Fire

By: Kristin Cashore

Narrated by: Xanthe Elbrick

Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award for Young Adult Fiction winner, 2010

New Hampshire Great Stone Face Children's Book Award nominee, 2010

New Jersey Garden State Teen Book Award nominee, 2012

She is the last of her kind...It is not a peaceful time in the Dells. In King City, the young King Nash is clinging to the throne, while rebel lords in the north and south build armies to unseat him. War is coming. And the mountains and forest are filled with spies and thieves. This is where Fire lives, a girl whose beauty is impossibly irresistible and who can control the minds of everyone around her.

Exquisitely romantic, this companion to the highly praised Graceling has an entirely new cast of characters, save for one person who plays a pivotal role in both books. You don't need to have read or heard Graceling to love Fire. But if you haven't, you'll be dying to listen to it next.

Enchanted? Also listen to Graceling.

©2009 Kristin Cashore (P)2009 Penguin

Critic reviews

"Piercing and elegant." (The Horn Book, starred review)

"Fresh, hopeful, tragic and glorious." (Kirkus Reviews, starred review)

"Readers can enjoy this novel without having read Graceling. And enjoy it they will, with its vivid characters, convincing fantasy elements, gripping adventure scenes, and memorable love story." (Booklist, starred review)

so good.

This whole series is so good. it is impossible to stop listening. I have been staying up too late listening. the reader does an excellent job. 10/10

Good but not as good as the first one.

I’m not a big fan of prequels and if I’d have known this was One, I probably wouldn’t have read it. Narrator was excellent, however as always. Not sure if I will read book 3.

excellent story

A very enjoyable read. The performance did a nice job with the different characters. The main character was easy to like.

Beautiful read

Wonderful character development. Creates a gorgeous world easily imagined. Emotive and powerful. Even inspirational to middle aged adults.

After reading Graceling, this was a snoozefest

Skim listened to the end and read a summary of what happened because this was quite a bore. Fire was not intriguing as a FMC. Her abilities and origin made her the best potential but she was written in a way that her character had the personality of a pillow. The first seventeen chapters was Fire being shot at and refusing to use her powers. The next 8 that I read consisted of her barely trying to use her powers and getting no where. This book was a prologue to Graceling and the origin of evil Leck and it was underwhelming af. It also has a weird focus on pregnancy, fertility, and children???

Totally Different from Graceling

Unlike the some of the other reviewers, I actually enjoyed Fire more than Graceling. There are some big differences between these two books- they almost don't belong to the same series. However, I really liked Fire, the main character, because she wasn't as hot-tempered as Katsa. I really enjoyed the conflicts between the different parts of the Dells (the country). I found this book to be engrossing, exciting, and smoother overall than Graceling.

Wish I had read the physical book

this is one of those rare books that is just waaay better to read. for some reason it was way easier to get confused/lose the storyline with this one. I loved the last book and truly liked this one but it fell short of the first. I suspect that is because it was audio vs. reading but whatever the case may be I'd say read this one if you can, if not the audio book Iis worth it :)

one of my favorites!!!

really good story and love the performance but the chapters are off, only issue everything else is great!!

Well done audio of one of my favorite books ever!

I revisit this novel now and then as I love all of the themes and characters so I am delighted that the audiobook version is so well done.

I love Kristin Cashore's Universe~

I read Graceling a while back, and I fell in love with the characters and the story's world with ease. I was excited to find out there was an audiobook for the trilogy (Graceling, Fire, and Bitterblue). I did like Xanthe Elbrick's narration for the most part, though sometimes when she was narrating someone's voice they either all sounded the same or had a sigh in their voices. I'm just nitpicking, though. Overall, Fire is a great story, and I highly recommend it. I can't wait to start Bitterblue. :D