Birth of the Firebringer (Firebringer Trilogy (Paperback))

I bought this book when I was 7 years old, and it has been my favorite ever since. I had no idea there were sequels until coming online 3 years ago, and since then, I've been taking part in the great dance of trying to find them. Even without ever reading "Dark Moon" and "Son of Summer Stars", I would say this is a superb standalone legend. I look forward to the day they are all reprinted for a new generation of dreamers and doers. Judging that the "Darkangel" trilogy, in my opinion a far less well-thought-out 'practice' work for "Birth of the Firebringer", has been reprinted, these books must be reprinted as well. If you can find it, read the first adventure of Aljan the Dark Moon, Korr his sire, Telkella, Dag, the Free People, and all those under the watchful gaze of Almharat. It's been on my summer reading list for over half my life, it never gets old.

Okay, how to start...but, one problem: once I start, I won't be able to end. The legend of the Firebringer. The most ingenious, original, beautiful piece of writing I have ever, ever come across. It is a masterpiece. If ever you have read any books based on unicorns: throw those aside. Cast all other visions aside. Read, and be entranced. It is just beautiful.This world that Ms. Pierce has created is unlike any other. The unicorns that dwell in it have their own society, culture, and legends...their own world, apart from ours, unlike anything you would ever imagine. Aljan, prince of the unicorns, young and headstrong: his life is changed forever during his initiation as a Warrior -- travelling to the sacred Mirror of the Moon in the midst of his ancestors' lands; stolen by the wyverns. For four hundred years, his people, the unicorns, have been exiled from their rightful home: the Hallow Hills. And now, four hundred years later, young Jan discovers his destiny as the legendary Firebringer, and goes forth to weave yet another legend in his life alone. The story is unforgettable. It has touched a place in my heart and every single time I re-read this book and its followers, Dark Moon and the Son of Summer Stars, I find something new...something different, deep that I didn't catch before. Forever these books are at the top of my favorites list: their name is engraved, never to fade. Hard though they are to find, you will never ever forget them, and you will treasure them forever to come. For no one who has ever read them will ever forget the story and the legend of the Firebringer...

Why, oh why is this fabulous book out of print? Who conspires against the wonderful world of the Warriors of the Ring and keeps it so hard to find, instead of every child in america having a copy? *Sigh* It saddens me that my children will never know this most wonderious world for themselves, because, while a copy of the first book is easy to find, the next two are as slippery as a wyrm to find. I should know, because every time I find a copy, it is more than I am willing to pay. However, should you be willing to enter the quest for these books, the rewards of finding them are a lush, rich world that you'll never want to leave. I could go on and on about how much better this book is compared to current popular children's fantasy novels. Beleve me, once you read this, the siren call of Jah-lila the Red-Mare will never leave you and you will be wanting to desperetly know the second night of the tale...........................

I found the book at my library when I was in Jr. High (about ten years ago) and read it several times before returning it. Time passed but I could never forget the enchanting story of Aljan and the unicorn herd and their fight against the wyverns. I finally found the book again during the past year and read it again and it was better than I remembered. I also discovered the sequels to the original and I was overjoyed and immediately read them. I was delighted with them as well. Meredith Pierce knows unicorns. She makes them more than just a fairy tale and I thank her for the joy the books brought to me as a child and as an adult.

This book and the two that follow it form the most undeservedly obscure trilogy in fantasy. If a coming-of-age adventure with a unicorn protagonist and a cast of characters including marauding gryphons, treacherous wyverns, and a goddess of many guises sounds unlikely, my only suggestion is, read and be entranced: it's beautiful! Pierce's exquisite, lyrical language and hypnotizing narrative spring from the same source as the epic cycles of myth and legend. At the same time, the wonderful creatures--mythical and otherwise--who people her world are vividly believable and blazing with life. The "young adult" designation is apt, but not important: these are great stories, and as any lover of fantasy knows, great stories transcend labels. Difficult as they are to find (the first two are VERY out of print, though the third, _The Son of Summer Stars_, is, I believe, still available,) they're worth the quest. These books have affected me powerfully in more ways than I can express, but I can say with confidence that once you have listened to the Lay of the Unicorns, fled from a serpent-cloud on the Great Grass Plain, and danced with a wyvern under a dark moon, the wild song of Aljan son-of-Korr will echo through your dreams ever after