Why the novel "Fire" is perfect for 2018

Fire by Kristin Cashore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Like her father, Fire is a monster in a world filled with monsters. In this land, monsters are outrageously beautiful but also able to sense and influence the minds of others. Monster animals, like raptors and big cats, use their gift to lure the dull-witted out to be killed. Her father, a human monster and a true psychopath, used it to control and hurt others. Fire, however, isn't like her father, and uses her power a different way. This is her story, and it's thought-provoking as well as being a genuine pleasure to read.

Fire is a great character--round, dynamic, well-drawn and empathetic, with an arc that makes sense. Surprisingly, although it's almost a decade old, it feels like her story was written for 2018. The themes, of course, are timeless: the abuse of power; the right of women to be treated with dignity and respect; the right of women to feel safe; the ethics of "the greater good"; and others. What is most striking, though, is Fire's constant need to protect herself from men who desire her and want to possess her and want to hurt her because of her incredible beauty and desirability. Men literally lose their minds around her, and though they have a variety of reactions, from annoying to deadly, they all reduce her to a single external attribute, and they almost always fail to control themselves or restrain their impulses. Because of them, she needs to constantly protect herself.

It is striking to see the world through her eyes, to see the men who fall at her feet in adoration, or those who want to rape her or possess her, to see her strategize moment by moment, month by month, how to avoid the worst of them and how to defeat or escape or manipulate the others. She is the desired object, harassed and attacked and adored and coveted and fought over, who, with allies, insists on her right to be a person and not a possession.

To be in her mind, to feel her revulsion because of the relentless male gaze, the unrestrained waves of toxic male desire, is an education. She is not flattered or enchanted; she is repulsed, and frightened, and wants to be left alone. In the course of the story she is forced to learn new ways to use her gifts, to fight back, to assert her rights, to demand to be seen as herself and not as the object of desire and fantasy. It is this dynamic that makes the story feel so current.

To be clear, this is not a rant or a political tract. It is a fantasy novel, with brilliant action, a well-conceived world, and many engaging characters, and it is entertaining and a joy to read. It just also happens to be deeper and more provocative and more eye-opening than most.

Highly recommended.

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