Highfire

I had to laugh when I read other reviews of this book as adult fantasy. It comes across with very much the same whimsical tone and magic-in-the-real-world plot device Eoin Colfer used in his children’s series Artemis Fowl. The only differences are that the author makes liberal use of hardcore profanity (motherf—-r is a favourite word of multiple characters)… that and dragon penis jokes. Hooray. Swearing and baldly done dirty humour do not graduate a book into the sphere of adult fantasy.
Despite Colfer’s phenomenal talent to tell an engaging story (at least in other books), the set up and execution for this particular story never got me to quite believe in a three thousand year old dragon flying around the Louisania Bayou.
The story feels like a strange mutant between a fairy tale and a small-town crime thriller. It yo-yos between the two genres without ever settling into a single groove.
The lack of character development for the entire cast apart from the dragon Highfire is frustrating. No one seems particularly surprised at the discovery of a blinking talking dragon in 21st century America. And Highfire’s journey from a cantankerous, human-hating recluse to a kind humanitarian in the space of a few months just comes across as contrived, especially when you consider he has the psychology of 3000 years of resentment and murder to overcome.
The other main character, Squib Moreau, is a scrappy Cajun teenager who loves his single mother and occasionally engages in petty lawbreaking when his youthful excitement or desire help his mom earn a living gets the better of him. But he does nothing worthwhile apart from getting repeatedly saved by the dragon or tricked and captured by the only truly gripping character in the book, the villain. Until the very end, where he suddenly shows above human levels of resourcefulness and physical endurance, in a very vague and told afterwards kind of way.
Lastly, I HATE how political many novelists have become. And Colfer is no exception. He can’t resist throwing in a bunch of one-line religious/political/social statements delivered through his characters’ thoughts and words that are very clearly his own convictions. You would think someone of Colfer’s writing caliber would know better. There is nothing worse than being yanked out of a reading experience because of awkwardly inserted personal propaganda. Let the damn story speak for itself! The author’s endless cheap shots at faith in God are pathetic and super-contrived. And become an eye-rolling drag.
All in all, despite being fast-paced, the overall story and characters are an ultimate disappointment.

He writes colorful fun books for young adult books but totally missed the mark here. The dragon main character was totally over the top. I was extremely disappointed by this as I loved his other works. I am a school librarian and that is why I was familiar with his other work.

I am a HUGE Eion Colfer fan. I have been reading his books since I was a teenager. Now many years later as an adult, I was so excited to see him cross over to adult fiction. I expected the same clever characters, subtle humor and exquisite world building that made his YA books so amazing. Boy, was I wrong. I am guessing I am in the minority here, but in every way possible this book fell short of expectation. The two main characters are simply not that great. Here you have a hundreds if not thousands year old dragon, who dresses and talks like a fifty something beer bum who maybe has been through a divorce or two and lost his job. Lives like a slob and basically has lost his purpose. No clever witty lines, no deep dive through what must be an interesting history such an old being would have experienced (more like a brief and boring gloss). The boy is supposed to be somewhat sympathetic, but why? Cause he has is still young. Because he has grown up rough, poor and fatherless? Are we meant to see he has no choice, but to become embroiled in criminal schemes? Because plenty of people manage to make a different choice in far worse circumstances. Also, one part I was really and truly was disappointed in was Colfers choice to demonize a cop for his main bad guy.. Not only a cop, but a military veteran. Of course there are plenty of rogue cops who use their power and badge for evil. I am sure there are some veterans who either went to war because they wanted to get bloody, or who come back and just cant adjust and maybe dont want to. In Colfers story this guy is basically a sadistic monster, who suckled at the breast of war and came home to continue his murderous schemes with the training to get away with it. Really, when you actually feel bad for the drug dealers he is killing you know the author has taken a character to an extreme. Last but not least, I am no prude, but the sheer volume and quantity of vulgarity in this book is simply unmerited. Its like a cross between an R rated war movie and a R rated drunken frat party. To be honest, I did not even finish this story. Why would I? There was not anything of substance to latch onto. No truly sympathetic character who you could truly relate to or at least have empathy/sympathy for. Of course you can see where they want you to and who they want you to, but the writing just doesnt merit it. Also, if you are gonna claim to write an adult book, I expect a sufficiently sussed out sorry, well developed characters and something that speaks to maturity. However, here we have none of that. Just a drunken depressed dragon, a jail bait kid, a sociopathic cop/vet and enough language to choke a sailor. No thanks. This was a far cry from Colfers previous work, both in character development and writing style and for me personally, I wont be taking the bait again. I will stick to pre-2020 Eion Colfer from now on.

While the book is written by an author whose writings are usually for the “young adult” crowd, this is definitely not one of those! What it is, however, is proof that fantasy can still be enjoyed by adults, and not just the “nerdy” types! Don’t care for Tolkien or the Dungeons & Dragons-type stuff? No worries! The main non-human characters are only non-human by biology; their characterizations are as real and “human” as it gets – and so is the humour! I enjoyed this as much as I have any book on any level, or any genre. I’ll keep buying Colfer on his name alone, until (read unless) he ever faces.

Well it turns out a lot! And this makes for a very witty and entertaining story if you add one of the meanest super villains to the mix. Mind you this villain does not have dozens of minions, a white Persian or a pool filled with sharks to demonstrate his displeasure. He is just a sociopath who knows how to mask his true nature – most of the time while acting as law enforcer in a tiny community. Nasty piece of work.
I prefer Colfer’s stand alones much more than his Artemis Fowl series. This is based on having read The Wishlist and this one. But having read them I find that there is more substance to his characters when he writes stand alones, though neither type of story lacks in originality.
He knows how to spin a good yarn.