Fire

Imagine my disappointment that this story isn't about Katsa and Po, but instead kinda about Lek. I guess I should've read the synopsis. That being said I liked Fire and her story.

A bit slow to begin with, but in the end I thoroughly enjoyed this book - even more than "Graceling." A fabulous read! I think I'll buy these two books for myself, and am looking forward to reading the next book in the trilogy.

This was my first experience with Cashore's work, which is solidly for YA readers (despite mature adult conflicts). I've been gradually learning that a YA style is not one my preferences.Several aspects of Fire's story took me off guard, making me reconsider my own expectations. The slow-burning romance felt forced and awkward near the end. In retrospect, that should have been expected with the main lead who is attachment averse. The romance was only one of the primary relationships, which overall were portrayed believably. I was most satisfied with the king's character development.What bumps my rating up high enough that I picked up a copy for my home library is the world-building and the general characterization of monsters. This is a rich kingdom for the imagination. While this book is listed as a companion to Graceling, I'm happy that the story can stand alone.

This was a really good book. I like how the author introduced new characters and a new kingdom, it makes me wonder how she will pull it all together in the last book. I like how you can read this book or Graceling in what order you would like to read them. I can't wait till the next book.

This one is set before Graceling and over the mountains. Leck appears on his way to more villainy, but the story is about a place that has monsters instead of gracelings and Fire is a human one - bait for monster and human predators with telepathic and mind control powers. My eyes rolled a bit at her "monster beauty" that drives others to bad behavior, but the story was original and exciting enough to overcome it. She is part of the royal coterie in a time of war and loss for the Dells, and becomes a hero. The reader for the audiobook is fine if not amazing.

For some reason I just could not get into this book. I think it might be because I couldn't get past the fact that it's book 2 of a trilogy yet the books don't go back-to-back. They don't even really connect together that closely. Maybe if I didn't see them listed as a trilogy I could have enjoyed it. It was okay as an audiobook. The narrator wasn't that exciting.

3.5 Stars
This is a situation where I wish that we had 1/2 stars. I enjoyed this book, but on a different level than I enjoyed "Graceling". I loved "Graceling" and I couldn't put it down - the story, the characters and the concept were so new and interesting and wonderful that I just had to keep reading, and when it was over, I wanted more. I didn't feel that way about "Fire", but I did like it more than a little bit. I just found myself drawing comparisons to "Graceling" and finding certain things disappointing. But I'll get to that in a bit.

This book felt more adult and serious than "Graceling" did. There were some serious themes in both books, of course, but this one just felt... I don't know. More graphic, in a way. There was quite a lot more violence and everything felt more intense, but still this book didn't have the same spark that I thought "Graceling" had.

First, I want to say that I did like the concept of there being "monster" versions of both humans and animals, the only difference between the two being their appearance (vibrant coloring) and an ability to compel a sort of worship/fascination. Human monsters have an additional power, which is a sort of telepathy/mind control, which allows them to sense people and animals, receive thoughts and feelings from them, communicate directly or broadcast thoughts, and control a person through their mind.

Fire is the last monster alive, and is struggling with who she is. Her father Cansrel was a cruel, powerful, manipulative monster, who reminded me a bit of a YA fantasy version of Caligula (only without the title), who nevertheless loved Fire until his death. Fire doesn't want to be like him, so she goes to the other extreme and refuses to use her powers on people at all, except in self-defense.

Her lover and friend, Archer, is a bit 1 dimensional for my tastes. They grew up together, and their friendship eventually graduated to a physical relationship. He is in love with Fire, and over the years became more and more possessive of her and jealous of her time. He is a good man, but he doesn't realize how much his need for Fire has changed him into someone ugly and angry.

There is quite a bit of political intrigue in this book, and Fire and Archer eventually meet current King Nash (son of King Nax, whom Cansrel had manipulated) and Prince Brigan (whom Cansrel had hated and tried to kill several times), the current military commander. Nash is susceptible to Fire's "charms" even though she's not putting any out there on purpose, and almost immediately falls in love with her and tries to have her.

Brigan is more impenetrable, not that Fire is trying. He initially hates her for who she is, the daughter of the man who'd tried to kill him dozens of times, and until she risks her own life for his and his men in a military action, he distrusts her completely. But Brigan is smart, and brave and strong but sensitive. He's the type of man that everyone wants on their side, because he's loyal and kind, but ruthless when needed. He expects the same loyalty and dedication from those in his command and those around him. He was my favorite character in this book. I loved Brigan just as much, if on a different, more ordinary level, as Po from "Graceling".

Which brings me back to some of the parallels I drew between "Fire" and "Graceling". (There will be spoilers below for both books, so stop reading now if you don't want to see them.)

1) "Graceling" has Po who has the ability to receive thoughts and feelings and intentions from people, and has the ability to "sense" his surroundings. Fire has these same abilities, with the added bonus of being able to send and receive, as well as control.

2) Leck - we get to see his origins in this book, as it is a sort of prequel companion. I was a bit disappointed with this aspect of the book though. It really felt like an afterthought, and while it did give more insight into Leck, it wasn't anything that we wouldn't have figured out, and it seemed like a kind of pointless addition to this story. But it did serve as a bridge between the books - otherwise this could have been a stand-alone book with no storyline ties to Graceling at all.

3) There is a similarity between these books that has me a little baffled. In "Graceling", I mentioned the "subtle feminist message" and applauded Cashore for it. But after reading "Fire" I'm beginning to wonder if there isn't something more...

Neither Katsa from "Graceling" or Fire want to have children. Katsa uses herbs religiously to ensure that she does not get pregnant after sex, and Fire does as well. But Fire takes this one step further and takes an herb that will ensure that she NEVER gets pregnant.

At first I thought, 'Hmm... Cashore must really not like kids.' But after reading more, it turns out that Fire loves kids, and at one point the subject of adoption even comes up.

OK, so if it's not that the girls don't like kids, it has to be something about themselves. And then it hit me. They hate themselves and what they are so much, both of them, that they don't want to subject a child to the kind of lives that they have had.

And, now I'm disappointed. Because THAT is no "role-model" thought. Role-models are supposed to show that you can overcome adversity and learn to love yourself... They are supposed to show that there is NOTHING WRONG with being who you are, and that everyone has a choice of what to do with their life - whether to be what is expected of a "monster" or to be something better. Self-loathing is NOT a role-model trait. And if I thought of it, you can be sure that some perceptive teen will. And this makes me sad, because other than this point, which Cashore didn't bring up in passing once, but harped on over and over, the book was very good. But this point is extremely disappointing.

I probably won't avoid Cashore in the future, but I hope that she moves away from this trend. I hope that she learns that to be a TRULY strong female character, they have to be willing to pass along that strength and not encourage a fear "of the unknown". We can never know what is going to happen. But sometimes we just have to risk it, and embrace it.

Fire is the companion book of Graceling, a sort of prequel set in the same universe, but not on the same lands, with different characters and different elements. In short, if it weren't for one character in common and some references to the Graceling world, it could have been a totally different book.This book takes place on the other side of the mountains, where there are no Gracelings, but that doesn't mean there aren't special powers. What exists in The Dells are special people and animals, which draw the normal ones to them, and have powers of their own. These are called monsters, and Fire, the protagonist of the book, is one of them. But, even if the name suggests something hideous, Fire can only be described as a great beauty, which mesmerises most men, to the point marriages proposals (among other things) are commonplace for her.The story starts with an archer that mistakenly shoots Fire, but before he can say who he is and who he is working for he is killed. Fire will try to discover who was this archer, getting tangled up in political matters. However, as a monster, people don't trust her, and she has decide if helping her King is worth both the distrust of everyone and the fact that they are using her for her monster-qualities.I believe I shouldn't have read this book right after Graceling, it suffered from comparison. Because while I liked this one, it didn't make me squee like a schoolgirl the way Graceling did. But I really should try to make a review that the doesn't focus on the differences between the first and second book (and will undoubtedly fail).Fire is interesting, with a political plot as well as some romance. It was easy to go to this new world, even with what I knew from the first one. I kept turning page after page, not noticing the end was coming, and that the hours were passing. I really have to show my admiration for the author, because it is not easy to come up with a world where there are fuchsia raptors, and not making it sound like a bad trip on acid. Fuchsia and lime animals didn't make me stare at the pages in disbelief, it added more magic to a place that I kept seeing in dull greys and browns.If in Graceling one of the themes was Kings, in Fire we have Fathers, and I enjoyed slowly learning about Fire's father, even if there was not much surprise to its ending. It served to show how Fire grew, and the reason to a lot of the discrimination and hate she was constantly facing.I liked this book, but kept comparing it to Graceling, which is not really fair. The book stands well on its own, it is very enjoyable, with a good plot, good characters and good worldbuilding.Also at Spoilers and Nuts

I've been anxious to read this one. I liked Graceling so much and finally it came to the top of my list. I enjoyed this one too. Fire was a different sort of character than Katsa. She is weaker almost in a way, unwilling to use her powers to harm someone, afraid of what people will do to her. But she is strong too because she can withstand torment that others can not. Fire's power is the ability to read and control minds as well as attract them with her great beauty. As a monster, she is alluring and wonderful making people dropped their guard around her. With the animal monsters, this is a great thing since they don't have to work too hard for their food, but it is a disadvantage and an embarrassment to Fire. Summoned first to the Queen's home and then to the King's City to interrogate someone who has tried to kill her, Fire is drawn into the politics of her country and she begins to understand that she can put her powers to good use and that it doesn't have to be this monstrance thing.The plot moved right along and I only felt bogged down on a couple of the million times that Fire is shown to be monstrously beautiful, blah blah. I liked the subplot with her father and how that turned out. And I liked the romance part. It was sweet and natural though not unexpected. The Little Bookworm

The premise: ganked from BN.com: 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 Graceling to love Fire. But if you haven't, you'll be dying to read it next.My Rating: 7 - Good ReadOverall, I enjoyed Fire quite a bit, and what I really appreciate is how, even though this book is YA, it doesn't feel like YA. The characters don't act like modern teens stuck in a medieval fantasy (heck, there was no such thing as adolescence or teenage years in the medieval age), and that really appeals to me. If you weren't given their ages, you'd have no idea these characters were "teens," and that reminds me, in a good way, of Megan Whalen Turner's YA fantasy series, starting with The Thief. Cashore's books are a little more romantic-centric in nature, and yet even though there's romantic subplots, Cashore breaks from the mold of YA heroines living and breathing for their heroes. Fire is an interesting, well developed character, though due to the psychological scars of her childhood, it takes her a while to overcome her fears, and that at times was frustrating to read. Despite that, this is a rather complex fantasy, especially for YA, and the world Cashore's created is fascinating. I will say that while this is a prequel/companion novel to Graceling, there's no actual reading order for the two books. If I had to suggest one, I'd say Graceling just because it was published first, but it really doesn't matter. Both books stand on their own two feet, and feature equally different but equally compelling heroines. I found I preferred Graceling to Fire, but there were elements of Fire I found to be stronger. It's a fantasy series that's easy to recommend, especially for the older side of the YA spectrum.Spoilers, yay or nay?: Yay. Cashore's fantasy is unique in that it's YA only because of the age of her characters, but everything else feels like adult fare. We're going to talk about whether or not that's a problem, why and why not, and why it didn't need to be billed as a "companion" novel to Graceling. Yes, spoilers (and a few for Graceling as well), so don't click below if you've not yet read the book. However, if you have, the full review may be found at my blog. As always, comments and discussion are welcome.REVIEW: Kristin Cashore's FIREHappy Reading!

"Come now. A mother can tell when her son lies. Are you eating?" "No," Brigan said gravely. "I've not eaten in two months. It's a hunger strike to protest the spring flooding in the south" - Fire

It's the same with this book as it has been previously with Graceling. In my Review, I said "I like the story well enough, but the thing that I liked best about the book was the characters". The same is true for this book.

The story in itself is not bad, and it gives interesting new insights into the world. The crossover into Graceling was also masterfully done, giving hints to the events of graceling and explaining more about the big antagonist of that book. It was well written, but, again, in large parts predictable.

The main character, Fire, was once again well written and interesting. And I especially enjoyed the way the writing style changed with the events of the book, most notably near the end (where I cannot talk about specifics without spoiling the finale, so I'll leave it at this).

What remains is a well-written book with a very well written main character, an interesting world and a sadly predictable story. I have already started reading the third book and hope for the best.

I liked this book but not nearly as much as Graceling. It had a pacing problem for me. I thought ultimately it was a little long. The story would have been better if it was tightened up. There was a lot of redundancy in The plot. No one captivated me either. I was interested in the characters but not breathless with where they would go next. Still a fun read and has done nothing to diminish my desire to read Biterblue.

I really liked this book. It wasn't perfect by any means, but the story was interesting most of the time and i just wanted to keep reading. I'd say that is a pretty good book.

No words I write will do this book enough justice. Cashore has a way of creating stories that suck you in and leave you breathless at times... Epic fantasies that bring suspense, intrigue, and swoon worthy romance. I didn't think it was possible to love a book more than Graceling, but this one topped it! The feels were gut wrenching and heart warming. It was a world full of vivid color and subtle darkness.

Fire is a monster in the most beautiful way. All eyes are drawn to her and while that may flatter many, Fire deflects attention at all cause. She refuses to use her powers unless it's self defense and will cover her monster appearance whenever out in public. The monsters are drawn to her and danger surrounds her. She never expects to be summoned by the King, but when she is, her world is turned upside down. She starts to become comfortable in her own skin and learns that she can use her power as not only a weapon, but also a helpful tool. It is there at King's City that she finds what she didn't know she was looking for... Love.

This book was unlike anything I've ever read. It was creative and unique, with a storyline that swept me off my feet. When the book was open, reality was dimmed. It was truly all consuming. I found myself unable to put it down. I was wrapped up in the love triangle (quadrangle?) and couldn't wait to see what would happen in the end.

Now with all that gushing out of the way I will say this... Some of the material is sensitive. There are hints of rape and scenes of physical abuse. This is all needed though to create the book's world so please give it a chance. I know you won't be able to stop once you start. It's fantastic! A MUST READ!

Kristin Cashore is a wonderful writter who pays much attention to characters and gives them depth. The character Fire was beautifully made, and her life choices incredibly hard, had i been in her shoes i might not have courage for some of them. But that is what life is about, taking risks and making life changing decisions, and hopefully find out you made the right ones all along.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The author has developed from the Graceling and the result is altogether smoother and more accomplished. I was wary of the plot - prequels are dodgy sometimes as the authors try and milk their investment in world-building - this was not a problem. Not a complex book but a good light fantasy read.

Fire was very well done. I enjoyed the first book, Graceling. It was a fresh and original take on YA fantasy, but Fire is a much better book. The setting, still, is really unique and interesting, as is the idea of gracelings and monsters, but Cashore amps up the political intrigue in this book, whereas Graceling was more action-packed.

Fire is a complex, fully fleshed out character, much more so than Graceling’s protagonist. It’s nice to see a compelling female character whose worth and strength are not based on her physical prowess. Kick-ass Buffy clones and Mary Sues are everywhere in YA fiction lately, and they annoy me with their remarkable strength and awesomeness. There are other ways to be strong. Fire is supernatural, yes, but she suffers much, and breaks down a few times, which makes her sympathetic and human, even if she is a “monster”.

Fire's story in Dell - introduces Leck. Best to read Bitterblue first.

Review originally published on my blog: AWordsWorth.blogspot.comFire is not a sequel to Graceling. It's a "companion" book. In fact, it pre-dates Graceling's events by 30some years (or so, give or take?) The only character from Graceling to appear in Fire is Leck - as a child (and seriously creepy). So you definitely want to read Graceling first, so you don't ruin that reading experience by knowing the stuff that happens in Fire. As for Fire, it's a wonderful story in its own right. Fire is a dynamic and beautifully drawn character, struggling to balance her power with her heart (much like Katsa, but even more complicatedly). The situation is tense: a kingdom stands in the balance, and Fire's powers are greatly needed to save it. In and of itself, that doesn't seem like a hard assignment, but Fire has so many ghosts from her past - and new complications from her present - that it's hard for her to become what she must. With the help of a wonderful, colorful cast of supporting characters, Fire gradually realizes that she can be fully empowered and still maintain her own identity - can love and be loved, can give meaningful assistance to those around her. Her past, her nature does not dictate her true self nor her future. I liked Fire, a lot. (I also really liked Archer, even though he was a serious player/a little bit of a jerk). I could relate to her on some levels more than I could to Katsa, but both are crazy strong, dynamic, amazing heroines.Fire has merit and purpose, it just didn't supply my need for another Katsa and Po fix ...

This entertaining prequel to Graceling is full of vibrant characters and a charming story. Fire is a girl with special abilities and she would be the envy of almost any girl (until that girl actually had to live with the consequences of those abilities).

Fire is so beautiful that she captures the attention (both good and bad) of all around her, and her mind-controlling abilities don't exactly help her to make friends. She usually has the best of intentions, but it doesn't help that her father was one of the most reviled men in the kingdom, and that he also shared these special abilities.

Although the love story included in this book was slightly predictable, the rest of the plot is filled with unexpected twists and turns. For the most part this story is fresh, exciting and fast-paced.

Even though I knew that Fire was a prequel I was disappointed that there was only one character whose abilities and giftedness were related in any way with those in the book Graceling. Without that one character, Fire might as well have been about an entirely different world, because the people, animals and the cultures were so vastly different. The upside to this, of course, is that this makes for a very good stand alone read. You could very easily read and enjoy these two books in any order.

Fortunately, once I got used to the idea of this book being almost entirely unrelated to Graceling, I was already captivated by the story of Fire, her life, and her desire to rise above the legacy of her evil father.

If you liked Kristin Cashore's writing in Graceling then you will probably love Fire as well. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a good young adult fantasy novel.

Kristin Cashore is a very talented writer. This stand alone story was so engrossing and romantic and I was actually interested in the fantasy world she created. Usually I get annoyed or bored with the world building aspects of fantasy lit. But she is such a skillful writer. A real pleasure to read.

Though I've often returned to GRACELING, before yesterday I couldn't have explained why FIRE remained read once upon the shelf. The haunting sadness of BITTERBLUE reminded me of this prequel, of the lone human monster in the world. While GRACELING is the story of Katsa and Po, FIRE and BITTERBLUE are the stories of those harmed by Leck.

Ok maybe this is more 4 than 5 stars, but I enjoyed reading this book. It's a real page-turner and I could not put it down.
And I like it when fantasy author invents something new. Cashore won me in her previous book with a concept of gracelings and now we have beautiful but dangerous monsters.

I thought this couldn't happen, but I actually love Fire even more than Graceling. Cashore is the queen of realistic and lovable characters. Her books remind me very much of Cynthia Voigt's "Kingdom" series. If you loved Cashore's books read those next... the first is "Jackaroo", but my absolute favorite is "On Fortune's Wheel". Like Cashore, Voigt's books do not need to be read in order to be enjoyed. Update: 3 years later and I still love it just as much. I listened to the audiobook this time and the female narrator's voice was lovely. Highly enjoyable whether reading or listening

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this book. It suffers when compared to Graceling, I think, as the plot is a little muddier and the characters not quite so strong. I found much of the monster stuff to be inconsistent- why do all monsters try to kill Fire but then, inexplicably, we have a scene where monster kittens are playing contentedly in Fire's hair, and she's letting them? That was the biggest issue for me- the monster stuff seemed entirely whimsical and inconsistent from page to page.

The story itself was gripping, and I enjoyed being carried away by it. I like the strength of the female characters, and the growth we see in Fire over the course of the book. I adored Hannah, and would love to see her in a book all her own someday. I'm looking forward to more from Cashore.

"Fire" chronicles the story of Fire, the last human monster living in the Dells, the land that lies beyond the mountain range east of the Seven Kingdoms in "Graceling." Fire, both loved and hated in the extreme by humans, comes to terms with her abilities to read and manipulate thoughts in order to protect her king and country from a civil war. Compared to Katsa's character in "Graceling," Fire seems to be rather tame and reactive instead of proactive, which made me enjoy this book just a little bit less. However, "Fire" has its own merits and does lend greater understanding to the events of "Bitterblue." I would recommend reading this companion novel between "Graceling" and "Bitterblue."

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!

This was a really good book. I truly enjoyed the author's voice throughout, along with the ever-intriguing storyline. I appreciated that despite keeping the book in the same realm, she was able to create completely new identities for her new characters. It didn't feel as though she merely rehashed the characters from the first book, so it was delightfully familiar without being too worn out. :D

After Graceling's blandness I hadn't planned to seek this "prequel" out, but we got a used copy in my store so I borrowed it on a whim. I'm glad I did--I liked this book much more than I did the first. Fire suffers from many of the same flaws that Katsa does--both have a genetic gift/curse that ostracizes them and gives them endless fountains of angst; both are annoyingly mature for their ages*, and both are in danger of becoming mouthpieces for the author's idea of feminism rather than actual freestanding characters. Luckily, Fire is less annoying than Katsa on all fronts except for her dubious name--but even that was explained (and thus permissible) in ways that "Po" (grr) and "Bitterblue" (grrrrrr) never were.

Maybe I was just in a more receptive mood--I hardly read any fiction in November so perhaps I was hungry for it--but overall Fire's inner journey was much more interesting to me than Katsa's ever was. I found her transformation, her eventual acceptance of herself and her abilities, utterly convincing and almost moving. Beyond inner-transformation, the plot wasn't great--random, unnecessary characters from the last book, and a mostly off-page jumble of a war weakened it--but the characters had nice chemistry, and the romance was 100% less hideous than the previous book (in part because neither party was named "Po").

In case it isn't obvious, Cashore's naming habits bother me far more than her stance on sex. I still probably won't read "Bitterblue" because the name makes me feel pukey and I don't think I can stand a whole book of it.

*A note on the ages of the characters: I accept that this is a fantasy medieval society and so it doesn't bother me that characters are sexually active or leading armies at their young ages--it's just that the emotional tone and diction of every teen-aged person in everything Cashore writes reads as much older than their stated ages. Like other reviewers, I wish she'd just write an adult book already.

I really enjoyed this one...but not as much as I enjoyed Graceling. I read the first one, rather than listening, and I found that I really wanted to look at the map while listening. (I'm assuming there was a map in the book because there was one in the first book)

I really liked Archer and Fire's friendship in the beginning of the book and I felt like the devolution of their friendship was really disappointing. I rather liked him in the beginning and he became annoying as the book went on.

Another really annoying part for me was when Fire had several chances to just stab Leck. He's evil! You're burning down the houses without a care of who is in them! Who cares if you kill the person who HAS BEEN DRUGGING YOU FOR WEEKS?! Everyone knows that people never die when they "disappear down rock crevices into the unknown" (quotation for the general idea, not actually from the book)Alas, I guess Leck couldn't be in Graceling if he was dead.

Also, I wanted more romance between Fire and Brigan. And less using herbs to prevent pregnancy. That part always creeps me out.