Fire by Kristin Cashore

Fire (Graceling Realm, #2)

by Kristin Cashore

It is not a peaceful time in the Dells.

The young King Nash clings to his throne while rebel lords in the north and south build armies to unseat him. The mountains and forests are filled with spies and thieves and lawless men.

This is where Fire lives. With a wild, irresistible appearance and hair the color of flame, Fire is the last remaining human monster. Equally hated and adored, she has the unique ability to control minds, but she guards her power, unwilling to steal the secrets of innocent people. Especially when she has so many of her own.

Then Prince Brigan comes to bring her to King City. The royal family needs her help to uncover the plot against the king. Far away from home, Fire begins to realize there's more to her power than she ever dreamed. Her power could save the kingdom.

If only she weren't afraid of becoming the monster her father was.

---

This romantic companion to the highly praised Graceling has an entirely new cast of characters, save one. You don't need to have read Graceling to love Fire. But if you haven't, you'll be dying to read it next.

Reviewed by Linda on

4 of 5 stars

Share
The story had a very slow beginning, but I think it was needed to completely understand this world, the plot, and the important characters in it.

Fire is a very strog female heroine, with high morals, and a huge heart. Leck needed to be explained in the beginning, if not, the later part he played would not have made much sense at all - and his part was big, and it had a lot to do with who Fire is and what she had to do to save the Kingdom of Dell and those she loves.

Brigan, Nash, Clara and Garan, Asher, Rouen and Bocker were all fleshed out characters, and with their good and bad sides, they helped both Fire, themselves and each other towards a better world without war.

The plot was quite compliated, with a lot of enemies, and even some allies who turned out not being allies at all, however, it was well written, with wonderful descriptions of the world, the nature, the monsters and of the characters, I can 'see' in my mind how Dell looks, and it is beautiful in some places, but barren and grey in others.

The ending was bittersweet, but made a lot of sense. I look forward to the next book in this series - although I'm not so sure there will be any sightings of the charcaters from this book.

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 28 December, 2011: Finished reading
  • 28 December, 2011: Reviewed