Birth of the Firebringer (Firebringer Trilogy) [Mass Market Paperback]

Meredith Ann Pierce (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 23, 2003 | Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up | Series: Firebringer Trilogy (Book 1)

Jan, the prince of the unicorns, is high-spirited, reckless-and the despair of his mighty father, Korr. Reluctantly, Korr allows Jan to accompany the other initiate warriors on a pilgrimage.   Soon Jan's curiosity leads him, along with his friend Dagg, and their mentor, the female warrior Tek, into the greatest dangers-deadly gryphons, sly pans, wyverns, pards, and renegade unicorns. Yet time after time they are rescued, leading Jan to wonder: Am I the heir to a special destiny?

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-9 Aljan the unicorn is impulsive, a hothead. He is also the Prince's son, and he is awaiting the initiation which will make him a warrior. Aljan's destiny is as his name, which means "Dark Moon," and is tied to an ancient prophecy and an ancient evil. Aljan's pilgrimage becomes more than a personal quest to prove his worthiness and to understand the significance of his disturbing dreams. Through vanquishing the deadly wyvern, Aljan is able to confront his hidden past and gain insight into the eternal dance of life and death. The untangling of the satisfying plot and Pierce's ability to foster belief in her unicorns, consistently describing the action as these horse-like animals feel and sense it, are enhanced by her stately use of language and the sense of their history and culture which she creates and sustains. The tale of a heritage realized and a prophecy fufilled is not new, but the vital characters and the unique device of a narrator whose identity remains hidden until story's end give it a fresh appeal. This is not part of the author's "Darkangel" trilogy (Atlantic), but it could sustain sequels of its own. Holly Sanhuber, Muskego Public Library, Wis.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"The language is poetic, with wonderful rhythm and sweeping images...The world is a compelling one, and Jan is a dramatic hero." -Booklist

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 202 pages
• Publisher: Firebird (June 23, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0142500534
• ISBN-13: 978-0142500538
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #118,625 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars *Screws her jaw shut*, February 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Birth of the Firebringer (The Firebringer Trilogy, V. 1) (Hardcover)

Okay, how to start...but, one problem: once I start, I won't be able to end. The legend of the Firebringer. The most ingenious, original, beautiful piece of writing I have ever, ever come across. It is a masterpiece. If ever you have read any books based on unicorns: throw those aside. Cast all other visions aside. Read, and be entranced. It is just beautiful.

This world that Ms. Pierce has created is unlike any other. The unicorns that dwell in it have their own society, culture, and legends...their own world, apart from ours, unlike anything you would ever imagine. Aljan, prince of the unicorns, young and headstrong: his life is changed forever during his initiation as a Warrior -- travelling to the sacred Mirror of the Moon in the midst of his ancestors' lands; stolen by the wyverns. For four hundred years, his people, the unicorns, have been exiled from their rightful home: the Hallow Hills. And now, four hundred years later, young Jan discovers his destiny as the legendary Firebringer, and goes forth to weave yet another legend in his life alone.

The story is unforgettable. It has touched a place in my heart and every single time I re-read this book and its followers, Dark Moon and the Son of Summer Stars, I find something new...something different, deep that I didn't catch before. Forever these books are at the top of my favorites list: their name is engraved, never to fade. Hard though they are to find, you will never ever forget them, and you will treasure them forever to come. For no one who has ever read them will ever forget the story and the legend of the Firebringer...

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "When Alma created the world....", April 1, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Birth of the Firebringer (The Firebringer Trilogy, V. 1) (Hardcover)

This book and the two that follow it form the most undeservedly obscure trilogy in fantasy. If a coming-of-age adventure with a unicorn protagonist and a cast of characters including marauding gryphons, treacherous wyverns, and a goddess of many guises sounds unlikely, my only suggestion is, read and be entranced: it's beautiful! Pierce's exquisite, lyrical language and hypnotizing narrative spring from the same source as the epic cycles of myth and legend. At the same time, the wonderful creatures--mythical and otherwise--who people her world are vividly believable and blazing with life. The "young adult" designation is apt, but not important: these are great stories, and as any lover of fantasy knows, great stories transcend labels. Difficult as they are to find (the first two are VERY out of print, though the third, _The Son of Summer Stars_, is, I believe, still available,) they're worth the quest. These books have affected me powerfully in more ways than I can express, but I can say with confidence that once you have listened to the Lay of the Unicorns, fled from a serpent-cloud on the Great Grass Plain, and danced with a wyvern under a dark moon, the wild song of Aljan son-of-Korr will echo through your dreams ever after

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why?, January 3, 2000

By 

"skywaterlv" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Birth of the Firebringer (Paperback)

Why, oh why is this fabulous book out of print? Who conspires against the wonderful world of the Warriors of the Ring and keeps it so hard to find, instead of every child in america having a copy? *Sigh* It saddens me that my children will never know this most wonderious world for themselves, because, while a copy of the first book is easy to find, the next two are as slippery as a wyrm to find. I should know, because every time I find a copy, it is more than I am willing to pay. However, should you be willing to enter the quest for these books, the rewards of finding them are a lush, rich world that you'll never want to leave. I could go on and on about how much better this book is compared to current popular children's fantasy novels. Beleve me, once you read this, the siren call of Jah-lila the Red-Mare will never leave you and you will be wanting to desperetly know the second night of the tale...........................