David Clement-Davies

Fire Bringer

Fire bringer

Kirsten Simkiss

Based on what I can recall, this is my third time reading this book. However, the last time I had read Fire Bringer, I was in middle school. I remembered loving it but I didn't recall much of the details of the plot and characters, so I decided I should reread it and do a review for it. I was very glad to find that nostalgia and the passing of time hadn't clouded my judgement of the book.

I found Fire Bringer to be a very well paced, enjoyable story. Stylistically, it reminded me a great deal of the sort of set up Shakespeare might make up for a royal family, except instead of royalty and people they were deer. The lore invented for the Herla, the name the deer call all species of deer, was very interesting. While similar in that of typical lore of the region, of which Herne (the god of the Herla) does exist, there are somewhat obvious differences - including the part where Herne was a humanoid god of the hunt, not of the deer. Still, barring what I know of mythologies, the lore of the world carries itself very well. (There's even a bit at the end which is essentially the deer version of Santa Claus. No joke. Don't worry, it's not plot relevant.) While the lore did tend to make the story drag a little bit from time to time, I felt it was necessary to develop the environment the deer were a part of.

The characters are actually pretty solid. While some characters appear infrequently, I rarely if ever had trouble recalling who was who among the different factions and regions. Considering how many named characters there are, I'm really glad the author handled it well. 

On occasion, I did start to forget they were deer and then had to readjust when antlers were mentioned. That only happened a rare few times, and simply because I couldn't picture a deer expressing such a human emotional symbol. I know there was a line about Sgorr having a smile on his lips that really threw me because I thought of a sullen man for a moment instead of a sullen hornless deer. (I assume deer have lips, but can you even see a deer smile?)

This isn't a book that's really full of a whole lot of philosophizing and introspection. This book is very much a war of good versus evil and how nature has it's own way of keeping things balanced. And truly, I found the villain to be a very well written and believable one. (view spoiler)[Why they didn't simply overthrow him as an antler-less deer is beyond me. Seriously, Narl of all his minions could easily have upset his precious plans and taken over, but perhaps he didn't desire that sort of responsibility. Who knows. (hide spoiler)]

Overall, this is definitely a book I would recommend to pretty much any age group past early elementary. The chapters range in general from 20 to 30 pages, but it's not difficult reading and it flows really well. If you're looking to read a book to your kids, this one might not be a bad one to pick, but there is some violence involved in it. If you're looking to just read a good book, I enjoyed it quite a bit.

In ancient Scotland, a tyrannical new lord of the herd plans complete dominion over the animal world, but deer lore promises a hero, who has a bond with all creatures, including man, and who will ignite an epic battle and free the herd. Published to great acclaim, including a rave from "Watership Down" author Richard Adams, "Fire Bringer" tells the story of Rannoch, a fawn born with the mark of the oak leaf on his forehead. According to an ancient prophecy, it is this fawn's courage that will lead all the deer to freedom. Chased from the herd by stags, Rannoch begins a treacherous journey in search of the truth. He knows that one day he must face his destiny--but will he live to fulfill it?

Fire Bringer

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