Highfire by Eoin Colfer is a story about a boy and a dragon but not in the traditional sense. Squib is a teenager living with his single mom in the Louisiana bayou who seems to be perpetually in trouble, specifically with the local constable. The same constable who has set his cap for his mom and is determined to not let Squib stop him. Deep in the same bayou lives Vern, an old and rather grumpy dragon who is rather depressed and pessimistic about life in general and his ability to ever safely interact with humans. When Squib unintentionally films the local constable meeting with and then killing a local drug runner he finds himself in a spot of trouble, again. This time though he finds himself saved from death by the constable only to find himself facing death by dragon, that is Vern. Though he manages to escape, his and Vern’s paths keep intertwining leading to a working partnership and later a friendship even as they also struggle to figure out what to do about the pesky constable who is still hunting Squib every chance he gets.
I am going to admit this was necessarily what I was expecting but that may be due to me being used to reading Colfer’s teen and children’s fiction instead of adult fiction. This book was considerably different from his other work. That being said it was still an incredible read and I found myself rather amused by the antics of Squib and Vern as they struggled to get along and find common ground. Something that I did find interesting is how well defined their personalities are as you can easily picture Vern lounging around in a flashdance t-shirt or Squib putting around in his little boat hauling supplies. You can also definitely tell their respective ages as Vern is old enough he doesn’t much care about anything and Squib is still young enough he feels invincible most of the time. In terms of plot it was fairly complicated actually as it focused around several different related things such as the growing relationship between Squib and Vern as well as the growing animosity the constable has for Squib. Something I was really surprised by was just how well an Irish author depicted life in the Louisiana Bayou. Either he has actually visited or he has done some extensive research because it definitely feels pretty authentic to me, well in regards to everything except the dragon anyway. I highly doubt there is actually a dragon hiding in the bayou. This was incredibly well written and a highly entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable read. Definitely a book I could see myself reading again in the future so I am happy giving it 4.5 out of 5 stars.
This book is a pretty good example of a modern adult fantasy novel and a good one at that so if that is what you tend to prefer I would recommend you try this one out. I highly doubt that it would hold any appeal for readers who don’t enjoy that type of story though. Normally I would also suggest that this book might be alright for slightly younger readers as well considering Squib is also a teenager. However, I am also going to state that this book has some really colorful language, both from Squib and Vern as well as the constable, so it should probably only be read by readers about the same age as Squib or older. This means about fifteen or sixteen and not younger than that. It also references the drug trade and there is quite a bit of violence sprinkled throughout as well so keep that in mind. The book is still pretty good though and I hope you will try it anyway if it sounds appealing. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments if you do.