Firethorn (novel)

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Firethorn

First edition cover
Author Sarah Micklem
Country United States
Language English
Series Firethorn Trilogy
Genre(s) Fantasy novel
Publisher Scribner
Publication date May 25, 2004
Pages 400 pp (first edition, hardback)
ISBN ISBN 0-7432-4794-9 (first edition, hardback)
Followed by Wildfire

Firethorn is a 2004 fantasy novel by American writer Sarah Micklem.

Contents

[edit] Plot introduction

Firethorn, narrated by the protagonist of the same name, starts out as Luck, a 'mudfolk' orphan with unusually red hair serving an ageing noblewoman, the Dame, in a land where the division between high and lowborn is literally attributed to the gods. Too restless to live her fate as a drudge and too proud to accept the inevitable abuse that accompanies it after the Dame's death, Luck runs. A year in the mountains spent starving to death makes her desperate enough to eat the poisonous berries of the firethorn tree but instead of dying, she has a revelation that may well include a god-granted gift.

Emerging from the forest, calling herself Firethorn, she tries to return to civilisation, knowing she can never quite fit. In the Upside-Down Days (ten days when the high and lowborn trade places) she meets Sire Galan, a visiting lord who takes her as his lover. When he marches off to war and suggests she tag along as his 'sheath' (Micklem's invented and pretty self-explanatory term), she jumps at the chance just to get away. But life as a camp follower waiting for war may well be something that not even Firethorn can survive... By:Jennifer Howell[1]

[edit] Plot summary

A mysterious foundling with unique red hair and strange god-given powers, Firethorn is condemned to life as a powerless servant--or so she believes, until one of King Thyrse's noblemen becomes her lover. But, as she accompanies Sire Galan to war, Firethorn discovers she may have traded one form of bondage for another. A soldier's mistress--even a high-born soldier's mistress--is despised as a "sheath," or camp follower. Also, Firethorn's nasty ex-overlord, Sire Pava, has joined the king's army, and she has made a new enemy in her lover's cousin and closest friend, the sadistic Sire Rodela. However, she and Galan share a fiery love that will surely overcome the opposition of both their personal enemies and their kingdom's enemies. Then Sire Galan makes a strange, heart-shattering wager that may not only ruin his honor, but get them both killed.[2]

[edit] Characters in "Firethorn"

  • Firethorn - narrator, protagonist, Sir Galan's lover, the Dame's apprentice
  • Sire Galan - Firethorn's lover, King Thyrse's nobleman, Sir Pava's relative
  • The Dame- Firethorn's caretaker and teacher
  • Sire Rodela
  • Sire Pava- Sire Galan's relative
  • Consort Vulpeja-Sire Galan's "wager"
  • Divine Xyster- Head of Sire Galan's clan
  • First of Crux - Clan of Crux head
  • Ardor Wildfire - God

[edit] Major themes

[edit] Literary significance & criticism

"Micklem's majestic and powerful debut, the first volume of a fantasy trilogy, introduces a compelling heroine with a strong, original voice. A sweeping adventure saga as mystical as it is raw, the novel is also a biting commentary on violence and its effect on relationships defined by a caste system. Luck, a lowborn mudfolk orphan, changes her name to Firethorn in honor of the hallucinogenic berries she ingests in the Kingswood after a life-altering rape by a Blood, the highborn warrior she's worked for as a drudge. Now "god-bothered," she discovers that her already uncanny gifts, such as seeing in the dark, have intensified, as has her desire to escape. During UpsideDown Days, the season when "Low is high and high is low, and people seize chances they've been waiting for all year," the flame-haired Firethorn couples with another Blood, Sire Galan, and impulsively accepts his offer to serve as his sheath and bedmate. Later, her fortitude will be severely tested in the often brutally sexist world of the warrior. Enriched but not defined by the influences of many cultures (Celtic, Norse, Egyptian, etc.) and authors as diverse as Marion Zimmer Bradley, Ursula K. Le Guin, Mary Renault, Jean Auel, Margaret Atwood and, yes, even Tolkien, this hypnotic tale of passion and survival will resonate with sophisticated readers of both sexes." -From Publishers Weekly[3]


[edit] Release details

[edit] Sources, references, external links, quotations

  1. Jennifer Howell "Firethorn by Sarah Micklem"
  2. Firethorn on Amazon.com
  3. Publisher's Weekly (Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)