And the world will burn.

Author : Joe Hill
Title : The Fireman
Published : 07/06/2016
Pages : 768
Format : Hardback
Publisher : Gollancz

     Pregnant school nurse,Harper Grayson, has seen lots of people burn on TV, but the first person she saw burn for real was in the playground behind her school. But when she realises she has become infected, she is determined to find a way to survive - at least long enough to see her child born. No matter what is left of the world for them to live in.

 

     It's not often I venture into the world of fantasy. The subject matter is not one I find all that entertaining but that's just me. However when I do it has to be said I usually grab a book by this author. I think he has a great ability to bring things that are strange and unusual into the real world. With this book it's about a fungus that latches on to the human body called dragon scale. The end result is that you will one day catch fire and burn till only ash is left.

 

     For the most part we follow Harper and the mystery's man known only as the fireman. When we first meet her she is without infection and is still working at her job trying to help those who are. When your title character is a nurse I think it brings some expectations with it. That of a caring and sympathetic person some one who puts others first. And with Harper that's what you get she does all she can in a world that has fallen apart. As we later come to learn she is also brave and strong. It was great once again to read a book with such a strong female lead in it. The author delivers us someone you care deeply care for and can get behind. I followed her trials with baited breath to see how she would make it through not only for herself but her unborn child and the family she creates around herself. The fireman is someone we gradually learn more about across the chapters. He servers as the protector of this small band of outcasts. Which is not to say that his story is not as heart-breaking as the others. He carries with him the demons of his past. He is an outsider in a group of outsiders. I felt he spent a great deal of time trying to atone for the sins of his past most of which seem to have been out side his control. The supporting cast of this story spawns some interesting results and ask us questions of how far would we be willing to go. From the insanity produced when your own body has a death sentence over your head to the cremation crews how with the power of the government behind them want to wipe you out of very existence.

 

     I have to say this is a long book at 768 pages I figured it would take a while to get through it. And I suppose it did having spent 4 nights with it. It did however not feel like a long read as it managed to engross me every time I picked it up. There are elements borrowed from other story's winding there way through the story.  Or should I say themes that have been seen in works. Fahrenheit 451 comes to mind as this is also acknowledged by the author. I also think there are twitches of things like lord of the flies. Whilst set in a world of fantasy he manages to make the situations our hero's find them selves in to be very believable. There reactions to events are I could see myself doing if they every happened to me. For me I felt this story had a great deal to do with family. Not necessarily the ones we are born with but the ones we chose to make ether for necessity or simple friendship. The bond that holds this group together only grows stronger the more the suffer in the pursuit of there final destination. It also shows the perils of blind faith and how it can hold a strangling bind on small communities. In theirs of less than two hundred it becomes readily apparent that one lead can control the others even if it means there will be bloodshed.  The corrupting influence of power can break down the most honest of people and turn them in to monsters. In part the use the community singing to hold there infections in line. It pacifies the foreign bodies that have invaded them. At times if feels like they are all on a drug high an addiction and a cure all rolled into one. As they forget who and where they are. With things like food and medicine in scarce supply  its easy to offer people things that want in return for there obedience. This book does contain action sequences but they tend to bookend other events. Some of which come across as far creeper than you would have thought from such simple actions. Such as the use of a small stone as punishment. At times I could feel this book getting right under my skin.

 

     For me this was a story about what ifs. Would the manage to all make it to the end would Harper keep her child alive long enough to be born and could she save her friends in the processes. This is a book very much about the journey. With characters you will come to care for. While long I think some times you need a book that gives its all to telling a story in one go.