her, the extra marital sex and groping, the herbs to prevent pregnancy, a king who drinks a lot), and the male characters being able to "bed" whomever they want while the woman cannot. I think this is really geared more for the high school age set.

Good story line and I fell asleep reading it last night, but my 7th and 5th graders will most certainly not be reading it.

When you pick up Fire at the book store, you'll usually find it next to the immensely popular "Marked" series. It is a shame that some of those readers don't let their hands stray a little to the left, because Fire, and its companion novel Graceling, are both superior books.
Fire is born a "monster". In the land of the Dells, monsters are creatures born with unnatural beauty and mental powers. There are monster versions of all creatures, from the raptors in the sky to the mice running around the castles. Fire is the only human monster left, and she has vowed to be the last. We learn that Fire has struggled her whole life with the awesome power of her abilities, and only when taken away from the home that she has always known does she learn what she is capable of.
Fire is drawn to the center of political intrigue, and becomes an important tool for the King and his family in hopes of preventing the war that is coming. She struggles to find her place in the King's city, among the family that her father hurt so deeply before his death. And of course Fire finds herself drawn to the Prince who has trained his mind to be closed to her completely, and who is unmoved my her beauty and power.
What could have been clichéd and boring really work in the hands of Kristin Cashore. Fire, just like Katsa in Graceling, is interesting, strong, and independent. Both are great role models for the girls who might pick up these books. I love that these women are never damsels in distress, and the men in their lives accept and love them for exactly for who they are, unique in their own society. It is powerful message of embracing and loving who you are.

Graceling was a book about a teen who not only could fight well but could kill everyone on sight. Fire is about a teen who is not only beautiful but is so beautiful that a man need only see her to start salivating. Oh, and she can read and manipulate minds too. Nothing much happens here other than a lot of obsessing about premenstrual tension, "monthly bloods," and birth control, and a lot of soft-core language as the protagonist, Fire, bounces around between several men, ending up with the obvious one (the Prince, of course) after his competitor is conveniently killed off. This teen not only obsesses about wanting to kill her parents, she actually does murder her father, and we don't have to worry about the morality of this since she is a mindreader, and so she just "knows" he deserves to die. This book is also a backstory to the evil Leck character in Graceling, but doesn't explain how Leck could both fall down an ice crevasse to get from Graceling's world to this one and fall down another one to get back. I guess geology and physics don't matter much in this world. It's perfectly obvious why these themes appeal to teens but there's not much here in the way of literature.

To the east of the lands in Graceling resides a kingdom called the Dells, a place where colorful monster animals roam among the normal ones. Monster animals can be distinguished by their vivid, dazzling colors; "A dappled gray horse in the Dells was a horse. A sunset orange horse was a monster." Though gifted with a terrible beauty, monsters are vicious and crave the flesh of both humans and other monsters, making them dangerous, feared foes of the citizens. Seventeen-year-old Fire, who has the ability to control minds and shock others with her impossible beauty, is the last human monster in the Dells. Easily identified by her flaming red hair, Fire experiences a tough childhood as a monster; she is equally loved and hated by the people, and her abilities terrify everyone.

Meanwhile, King Nash attempts to maintain his rickety rule over the Dells, while furtive rebel lords raise personal armies to unseat him and claim the throne. The land is teeming with bands of robbers and mysterious thieves, and nobody is safe. With war looming on the horizon, the royal family bestows Fire with the duty of uncovering a conspiracy to kill the king, by using her mental abilities to their advantage. Along the way, Fire must face additional challenges including the quest for the approval and then heart of the prince, the problems that come with loving her late father, who was once the most hated man in the Dells, and facing the numerous people who believe that she is as cruel as he was.

Though this book is often called the prequel of Graceling, it's more of a companion novel, taking place in the same world though in a different land. Save for one important villain, Fire has an entirely different ensemble of characters than Graceling. When I picked it up at the library, I expected to read some half-thought out prequel that would feed off the success and popularity of Graceling. However, instead of being a weak and watery novel, Fire is something else entirely; it would be extraordinary even if Graceling never existed. After a slow beginning, the pace speeds up as Cashore hurls readers into a fantastical world, where she spins an intricate story riddled with side plots. This book is marinated with medieval politics, and Cashore manages to portray the darker side of the court in an engaging manner. It seems as though Cashore's writing has improved since Graceling, though she still successfully manages to add tasteful details to the plot without tripping the fast-paced momentum.

A vast array of characters, Cashore forgets about no one, giving personalities to a variety of people including the guards, maids, princes, soldiers, and even the horses. Fire, the protagonist with crimson hair, is extremely likeable; she is gentle, tough, independent, has good morals, and would never to flaunt her unwanted beauty. However, she seems ruled by her situations and her reactions rather than by her true personality; Cashore could have elaborated on her character a lot further. One of the most intriguing parts of this book was the relationship between Fire and her monster father Cansrel, who was once the most heartless person in the Dells before his death. Though Cansrel was a cruel, rabid murderer and rapist who basked in destruction, he truly loved his daughter. Fire loved and hated him at the same time, and her conflicting emotions fuel part of the story. Cashore exquisitely executes Fire's haunting memories, using them to tell the tale of Cansrel, and though he is dead before the book begins, he is an artfully developed character. Later in the novel, a shocking secret about their relationship is revealed, thrusting Fire's character and the reason for her motives into an entirely different light.

Leck, the only character also starring in Graceling, is an unnervingly creepy child, and as disturbed as I imagined him to be, complete with his two eerily different Graceling eyes. Fans of his role as king in Graceling may be disappointed to learn that he is not the main villain, though he does serve as a pivotal character for the plot. With such a cold demeanor, he mirrors a young Cansrel.

I was not partial to the romance between Fire and prince Brigan, since their relationship unfurled too quickly; they abruptly go from mortal enemies, to awkward, tentative friends, to lovers, without time to develop in between the stages. Prince Brigan was absent from the palace and the plot for the majority of the time, and I wish he could extended his stay in the pages.

Fire, though an individually strong novel, shares many aspects to its companion novel Graceling. For example, both books have similar female protagonists who yield an enormous amount of power; for Graceling's Katsa, it is the ability to kill, and for Fire, it is ability to control minds. I often wonder which heroine would be victorious if the two ever battled, because they are both equally powerful in different ways and are weak where the other is strong. These two novels also focus on the humanizing of the protagonist and her inner journey on coming to terms with her own power, a hazardous journey, and a royal romance. Despite being similar, these books are very solid novels that will immerse you in their separate fantastical worlds. It should be kept in mind, that Fire is a lot darker than Graceling; it is full of rape, violence, and lust. Since these two novels are two similar, in my head, I can almost hear them demanding to be compared. Overall, though Fire is sensational, I prefer Graceling because its backbone consists of a strong, more character-driven plot, and it contains more action. I yearn for this duo on my bookshelf, along with Bitterblue, which is due in 2011.

Overall, Fire is an astoundingly brilliant novel that is a seven course meal, since it consists of everything a book lover's heart could desire: vexing mystery, romance, action, violence, intriguing characters, mythical places, and a layered plot that meanders into unexpected places. I would recommend reading Graceling first, since that is the order it was published.

Fire is heralded as the prequel to Kristin Cashore's debut novel Graceling but the events in Fire occur about 50 - 80 years prior to Graceling and only one character carries over into that novel. This book takes place outside the seven kingdoms in a land called The Dells. Its inhabitants have never heard of those who are "graced" instead they contend with the lawlessness that characterized the rule of its last king and his corrupt advisor who are both now dead. Monsters also exist in this land, beings with a spectacular, bewitching beauty that have the power to enchant all those who look on them.

Fire, daughter of the king's late advisor, is the only living human monster in the Dells. She is conflicted about her monster existence but has a moral bearing. Those who knew her father, blatantly mistreat Fire or are so wary of her abilities that they avoid her at all costs. She herself is initially timid and unassuming for fear of becoming the evil, degenerate being that was her father. She is also in danger from other monsters who desire to consume her. In addition to her natural beauty, Fire wields the power to control the minds of most everything around her, but does so reluctantly and only to protect herself. She wishes to live a quiet, unremarkable existence surrounded by her few friends. However, with her ties to the crown, her unique powers could be used to aid the new king as he steers the land toward a more peaceful existence.

Initially, I found the main concept of this book uninteresting, who wants to read about another beautiful girl with problems? I gave it a shot because I loved Graceling and think Cashore's writing is phenomenal. Once I started reading, I found myself instantly hooked on this new land, the idea of monsters, the creepy character from Graceling, and on Fire herself. The characterization of Fire is absolutely brilliant. I enjoyed watching her overcome her struggles and blossom into a spectacularly realized character by the end. Even though this book is very much about Fire, supporting characters generate interest as well and are far more complex than what one finds in the traditional fantasy novel. The romance was obvious from the beginning but I found that it played out in a very satisfying, if not surprising, way. Since the Dells is a warring, contentious land, the suspense really builds in this book and it has some great action sequences from the middle to the end. I honestly enjoyed every second I spent reading this book and I will be in impatient anticipation for the next!

If you liked Graceling, you will enjoy Fire, but give it a shot either way. The story is imaginative, creative, and enthralling. For me, I loved it just as much as Graceling. Recommend it to teens and adults who enjoy fantasy, action, and a little romance.

What a wonderful prequel! I loved Graceling; by the end of the book I was so excited to find out what else happened with Katsa and Po....then I found out Fire was a prequel, not a sequel. At first I was really disappointed. Who could possibly be more interesting than Katsa?

Then I met Fire, a human "monster" with powers to bewitch people with her beauty, enter their minds and bend them to their will. Her story was very compelling, and sucked me right in. She was complex enough to hold my interest but realistic enough that I could relate to her. Fire has all the elements of a good story. There's war, romance, intrigue, danger and suspense. I loved how Cashore was able to create a whole sub-world alongside the world we have already come to know from Graceling. Little did we know that beyond the seven kingdoms was a land filled with magical monsters; a world with completely different rules and realities. Here there are no magical "graces" empowering a lucky few. Instead there are fantastically beautiful and dangerously fierce monsters which can be anything from a mouse to a lion. Fire is the very last human monster in existence. Her father (like most human monsters) enjoyed toying with people and caused death and destruction for his own pleasure. Fire's biggest hope is to do enough good to atone for her father. Fire is determined to be the end of her kind. Human monsters are too powerfully dangerous. While she loves deeply, she is determined to never marry or have children. That's the only bit that especially bothered me, Fire's aversion to marriage. It felt like Katsa all over again. Do all Cashore's female protagonists have to be anti-marriage? And while Fire is a book which can stand on its own, we get interesting background on where King Lech came from which fans of Graceling will appreciate.

CAUTION: I'd recommend Fire for a mature teen/adult audience as there are intense situations which discuss torture, murder, cruelty to animals, sex, lust, promiscuity and out of wedlock pregnancies. This book did not promote these behaviors in fact; it led the reader to be repulsed by them. However, it did deal with difficult feelings and topics. Sexual tension is an integral part of the plot. Lesbian experiences are also alluded to. It is just a very mature book. While it is a wonderfully spun tale, I would caution younger teens to wait to read it, or for a parent to read it and see if the content is appropriate for their teen's maturity level. I truly enjoyed this book, and feel that a mature reader would be able to understand and appreciate it for what it was meant to be: A story of overcoming adversity, finding your place in the world, and doing what's right, no matter the consequence.

Quote: "For she knew herself to be standing above a microcosm of the kingdom itself, a web of traitors, spies, and allies in fancy costumes, representing every side, watching each other with calculation, trying to hear watch other's conversations, and keenly aware of everyone who entered and excited."

Summary: Fire by Kristen Cashore is a stupendously addictive fantasy book that will entice any reader. It is the story of a monster girl named Fire in a mystical land called the Dells, where monsters are versions of normal creatures that are beautiful and colored with gorgeous colors which entice other monsters and normal animals; but they like to eat the meat of other monsters, and if they cannot get that the meat of regular animals. Fire is the only living human monster in the kingdom, and she has the power to read and control people's minds. However, she is afraid of her power and resents using it because of how her father corrupted his power and used it for wasteful personal pleasure at the expense of the kingdom. But when the Dells are on the verge of war, and the Royal family needs her help to find out who these mystery archers are that keep appearing all over the kingdom, she must learn to use her power for the good of the kingdom at the same time as trying to be accepted by the Dells, and especially the Royal family as a true ally.

Who Would Enjoy It: Truly anyone would enjoy reading this book, though it is curtailed towards an older audience (pre-teen and older). Anyone who enjoyed Harry Potter, Eragon, Magyk, The Hunger Games, or particularly Cashore's other book Graceling would be enticed by this book. It is truly the epitome of fantasy and realistic fiction perfectly folded together and would appeal to anyone with an imagination.

I enjoyed this book so thoroughly that I'm having a hard time getting over the fact that it's over--I felt like it wasn't quite finished when it was over, which was disappointing. And I must say, I really liked Archer and never became all that crazy about Brigan. It disappointed me that he just died and that few mourned for very long, even Fire. I still enjoyed it and it was extremely mysterious and things were uncovered and revealed, while other things remained aloof. But I think I cried the most for Archer; he was definitely my favorite character, and I must say, I rooted for him the entire time. It was even more depressing when you discover that the two love interest are pretty much half brothers. It was kind of sad that the romance ended up the way it did (for me) because I saw it coming, for the most part, and hoped that I was wrong. And Fire's decision to end the relationship was pretty cold. She hadn't been with the man for quite some time, and then she just decided to end it? It was a little harsh, I guess, and I really didn't see it coming. And the way she spoke of her feelings about Brigan were unsure at first, as well. But in the end, I was glad of her finding solace in him and always liked him. But every mention of Archer's death brought me to tears. The Leck prequel-ness was really nice. I liked the disturbing factor that it gave the whole book. It actually made war interesting to me, which is a feat in its own. And overall, this book is a great read. I want both of these books to be movies REALLY badly. I mean, I'm excited as it is about The Hunger Games, but these books intrigue me more-so. They're so fantastically mesmerizing and I love other-worldly things. I can't compare the two styles, they are completely different, but Cashore definitely has the talent that I yearn for. She is truly creative and I cannot wait to read Bitterblue, though I wonder whether or not we don't already know all there is to know about her as it is? I guess I'll just have to wait and see. But fire was excellent! I want to see this beautiful and strange woman... so there must be a movie! And of course Graceling should become one first.

I won't even mention that book because it will bring back all of my longings to BE Katsa. You cannot possibly compare the two books. They are infinitely different and both amazingly written. Kudos to Cashore! I love your work!

My thoughts:

This is not a series that needs to be read in order, since this book takes place before book 1 Graceling. And this one takes place in Dell, and they do not even know about the seven kingdoms. But there is a young boy here, a graceling, with a terrible power and he was later in Graceling.

I really enjoyed this book. Which is funny because I did not like Graceling, which was too YA (yes I know but for me it was too much, too simple and too sweet.) While Fire was the opposite. And it did not feel YA either, it walked that line in between. The language was more YA, but the rest not.

And it had such a great heroine, Fire was broken, yet strong, and she did not want to bend people to her will. She would rather be shot (and was) than to stop someone with her mind. And her power was terrible. Some loved the sight of her and wanted to touch her, while other men saw her, knew they could not have her and wanted to kill her.

The kingdom of Dell was also well-written. There were animals, and then monsters, people would stop in awe and get eaten. They were as terrible and beautiful as Fire.

The book had some wonderful characters, Archer who slept around a lot, Brigan, the prince who leads the armies and who does not trust her. King Nash who wants her the minute he sees her, and more.

There was also this tone in the book, like I was there but at the same time not. Like I was hearing a story about the beautiful monster who wanted none of the powers she had.

Recommendation and final thoughts:

Do read this one, great fantasy, nice world, and a remarkable woman. The book also shows what beauty can do, and it is not always pretty. A rich world, strange magic, a hint of romance and the struggle for a kingdom.

Reason for reading:

I wanted to give her another go and I am so glad I did.

Cover:

Stunning!

One thing I love about fantasy and science fiction novels is the incredible worlds that the authors create. Fire, along with Graceling, is one of those novels that is set in a world that is so fantistic and unique. I just fell in love with it. The author just describes it perfectly and I felt like I was actually there. The only reason I gave it four stars is that it was slow getting into it. The beginning was a bit boring, in my opinion. But I stuck with it and I am sure glad I did.

I must admit, I am a nerd and this book defiantly had me geek-out. Fantastic plot (bit confusing in parts, but nothing to bad. The most confusing part had to be confusing, Fire was confused). I loved the raw pain and confusion she had. With all the beauty Fire had, she could have been content to do nothing or be like her father. It was awesome seeing her fight through all that and being super wary as she met new people. I loved the colors of her hair and how well it was described (for a painting project at school, I actually painted a monster cow in pinks and reds). This is a book I read for three weeks straight (then I had to return it) and quickly found and checked out for my kindle. I fell asleep picturing and acting out scenes from the book, I stuck myself in there next to Fire, I was completely absorbed. Awesome book, six stars, highly recommend.

Great Book. I did not realize that the 2nd in the Graceling series was about a whole new set of characters and a different setting so at first I was a little up set but once I got into it I loved these character just as much as the ones from the 1st Graceling book. definitely recommend!!

***SPOILERS A PLENTY***

Cashore was shaping up to be one of my new favorite authors with Graceling. I couldn't wait to read this companion novel. I loved Katsa and Po and how wonderfully refreshing the strong female character was.

I should have skipped Fire. Now I gave it 2 stars because it starts out really interesting. I like the character Archer and the background on Fire's father Cransel. It was shaping up to be a great world and book with the mystery of the archer thrown in. Fire's moster's powers were intruiging...until you learn that she does nothing with it because she is too scared. And then you learn she needs a horde of guards with her at aaalll times, even though she's the one with powers. Then when she is moved to King's City...the whole book went stangnant and the author tried to superimpose traits on cardboard characters. Her whole relationship with Archer made. no. sense.
How about none of the relationships made no sense. Brigan abuses her the first they meet.(Oh but wait, he is justified in doing this to a woman because of her father, as if that makes any sense in this world or fantasy). Nash pretty much sexually assults her upon the first meeting. (But wait, the reader is told repeatedly that no man can even stop himself when he see's Fire. I don't like this subtext AT ALL). Other reviewers are saying she's some strong female character? WHAT? She's about as strong as Bella Swan, and violence towards women was FAR too prevalent in this book to settle with me. Leck was an incredible villian and the story picked up when he was around but I was pretty much over the book when he did show up.

Fire was actually one of the worst female characters I have read as of late, which is surprising coming from someone who wrote the best I've read...Katsa. Now, I would probably not read anything else unless it has to do with Gracelings by Cashore.

I enjoy these books, but they are missing good character development. All the pauses in the story feel too dramatic. The endings are very anti-climactic. They’re hard to put down, but I never feel satisfied after I’ve read them.

I think this is a wonderfully, beautifully written book. There is great character development, a clear meaning, well conveyed emotion and a thoroughly thought out plot. Fire is a relatable and lovable character with just enough innocence and fire (excuse the pun). The main characters are deep in their own ways and their relationships are stable and developed well. Of course, the reading level is slightly low for an advanced reader, but even though I'm in college now, I love this book as much as I did when I was younger.

Fire was born with a special gift. She can control the minds of others. A gift that has made her an outcast with society. As much as you or I would like to have a gift like Fire, she just wanted to be left alone to live a normal life.

The king bore two sons. Their names are Nash and Brigan. They are both strong willed men. Brigan being the stronger of the two. Neither man trusts Fire. Before her father died he caused quite an upheaval in the kingdom. Both men are trying to keep their part of the kingdom from falling into their enemies hands. While, Fire may be able to control Nash, she can no effect on Brigan. Brigan is just waiting patiently till he can destroy Fire.

Fire is the prequel to author, Kristin Cashore's debut novel Graceling. I never read the first book, though I didn't feel like I needed to as this novel can be read as a stand alone. I liked the fantasy and vivid details in this story through there were something about this book that kept me from fully enjoying it. The characters were good and the storyline nice but I think what it is that I would fade in and out throughout the book. It would start to gain speed and than drop off. I admit that the flow didn't go as smoothly for me as I would have liked it to go. Fire never quite lit a burring desire in me to want more. One good thing about this book is that it is very age appropriate for young adult readers.

This is the author's second novel, following on from the entertaining Graceling. Set in the same 'world' as Graceling but in terms of timelines it is a prequel.
Fire is a 'monster' a kind of mutant from nature. There are creature mutants, i.e birds or animals that are brightly coloured, but Fire is that rarity, a human one. As such she has bewitching beauty and the power to influence minds and her abilities are so strong that contact with people can be dangerous for them and her.
When the Kingdom rises in conflict she must come into the open and is forced to pick a side and then must decide if she can (and should) use her powers to protect those she loves.
The author does characterisation well and has an interesting view on the use of power (as shown in Graceling too) and this is a well paced and thoughtful story. It took a little while to get going and for me to get my head around the concept of 'monsters' but then it speeds up along (perhaps) a familiar path to a conclusion that is perhaps unsurprising but nonetheless satisfying. I enjoyed it as a good solid fantasy novel but I think I would have preferred it to have been longer, there were elements that felt a little rushed or not sufficiently explored (the final scene with the Graceling and the business with the weird horse) but these are minor gripes in what was an entertaining fantasy novel.

Oh and check out the UK covers for this and Graceling - so much nicer then the US ones....

I skimmed the last 20% of this book. Why? Because the main character is an insufferable, whiny brat.

Granted, she may have been a brat the entire book, but for much of the time I was blinded by the lovely world the author, Kristin Cashore, created. And toward the end, the main character became irrational, on top of being an insufferable, whiny brat. "No, don't look at me; I'm too beautiful." "I can't look at you because I'm afraid you will die." "No, I cannot go on! I am too beautiful." Wah, wah, wah.

I enjoyed the introduction to the world toward the beginning of the book. The world contains regular people and animals, and it also contains "monsters." Monsters are beautiful, colorful versions of other animals. They have the power to delve into people's minds to entrance and control them. Fire, the main character, is the only living human monster. Thus, she is beyond lovely, and she senses people's thoughts and feelings.

At the beginning of the book, Fire is on the farm where she was raised. We meet her and her adoptive family. And then she travels to King's City. The journey was tad dull but not so long that I began to pull my hair out. King's city presents some interesting new issues. There, Fire has to deal with being around many more people, most of whom have some strong reaction to her monstrousness. Some are immediately smitten. Others want to rape and/or kill her. That was fun and interesting; I liked seeing her getting acclimated to the city.

Then Fire is drawn into a war. There's lots of war-planning going on. Yawn! Fire falls in love. The romance was interesting for about four seconds, until Fire decides that she is too beautiful to love, and that her man is in too much danger for her to love him. That was the last 25% of the book: "No, don't look at me. I'm pretty! You'll die, and then I'll be sad but still really really pretty!" Wah, wah, wah.

I enjoyed Graceling, the first book in this series. I kind of wish I had never started this one. I have so many unread books on my shelves, and this book feels like a black hole into which I just threw my valuable time. I'll think twice, and then again a third time, before I pick up the next book in this series.

I held off posting my review because I wondered if I just wasn't getting it. After Graceling, this was a let down. It didn't have the same power, even though it was pretty much the same story. There was a lot of focus on sex and parentage. That didn't bother me so much as how it was all focused on men. Fire does not take charge like Katsa did, is not strong or heroic. If you like whiny women who create most of their problems, Fire may be interesting to you. But she never really overcame herself. The world is still interesting, but maybe read Graceling a second time instead of picking up this.

This book was extremely disappointing to me after just finishing Graceling. For some odd reason, it seems like Cashore completely changed her style of writing. I tried so hard to like this book, but it never picks up. Cashore would build and build, and then everything just falls flat.

I came to the conclusion that Cashore spent too much of her time building scenery instead of building characters. I think Prince Brigan could have been another Prince Po if Cashore would have developed him more. Fire was too weak of a character for me and her mind powers weren't that intriguing. I found it a little annoying actually. I can only compare her to Bella's character from Twilight. There wasn't enough conversation between her characters. It was just paragraphs and paragraphs of scenery! I found myself skipping paragraphs sometimes just so I can turn the page!

The only reason I finished this book was because I kept hoping for something great to happen, but it never happens. The love story is so bland, and it was a little upsetting to me after Cashore had such a nice love story in Graceling.

I guess the only thing I liked was that I finally learned the background of King Leck, but even that wasn't worth the hundreds of pages I read. I've read the reviews for Bitterblue and they don't sound too enthusiastic. I'll probably skip the 3rd book altogether. Cashore had such great potential and it just went downhill.

A beginner to YA fiction I eagerly read Graceling and purchased Fire as well. Overall I enjoyed Graceling although it warranted only a 3 star review as I found the animal cruelty to be inappropriate for an audience of any age much less young adults. Much to my dismay the Prologue of Fire started with the same cruel scenes. Is this really an image or an act that young adult readers need to be exposed to and or/entertain?

I run a non-profit animal welfare organization and am faced with the reality of animal cruelty in our world day in and day out. Most abusers started as children. Their acts are horrific and not unlike what are described in both books. Cashore's books have so much potential and I would have easily given both 5 stars but as a concerned "human" I believe we all have to take responsibility for the children of this world and what they are exposed to. And it would sure be great if we could teach animal compassion, care and respect at the same time. There's no better medium for this than what our children read.

Fire is one of the rare books that come along and make you remember the joy in reading.
Fire is a girl whos no where near the perfect herion, but her fixed determanation and self hatered is the right combanation for a girl you want to love, Cashores writng is descrptive with a knack for great timing and a real heart to the love affairs that take place through the story. the adventure, relationships and story seem's like a worth wild adventure to take again and again with Fire.

Nothing comes easy to Cashores characters,
and finding the fight it takes to be human in themsleves is the breath that gives life to this story.

This isn't a sequel to Graceling, but it is in the same world and has exactly one character in common with the other book - Leck. It explores the incredible power of mind control through a girl who doesn't quite know her own mind yet, but she does know she doesn't want to hurt anyone. It's all about how far exactly is she willing to go to keep others from being hurt as well.

Except for the prologue, the whole story is from Fire's point of view and you're with her through this time in her life when everything that she thought would stay the same changes and she learns to love and accept herself despite what the masses may think of her - and through that she wins the heart of a nation, not because of her beauty and the powers that gives her, but from her own spirit that shines through like the fire she's named after.

This book is PERFECT in everyway and beautifuly written. I'm an avid reader and there are few books that stick out from the rest. This makes it to the top of my favorites list for sure. I was completely absorbed in its characters. Yes the heroine is gorgous and some might be turned off by that but I was not. I found her to be anything but superficial and it was eye opening to see the curse for what it was. I really felt close to her and the characters around her deeply. A rare gem, brilliant! That strength alone would have made it a favorite but that is not all. Not once did I feel that a description or bit of story wasnt needed or overly done. The pace, setting and story were fast, creative, and fun. I enjoyed every page. It was so beautifuly written. I cryed, I laughed, and I loved the neverending action-I didnt want it to end! Please be a movie in the future...

I really liked Graceling but I *LOVED* Fire! Can't wait for Bitterblue! I would suggest reading them in this order: Fire, Graceling, Bitterblue.

If you can get the UK copy, do. The cover is breathtaking.

Thank You Kristin Cashore!

I love this book. I found myself rereading the highlights within a week after reading it. I did have a hard time with some of the names of the characters. I would even go as far as to say some of the names were painful to read. Nonetheless, the bottom line is: It's a fabulous story and a wonderful light read. I thought it easy to get lost in with a Jane Eyre-like romance.

I enjoyed Fire very much but was a bit disappointed because it just wasn't as good as Graceling. The story, as well as the characters, started out strong and promising but somewhere along the way went a bit weak. Having said that, Fire is worth a read for sure - give it a try!

I liked the plot and it kept me hooked but...I figured that Fire's ex- was something of a cad. I figured despite that the characters were pretty fleshed out in it and that's what really added to the book. I didn't realize it was a prequel. I'll have to check out Graceling when I have time.

I recently read Kristin Cashore's first book, Graceling and immediately picked up Fire. I appreciated the connection between the two books but I was left with an "that was okay" kinda feel. I did feel like the focus on politics was a little too over bearing and I would have liked for at least one scene of romantic tension between our main characters but I can't say that this wasn't a realistic love. Our characters actually took the time to get to know each other and then fall in love, as oppose to the cliche love at first sight and the person that your with, you no longer have feelings for affect. All in all, the story was different and yet at the same time very predictable. I knew who was going to end up with whom and in the end which kingdom would prevail, it was just a matter of how long Kristin took to tell us an ending I knew was going to occur. All-in-all, it was a okay read, no more, no less. Just a book to pass the time.

Whether you're into fantasy, drama, love, or romance, this book is for you. Easily the book that made me want to write a novel of my own. It's inspiring, beautiful, captivating, and original. Anyone can fall in love with this book. It's a "must read."

I was a little bored by Graceling, but at a student's insistence that Bitterblue was amazing, I decided to push on through the series and found myself swept up in this story. Great character development, rough edges of morality, and tenderness will ensure that I remember this novel fondly.

**spoiler alert** When I heard that Kristin Cashore had begun writing a prequel to Graceling I knew I would be the first in line to buy it. Even though I knew Katsa and Po would not male an appearance in Fire I was still excited to revisit the extraordinary world that Cashore had created. I expected the book to center around King Leck and how he came to be the man he was in Graceling. I had so many questions centering around his character and I just knew they would be answered. Well, to put in mildly my precious Graceling world was crushed and demolished. The prologue of Fire was great, but after that the book goes downhill very fast. The characters never connected to me or each other for that matter. I would have much rather read about Cansrel and his disturbing life. Instead I had to sit through 461 pages of "she is so beautiful" and "men and women both could not control themselves around her". I wish authors would stop repeating these lines. Once I read that a character is beautiful I understand I don't need it shoved into my brain.
The one person I couldn't wait to read about barely makes it into the book. Leck is there in the prologue and about halfway through but you get no more insight into him. It felt like Cashore put him in the book to pacify readers and to kill Archer. The way she killed Archer still bugs me. I felt like he should have had to pay for his actions which included getting to women, well one was a girl since she was only 15, pregnant within days of each other. Cashore killed him in a cruel way and all it accomplished was letting Fire start her relationship with Brigan without the complication of Archer. It was too convenient in my opinion. In the end this book felt like a bad soap opera and I don't know if I will continue on with her next book.

I read Graceling first and was hesitant to read Fire because I fell so in love with Katsa I wasn't sure how this would compare. Let me just tell you, phenominal!! I enjoyed it so much it was very hard to put down, and was even a little sad when it ended. I fell just as in love with Fire and enjoyed her story very much. Now I am getting ready to start Bitterblue and I have very high expectations that, I'm sure, Kristin Cashore will not disappoint!

Definitely worth reading- even better than Graceling. The characterization was so believable, I really cared about all the characters. This book is compulsively readable. I couldn't put it down. I expect great things from Kristin Cashore in all her future books.

This book showed love,passion and strength. I fell in love with characters. This book will suck you in. The world they live in will become your own. I picked it up and could not put it down. She describes the Dells so well her details are what really got me hooked. She describes the characters so well I felt as if I was there with them. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants action and love in a book rolled up perfectly.

Gosh, FIRE is a fantastic. Before I read it, I would have insisted that anyone who thought FIRE was better than GRACELING had to be crazy, because how do you improve on perfection? So instead I will say that FIRE is equally good, while being a very different book.

FIRE takes place in the same world as GRACELING, but there is little crossover. It's a prequel, set at least a decade before GRACELING, and only one character appears in both books. The two can be read in any order.

The story takes place in the Dells, where there are monsters but no gracelings. Monster horses, monster mice, monster leopards, monster versions of every species - including people. The monsters are identified by their vivid coloring - "A dappled grey horse in the Dells was a horse. A sunset orange horse was a monster." - and they are so beautiful that onlookers, mesmerized, simply offer themselves up as prey. Mesmerizing beauty is a dangerous enough quality in a predatory animal - in a monster person, it is inevitably wedded to powers of mind control. Two years before FIRE begins, the Dells were nearly destroyed by a monster human, Cansrel, who used his political influence to bring the country to the brink of war.

Fire, the heroine, is Cansrel's daughter. The only living monster human in the Dells, at seventeen she is burdened by a terrible fear that she is evil like her father, and profound guilt because of his misdeeds. She hides her beauty, which drives other humans insane with desire, lives in an isolated corner of the kingdom, and uses her powers of mind-control as rarely as possible. Fire's closest friend and sometime lover, Archer, thinks she is only safe when alone in a room, behind stone walls. But Fire doesn't think that's much of a life, and when Prince Brigan arrives at her homestead with a request for aid, Fire agrees to journey to the capital to interview a spy caught in the palace. Brigan is deeply suspicious of Fire - he knew Cansrel, and is sure the apple cannot have fallen far from the tree - and Fire soon discovers that any aid she might offer to the King will probably violate the careful ethics she has cultivated her whole life. To do good, she must do harm.

It's a complicated, layered plot and I won't say any more about it. The characters are amazing, in their complexity and intensity and believability, and the writing is gorgeous. FIRE (and GRACELING) are fantastic books - they will satisfy young readers and adult readers alike, they will satisfy picky readers and readers just looking to be swept away into a marvelous fantasy. They will satisfy readers who like adventure, intrigue, and romance. The characters - even the villains - are interesting, intelligent people; and the twists and turns of the plot are unpredictable.

Highly, highly recommended - read this book!

I enjoyed Fire very much but was a bit disappointed because it just wasn't as good as Graceling. The story, as well as the characters, started out strong and promising but somewhere along the way went a bit weak. Having said that, Fire is worth a read for sure - give it a try!

I liked the plot and it kept me hooked but...I figured that Fire's ex- was something of a cad. I figured despite that the characters were pretty fleshed out in it and that's what really added to the book. I didn't realize it was a prequel. I'll have to check out Graceling when I have time.

I recently read Kristin Cashore's first book, Graceling and immediately picked up Fire. I appreciated the connection between the two books but I was left with an "that was okay" kinda feel. I did feel like the focus on politics was a little too over bearing and I would have liked for at least one scene of romantic tension between our main characters but I can't say that this wasn't a realistic love. Our characters actually took the time to get to know each other and then fall in love, as oppose to the cliche love at first sight and the person that your with, you no longer have feelings for affect. All in all, the story was different and yet at the same time very predictable. I knew who was going to end up with whom and in the end which kingdom would prevail, it was just a matter of how long Kristin took to tell us an ending I knew was going to occur. All-in-all, it was a okay read, no more, no less. Just a book to pass the time.

Whether you're into fantasy, drama, love, or romance, this book is for you. Easily the book that made me want to write a novel of my own. It's inspiring, beautiful, captivating, and original. Anyone can fall in love with this book. It's a "must read."

I was a little bored by Graceling, but at a student's insistence that Bitterblue was amazing, I decided to push on through the series and found myself swept up in this story. Great character development, rough edges of morality, and tenderness will ensure that I remember this novel fondly.

**spoiler alert** When I heard that Kristin Cashore had begun writing a prequel to Graceling I knew I would be the first in line to buy it. Even though I knew Katsa and Po would not male an appearance in Fire I was still excited to revisit the extraordinary world that Cashore had created. I expected the book to center around King Leck and how he came to be the man he was in Graceling. I had so many questions centering around his character and I just knew they would be answered. Well, to put in mildly my precious Graceling world was crushed and demolished. The prologue of Fire was great, but after that the book goes downhill very fast. The characters never connected to me or each other for that matter. I would have much rather read about Cansrel and his disturbing life. Instead I had to sit through 461 pages of "she is so beautiful" and "men and women both could not control themselves around her". I wish authors would stop repeating these lines. Once I read that a character is beautiful I understand I don't need it shoved into my brain.
The one person I couldn't wait to read about barely makes it into the book. Leck is there in the prologue and about halfway through but you get no more insight into him. It felt like Cashore put him in the book to pacify readers and to kill Archer. The way she killed Archer still bugs me. I felt like he should have had to pay for his actions which included getting to women, well one was a girl since she was only 15, pregnant within days of each other. Cashore killed him in a cruel way and all it accomplished was letting Fire start her relationship with Brigan without the complication of Archer. It was too convenient in my opinion. In the end this book felt like a bad soap opera and I don't know if I will continue on with her next book.

I read Graceling first and was hesitant to read Fire because I fell so in love with Katsa I wasn't sure how this would compare. Let me just tell you, phenominal!! I enjoyed it so much it was very hard to put down, and was even a little sad when it ended. I fell just as in love with Fire and enjoyed her story very much. Now I am getting ready to start Bitterblue and I have very high expectations that, I'm sure, Kristin Cashore will not disappoint!

Definitely worth reading- even better than Graceling. The characterization was so believable, I really cared about all the characters. This book is compulsively readable. I couldn't put it down. I expect great things from Kristin Cashore in all her future books.

This book showed love,passion and strength. I fell in love with characters. This book will suck you in. The world they live in will become your own. I picked it up and could not put it down. She describes the Dells so well her details are what really got me hooked. She describes the characters so well I felt as if I was there with them. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants action and love in a book rolled up perfectly.

Gosh, FIRE is a fantastic. Before I read it, I would have insisted that anyone who thought FIRE was better than GRACELING had to be crazy, because how do you improve on perfection? So instead I will say that FIRE is equally good, while being a very different book.

FIRE takes place in the same world as GRACELING, but there is little crossover. It's a prequel, set at least a decade before GRACELING, and only one character appears in both books. The two can be read in any order.

The story takes place in the Dells, where there are monsters but no gracelings. Monster horses, monster mice, monster leopards, monster versions of every species - including people. The monsters are identified by their vivid coloring - "A dappled grey horse in the Dells was a horse. A sunset orange horse was a monster." - and they are so beautiful that onlookers, mesmerized, simply offer themselves up as prey. Mesmerizing beauty is a dangerous enough quality in a predatory animal - in a monster person, it is inevitably wedded to powers of mind control. Two years before FIRE begins, the Dells were nearly destroyed by a monster human, Cansrel, who used his political influence to bring the country to the brink of war.

Fire, the heroine, is Cansrel's daughter. The only living monster human in the Dells, at seventeen she is burdened by a terrible fear that she is evil like her father, and profound guilt because of his misdeeds. She hides her beauty, which drives other humans insane with desire, lives in an isolated corner of the kingdom, and uses her powers of mind-control as rarely as possible. Fire's closest friend and sometime lover, Archer, thinks she is only safe when alone in a room, behind stone walls. But Fire doesn't think that's much of a life, and when Prince Brigan arrives at her homestead with a request for aid, Fire agrees to journey to the capital to interview a spy caught in the palace. Brigan is deeply suspicious of Fire - he knew Cansrel, and is sure the apple cannot have fallen far from the tree - and Fire soon discovers that any aid she might offer to the King will probably violate the careful ethics she has cultivated her whole life. To do good, she must do harm.

It's a complicated, layered plot and I won't say any more about it. The characters are amazing, in their complexity and intensity and believability, and the writing is gorgeous. FIRE (and GRACELING) are fantastic books - they will satisfy young readers and adult readers alike, they will satisfy picky readers and readers just looking to be swept away into a marvelous fantasy. They will satisfy readers who like adventure, intrigue, and romance. The characters - even the villains - are interesting, intelligent people; and the twists and turns of the plot are unpredictable.

Highly, highly recommended - read this book!

I loved Fire and Graceling....well written with plenty of adventure. The only thing I DIDN'T like.......the stories ended.

These books are on my short list of recommendations for patrons that didn't like Twighlight or patrons that want a great story with good writing. (Yes I work in a Library).

Please release a new book soon Ms. Cashnore!

I would say that if you've read Graceling this book is even better than it! if you loved Graceling, you will love this! If you haven't read Graceling I would recommend that book as well, but Fire is awfully amazing! 5 stars!!

I thought Graceling was amazing and that this companion story was going to be horrible. Boy was I wrong; this book was even better than the first. The characters were more developed and more relatable and I loved the relationship Cashore created.

Yes, in my review of Graceling, by the same author, I said the same thing. But my feelings about Fire are more conflicted. I think I have a love/hate thing going with these books.
Love; the writing style. It's readable and exciting. You can't stop turning the pages. The characters are all interesting, some are very three dimensional and detailed. The plot and ideas are unique and intrigeing.
Hate; at first this book seems like it'll be an adventure story. But we don't really hear about the major battle at the end - the heroine's love interest just rides off to battle and we hear what happened later. Mostly it's a romance story, and it has a very gloomy end. We know a lot about Fire's feelings for a certain character, but we don't get any details as to where their relationship is going. The book could have been a lot more exciting and detailed.
Like Graceling, the characters had very conflicting personalities. There's the rapist of women and children and murderer who dearly loves the only child of his he didn't kill with its mother. There's the girl who kills her own father because he threatens someone who she's only heard of before. There's a king who orders another man's wife raped, because that man had an affair with his queen - and the child resulting from the rape is brought up just like a son by the man, who dosn't seem bothered about the circumstances of the child's birth. I admire that he cares for his wife's child, but it's a little odd he dosn't ever seem to have any eternal conflicts about that. Another character has multiple love affairs, is often angry at the one woman he claims to love, and blames her for the fact he's having the affairs. But appart from that he's one of the good guys.
I thought the general violence/rapes/murders and the ammount of sex and pregnancy amongst characters in their mid-teens was handled rather casually. Of course if a prince gets the servant girl he loves pregnant, it can be pulled off as romantic, cause princes don't have to worry about money!
Worthwhile book if you can pretend the characters are older, but I would not recommend it for younger teens.

I loved Graceling, it was an excellent story with great characters. I expected this book to be written at the same standard, unfortunately it was not. There was only one character of real fantasy interest, and she was whiny and extremely slow developing. The romance was shoddy, developed without a real basis, and was extremely cheesy at times. The author brought in one character from Graceling, but did so in such a lazy and disconnected way that the story would have been better with him. I was very disappointed, I kept hoping it was going to get better but it never did. I will watch her future work with with skepticism.