Fireborn

In this Dragonborn prequel, greedy wizard Slowin steals both name and power from his apprentice, Bee. Meanwhile, twelve-year-old Cabbage's own master, Flaxfield, suddenly loses all his magic, and Cabbage and a new friend, Perry, are the only ones who can help. The curiosity, courage, and talents of Bee, Cabbage, and Perry, growing into adolescence, are at the heart of this intelligent, down-to-earth story.

Forward’s sturdy, precise manner of expression has deepened as he has moved backwards from Dragonborn (rev. 3/12) to its prequel, Fireborn; indeed, here his prose often takes on a luminous quality that suits the story’s fire imagery. When greedy wizard Slowin steals both name and power from his apprentice, Bee, the conflagration affects magic everywhere. Meanwhile, twelve-year-old Cabbage’s own master, Flaxfield, suddenly loses all his magic, and Cabbage finds that he and a new friend, Perry the (Hobbit-like) roffle, are the only ones with the ability to amend the situation. Memorable, convincing adult figures mingle with the young protagonists in this story, but the curiosity, courage, and talents of Bee, Cabbage, and Perry, growing into adolescence, are at its heart. An intelligent, down-to-earth wisdom runs throughout, as enriching as any magic: “The stories say different things,” Flaxfield tells Cabbage. “And…they’re all true.” Forward’s poetic language isn’t grandiose in epic style, but humble, earthy (“he wasn’t old, but his hair had already grown tired of him”), and thought provoking—making this excellent middle-grade fantasy a rich mix of character, seriousness, comic foibles, and loving exactitude. deirdre f. baker