Patrick Ness creates a very cool mythical/ historical fiction with a simple title: Burn. The story starts with Sarah Dewhurst waiting near the farm with her dad for a dragon, and some subtle introduction to the town of Frome, Washington. The whole reason I borrowed the book is for the title and the cool-looking dragon in the cover. Until I see this cover on Amazon…
I prefer the simplicity of the hardcover book I have.
Some Interesting Threads in the Book.
With a dragon comes a prophecy about a poor unsuspecting person. Unfortunately for Sarah Dewhurst, she seems to be the person in question. In this world, dragons are a creature as real as humans. They make deals with humans with gold as payment, which is why it’s at the farm. Sarah’s dad needs to clear the land quickly so he can plant things and earn money. The beginning was a little slow. It’s like you are making painful rounds interacting with strangers, trying to get to know them.
Anyway, the dragon that arrives is a Blue dragon. Kazimir-the- dragon is quite a scholar, and it’s nice to Sarah because of her status as a catalyst in the prophecy.
Then you have Sarah and Jason, two things the local police officer does not like. Sarah is a biracial girl, while Jason’s heritage is Japanese. We know what happened during WW2, so what’s coming isn’t crucial to the main story, but it’ll still be satisfying.
Then We have Malcolm
While most of the human population do not trust dragons, some believe that they are closest to god there is. Hence, there is a dragon- worshipping cohort called Believer who wants the dragons to have a glorious comeback. One believer is Malcolm, who has received an important mission. Malcolm’s prayers can come true, which lends to some added faith to the system. Now we have two entities in Burn: a dragon and a Believer, doing opposite things because they believe it will avoid a war.
Who is correct?
Verdict for Burn
This is not your typical mythical dragon type story. It ties in some science fiction to make it credible (and also slightly confusing). If you read the reviews on Amazon, you either hate it or love it. I find myself in awe because it has a mix of history, science theories, mythology, and a dash of romance. Sarah and Jason have been together since the start, so I’m not talking about a romance with a reptile here…
I liked Burn, because Patrick Ness didn’t drag on and on. The pace might be a little slow at times, but it’s needed to process some information. The book is a linear timeline with a limited third person point of view, so you and the characters can realize bad news at the same time.
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Well now you have me curious. I do like Ness. 🙂