Customer Reviews

Birth of the Firebringer (Firebringer Trilogy)

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4 star:		(6)
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2 star:		(2)
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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...

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

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...........................

I bought this book when I was 7 years old, and it has been my favorite ever since. I had no idea there were sequels until coming online 3 years ago, and since then, I've been taking part in the great dance of trying to find them. Even without ever reading "Dark Moon" and "Son of Summer Stars", I would say this is a superb standalone legend. I look forward to the day they are all reprinted for a new generation of dreamers and doers. Judging that the "Darkangel" trilogy, in my opinion a far less well-thought-out 'practice' work for "Birth of the Firebringer", has been reprinted, these books must be reprinted as well. If you can find it, read the first adventure of Aljan the Dark Moon, Korr his sire, Telkella, Dag, the Free People, and all those under the watchful gaze of Almharat. It's been on my summer reading list for over half my life, it never gets old.

Meredith Ann Pierce is best known for her wonderful "Darkangel" trilogy ("The Darkangel", "A Gathering of Gargoyles" and "The Pearl of the Soul of the World), which sadly is not as renowned as it deserves to be. Even lesser known is Pierce's "Firebringer" trilogy, based on stories she wrote and dreams she experienced as a young child, which chronicle the lives and adventures of a tribe of unicorns exiled from their home.

Legend tells of how the unicorns were driven out from their Hallow Hills by the serpentine wyverns, who by trickery, superior numbers and mastery of fire, forced the Princess Halla to remove her people from their ancestral home and find new feeding grounds in the Vale. But all is not well; the unicorns pine for their true homelands, especially the Mirror of the Moon, to which a dangerous pilgrimage is done every year so that the young unicorns may drink and glimpse their destinies in its waters. As well as this there are pans (basically fauns, though they are never named as such), and vicious gryphons who terrorise their life in the Vale, and dangerous renegade unicorns that gallop the plain lands.

One hope lies upon the unicorns that they may one day reclaim their homelands; a vague and contradictory prophecy regarding a Firebringer, who will win back the Hills for his people. It is into this rugged landscape that the young Prince Alijan lives, who accompanies his father and fellow unicorns on the dangerous rite-of-passage to the Mirror of the Moon with his friends Dagg and Tek.

Jan has a lot to learn; about himself, his relationship with his father, and the world. Guided by both the mystic Jah-Lila, and the unicorn-goddess Alma, Jan begins a journey of discovery (continuing into the next two books "Dark Moon" and "Son of Summer Stars") that will change his entire tribe's existence. In this volume, dealings with gryphons, pans and renegade unicorns all lead to a final confrontation with the manipulative wyvern queen, who holds for Jan a terrible truth.

Without close reading, the structure of the novel can appear painfully predictable; the young prince is headstrong and reckless, with a devoted sidekick, a strict father, a fiery love interest and a set destiny laid before him - you've read all this before, right? Wrong. Pierce displays a masterful stroke when it comes to portraying the forces of good and evil, mostly in regard to the fact that there *aren't* any. Throughout his journeys Jan becomes steadily aware of prejudices and assumptions within his own tribe, that many of their sacred beliefs are but superstition, and that perceived `enemies' are only acting accordingly to their own natures, their own points of view. Even the wyverns, who are the undisputed villains of the novel, are given a place within the natural order of things. An underlying theme of pacifism, understanding and democracy is something rarely to be found in fantasy novels, especially as Jan`s role as `hero' has less to do with fighting than with enlightenment.

As well as this other cultures are handled with exceptional variety; the pans with their darts and story-telling dances, the gryphons with their warrior females and stay-at-home males, and of course the unicorns themselves with their traditions, lore, and activities. Also worth mentioning is the use of narrator within the novel, an anonymous and mysterious presence that is revealed only at the conclusion of the story and guides the reader through the lessons and wonders that Pierce has to share.

Though it's possible that Pierce will never outdo her first novel "The Darkangel", this "Firebringer" trilogy makes a great read, memorable, original, poetically written and unique to the fantasy genre.

A wonderful short fantasy novel featuring no human characters-a difficult trick for an author. This first novel in a trilogy about unicorns straddles animal fables like _Watership Down_ and _Redwall_ with heroic high fantasy. The fantasy plotline is molded on the classic `destined hero' structure, wherein a juvenile of royal birth becomes aware that he/she will lead the people in a preordained battle against great foes. Pierce melds this story with the `search for better grazing land' from animal fables, and presto! Nifty fantasy trip with familiar fantastic beasts used in new ways.

Aside from unicorns, we also meet wyverns, gryphons, and fauns. Most of the novel's effectiveness comes from Pierce's skill describing this ancient pastoral land, although she does pull out a surprising plot twist at the end that shed new light on the entire story. The books ends with great promise for the future installments, and they're worth it-especially the finale, _Son of the Summer Stars_.

I first read this book when I was 11 or 12. I have been absolutely insane about it ever since. I searched for the other books in the series for years, and judging by the price of the first editions, I'm not the only one who loved this book. I am thrilled that the book is being reprinted and the next two books in the series are on the way to my house now. (...) Pierce draws you into this world of unicorns and makes them tangible. Beware though, if your child gets hold of this book, they may become obsessed, but if they become obsessed about any book, this is the one.

I found the book at my library when I was in Jr. High (about ten years ago) and read it several times before returning it. Time passed but I could never forget the enchanting story of Aljan and the unicorn herd and their fight against the wyverns. I finally found the book again during the past year and read it again and it was better than I remembered. I also discovered the sequels to the original and I was overjoyed and immediately read them. I was delighted with them as well. Meredith Pierce knows unicorns. She makes them more than just a fairy tale and I thank her for the joy the books brought to me as a child and as an adult.

I ordered this book back in 5th grade (about 12 years ago) from one of those clubs...Arrow, I think...for $1.00!!! I practically wore it out from reading it so many times. However, when I moved, the book disappeared. Why don't we see more books written for young adults like this one?

My whole idea of unicorns changed when I read this book. They weren't delicate little white wimpy things, they were hardened, tough warriors who came in deep, rich colours of every variety. I miss this book...and I missed the second in the trilogy...and I'm still trying to get the third. Read everything you can by Meredith Ann Pierce. Please.

I came upon the Firebringer trilogy by chance on Amazon, and after reading a few reviews I decided to give it a try, and I was glad I did. It's definately one of the most original animal fantasies out there. Meredith Ann Pierce is a master at creating the customs and worlds that her unicorn characters live in, and her stories don't follow any easy patterns. They're definately outside the usual fantasy plotline.

The stories are told from the mouth of a unicorn storyteller, Jah-lilia, and they follow the path of Jan, a unicorn prince. In the Birth of the Firebringer he's living as a 'prince-to-be', not yet a full warrior. The first book follows the traditional journey of the initiation for the unicorn's warriors, where Jan starts to unknowingly fufill the prophecy of his people. He becomes the Firebringer, the one that will win them back their territory of Hallow Hills that was stolen from them by the stories' villians, the wyrvens.

The series starts off a little slow, and what's annoying is that you have to keep reading the future books to totally understand how's Jan's accomplishments end up tying together. In the Birth of the Firebringer the author is just starting to foreshadow (something, by the way, that Meredith Ann Pierce excells at) the secrets that aren't revealed until Son of Summer Stars, the final book in the trilogy. My suggestion would be to read it twice, like I did, and then you'll start going "Oh!" when you pick up on things that you missed before.

The language is formal and has a dialect with words like "Aye" and "List" that will make it hard to follow for some, but it shouldn't really be a problem. It drags down a bit with descriptions and events that, once again, you'll have trouble adding together at first. But in the end of the series everything ties together into an immensely satisfying conclusion. The Firebringer books are definately on my list of books to be read over and over again.