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A review by booksong
Fire Bringer by David Clement-Davies
5.0
I've discovered that what most people think when they look at this book is "It's an epic fantasy about deer? Well, unless you're some kind of deer lover, it's got to be boring, right?"
Wrong.
In his debut novel, Clement-Davies spins a world of incredible, realistic fantasy. Much as he did later in "The Sight," he populates this world with prophecies, myths, dark forces, spirits, gods, and unlikely heroes and heroines. And the result never ceases to amaze me.
High in the hills of Scotland, amid one of the herds of proud red deer, a fawn is born to the stag captain Brechin. On that same night, Brechin is murdered in a dark plot by the tyrannical Drail, who seeks to make the herd, and eventually all the deer in the valley, his own. But Brechin's calf, Rannoch, is in grave danger. For he is born with a white oak leaf on his forehead: the sign of a prophesied hero who will rise to bring the true ways of the wild back again. But not before he has endured an unimaginable quest.
In a tradition as epic as any ancient mythical hero, Rannoch and his friends, a wonderful and diverse cast of characters that are fantastically written, must travel into the heart of the wilderness to seek sanctuary from Drail. Like "Watership Down," this book makes you take a closer look at an often dismissed animal, into you are pulled so completely into the adventure you can't believe you ever thought deer were boring.
Wrong.
In his debut novel, Clement-Davies spins a world of incredible, realistic fantasy. Much as he did later in "The Sight," he populates this world with prophecies, myths, dark forces, spirits, gods, and unlikely heroes and heroines. And the result never ceases to amaze me.
High in the hills of Scotland, amid one of the herds of proud red deer, a fawn is born to the stag captain Brechin. On that same night, Brechin is murdered in a dark plot by the tyrannical Drail, who seeks to make the herd, and eventually all the deer in the valley, his own. But Brechin's calf, Rannoch, is in grave danger. For he is born with a white oak leaf on his forehead: the sign of a prophesied hero who will rise to bring the true ways of the wild back again. But not before he has endured an unimaginable quest.
In a tradition as epic as any ancient mythical hero, Rannoch and his friends, a wonderful and diverse cast of characters that are fantastically written, must travel into the heart of the wilderness to seek sanctuary from Drail. Like "Watership Down," this book makes you take a closer look at an often dismissed animal, into you are pulled so completely into the adventure you can't believe you ever thought deer were boring.