Highfire

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.

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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