| $@%&! level: Low “Bedroom” level: Low Violence level: Medium-High (there's a war, and a lot of people get burned alive) Back Cover: “Enna's brother, Leifer, has found the secret to an extraordinary power—to make fire without a spark. It's an ability that could be used for good...if he can control it. But Enna can't decide if it's a power she wants for herself, or one that should be extinguished forever. And when their home country of Bayern goes to war, the choice becomes unbearable. Enna never imagined the warm, life-giving energy of a fire could destroy everything she loves, but now she must try to save Bayern and herself before fire consumes her entirely.” |
Enna is actually one of my favorite characters from the first book. She's a bit different from the main characters Shannon Hale tends to write, which may be why it's generally considered the least favorite. For one thing, she's much more self-confident to start out with, so her journey is more one of false confidence to self-doubt to true confidence, although the self-doubt is mostly brought on by extended contact with one of those annoying people-speakers. Seriously, when it comes to villains, people-speakers have got to be among the most purely irritating ever invented. Luckily, they only work for a limited time, until they just tell way too many lies and lose every bit of the trust of the people they've manipulated.
I enjoyed how the magic system gets more complex in the sequel as the characters learned more about their new abilities. The idea of needing balance in magic is played out really cleverly, although why you need balance with speaking to the elements but not with speaking to animals, I never fully understood.
And Shannon Hale also gets a few good ethics lessons in there, which is something else she has a tendency to do. In this case, it's the ethics of war itself, and what is sacrificed within a person when they're required to engage in atrocities in order to protect their families and homes. It's not something that most fantasy novels really address, so it's nice to see someone actually acknowledging some of the consequences that come even if you win.