I have slightly mixed feelings about Highfire.  On the one hand, I really enjoyed certain aspects of the story and would no doubt read more if the author intended to revisit. But, at the same time I did struggle a little to get into this and I’m not entirely sure why, other than my reading seemed to ebb a little last week so maybe I was just not in the right frame of mind.

This is fantasy of a very different kind.  To an extent, without Vern (who was actually more akin to a Wyvern than a dragon) and his mysterious friend, the fantasy aspect of the story is very low key.  This is a story that plays out in the bayous of Louisiana and I have to say upfront that I loved the setting.

Deep in the bayou lives a dragon, the last of his kind maybe.  He’s all about keeping a low profile and keeping the howling mobs at bay.  In the modern era your likeness and a full on video can be recorded so easily that Vern has taken to hiding out, he’s a bit depressed, he lacks companionship, he has something of an alcohol problem and I suppose he lacks purpose.  Until Squib enters his life.

Basically this is a story that focuses very much on the characters.  Everett Moreau, aka Squib, is a teenage boy who is one step away from crossing the line.  He’s not had the easiest childhood and although at heart he’s basically a good lad he’s struggling to help his mother with a debt that she didn’t run up whilst at the same time trying to keep the attention of the local law from focusing too hard on either himself or his mother.  Everett is quite easy to like, especially his enthusiasm for Vern the dragon.

Vern has lived a long life.  He doesn’t like humans, mainly due to the fact that they turned on his kind many centuries ago and killed them off, leaving Vern alone and bitter.  I suppose you could say that Squib really shakes Vern’s life up, a lot and I did enjoy their interactions, especially the slow way that Vern comes round to this new human in his life.

Regence Hooke is the local law and a bigger lowlife you are unlikely to ever meet.  Being privy to his internal thoughts is positively hideous.  He’s a murderer and a nasty piece of work.  Your basic psychopath really, and he has the big hots for Squib’s mum and would very much like to take Squib out of the picture entirely so that he can move his agenda forward.  He really is quite despicable.

The story revolves around these three characters, starting fairly low key until their lives become inextricably entangled and go down the route of no return – things then reach an explosive climax.

I think what held me back from a little with Highfire is that it has a fairly young feel – yet, it’s undoubtedly an adult read.  There is violence, people getting their faces ripped off and their guts spilled but in spite of the adult content, for me, this felt almost like Pete and his dragon.  I haven’t got a problem with that in some respects but I think I was expecting a darker tone somehow.  Vern is definitely an impressive beast and you wouldn’t want to get on his wrong side, but at the same time the comic feel to the story prevents him from having any real menace and I confess it took me a while to form any real attachments to the characters.

Okay, I was aware that this was going to be full of humour when I picked this up so the comic elements weren’t really a surprise but not all the humour quite hit the spot for me personally.

I don’t really mean to come across as overly negative.  On finishing this book I would say that I enjoyed it.  The ending was satisfying and refreshingly creative and I immediately felt that if more books were planned with Vern as the central character then I would be keen to pick them up, but, I’m not totally in love with the characters just yet, they still have a little more work for me to be totally on board.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the author, for which my thanks.  The above is my own opinion.

Rating 3.5 of 5 stars