Customer Reviews

The Kindling (Fire-us Trilogy: Book 1)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A small band of children in Florida are trying to scrape up a living in a burnt out dead town. A plaugue (nuclear holocaust, diesease....whatever) killed the adults on the planet which indirectly lead to the death of nearly all the children as well. These 7 children (the oldest being 17) are fighting to make a living when a strange teenager (around 15) appears on the doorstep.

He calls himself "the Anchorman" and intices the children into a wild journey to find a man named "President" (kinda corny dontcha think?). The journey is laced with strange happenings and interesting appearences but has a killer cliffhanger at the end.

This book could have been very good, but was far too wordy. It spent far too much time trying to make stories, rather than developing the characters and the plot. On the hole, a rather disappointing start to a series. This review is by a 15 year old avid reader........who is definitely not impressed.

The Kindling(2002). Jennifer Armstrong and Nancy Butcher's First Novel Collaboration, and the First Novel In The "Fire-Us" Series.

In my predictable Summer Reading List chockful of big-name authors, I saw 'The Kindling', a novel I'd never heard of, so I decided to give it a chance. Like so many novels before it, 'The Kindling' chronicles the after-affects of the End of the World, may it be by Nuclear War or Plague, and we find the lone survivors banding together to remake Human Civilization. But, the question arises, does 'The Kindling' offer anything new to the table, or is a rehashed 'End of the World' novel we've already read twice before? Read on to find out!

Plot-

In 2007, In Lazarus, Florida, 7 survivors dwell in the aftermath of the 'Fire-Us' plague. 'Fire-Us' wiped out all the adults on Earth, and the kids, left alone and neglected, mostly died out without supervision, but a select few banded together and learned to survive without Electricity and everyday appliances. We meet Mother and Teacher, two teenage girls who look after the little children such as Doll, Baby, Teddy Bear. Also, Action Figure and Hunter hunt down food and water for the sole survivors. For five years, the young group of children have survived on their own, leading a predictable life of feasting off of old supermarkets and the land, but their food supply is running low. But,just as their about to start really worring about their supplies,a knock on their door will change everything, and the person behind the door will take them on a journey that will test their strength and their friendship.

Writing/Opinion/Etc.-

'The Kindling', while following the basic approach to 'End of the World' novels, has some individuality because it uses children instead of adults, and Armstrong/Butcher's take on a child's reaction and interaction with a destroyed world is quite interesting. The writing here is pretty straightforward, with getting the story out being more of interest to the author's than writing techniques, but that's fine since this is a book for Young Adult's anyways. Also, the authors did a great job of fleshing out the characters, and the reader learns to love the characters, and it's quite addictive to follow them on their quest. My only problem with the novel is that it doesn't really pick up until about 100 pages in, and the first few pages don't seem quite as well-written, but once you get past that, it's an enthralling read from start to finish, and I'd be interested in reading the other books since this one leaves you at a rather big climax.

Overall, 'The Kindling' is a solid read for Teens and Children(Over 8), and it's one of those popcorn novels, that reads like a movie, and ends with you on the edge of your seat. I'm encouraged to read the other novels in the 'Fire-Us' series, because the climax you're left at almost forces the reader to!

RECOMMENDED TO YOUNG ADULTS, CHILDREN, FANS OF 'END OF THE WORLD' NOVELS, AND ADVENTURE NOVELS. BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE OTHER NOVELS IN THE 'FIRE-US' SERIES IF YOU LIKED 'THE KINDLING'!

Also Recommended-

Keepers Of The Flame- Jennifer Armstrong, Nancy Butcher
The Stand- Stephen King
The Andromeda Strain- Michael Chrichton

Thanks For Reading!

This is the story of a group of children left to survive on their own after a virus (hence the series title "fire-us" - which is virus in baby-speak)has killed most of the human population.

Some parts of the story are interesting. One of the older kids, Hunter, spends a great deal of time searching for food in old stores and houses. The dialogue between the kids, however, is tedious and boring. It is also very difficult to believe that children would end up acting the way the main characters do in this story.

If you want to read really good survival stories, then try reading Philbrick's Last Book in the Universe or Robert Swindells' Brother in the Land.

It is the year 2007. Five years ago, a catastrophic virus wiped out most of the population, leaving the survivors-seven young children-to band together and find a way to survive in this new and terrifying world without adults. Their pasts are a distant blur, their present: a constant fight for survival alone and abandoned in a dead town. Even their names have been forgotten. But Teacher, Mommy, Hunter and the children are about to discover that they are not alone-and they are about to embark on a dangerous quest to find the answers to what happened five years ago. This is the first book in an exciting trilogy by Jennifer Armstrong and Nancy Butcher, the second and third volumes of the Fire-Us trilogy: The Keepers of the Flame and The Kiln finish up the story begun here.

The premise isn't terribly unfamiliar. Adult readers can easily see aspects of Stephen King's THE STAND, or other post-apocalyptic novels. What is different about this book, however, is that it does not take place in a distant future, but in a time contemporary enough to feel frighteningly real. Nor does this tale take place during the crisis, --it opens five years later when the survivors have had time to become accustomed to their life. They are no longer the children they once were, and the roles and people they have become reflect their surroundings and the trauma they faced. Nevertheless, they've become a family-a family whose foundations are threatened when they discover they are not alone after all. A stranger finds them, a teen-age boy who seems half insane. He's determined to seek out the Grown-Ups; he's convinced that some of them still live, particularly one called the President. In time he persuades the family to leave the relative safety of their town, and take to the roads to journey to Washington. But the way is fraught with peril and the horrors that the children faced five years ago. It is only by working together that they can hope to reach their destination. Of course, since this is only the first book of a trilogy, there is no conclusion of their journey at the end of the first book, and readers are left with a rather huge cliffhanger.

There's a good deal to recommend this book. It's startlingly realistic in feel-it's easy to picture the characters surviving in the manner they do so. I enjoy survival books in general, so it's always a pleasure to read one that can explain that survival so vividly and readily, and keep it feeling fresh and interesting. The relationships between the characters in this book, their shifting roles and personal traumas are powerful and poignant. This is as much a book about the internal struggle of the characters as it is about the adventure. And while this book is clearly toned to younger readers (characters are all young teens or younger, no mention of sexual themes) it never falls into sounding young or sugaring the plot with cuteness.

Some other reviewers have found issue with the writing in this book, and I can understand their reservations. Jennifer Armstrong has always been a profoundly poetic and lyrical writer, prone to play with language, and this book is full of her craft. Rather than intrusive, I overall found the affect appealing and powerful, but those who are looking for a streamlined adventure story may find the writing a bit heavy handed at times. I did have two complaints related to the writing. The first is the sort of "misheard" language that crops up in the beginning among the characters. It feels a little forced at times, and the entire effect seems to fade by about the middle of the book, which was welcome, but makes its use in the opening a little inconsistent. The second concern is that the writers seem to favor a limited omniscient viewpoint, but they jump around too much, from knowing certain character's thoughts at one point, to not knowing them later on. The effect of this was a bit jarring at times, as it did not occur with natural scene breaks or for a seemingly good reason. My final complaint is that I have a problem with series books that don't offer a full story within one book and compound that by having a huge cliffhanger at the end of the first part of the story. I can't rank a book as five stars that leaves me hanging and dissatisfied and readers who pick this up may want to have the other books readily available so that they don't run into this problem.

I recommend this for 10-14 yr. olds who are looking for some serious SF stories with a strong grounding in reality. Young adults and adults may enjoy it too, and get more out of the writing style Armstrong employs. It's a good book for a strong reader, and I look forward to continuing the story with book 2, The Keepers of the Flame. Those who enjoy this book may also want to look for the Obernewtyn Chronicles by Isobelle Carmody and The Giver by Lois Lowry.

Happy Reading! ^_^ Shanshad

I loved this book so much! I love reading science fiction books. The only thing that bothered me was their names, but after reading it I got used to it and started to really enjoy the series. You should try to read it!

This is a sci-fi novel about the end of the world. Every single adult on the planet died. THere are a couple of kids living in a house alone. So begins the Fire-Us trilogy, fascinating, scary, and intriguing.

The story is really interesting - I mean slap in your face, give-me-more, I LOVE THIS intersting. A couple of the images were really disturbing, though, like the fact that Hunter had to move the skeletons out of his way at the supermarket. The kids in the story are fascinating, and the Teacher's scarpbook-thing was so . . . wierd that it was actually kind of scary.

Then Angerman is introduced. He's really messed up, but I get the idea that he knows something about the virus (Fire-us) that the others don't. This makes him an amazing character, and even if you don't like the story its worth reading the sequel just to find out what happens to him and his battered dummy.

I really love this series, though some of the descriptions might be a little too much for younger readers. Well worth anyone who is into sci-fi and apocalypse, as I was at the time.



P.S. I read this book five months ago and I still remember all of the characters and their names and quirks. Talk about powerful writing!

I read the three books in this trilogy last year during 10th grade. I love them all. My favorite character is Anchorman.

In the first year of Fire-Us, there was a disease that started and was said to have killed all of the grown ups on the planet. Now for the last five years Mommy, Teacher, Hunter, Action Figure, Baby, and Teddy Bear have been living together in the cold dark town. The reason they are called these odd names is because they don't remember their names from being enclosed for so long. When a man named Angerman comes to their town, they think he's an alien and don't trust him too much. Angerman is going to be going onto his trip to Washington DC and bring them with him to find a man called President to speak to him about rescue efforts. But the only thing is, Mommy hasn't left the house in five years. Will she leave the house? Will they finally reach Washington If you want to find out these questions, you must read this fantastic book.

I thought that this book started out boring like how mommy hasn't left the house for five years and how all of the characters are surviving. As the book progresses, it gets more into focus and gets more exiting. I liked the part when they caught the wild children that thought they were a dog and a cat.

I think that the emotional people would like this book the most because of all the people that died; it's just a really sad book. For the most part, it is a very adventurous book that I advise everyone to read. If you have read this book already, I would read the second book.

First of all, bits of this book might be a bit too disturbing for younger children. The themes are powerful and alarming. At first I thought it was a book written by creepy religious fanatics or something.
Boy was I wrong.
I got stuck into the story of these children with their allegorical names. It's filled with powerful scenes. Angerman has got to be the best catalyst character ever who takes these children that would have soon died from starvation on an unforgetable dangerous journey to discover why all of this happened.
He is disturbing and powerful and my favourite character in the whole series.
I also loved the way the writers used language, the puns they used, terms and phrases tranformed by the characters young minds.
It's a brilliant and chilling first book in these series.

Interesting read. King's "The Stand" for younger readers is the best way to sum this story up. It was somewhat a slow start, however, ends good.
I feel there is no major character development going on in this book, however there are two more I've yet to read. The only two characters I really feel any strong emotions towards are Hunter and Angerman. Hunter is one of the main characters and seems to me pretty level headed. Angerman on the other hand is kind of creepy. I seriously hope is killed off in this series soon. He agitates me too much. Him doing so, however, proves to me that his character was well developed (seeing that I feel so strongly towards his demise).

Overall a pretty good read.