Saturday, August 1, 2009

Enna Burning by Shannon Hale


Again deferring to Goodreads:
Enna and Princess Isi became fast friends in The Goose Girl, but after Isi married Prince Geric, Enna returned to the forest. Enna's simple life changes forever when she learns to wield fire and burn anything at will. Enna is convinced that she can use her ability for good--to fight Tira, the kingdom threatening the Bayern borders--and goes on secret raids to set fire to the Tiran camps and villages. But as the power of the fire grows stronger, she is less able to control her need to burn. In her recklessness she is captured by the Tiran army and held captive by a handsome, manipulative young captain who drugs her to keep her under his influence. Can Isi and her old friends Finn and Razo rescue her without sacrificing themselves? And with the fire still consuming her, will Enna find a way to manage the gift that threatens to destroy her?



Here's the thing with me and fantasy:

I like fantasy but I need a lot in the story that I can relate to. Like little bits of fantasy in a larger story that contains lots of normalcy. Which is why I really enjoyed Goose Girl...sure, there was that wind talking thing, but it felt like such a small footnote in the overall story. In Enna Burning, the fantasy is a much larger part and I just felt overwhelmed by it. I still enjoyed the story and think Shannon Hale is pretty much awesome, but I didn't enjoy Enna Burning as much as its predecessor.

That's totally personal preference though because some people like large doses of fantasy. Plus, even though it's not much of a love story, there's this scene in a tent where Finn thinks Enna is sleeping and he kind of declares his love for her and it melted my stone cold heart. So there's always that.

1 comment:

Heather said...

I love fantasy and liked this one even better than goose girl, which got off to a slow start for me. Austenland felt so different. I think she should stick to the fairy tale theme.