Highfire

Artemis Fowl voor volwassenen? De laatste draak op aarde, met een klein drankprobleem, probeert rustig zijn laatste dagen te slijten in de moerassen van Florida. Dat duurt niet lang...

“After a long contemplative moment, the dragon asked, “Say, boy, you surely know how to make a martini, you working in a bar and all?”

Een hoop gevloek, een draak, crimineel gedrag, al met al een zeer aangenaam tijdverdrijf.

Highfire takes a high fantasy-style ancient dragon, drops him in the Louisiana Bayou, and mixes him up in a crime thriller, involving a corrupt officer of the law and a highly resourceful teenager.

Unexpected friendships, humor, and personality-filled characters make this book a joy. There is a lot of adventure; I find myself actually caring about the action because all the players involved are so layered and colorful. Even the villain has depth, sure it's all evil depth, but it's there. There's a little bit of a message about species extinction and learning not to judge an individual by previous experiences with the rest of their kind. It's well done, and handled via the character arcs, not heavy-handed.

It's a bit like a Christopher Moore book, combining modern fantasy with pop culture references and quick-witted dialogue. A Moore fan might like this and vice-versa.

This is a funny story staring a dragon who really just doesn't care much anymore...or does he. And, a kid who has absolutely nothing going for him. And, a complete ass.
It's got action, adventure, criminal masterminds, lame jokes, and really cool creatures.
...and, a happy ending!

For YA or adults.

dnf

I really loved this book. I listened to the audiobook so my review is based on that experience. There was a lot more cursing than I was expecting from Eoin Colfer, but I didn't mind it, in fact, it made some of the lines especially funny. The narrator had a Louisiana accent, but it wasn't distracting, it added to the story.

So this was my first experience reading Eoin Colfer. I'm not sure this was his typical writing style or if it was just something tried out for this book, but it does not work for me.

I ended up enjoying points of the story, however I feel like the things I didn't like the most were the components that made up the vast majority of the books' character.

Vern's personality of this super sarcastic, angry, bitter being that loves to curse, wear Flashdance T-shirts, and get drunk felt more like a teenager character than anything else. Not to mention the cursing was over the top for me regardless. To me it had the same grating effect that Rowling's The Casual Vacancy had, which just screamed, “NOT MIDDLE-GRADE PLEASE NOTICE. ADULT!” which is one of the major reasons neither of these books hit for me. Like, we get it. Adult novels can just be about the way it's written and the context, not only “adult” words. It could just be me, but cursing heavily always aligns more with YA in my mind because I feel like those are the aged people that think cursing makes them heard.

Also, through no real fault of Colfer's, he chose to make this story in the southern bayou. Which really just had me picturing the stupidness of Jason Stackhouse from Trueblood the entire time. It made everything harder to take seriously. And I know that Squib was only fifteen, so he wasn't the brightest, but he even portrayed him as the school-hating, slightly crooked, bayou boy. I can't really relate, I've only seen those things related as plain stupid, and therefore it hurt my imagining and experience with it. I was forced to imagine a little Creole teen with a dirt stache like Renee from season one of TB. It just didn't click for me.

Lastly, in all my lengthy complaints, is that Colfer really wanted to make a dragon story, but only if he could achieve something new. Well he did, and it absolutely does not work for me. Anyone reading this may absolutely disagree, but did anyone ever stop to wonder if there's so many of the same story styles because people like their fantasy to remain fantasy? I've given multiple modern fantasy stories a go, including Netflix's “Bright,” and in my opinion they honestly all fall short simply because they lack in the fantasy department. A dragon wearing t-shirts and cargo pants? Drinking beers and rocking hoodies? Why? Your flock is are safe, he's got Dominos!

**(actually lastly) I genuinely despised Hooke. I know he was a crooked constable and soldier and man and son and civilian and human. I don't mean the guy portrayed. The invented character, I could not stand it. I'm still not sure why.

As I tend to write harsh reviews for things I didn't love, here is my disclaimer that this is only my opinion. You may feel differently, you may be excited about the things I complain about above, you may love it. Enjoy. Good luck.

★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2 (rounded up)
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
—

He knows where I live. And Momma, too.

Squib was marked and he knew it.

I gotta sort this out, he thought. I gotta get out from under that dragon.

Which is not a problem most people have to solve in their lifetimes. In general, most folk who get to meet a dragon only get to think about it that one time for about five seconds.

Game of Thrones

“Game of Thrones? Are you tryin to push my buttons, kid Game of [expletive] Thrones! Those dragons are like servants—you see me doing any [expletive] mother of dragon's bidding? I'd never serve humans!...[Expletive] lapdog CGI [expletive] fire lizards. Heap of [expletive]”

Flashdance

Highfire

My fire don't burn slow. No one ever got mildly scalded from dragon flame.

“Fulminated” was the word, or used to be.

Pete's Dragon

The Princess Bride

Plugged

Screwed

And Another Thing...

Highfire

Artemis Fowl

Vern is (probably) the last dragon alive, and is currently living a lonely life in the Louisiana swamp, until one day his covert existence is threatened by a teenager's run-in with a corrupt cop. Everett “Squib” Moreau manages to avoid incineration and convince Vern that he can be useful rather than a liability, but things get a little dicey when the corrupt cop keeps digging. Vern and Squib are forced into an unlikely partnership to save themselves and their loved ones.
Highfire is an entertaining adult fantasy novel with a quirky cast of characters. It is funny, sad, and graphically violent in equal measure. After a bit of a slow start the story picks up, with nonstop action towards the end.

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for my open and honest review.

Do you know what happens when author Eoin Colfer of Artemis Fowl fame decides he wants to write an adult book? You get dragons and snark. You get Highfire. I am a particular fan of the snark, pretty much as it comes in all forms because I like my characters to swagger and be cheeky bastards.

Vern, short for Wyvern, is hiding on an island in a Louisiana swamp. He minds his own business, doing as he has done for the last 3000+ years. He hates humans, much like an old man who hates kids playing on his lawn. They are a nuisance, cause all sorts of issues, and usually end up trying to hunt you down with pitchforks. He loves Netflix, Flashdance, the incredible 1980s classic, and Vodka. But to get these necessities of life, he needs a minion to fetch things for him. Currently, a half-human creature named Waxman has been helping him out; they go back for a awhile. Vern saved Waxman from a life in the circus fifty years ago. But Waxman needs to go underground, or really bury himself in Vern's dragon shit to regenerate himself for a few months, so Vern needs a new minion.

Also, in the town lives a resourceful 15-year-old boy named Squib. Squib is a hustler. He does anything he can to make a dollar, and that includes fetching Vern vodka and helping him with his cable. To make things even more interesting, the town constable, sociopath Regence Hooke, is off to create himself a drug trade through Vern's little piece of swamp paradise. Hooke's plans are an issue for both Squib, who gets caught up in the machinations of Hooke and Vern, as well as Vern himself. Thrown in a whole lot of dragon fire, exciting fights, and a blowout on Honey Island, and you have yourself a story.

I have known Colfer from the much-beloved Artemis Fowl children's series. He writes compelling characters, with fun offbeat senses of humor and excitement. However, this story is touted as an adult story, and I didn't get that sense when reading it. Yes, there is cursing, and yes, Hooke is very much a psychopath. But something was missing in the execution that screamed adult to me. It was a good story. Squib is a great and lovable protagonist, and Vern is a whole lot of grumpy scaly fun, but the story did not feel fully fleshed out beside the characterizations and fight scenes. Both of which are very good.

It was only somewhat meh for me.

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