Firethorn - BookWyrm

383 pages

English language

Published April 9, 2005 by HarperCollins.

ISBN:: 978-0-00-719305-9
OCLC Number:: 224175005

(2 reviews)

"Firethorn flees a life of drudgery to live alone in the forest, relying on her knowledge of herb lore to survive. She returns transformed, indebted to the god who saved her life, and blessed - or cursed - with uncanny abilities and a nagging sense of destiny. After a few nights of dalliance with Sire Galan, a high-caste warrior on his way to join the king's army, Firethorn seizes the chance to go with him, only to find she has exchanged one form of servitude for another." "The army readies for war in the vast encampment of the Marchfield, where men prey on each other and women dare go nowhere alone. Among the lowborn harlots and the highborn dames of the camp, Firethorn learns to use her gifts as a healer, venturing into realms of dream and shadow." "Desire drew Firethorn and Sire Galan together, but love binds them - …

"Firethorn flees a life of drudgery to live alone in the forest, relying on her knowledge of herb lore to survive. She returns transformed, indebted to the god who saved her life, and blessed - or cursed - with uncanny abilities and a nagging sense of destiny. After a few nights of dalliance with Sire Galan, a high-caste warrior on his way to join the king's army, Firethorn seizes the chance to go with him, only to find she has exchanged one form of servitude for another." "The army readies for war in the vast encampment of the Marchfield, where men prey on each other and women dare go nowhere alone. Among the lowborn harlots and the highborn dames of the camp, Firethorn learns to use her gifts as a healer, venturing into realms of dream and shadow." "Desire drew Firethorn and Sire Galan together, but love binds them - a love that has no place in the arrangement between a warrior and his sheath. When Galan makes a wager with disastrous consequences, Firethorn uses her gifts to intervene in his fate and learns just how hard it can be to tell honor from dishonor, justice from vengeance."--BOOK JACKET.

4 editions

toreachpoise@wyrms.de reviewed Firethorn by Sarah Micklem

Review of 'Firethorn' on 'GoodReads'

2 stars

The Adrienne Rich poem at the beginning set my expectations for this book way too high.

I thought this was going to be a badass adventure story about a witch destroying patriarchy. Instead it's about some woman becoming a medieval knight's fuck-sleeve (more or less the actual terminology used THROUGHOUT THE BOOK.) The world of the book sounds interesting but is never developed. Likewise for the magical lore, or even the MC's character development. Instead, we spend over 300 pages as the main character does nothing, with a barrage of rapey sex scenes that could only be hot to the most repressed of heterosexual housewives.

I literally threw this book out the window at the end, when after waiting for so fucking long to see what happens when they go to war, the story ends on a cliffhanger. I will not be reading the sequel. This shit sucked.

unsquare reviewed Firethorn by Sarah Micklem

Review of 'Firethorn' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This one started off slow, but once I got used to the period style, I was hooked, and ended up thoroughly enjoying it, possibly more than I expected. The book is basically a romance set in a sort of alternate medieval times. What little touches of fantasy are present are very subtle. Overall the book is pretty straightforward period literature. Class and the structure of this little society were a big part of the book, and everything was very well drawn, down to the last detail. I'm glad to know it's a planned trilogy... I'm curious to see What Happens Next.

Subjects

Quests (Expeditions)
Fiction
Young women