In the days of yore, he flew the skies and scorched angry mobs — now he hides from swamp tour boats and rises only with the greatest reluctance from his Laz-Z-Boy recliner. Laying low in the bayou, this once-magnificent fire breather has been reduced to lighting Marlboros with nose sparks, swilling Absolut in a Flashdance T-shirt, and binging Netflix in a fishing shack. For centuries, he struck fear in hearts far and wide as Wyvern, Lord Highfire of the Highfire Eyrie — now he goes by Vern. However...he has survived, unlike the rest. He is the last of his kind, the last dragon. Still, no amount of vodka can drown the loneliness in his molten core. Vern’s glory days are long gone. Or are they?
A canny Cajun swamp rat, young Everett “Squib” Moreau does what he can to survive, trying not to break the heart of his saintly single mother. He’s finally decided to work for a shady smuggler — but on his first night, he witnesses his boss murdered by a crooked constable.
Regence Hooke is not just a dirty cop, he’s a despicable human being — who happens to want Squib’s momma in the worst way. When Hooke goes after his hidden witness with a grenade launcher, Squib finds himself airlifted from certain death by…a dragon?
The swamp can make strange bedfellows, and rather than be fried alive so the dragon can keep his secret, Squib strikes a deal with the scaly apex predator. He can act as his go-between (aka familiar) — fetch his vodka, keep him company, etc. — in exchange for protection from Hooke. Soon the three of them are careening headlong toward a combustible confrontation. There’s about to be a fiery reckoning, in which either dragons finally go extinct — or Vern’s glory days are back.
So I've read almost all of Colfer's YA fare, plus a couple of his adult books now, and can I say I wasn't thrilled with the cursing in this one? I don't know if it was just part of the dialect or if it was included to make the book 'more adult', but there seemed to be an inordinate amount of cursing at times, which just put me off. I think once I knew the characters better it wasn't as jarring (and again, that may be due to my familiarity with the author's family-friendly writing), but it took a while to get to that point.
Pacing-wise, this book was fairly slow. Well, until the end when it decided to step on the gas pedal. From the description you think it's gonna be a thrill ride, what with "the three of them careening headlong toward a combustible confrontation", but really it takes almost half the book for Vern and Squib to even get on the same page. Sure, once the constable finds out about the dragon things get kicked up a notch, and like I said, the pedal hits the floor by the end, but dang if it don't take a long time to get there. Each of the characters get A LOT of backstory, Hooke more than most, so it's a bit of a slow burn (ha!) building up to the actual confrontation.
I was surprised by how much of the book was focused on the villain, Constable Hooke. I mean, Colfer's always been good at fleshing out his characters, whether they be protagonists or baddies, but for a book named after a dragon, it felt like Hooke got the lion's share of pages dedicated to him and his story. Or if he didn't, then I guess maybe his sections dragged on me the most since I wanted to get back to Vern and Squib's story. I mean, the book features a dragon who's lived for centuries, why so much focus on a crooked cop?
Probably because it's important to know why he wouldn't turn tail and run at the first sight of a dragon. It's kinda like how in Pete's Dragon (yeah, that's referenced in the book, too) the villains get their own musical number explaining how money trumps cowardice. Hooke gets a lot of detail about his upbringing, military record, and his overall goals so you're not immediately calling bullshit when he works pissing off a dragon into his schemes for success. So in a way, his amount of narrative weight kinda serves to have his presence annoy you within and without the text. Layers, right?
Another thing that may work against this book is the pop culture referencing. I could already see a bit of it with the Game of Thrones references, but there is no better way to date a book than to include pop culture. It's not too bad for the most part, with Flashdance, GoT, and some music being the biggest references, but only time can tell if they'll work against it or not.
Overall, I enjoyed Highfire for its wit and imagination. I definitely think the second half was more engaging than the first, but I can appreciate the groundwork that was laid. It's a nice standalone novel, though there is sequel potential. If you don't mind the grittier language, violence (especially concerning a gutting hook), some sexual innuendos, and some plot-relevant piss and shit, I think fans of Colfer's other works will enjoy this one. If you're looking for an interesting take on urban (or as urban as Louisiana swamps can get) fantasy with a lot of snark, then Highfire is definitely for you.
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