Book Review: Fire: Tales of Elemental Spirits

By Sandy Amazeen Sep 16, 2010, 4:27 GMT

This collection of five engaging short stories with the common theme of the elemental spirit of fire opens with an unusual tale of a young woman with a love of trees who stumbles upon a young boy’s unusual secret in Dickinson’s “Phoenix.” McKinley serves up a nicely done story that centers on a haunted graveyard near a riding stable where the heroine and her hellhound face the stuffs of nightmares in “Hellhound.” “Salamander Man” is a bright tale of a young man who, as the slave of a kindly artifacts dealer is suddenly sold to a powerful magician which is just the start of his life-changing journey. In a land where nobody acknowledges illness and healers are looked down upon, a young man makes every effort to learn as much as he can from the resident healer while his older brother studies to become a dragonrider. When the brother visits home obviously disturbed by the impossible task set before his dragon, the young healer is thrust into a role he never imagined in the finely crafted, “First Flight.”

Fantasy fans of all ages will enjoy this anthology set in a variety of times and places. The characters are well developed and storylines original enough to captivate and hold your interest. This sampling of McKinley and Dickinson’s collaboration will leave readers hoping it won’t be ten years before their next release.