This one definitely looked interesting to me, and by some luck I managed to find the entire trilogy in paperback for like a tenner at a local book market. So let's take a look. Spoilers ahead.
Jan is a unicorn prince, young and reckless and with a strong moral compass. He, his best friend Dagg and the warrior mare Tek set out on an epic pilgrimage as a rite of passage for the young stallions. Along the way Jan learns more about his world, and realizes that not all is what it seems. It all culminates in a climax involving none other but the three-headed wyvern queen.
Now this is an epic start to a trilogy. It had pretty much everything I want for a good fantasy book. Interesting and flawed yet likable characters, a great and expansive world full of lore and fantastical creatures, and a neat plot to keep the reader engaged.
I don't even really have that much to go into here, it's just a very solid book. The world definitely feels big and has a lot of thought put into it. I loved all the various creatures we got to see, and how there's more to them than meets the eye. There is also a lot of lore and backstory and prophecies to this world and it was all handled very well.
If there is one slight, not issue, but like, question mark, regarding the world-building, it is that I'm not quite sure if I like that humans are also a thing in this world. They don't formally appear in this book, but they are said to be real (as are normal horses) and honestly I was so invested in all the backstory and lore and fantastical creatures of this world that bringing completely normal humans into things feels a bit. I don't know, like a choice. Again, I'm not saying I inherently dislike it or anything and it's really too soon to judge right now as they don't formally appear in book one (but will likely appear in future installments).
But it did make me raise an eyebrow when these very out-of-place feeling creatures were introduced as a possibility in this book. Keep in mind that it's not like other fantasy books I've read where humans are fully integrated into the fantastical world and society the author made up. Humans are kept as a completely separate entity from the fantastical world and races (at least so far) in this series, which is what makes the concept of them feel a bit out of place, at least at first glance.
What was great to read was the characters, though. Jan is a great protagonist to follow and I loved seeing how he's both reckless and flawed, but also genuinely a good guy. He truly does grow into his hero role by the end of this book, with him becoming the titular Firebringer. What this can mean for his future we'll see in the future installments.
I also greatly enjoyed other characters, particularly Dagg, Jan's best friend, and of course Tek, a fierce warrior who at first glance is more obedient to the rules and traditions but deep down also has a strong moral compass like Jan does.
The climax, an epic showdown of wits between a three-headed wyvern and Jan, involving fire and a lot of wyvern eggs. It was a great climax to see and I like how it wasn't Jan's physical strength that won the day, but instead him being clever and a good talker and strong thinker who managed to slip away from the wyvern's enchantment over him.
Overall a great first installment of this trilogy, I am definitely looking forward towards the rest. The only thing I am slightly apprehensive about is how they will bring things such as humans and the "real world" into this fantastical realm, but I am pretty confident Meredith Ann Pierce will know how to handle it well.
Rating: 4/5
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