  | Book Details Title: Highfire: A Novel |
Book DescriptionReview “The anticipated adult novel from Colfer, best known for the Artemis Fowl series, features more of that wild imagination that loyal readers have come to love (in this case, a dragon who loves vodka, Flashdance, and his Laz-Z-Boy recliner crossing paths with a troublemaking swamp rat).” (Entertainment Weekly)“Author of the popular Artemis Fowl books for kids, Colfer has turned his attention to adult fiction to good effect, writing a delightfully funny page-turner with plenty of crossover appeal to teens and sprinkled with genial turns of phrase: alligators’ jaws are “wide like Satan’s hedge clippers”; Hooke is “distributing more mess than a group of finger painting toddlers on a Skittles sugar high.” Colfer has conjured up voices redolent of the Deep South and delightfully profane. And the characters are simply terrific. But what about those alligators?” (Booklist (starred review))”A fun, unusual contemporary fantasy..” (Kirkus Reviews)“A twisty, tongue-in-cheek fantasy that’s part thriller, part action movie, and wholly irreverent. . . . Colfer’s catchy narrative voice suits the characters and their setting perfectly, capturing Vern’s world-weary nature, Squib’s youthful adaptability, and Hooke’s malicious cunning. This no-holds-barred yarn is good fun from start to finish.” (Publishers Weekly) Read more About the Author Eoin Colfer is the New York Times bestselling author of the Artemis Fowl series as well as two adult crime novels, Plugged, which was short-listed for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and Screwed. He lives in Ireland with his wife and two children. Read more Customers Review: I had to laugh when I read other reviews of this book as adult fantasy. It comes across with very much the same whimsical tone and magic-in-the-real-world plot device Eoin Colfer used in his children’s series Artemis Fowl. The only differences are that the author makes liberal use of hardcore profanity (motherf—-r is a favourite word of multiple characters)… that and dragon penis jokes. Hooray. Swearing and baldly done dirty humour do not graduate a book into the sphere of adult fantasy.Despite Colfer’s phenomenal talent to tell an engaging story (at least in other books), the set up and execution for this particular story never got me to quite believe in a three thousand year old dragon flying around the Louisania Bayou.The story feels like a strange mutant between a fairy tale and a small-town crime thriller. It yo-yos between the two genres without ever settling into a single groove.The lack of character development for the entire cast apart from the dragon Highfire is frustrating. No one seems particularly surprised at the discovery of a blinking talking dragon in 21st century America. And Highfire’s journey from a cantankerous, human-hating recluse to a kind humanitarian in the space of a few months just comes across as contrived, especially when you consider he has the psychology of 3000 years of resentment and murder to overcome.The other main character, Squib Moreau, is a scrappy Cajun teenager who loves his single mother and occasionally engages in petty lawbreaking when his youthful excitement or desire help his mom earn a living gets the better of him. But he does nothing worthwhile apart from getting repeatedly saved by the dragon or tricked and captured by the only truly gripping character in the book, the villain. Until the very end, where he suddenly shows above human levels of resourcefulness and physical endurance, in a very vague and told afterwards kind of way.Lastly, I HATE how political many novelists have become. And Colfer is no exception. He can’t resist throwing in a bunch of one-line religious/political/social statements delivered through his characters’ thoughts and words that are very clearly his own convictions. You would think someone of Colfer’s writing caliber would know better. There is nothing worse than being yanked out of a reading experience because of awkwardly inserted personal propaganda. Let the damn story speak for itself! The author’s endless cheap shots at faith in God are pathetic and super-contrived. And become an eye-rolling drag.All in all, despite being fast-paced, the overall story and characters are an ultimate disappointment. | |
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