Mortal Fire-Elizabeth Knox

Thursday, October 24, 2013

     This six weeks, I read Mortal Fire by Elizabeth Knox. Mortal Fire is a fantasy novel which was first published in 2013. It is about a sixteen year old girl named Canny who has been able to see strange runes in the world around her since the day she was born. One summer, Canny accompanies her stepbrother on a trip to research a coal mine disaster that occurred thirty years earlier. Canny stumbles upon a nearby enchanted valley which is occupied by children who can do magic using the same runes Canny has been seeing all her life. She begins to try to do the magic she sees the children do, but when people begin to find out, she knows she is in trouble. Like many other young adult novels before it, this book revolves around the idea that true love will conquer all.

     The story is told in the third person omniscient point of view, informing the reader of the thoughts of all main characters in this story. When she reaches the valley mentioned in the first paragraph, she meets a man named Cyrus Zarene, who immediately suspects that she can do magic. She also meets a woman named Iris, who despises her for reasons that are unclear. One day, Canny decides to go hiking. When she gets to the top of the hill she is climbing, she finds a beautiful house with a young man living in it. When asked, the young man tells Canny that his name is Ghislain Zarene, and that he accidently started the mine explosion thirty years ago, was banished to the house he is in now, which renews itself every midnight. This means that Ghislain has stayed eternally young. Ghislain and Canny fall in love, and Canny vows never to leave Ghislain's side. However, when Canny gets a letter from her friend Marli's nurse at a hospital saying that Marli is very ill and is probably going to die, Canny returns to her hometown. When she gets there, Marli is dead and Canny has forgotten everything about the valley. Three years later, due to a spell she cast on a paper mache cage before leaving the valley, she remembers Ghislain and the valley. Canny returns to the valley and reunites with Ghislain. I don’t agree with the ideals presented in the book. True love will not conquer all, especially not when you’re sixteen. The characters in the book are infuriating and immature, and their actions are never fully explained. I found it very difficult to follow the plot and to keep reading the book. Honestly, most of the time I just wanted to throw it to the opposite corner of the room. The author’s writing style is ineffective in conveying emotions.

     I hated this book. The theme is ridiculous and overused. The romance is not fully explained, and seemed pointless. When Canny returns to the valley and promises that she will not leave Ghislain, I wanted to burn this book. In the beginning of the book, Canny was portrayed as a relatively levelheaded character, and at the end, she was driven entirely by love for an insane forty seven year old man in a seventeen year old’s body. How does that make sense? This book was like nothing I have read and I hope I will never feel compelled to read something like this again.

     This book has a meandering plot, is boring and pointless, and the main character has a terrifyingly old, Edward Cullen-esque romantic other. I would not recommend this book to even my worst enemy. If, by any chance someone wanted to torture themselves by reading this book, it would be best received by twelve to fifteen-year-old girls.

Raavi Chokhawala

10/24/13

RATING: * 1/5