Best known for his Artemis Fowl novels for younger readers, with Highfire Eoin Colfer proves in no uncertain terms that his talents comfortably stretch to fantasy books for adults as well. Deep in the Louisiana bayou, Everett ‘Squib’ Moreau is trying hard to stay on the straight and narrow, but it’s not easy for a restless teenager, especially with the threat of the disturbing Constable Regence Hooke looming over him and his mum. When a potentially lucrative, albeit somewhat illicit, opportunity goes awry, Squib unexpectedly finds himself in the dangerous company of Vern, a foul-mouthed, bad tempered, vodka drinking dragon.
It’s an effortlessly witty book, a sweary and surprisingly emotional story mixing magical realism and life in the deep south as a scruffy young delinquent meets a grouchy old dragon…and sparks fly. Squib is a bit of a terror with a heart of gold, always promising himself that for the sake of his mum he’ll curb his enthusiasm for getting into scrapes before promptly finding himself in even deeper trouble than before. To Vern the dragon he’s a constant source of bemused frustration, asking endless questions and refusing to leave him alone, while to Regence Hooke he’s both an everyday irritant and an obstacle to the Constable’s unwanted attention towards Elodie, Squib’s mother. With boundless enthusiasm and a natural-born hustler’s energy he tears around the bayou getting in and out of trouble, but the introduction of Vern into his world shakes things up considerably.
Vern couldn’t be more different to Squib, but those differences and contrasting voices are what make the story sing. With his Flashdance t-shirts, abiding hatred of Game of Thrones and high alcohol tolerance he’s comedy gold, but beneath the surface he has a darker, more serious story and history too. Take away the fact that he’s a dragon and you’d be left with a grumpy old man struggling to relate to others around him, who just wants to be left alone by a world that he feels has left him behind. For all the fun that’s to be had watching him cut loose breathing fire or kick back watching TV, the heart of the story revolves around how Squib’s unwanted intrusion into Vern’s life reveals what it’s like to be (probably) the last dragon on Earth and brings him – begrudgingly – out of his shell. All of which is precipitated by the relentless awfulness of Hooke, who develops from an unpleasant creep into a full-on psychopath with terrifying inevitability.
From start to finish this is an absolute blast, packed full of character and paced to keep the pages turning, whether delving into Vern’s backstory or roaming the waterways of the bayou with Squib. Colfer gradually builds up his world, effectively embedding a few carefully-chosen fantasy elements into a swampy sense of real-world bayou life to create a riotous mix of pop culture, fantasy, mythology and Deep South living that’s both deeply charming and surprisingly powerful and thought-provoking. It’s the sort of book that will have you in hysterics one moment, wincing at the insane amounts of violence laid down the next, and stopping to think about what life is really like for these characters soon afterwards. In short, it’s an absolute joy to read.
Many thanks to Eoin Colfer and Jo Fletcher Books for sending me a copy of Highfire in exchange for this honest review.
