Hello all.
I finally sat down and wrote my review of
Fire Country by David Estes.
Fire Country is Book One in the Country Saga.
It was published February 1st, 2013.
You can purchase here:
Author: David Estes
Format: Ebook
Source: Author
Published: Jan 29, 2013
Publisher: ShareARead
ISBN13: 9781301505821
Synopsis:
In a changed world where the sky bleeds red, winter is hotter than hell and full of sandstorms, and summer's even hotter with raging fires that roam the desert-like country, the Heaters manage to survive, barely.
Due to toxic air, life expectancies are so low the only way the tribe can survive is by forcing women to procreate when they turn sixteen and every three years thereafter. It is their duty as Bearers.
Fifteen-year-old Siena is a Youngling, soon to be a Bearer, when she starts hearing rumors of another tribe of all women, called the Wild Ones. They are known to kidnap Youngling girls before the Call, the ceremony in which Bearers are given a husband with whom to bear children with.
As the desert sands run out on her life's hourglass, Siena must uncover the truth about the Wild Ones while untangling the web of lies and deceit her father has masterfully spun.
REVIEW:
David Estes has done it again! Fire Country is a blazin’ success!
Fire Country is a story of love, pain, loss, and hope. As usual, the writing of David Estes brought Fire Country to life. I could almost feel the heat coming off of my Kindle. LoL It is highly interesting to me that Estes’ seems to do so well with Dystopian themed novels. I mean, he looks like such a happy guy!
Fire Country was an assault to the senses. The world that Estes created was a scorcher full of sandstorms and blazin' heat. Fire Country is a harsh world with stubborn laws and impossible odds of avoiding the inevitable. The life expectancy in Fire Country is about 30 years. This is because people catch the Fire, a horrible, feverish death.
The story of Siena is a heartbreaker. Siena was an excellent female lead that grew from “scrawny” to strong right in front of my eyes. She struggles with the prospect of becoming a "Bearer" that is required to breed at age 16 with a man selected at random from the village. Should she do what she has been taught is right or follow her heart? This question appears repeatedly throughout the novel and I enjoyed Siena's inner struggle with "right and wrong."
The relationship between Circ and Siena had such an honest existence. They will do anything to protect each other, including putting their own lives in jeopardy. I thought the story that existed between them was the best part of the book.
Overall, this book is darker than The Dwellers Saga. But, Estes covers even some brutal subject matter with a gentle hand. The only thing that sort of confused me was the way Siena would talk in slang sometimes and then be very sophisticated at other times. Maybe it was just me, but it was as if her inner struggle was also with being a child (slang) or an adult (sophisticated). Well, no matter what, David Estes still got my attention and made me think. That is what I love about his work so much. It makes me think.
5 stars to Fire Country.
About the Author: David Estes
David Estes was born in El Paso,
Texas but moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania when he was very young. He grew up
in Pittsburgh and then went to Penn State for college. Eventually moved to
Sydney, Australia where he met his wife. A reader all his life, he began
writing novels for the children's and YA markets in 2010. He´s a writer with
OCD, a love of dancing and singing (but only when no one is looking or
listening), a mad-skilled ping-pong player, and prefers writing at the swimming
pool to writing at a table
You can follow David
at:
Check out the sisters series to the Country Saga,
The Dwellers!
