Birth of the Firebringer

Yeah I can't imagine what about the unicorn book where the characters exist in an extremely authentic animal headspace but also have a society and everything is SUPER pagan and also there's moral relativity and also the main perils fall into the category of 1) vore, 2) mind control, 3) literally a tornado coulda possibly appealed to me. Just really drawing a blank here!

There are one or two minor annoyances towards the end of the book, specifically the fact that Tek and Dagg basically no-sell their best friend (and future love interest for at least one of them probably) almost dying? Like, they don't really react at all when he wakes up and is fine? And you really are kinda missing that moment where they're like OMG YOU'RE OKAY. Its show more absence feels pretty glaring? The other issue, which actually happens basically simultaneously, is that there's a brief shift to first-person narration which in and of itself is fine especially since the prologue and epilogue are both that way, but in those cases the first person bits are italicized and here it isn't? And the first person isn't even maintained consistently throughout that entire passage? Like, there's a part where it briefly lapses back into third person and even tells us what another character is thinking?

But that kind of thing is pretty understandable in someone's first book, and the things I love about this book are so vital and so unique that a few warts that are that nitpicking REALLY KINDA DON'T MATTER? Like, this is the kind of thing that would super annoy me in a more conventional book but it's really kinda beside the point here? show less

Yeah I can't imagine what about the unicorn book where the characters exist in an extremely authentic animal headspace but also have a society and everything is SUPER pagan and also there's moral relativity and also the main perils fall into the category of 1) vore, 2) mind control, 3) literally a tornado coulda possibly appealed to me. Just really drawing a blank here!

There are one or two minor annoyances towards the end of the book, specifically the fact that Tek and Dagg basically no-sell their best friend (and future love interest for at least one of them probably) almost dying? Like, they don't really react at all when he wakes up and is fine? And you really are kinda missing that moment where they're like OMG YOU'RE OKAY. Its show more absence feels pretty glaring? The other issue, which actually happens basically simultaneously, is that there's a brief shift to first-person narration which in and of itself is fine especially since the prologue and epilogue are both that way, but in those cases the first person bits are italicized and here it isn't? And the first person isn't even maintained consistently throughout that entire passage? Like, there's a part where it briefly lapses back into third person and even tells us what another character is thinking?

But that kind of thing is pretty understandable in someone's first book, and the things I love about this book are so vital and so unique that a few warts that are that nitpicking REALLY KINDA DON'T MATTER? Like, this is the kind of thing that would super annoy me in a more conventional book but it's really kinda beside the point here? show less

Yeah I can't imagine what about the unicorn book where the characters exist in an extremely authentic animal headspace but also have a society and everything is SUPER pagan and also there's moral relativity and also the main perils fall into the category of 1) vore, 2) mind control, 3) literally a tornado coulda possibly appealed to me. Just really drawing a blank here!

There are one or two minor annoyances towards the end of the book, specifically the fact that Tek and Dagg basically no-sell their best friend (and future love interest for at least one of them probably) almost dying? Like, they don't really react at all when he wakes up and is fine? And you really are kinda missing that moment where they're like OMG YOU'RE OKAY. Its show more absence feels pretty glaring? The other issue, which actually happens basically simultaneously, is that there's a brief shift to first-person narration which in and of itself is fine especially since the prologue and epilogue are both that way, but in those cases the first person bits are italicized and here it isn't? And the first person isn't even maintained consistently throughout that entire passage? Like, there's a part where it briefly lapses back into third person and even tells us what another character is thinking?

But that kind of thing is pretty understandable in someone's first book, and the things I love about this book are so vital and so unique that a few warts that are that nitpicking REALLY KINDA DON'T MATTER? Like, this is the kind of thing that would super annoy me in a more conventional book but it's really kinda beside the point here? show less

Wow, I haven't read this for a long, long time, and I'm glad I reread it now. Meredith Ann Pierce has always been a major inspiration for me, and this book was probably one of my first favorite reads and favorite fantasy books.

At first, things seem a little stilted and awkward, probably because it's written in a very different language style than a lot of books written today (including fantasy - at least most of the ones I've read). :S I don't know that much about books in the 80s, and if there was a defined decade "style", but the book's language seems pretty distinct. Lyrical, evocative, and mesmerizing.

The plot is less amazing (unicorns traveling to somewhere and back, the mystery of the "firebringer" that's actually pretty show more obvious), but the way the story's told just makes it so beautiful. show less

Jan is a stubborn, adventurous and completely reckless. He also happens to son to the Prince of the Unicorns; a proud race who sends their older foals on a pilgrimage every year as an introduction to adulthood, to the life as warriors. But the pilgrimage ends in the lands where the unicorns once roamed before a band of wyverns drove them away. It's a dangerous place and it's important to stick together and act as a team.

But Jan is impatient and thirsty for adventures; he has a hard time keeping in line. There's so much to see, so much to do. And as they get closer to their goal, he's starting to realise that there's more to the truth than he's been told...

I was recommended this series by my boyfriend as it's one of his favourites from show more his early teens, so of course I had to give it a go. I mean, unicorns? It's hard to resist.

I wish I would have read it when I was in my early teens as well. It would have fit me much better back then and I would've been able to appreciate it more back then. But it was a good read; exciting and a wonderful world to sink into. It was hard not to fall in love with the reckless little brat Jan or his friends Dagg and Tek. They're a good, exciting trio and I can't wait to find out what they're gonna be up to next. show less

I picked this up off the juvie paperback rack, fell in love with the series, and then COULD NOT FIND THE SEQUELS in the library. It wasn't til many years later that the other books came back into print, and I was able to finish the series.

This is one of those series that left a huge mark on my brain as a kid.