Customer Reviews

Highlander(TM): The Element of Fire

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The first Highlander novel based on the television series continues the high standards of the tv hit with an exciting mixture of history, drama, and fantasy as well as making for the first pairing of the two Highlanders, Connor & Duncan MacLeod, since the premiere episode.

The biggest attraction of this novel is the pairing up of both screen and television Highlanders and just as the episode "The Gathering" hinted, the world had better watch out when these two guys get together. The fruitful mentor/student relationship glimpsed at in the series is greatly expanded in this novel as Conner takes a still bewildered Duncan under his wing and bestows upon the recently "deceased" Highlander the rules of the Game. The nature of the villian Khordas and his beliefs makes for some good tension between them as the rookie Immortal clashes with Connor over the legitimacy of the Game itself, calling into question the premise and mythology of the series itself. Henderson charecterizations of both Immortals are dead on, however it is Connor's which is the most interesting simply because this novel offers the first real oppurtunity to see the charecter explored in an in-depth manner. Here we see a Connor Macleod as in Highlander III, world-weary and very sure of himself without any of the youthful recklessness of the first or even the second film. Described as the "Elder Highlander" by Henderson, the author protrays him as a pensive and brooding man not as involved in the Game as others Immortals. A gracious bit of continuity is alluded to in the ending of the novel as Connor speaks of his tiredness, a maliase he says other older Immortals have told him will pass him in time; Henderson's attempt at explaining away Connor's lack of pressence in the major Immortal events of the series perhaps? As Connor has charecter development in only three movies (of varying degrees of quality) and one series episode, he remains very much the enigma in the mythology of Highlander both in terms of charecter and continuity. Henderson does indeed opens up the charecter however Connor remains ellusive and mysterious, perhaps buying time for a novel of his own. Despite the inclusion of Connor, Element of Fire is Duncan Macleod's novel and again Henderson shows a good grasp of the charecter with his presentation of Duncan. As both charecters are cut from the same cloth one would think one Highlander would suffer however this

does not happen. Despite being originally a semi-carboncopy of Connor in the series, the charecter of Duncan Macleod is a wholley different entiity and if the success of the series has not proven it, then certainly this novel does. As most Highlander stories, the novel is divided into at least two time peroids (actually three in this case) and the reader gets to see Duncan as the young rookie just learning the ways of the world, however unlike in the series where we fast forward to the wiser more sombre Duncan in the present the novel only flashes forward a few hundred years to see a Duncan who is certainly more sure of himself, however is still not prone to a little assist from his old teacher, and still feels he has more to learn as evidenced by his desicion not to take a pupil in the form of Gabriella. Henderson uses the rookie qualities of Duncan to express the doubt over the legitimacy of the Game as posed by Khordas and enough doubt is left after the end of novel to make the reader wonder.

A major element in the success of every Highlander story is the villian and the maniacal Khordas does not dissapoint. His background is actaully somehting quite original in terms of Highlander and begs the question of what are religios and theological ramifications of immortality both as a concept but also to the spirituality of the individuals of the Immortals. The Macleods are most likely Christian in some sense, how does immortality figure into thier belief systems, do they even believe in God anymore. Alough most of the questions are not answered or addressed directly they none the less are explored in some sense through the villian Khordos who expierences his rebirth and has only his own beliefs to guide him through his ordeal as an immortal. This aspect in itself is facinating all its own however the villiany of the charecter does undercut fuller exploration of the themes as the sheer bloodthirstiness of Khordus takes precendence over his beliefs. However the idea that another band of immortals running around playing thier own "game" is one that seems worht further exploration. His worship of flame is an interesting villian "trademark" (most Highlander villians have to have some "trademark to mark them apart from others) and the novel form allows for some evocative imagery in relation to the flame and the fiery passions of the Khordus.

An excellent novel to start off the series a fine adventure with some thought-provoking ideas thrown in for the fans. What more can one ask for.

A Review by Alistair Stewert Kennedy

This book does something that the writers of the movie sequels or the series could never do: It combines the storyline of the original movie and the series without changing or contradicting either one's storyline. The original movie really was made in a way that only a prequel could be made for it. That's what this book is. It's an exploration of the development of the two MacLeod that serves as a prequel to both the movie and the series. By doing this, Jason Henderson was able to attract a larger portion of the widely divided Highlander fanbase. If your a fan of the original movie who felt they should have left it alone afterwards, don't skip this book. A great service to all Highlander fans, and certainly better than the new movie coming out in September, 2000.

This is a tie-in novel to the HIGHLANDER movies and TV series, featuring both Connor and Duncan MacLeod.

The villian Immortal here is Khordas, an incredibly old Immortal, whose first lifetime was in a prehistoric village where he was worshipped as a god. He is mentally unstable but has managed to survive long enough to cross paths with the MacLeods. Their final conflict with him occurs in the late 1800's. Along the way we meet no less than three female Immortals.

This is definitely for HIGHLANDER fans only, anyone else would not be able to make sense of this story. For HIGHLANDER fans it is a good adventure, well written and with an interesting, well developed 'bad guy'. Also the settings are well described, showing some less well known times and places. For fans there is the additional treat of three female Immortals.

A masterpiece of the Highlander novels which unites the two clansmen together in an effort to stop the salamander from his evil intentions. The mysterious firewalker has nine lives and uses every single one of them to escape the blade of Duncan. This would have made an excellent script for the television series without a doubt. I salute Jason Henderson for doing Highlander an impressive justice as I could see everything happen in my mind.

The Highlander franchise has its highs and its lows; the original film, which was brilliant; the sequels, which were mostly not; the television series, which started slow, but became very good by the second season, only to lose its way a bit near the end. And then there is the series of books based on the television series and Duncan MacLeod as opposed to Connor MacLeod from the movies. This series was a very good extension of the television series, giving Duncan an opportunity to flesh out his character.

In The Element of Fire, the first book of the TV spin-off series, the Highlander is in 1897 Nantucket and finds himself the target of the merciless immortal pirate Khordas, who is known for burning his victims in their homes or their ships. But, Khordas wants more than Duncan's head and Quickening...he wants to destroy everyone and everything that is important to MacLeod. How will the Highlander escape the fire?

Like the rest of the series (I have read the first five titles), this is a very good installment and I can highly recommend it to all Highlander fans...and if you aren't a Highlander fan, give it a read, you might get hooked.

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A Guide to my Book Rating System:

1 star = The wood pulp would have been better utilized as toilet paper.
2 stars = Don't bother, clean your bathroom instead.
3 stars = Wasn't a waste of time, but it was time wasted.
4 stars = Good book, but not life altering.
5 stars = This book changed my world in at least some small way.

This book has shown me that not all authors of the Highlander books write the same. This book has everything from comedy to romance, and fear to saddness. This is an o.k. book based on the series Highlander. It has Duncan MacLeod, and Connor MacLeod in it. They are over 300 year old immortals. The Salamander, the evil character, is immortal too, and thinks he is the god of Fire. When Duncan kills his companion, the Salmander seeks revenge. Keep in mind that the only way an immortal can die, is by having his head chopped off. This, along with the element of fire, allows this book to take off. It does take a while for it to take off, but you will be interested to find out how it ends.

From the dawn of time they came....now we get to realise the partnership of these two immortals. A great storyline provides the backbone of the real story being told here. The main aim of this story is to provide us with an insight of how Connor and Duncan Macleaod had become and stayed friends through hundreds of years. This book left a lot of scope for more novels based around the two immortals, but sadly nothing more has emerged to fill the void. None-the-less, this is an excellent book and would say it is the best of the series. Richard Evans

This book works extremely well if you're a fan of both the original movie and the TV series, as it provides answers to the question of when, precisely, did Duncan and Connor meet and other details about their friendship. The evil Immortal plot is really secondary to that detail, and weak in comparison until the middle third of the book. The writer doesn't give enough detail to developing Khordas as a horrific character until then, and by then, you've decided whether or not to continue with the book. It's worth it, though.

I am an incredible fan of the tv show, and this is the first Highlander book I have read. One major difference is the plot is at no time set in modern times. The evil immortal is an interesting character, and new levels of "The Game" are explored. Overall, I'd say the author is mediocre, and hope that other Highlander authors do better.

The story's quite nice though it would have been better if they has more action and plot in it. Overall, the whole story has Duncan and Connor as the main characters and I couldn't quite put down the book when I started reading it. Keep up with the bond between the teacher and the student!!! Excellent!!!!!!!!!