Amy read and liked E. M.'s review of Fire:

"Cross-posted from my blog - E.M.Reads.

Set across the mountains from the Seven Kingdom in the Dells Kristin Cashore has created another amazing world with another beautiful set of characters. The Dells do not have Gracelings, but they do h...more Cross-posted from my blog - E.M.Reads.

Set across the mountains from the Seven Kingdom in the Dells Kristin Cashore has created another amazing world with another beautiful set of characters. The Dells do not have Gracelings, but they do have “monsters.” Monsters are brightly colored and extremely beautiful versions of their normal counterparts. They have mental abilities that allow them to communicate with and control non-monsters. ( Think bright green mice, pale blue spotted leopards, and beautiful florescent birds.)

Fire is the last remaining human monster. She has flaming pink, red, orange, and gold hair and a face of unparalleled beauty. She lives in the north of the Dells with Archer (her best friend and sometimes lover) and the rest of her adoptive family. Her existence is simple. She teaches music, hunts with Archer, and does her best to stay alive. Fire is hunted by other monsters that would love to eat her and is persecuted by humans who do not understand her.

War is brewing within the Dells. King Nash and his brother, Prince Brigan, are training their army to fight off their encroaching neighbors. Nash recognizes that Fire’s mental capabilities would be an asset to the army and could tip the balance in their favor. Fire reluctantly agrees. Fire becomes an interrogator for the King and helps Nash and Brigan plot to put down the usurpers.

Fire’s very appearance provokes strong emotion. In some it’s hatred and others it’s infatuation. Brigan is completely closed off to her at first, but he is controlled and not unfeeling. Respect and not infatuation change their relationship into something more. They naturally evolve as enemies become allies, as allies become friends, and as friends become lovers.

There’s a lot I’m not telling, because I cannot summarize this book into a decent length. There’s just too much plot, world building, and character development. It’s just too rich to condense properly. I am a huge Graceling fan so there was no question that I’d love Fire. And I do love it as much as Graceling. I love seeing the similarities in worlds and writing, but the difference between the 7 Kingdoms & the Dells is fascinating.

There are themes in Fire that are reminiscent of Graceling – independence, open-mindedness, & freedom. Fire is nothing like Katsa, but she lives by the same standards as Katsa did and Brigan lives by the same standards as Po. That’s what reminds me that they’re in the same world, because if it weren’t for that (and the appearance of Leck - evil jerk) I’d never know it. It’s different, but not different. You should read it and see.

The plot is intricate from beginning to end. Cashore has an excellent way of dragging out the falling climax to tie everything together. She masterfully loops the plot back around to have a very satisfactory resolution. She also knows how to open with the action and the exposition is gradually worked into the rising action in an unobtrusive way. The writing is just damn good.

There is so much right with Fire it’s hard to pick out what’s wrong. If I had to pick out one thing (which I hate doing, but I always do, so I will here) is that the plot seems to have social/political agenda relevant to this day and age. It was also in Graceling, but less obvious. Maybe it’s more obvious in Fire because I was looking for it. I don’t mind, because I totally back her agenda, but I think it will put off some readers. Also, there is a lot of violence towards animals and monster animals. Fire is in no way a happy-feely book, so be prepared.

In conclusion, I loved it. 5 stars. It might not be for everyone, but it’s definitely for me. Bring on the feminist fantasy YA!

PS - For a man’s perspective my husband is currently reading Fire. When he gives his opinion I’ll let you know.

UPDATE 5/11/09 - Chris thinks that Fire has the same "formula" as Graceling and those who enjoyed something ground breaking in Graceling will feel as if it's more of the same in Fire. I tend to agree. (less) "

Amy read and liked Sandy's review of Fire:

"Not bad. Not as good as Graceling, but interesting enough. Probably a 2 1/2 star effort. I had originally given it three, but was so worked up by the time I was done typing the rant below that I had to change it (please consider that when looking ...more Not bad. Not as good as Graceling, but interesting enough. Probably a 2 1/2 star effort. I had originally given it three, but was so worked up by the time I was done typing the rant below that I had to change it (please consider that when looking at the rating). Will probably appeal just fine to the same crowd that liked Graceling - unless they become bothered by the same things I am. And good Lord, was I bothered. Considering how excited most people seem to be by this book my difficulties with the book are probably largely personal.

I've got a lot of beefs with this book. I'm not sure exactly what my expectations were for this one anymore, but this book definitely didn't meet them. And there were a number of problems, described below in no particular order.

First of all: There are WAY too many similarities to be found to Graceling in terms of characterization. Both books feature fairly obnoxious female main characters who a) possess some sort of strange supernatural gift that they really don't want and that stigmatizes them from the rest of society, b) are completely absorbed in thier own problems, c) have refused to marry, and d) have an incredibly convenient connection to the local royal family that they aren't particularly proud of. The difference is that in Graceling, Katsa was fiesty and interesting. Fire, while somewhat interesting (if you like soap operas, see below) just agrivated me. Both books also feature really excellent male romantic interests who are way more engaging from start to finish than the main character and who also happen to be youngest princes who have great fighting skill but no interest in ruling. It really bothers me that when it comes down to it, the two central characters of both books are just variants of each other. Doesn't show a lot of growth at all on Cashore's part.

Speaking of not-so-stellar writing, allow me to complain about Fire's structure. Just as in Graceling, this book takes about 200+ pages to introduce all of the major players and their back stories. Then we break into the main plot. When we finally get to the war that we've been building up to for the first 300+ pages (well, actually just the middle 100 pages since the first 200 were all stupid introduction) it's hardly touched on at all except as a tool for Fire to a) figure out that she really does love Brigan and b) be incredibly, obnoxiously whiny about how awful war is. In Fire, many of the chapters follow a certain pattern: a) Fire recalls some memory of her awful father, which b) somehow relates to something else happening to her in the present, which often leads to, c) a starteling revelation. While not a bad formula to use, it gets old after a few hundred pages.

But back to obnoxious similarities between Fire and Graceling. Despite the ages of the main characters in both books, they aren't really teens. They're adults in their teen years. This didn't bother me so much in Graceling when I first read it, but it's so painful in Fire. Both Katsa and Fire are WAY too knowledgable about the world around them and they're making such adult decisions with such maturity and it never once seems out of place for the setting. Well, at least until the book's final 150 pages or so, when plenty of splendid melodramatic angsty scenes appear in which Fire whines about how awful the world is and then learns her lesson by talking to and/or observing another (more adult!) character who of course knows better. While reading Fire, I wondered if it wasn't for Graceling, if Fire would have been marketed as an adult book - with teen appeal for sure, but its tone and characterization have a much more "adult book" feel.

My biggest problem with this book, and a big part of the reason why I feel it was so adult: I was incredibly bothered by the way that sex was handled in Fire. ALL of the sexual power was given to men and women were their toys who apparently can't say no 9 out of 10 times when a man wants them. It angered to no end that Fire was so victimized because "oh, poor me, I'm so beautiful that men fall all over themselves for me, which I hate, but I'm just a woman so what even can I do about it? It would be different if I was a man..." - over and over and over again. It got old. Just like Katsa and Po, Fire and Archer became lovers the moment their relationship turned romantic. Ditto for Fire and Brigan. Archer did nothing but piss me off with his womanizing, and it angered me to no end that Fire knew about it while she was still sleeping with him, and put up with it. Even Clara, the spymaster-princess and easily the strongest female character in the book, falls for that stupid man's spell and ends up knocked up. Lord. I'm also incredibly peeved that while Fire is 17, every man she sleeps with is a good five years older than her - and they're easily among the youngest of the adult characters. I realize that this is fantasy and such age differences and the maturity level of certain 17-year-old characters is typical of traditional fantasy, but it drives me nuts.

My final rant: The book is a total soap opera. Really, the plot is driven more by characters than by plot, and even then not so much by character growth. It's more about who's really who's father than anything else. Entertaining enough I guess, and probably one of the only reasons I kept reading after 200 pages, but not the tone I wanted after so much immediate action in Graceling.

So yeah...the book's fine if you like soap operas, where pretty much each of my other beefs with this book would be acceptable. A huge disappointment for me though. And it made me dislike Graceling more because of all of the stupid similarities that taint my memories of the first book. Damn.(less) "