Fire Bringer

by David Clement-Davies

Young buck Rannoch was born on the night his father was murdered and into a herd of deer where hunger for power has gradually whittled away at all that is true and good. He knows he must escape to survive. Chased by stags, with their fearsome antlers sharpened for the kill, he begins a treacherous journey into the unknown, and ahead of him lies a shocking and formidable search for truth and goodwill in the shadow of the Great Mountain.

One day he will have to return to his home and face his destiny among the deer to fulfill the prophecy that has persistently given them hope: that one day a fawn will be born with the mark of an oak leaf on his forehead and that fawn's courage will lead all the deer to freedom. Filled with passion and a darkness that gradually, through Rannoch's courage in the face of adversity, lifts to reveal an overwhelming feeling of light, Fire Bringer is a tremendous, spirited story that takes the reader deep into the hearts and minds of its characters as they fight for their right to live in peace.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Animals, Fiction, Childrens, Adventure, Animal Fiction

498 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 8, 1999

About the author

David was born in 1964 and went to Westminster School and Edinburgh University. There, Clement-Davies read History and English Literature, specializing in the Italian Renaissance, and Russian Literature and Society. For many years, he dreamed of one day becoming an actor taking a drama course and working in theater. However, he was also interested in writing and soon became a freelance travel journalist.

Clement-Davies lived in a little mountain home in Andalusia region of Spain to write The Sight, has traveled the world and now also lives in London. He has also written a musical, two adult novels, and a play, set in the present and the 17th century, called Startled Anatomies, alongside his children’s books. His online publishing website is phoeniarkpress.com and from there he is trying to create a grass roots publisher.

Reviews

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've discovered that what most people think when they look at this book is "It's an epic fantasy about deer? Well, unless you're some kind of deer lover, it's got to be boring, right?"

Wrong.

In his debut novel, Clement-Davies spins a world of incredible, realistic fantasy. Much as he did later in "The Sight," he populates this world with prophecies, myths, dark forces, spirits, gods, and unlikely heroes and heroines. And the result never ceases to amaze me.

High in the hills of Scotland, amid one of the herds of proud red deer, a fawn is born to the stag captain Brechin. On that same night, Brechin is murdered in a dark plot by the tyrannical Drail, who seeks to make the herd, and eventually all the deer in the valley, his own. But Brechin's calf, Rannoch, is in grave danger. For he is born with a white oak leaf on his forehead: the sign of a prophesied hero who will rise to bring the true ways of the wild back again. But not before he has endured an unimaginable quest.

In a tradition as epic as any ancient mythical hero, Rannoch and his friends, a wonderful and diverse cast of characters that are fantastically written, must travel into the heart of the wilderness to seek sanctuary from Drail. Like "Watership Down," this book makes you take a closer look at an often dismissed animal, into you are pulled so completely into the adventure you can't believe you ever thought deer were boring.

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book tries to be a Watership Down with deer. The problem is it is too much of a Watership Down with deer. It doesn't really stand apart from Watership. It is a pale imitation for three reasons. The first is many of the characters are cardboard cut-outs, either based off of the rabbits from Watership or off of stock characters that appear in novels. The second reason is that the world-building that Clement-Davies does for the deer doesn't fully make sense. There are small errors in it that stand out and make the deer's world a little unbelievable. The third reason is that Clement-Davies does not have the use of language that Adams does in Watership. Normally this wouldn't be a problem,but because Fire Bringer draws heavily from Down it becomes one. The difference in usage made me want to hurry up and finish Fire Bringer, so I could re-read Watership Down. Fire Bringer is a good first attempt, but not a great book.

[Mallory Shepherd · Rating 1 out of 5]

I barely made it through the book. The author does not understand the storytelling concept of "don't tell me, show me." Instead of that he gives you "I will show you and THEN also tell you in case you missed it the first time. And while I'm telling you I'm going to explain the significance just in case you weren't paying attention to the story or are too dumb to follow along." It was arduous trying to make it through and completely distracted from the story, which wasn't a strong narrative to begin with. The characters were very one dimensional and the story predictable. I'm pretty sure this is a children's book.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

One thing - I really really REALLY don't like Clement-Davies' writing. You might even come to say that I despise it with a fiery passion. But it seems like no matter what I do, I keep being drawn to his books. First The Sight, which I really despised. Then The Telling Pool, which was so boring that I seriously felt myself losing brain cells. WHY did I keep reading his books if i absolutely positively hated did not like them??? Well, I was browsing books, and I wandered over to the C's. I saw "Fire Bringer". Do not pick it up!, I told myself, No, no, NO!

As you probably already guessed, I did pick it up (the cover is really pretty, btw... A certain shade of blue mixed with- Ok, I'm shutting up now). And I'm thanking my lucky stars that I did. Nowadays, all the books are about "dark" girls that are all, "Oh no! I can't choose between him and him! Ahhh this is torture!!!!" and lame love stories that make you wish you had a trashcan nearby. This was a fresh breath for me. I don't really like "old-recent" books, (this was published in 1999), and I am usually browsing the new releases to find a half decent book or some such. Point is, this isn't my typical book. So if I enjoyed it, I'm betting two thirds of you guys also will.

This is about a deer. (Surprise, surprise. I'm sure you haven't guessed that from the cover.) And I'm not going to list all about this book because if you really want to know you'll read the synopsis.

So, one big thing I really liked is that it wasn't lame. At least not for me. I have a big problem with talking animals. Animals. Do. Not. Talk! So if you are writing on a point of view about animals, make it believable and not lame. Please. Spare humanity and the trees that will die to publish your terrible book. Like his previous book, The Sight. It was about talking wolves. But it was lame and boring and all kinds of other things that make up a book with a title called: Do Not Read Me I Suck B- moooooving on...

Thankfully, this book was believable most of the time. And while I'm sure deer don't contemplate in the way Clement-Davies wrote about, it was still slightly believable.

Only bad thing- the book tends to focus on something boring, like the description of a herd gathering to attack, for a long period of time. It starts getting all icky and UGH. Nobody likes run-on descriptions. Especially Chuck Norris.

I thought this book was agreeable and a lot of fun. It transported you into a way different world, but since you knew so much about that world from his descriptions, it was actually fun.

The end (actually the very last sentence) made me sniffle... But that's life.

[Veazey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, dear! Mild Spoilers ahead!

Normally when selecting a book there are a few key factor used into deciding wether I want to bother picking it up or not. I'm very lucky I didn't physically see this book in a store, or I don't think I would have bothered with it at all. I know it's rather shallow of me, but books with such small font are intimidating to me since I am usually such a casual reader. I usually get headaches from reading such long books, and this one is a whopper at nearly 500 pages!

I have to say though, I am very grateful I decided to pick this one up. As a kid, I loved anthropomorphic fiction. (The Poppy series and Watership down were some of my favourites,) and I wish I had heard (or herd, if I want to continue with my bad deer puns,) this book sooner because I just know I would have loved it in middle or high school. Everything about this story was believable and epic. Such a huge story with a huge array of characters is usually difficult for me to follow since I take longer to read such small-printed books, but I had a difficult time putting this book down. I was surprised with myself, it only took a few days to finish.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone who loves animal fiction. It takes its readers seriously without being too dull, there is always something happening. Also, I'd like to point out, this is the first time in a long time I have found a book I absolutely love that the author didn't kill off my favourite character. Though my second favourite (Poor Peppa!) met a less fortunate end, I am glad to see that Bankfoot came out all right in the end. Overall, this book is great. It was pure, delicious adventure that left me wanting more.

[AJ Nolan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I should change my category of "children's literature" to young adult literature, but I digress. My nephew recommended this book with rave reviews, and he was dead on with that. As soon as he finished this book, he read it a second time, which is quite a commitment in a rather long book, with much smaller print than most young adult novels. This book is reviewed as being a "Watership Down" but with rabbits, and that seems like quite the fair assessment. It is set in Scotland about 400 years ago, maybe more, and is about a herd of red deer. The protagonist Rannoch seems to be the chosen one, fulfilling a deer prophecy, and he is a wonderful and conflicted hero, seeking to figure out what he is meant to do in this world as he flees for his life from his herd that is being destroyed and changed from within. The book grapples with questions of faith, and if there is a God, or if religious stories and myths are only true and real in the way that all stories are real. Unlike many young adult books, it doesn't deliver a clearcut answer to the reader about this, and instead just trusts the reader to make up their own mind about the world, and to dwell in what is unknowable. But it is not all heady stuff, but rather is mostly just a wonderfully action packed adventure story filled with friends taking care of one another. Strongly recommend this to any young readers, ages 10 or up, or any adults who like kids literature.

[Jenny Nielsen · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is Watership Down with deer. Seriously. It's the same story, but with deer. We have the strange deer who are be raised by men, stories of the deer god, the evil authoritarian deer, the seer deer, and pretty much every detail word for word of Watership Down except each word "rabbit" is replaced with "deer". It even ends with *the exact same scene.* I can't believe Richard Adams actually gave this book a positive review. He must have forgotten his own story or been too flattered/innocent to notice how closely a plagiarism the book really is.

[Mayomouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a TOTAL must read. I simply loved this book. Yes, there was bloodshed. Yes, some parts were sad. But this was AMAZINGLY written. To write so perfectly from the POV of a deer? Wow. This book deserved all 5 stars even though, as I admitted, it's gory and very sad at times. And the ending is happy...but sad. READ THIS IMMEDIATELY.

[Annye Driscoll · Rating 4 out of 5]

I borrowed a copy of Fire Bringer from a far-away friend I only see in person once a year. It got buried in my TBR stack until I found it about a week before my yearly visit with that friend. "It says Young Adult on the back!" I assured myself. "I'll just finish what I'm reading now, then I'll have three days or so to read it. That's more than enough time for a quick YA book."

I hadn't considered that Fire Bringer was published in 1999, and "Young Adult" wasn't then what it is now.

Fire Bringer follows a young red deer, Rannoch, who was born with a prophecy-foretold mark on his forehead. His family, his herd, and in fact most of the creatures on his island home put their faith and hope in the deer, that one day he'll save them as the prophecy predicts. But Rannoch is reluctant, scared, and unsure of his own power.

Except for talking animals, there's no real fantasy in this world. Despite the realism, Clement-Davies has created one of the most beautiful and believable worlds I've read in some time. His deer have deer thoughts and deer issues - food, sex, how many tines are on whose antlers - and that realism is so pleasant to read (in contrast to horses who act like dogs, in the abominable Disney tradition; those are softened children's animals who don't procreate or worry about how to eat and stay warm in the winter).

And then layered onto the realistic base traits is a rich, created culture, with its own vocabulary, social structure, myths, and religion. Instead of just putting humans and their beliefs in animal bodies, Clement-Davies takes talking animal protagonists as they are and sweetens with a believable society.

I like reading modern YA, but Fire Bringer is something else; it really emphasizes how much Young Adult literature has changed in the past twenty years. Fire Bringer is, for YA, a long, tough, deep read - it slowed down my own reading pace, and I imagine a young person would similarly stumble on the death, despair, and deep religious themes.

But where modern YA focuses on plot, romance, and self-insertion, Fire Bringer's themes of faith and the questioning of it seem both old-fashioned and refreshing.

(To be clear, this is not a Christian, or even religious, book, except for the religion and faith of the deer and other animals in the story. There's no preaching to the reader in this one.)

In one hugely broad generalization, it seems to me that today's YA themes come from the plot or the characters. Fire Bringer's come from the world.

By no means is all old YA prettier or deeper or worth more. But I don't think Fire Bringer would be classified as YA if it were published today - it's too big, too dense, and too wandering.

All this to say - this book is beautiful, moving, and a bit of a harrowing read. Clement-Davies has created the kind of culture in Fire Bringer that is at the same time hauntingly realistic and distinctly exclusive for this island of deer.

Read more of my reviews (plus cat pics!) on Her Little Book Review.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

So Devin picked this book up off the shelf for me, and in skimming the dust jacket, I read "grand epic of old Scotland" and thought, "cool, a Scottish legend? that sounds neat." However, it was not really a legend, but the author's own creation (or perhaps, not even that, it seemed an awful lot like Watership Down). That said, the story was SOOOOO slow. I just couldn't get into this book, and it took me over two months to read the first 180 pages. Not very much happened and it just followed a small, rather unfortunate herd of deer as they fled persecution. At that point I just wanted to give up, and would have except stubbornness, and a curiosity to see why the book was ever published in the first place had me continuing with the book. Around the 180 page mark, the story picked up, and I was able to read without getting bored out of my mind. I read the last 300 pages in 4 days. After things started actually happening in the story it was pretty good. I started caring more about the characters, and their quest, and by the end was actually keen to pick the book up again between readings. However, as anthropomorphic stories go, this was one of the driest, most long-winded publication I've ever read. I wanted to give it one star, but the last third of the book earned it another. Not a book I'd recommend reading, ever, unless you are crazy about deer. And even then, you might not like it very much.

[Kailey (Luminous Libro) · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a little fawn, Rannoch is born with an oak leaf mark on his forehead that signals the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy. When his father is murdered on the very night of his birth, Rannoch must be hidden and kept safe from the eyes of the tyrant deer lord, Drail. As Drail gets closer to discovering Rannoch's true identity, Rannoch and his friends must flee to the North, propelling them on an epic journey towards freedom and healing for all the deer in Scotland.

It took me awhile to get into the flow of the story. There are far too many characters, some of them with similar names, making it difficult to remember them all, and the writing spends way too much time explaining boring details ad nauseum. But once the story began to move, I enjoyed the adventure, the characters, and the world-building of the deer herds and their culture. But then I was disappointed in the ending. It needed more flair, and it didn't deliver quite the epic conclusion I was looking for.

A good read, but not amazing. The writing could have been more polished, and the plot needed better pacing to keep the story moving forward.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Watership Down for Deer!

It took me about two pages to get into this book. To be honest, I know almost nothing about deer and I was a bit lost at first by the descriptions of their bez tines and trez tines but that turned out to be a very small hindrance indeed. The writing is superb and I found myself frequently thinking back to the story during the day between readings and wondering what would happen to the characters and whether or not they would be OK without me.

The parallels to the nativity story in the beginning of the book are almost unnerving. They seemed too blatant to be unintentional so I watched closely throughout the book to see what the author intended to do with them but nothing ever came of them as far as I could see. Perhaps doing nothing was exactly what the author intended. I don't know.

On the whole, this was a book I enjoyed reading very much for the experience it brought me on, but I don't think it left an indelible mark on my life. But, of course, a week is usually a bit early to know that.

[Anna Pappas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fire Bringer quite honestly blew me out of the water. With the depth of the plot, the creatively woven conflicts, and bold character development, it’s hard to know where to start. I did not think this book was going to be as detailed and thought-out as it was. It’s one of those engaging stories where you learn seemingly insignificant information in the beginning and you facepalm when everything falls into place at the end. It’s a cliffhanger start to finish. I was so enthralled that I finished it in less than a week. The characters, which are deer, and their relationships are so well personified that you start to talk about them as if they are people. I was also surprised at how serious the tone could be at times. I had thought it would be a happy-go-lucky tale, but it actually incorporated times of dark revolution and suspense. This novel was undoubtedly worth the read.

[Ty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't realize until this rereading that the plot of this story is lifted almost wholesale from Watership Down. Obviously, there are some adjustments for species, as rabbits and deer don't behave in precisely the same way, but the amount of overlap on major plot points is large enough that I'm surprised I didn't notice it sooner.

That said, I don't think this is a bad adaptation. In fact, I think it's very well done. This is still one of my favorite books, and I will fall back to reread this one in future.

Extra points for talking animals that still behave mostly like animals. You'll like this book if you liked the Warriors, Seekers, or Survivors series.

[Lioness · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring for the most part, and when I realized that its plot was the EXACT same as The Sight (which was written later than this book, though I read it first) ruined it for me. Sgorr's big reveal about *SPOILER ALERT* eating a human heart didn't phase me as much as it should have.

Not to mention that this book - and by default, The Sight, which I genuinely liked for the most part - is basically a rip off of Watership Down (I've seen the cartoon based on it only, but let me tell you, the similarities are there).

Definitely skip this one. I was very disappointed.

[Kelsi · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a masterpiece this adventurous fantasy novel was. Rich in detail that applies to all of the senses, carefully crafted chapters, skillfully-worded scenes make this MG book as good as it gets. Sending readers on a wild ride in early Scotia, David Clement-Davies leaves nothing out yet trims his paragraphs to perfection. An epic tale of learning who you are, destiny, war, and friendship. Highly recommended. 5 out of 5 stars.

[Kellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definately one of my all-time favorite books. If you liked Watership Down, this story has a lot of parallels. It's an adventure story with philosophic and moral insights enough to intrigue the reader whom, like me, won't read a book unless it'll change me a bit but not so much that it overwhelms you.

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

one word: AMAZSOMENESS

that is what this book is about. I was so sad that it ended, very sad. I loved this book - and even though I don't really read about deers, it was very interesting. I loved it so much and I am sad that it ended. If I had to chose a book to read again, I would so read this one.

[Charley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've had this book since i was about 13 and have read it so many times. I love it, its so exciting and epic, its like an animal lord of the rings full of adventure, betrayal, loyalty and courage and it has a great moral background of fighting for what you believe.A thrilling ride =D

[Care · Rating 2 out of 5]

Basically knock-off Watership Down but done badly with deer. This misses the whole allegory about authoritarian governments and herd mentality that Richard Adams employs and makes a mediocre "chosen one" story.

[Barak Fredrickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid character development throughout. Lots of characters to keep track of though. It is a very long, but worthwhile read.

[Gloo The third · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was just unable in general to hold my attention.

[Mac Millard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love this author however this book fell more flat for me. Another book he does, The Sight, does an incredible job balancing exposition with action and existentialism with realism. This book seems to be mostly exposition and existential content but with no real structure. It takes place over years and years and it felt like I was reading the book that long. However, it did have some interesting twists and turns and the brutal and blatant way he approaches some of the topics are intense and thought provoking.

[Kyle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading this childhood birthday gift I’ve had on my bookshelf since receiving it. Although I haven’t reread The Sight & Fell, I have fond memories of those books so I expected to like this also. However, I found this one to drag. The motivations driving our hero and especially our villain feel underdeveloped.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like hardcore Bambi.

[Pietro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Questo è il primo libro tradotto in Italiano che leggo in più di due anni, e non posso dire che la cosa mi fosse mancata.

Il portatore di fuoco è un'avventura classica che segue un protagonista predestinato, il cervo Rannoch, in un percorso di crescita/compimento della profezia che lo porterà a liberare le foreste della Scozia da Sgorr, il tiranno che minaccia la libertà di tutti gli animali.
Il libro è mirato a un pubblico molto giovane quindi non aspettatevi risvolti politici machiavellici e personaggi profondi e sfaccettati ma nel complesso è molto godibile e piacevole da leggere.
La narrazione è un po' altalenante e alterna momenti davvero ottimi a scene decisamente più deboli, con personaggi che agiscono in modo anomalo solo per tirare avanti la trama (come il cervo Thistle, cui unico scopo durante tutto il libro è rompere i c******i), situazioni risolte con eventi completamente casuali (deus ex machina come se piovesse) e in generale alcuni risvolti che non hanno molto senso... farei degli esempi ma andrei a spoilerare tutto.
In ogni caso questi elementi non danneggiano eccessivamente la lettura una volta accettato il fatto che è una favola e deve essere presa come tale.

Una cosa che invece mi ha infastidito parecchio tutto il tempo è la traduzione.
Come ho già detto non leggevo nulla di tradotto da un bel pezzo e forse per questo motivo ho notato i difetti più del normale, ma per quanto mi riguarda è fatta veramente male.

- Grammatica: Aprite una pagina a caso, iniziate a leggere e tempo qualche riga troverete un tempo verbale sbagliato. 'Nuff Said.

- Connotazione: La scelta dei vocaboli tende sempre verso un tono molto infantile, anche se nella scena non ci sta per niente. Es: Megabattaglia con fuoco e sangue ovunque, duello verbale tra personaggi in una situazione decisamente epica e "Don't lie" diventa "Non dire bugie".
Ma che è? Un litigio nel cortile dell'asilo?

-Altro: Spesso e volentieri la traduttrice "ci mette del suo", alterando il testo originale... niente di catastrofico ma fastidioso lo stesso.

[Cindy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a boring story marred by left-wing ideology.

“Man is cruel and cold. He eats up everything he touches. He enslaves Lera and breaks the laws of the forest. Because, Rannoch, he is the only creature that hunts without need.”

Clement-Davies dearly wanted to write an equal to William Horwood’s Duncton Wood, complete with a character named Bracken, but ended up writing a repetitive, boring story filled with one-dimensional characters. While his writing is clean with good grammar, the story itself is filled with endlessly repetitive chapters where the cold, starving characters are running through the snow.
The only thing of interest is the author’s comical belief that medieval man hunted for sport instead of survival. That, somehow, men in the dark ages had unlimited resources and that hunting was something they did simply to be malicious. Clement-Davies espouses this baseless claim throughout the book, despite all facts to the opposite. En masse, our harvesting and consumption of other living creatures has never been wasteful at any time in recorded history. Clothing, tools, medicine, shelter, light, soap, food. Very little went to waste 1,000 years ago, and next to nothing goes to waste today. Despite environmentalists' and media’s depiction, malicious, wasteful kills are, in the global scheme of things, extremely rare.
I gave it a good try, but quit three-quarters of the way through out of boredom. If author had not espoused his left-wing ideologies I would give it two stars. As written, one star.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never read this as a kid, but my sister did and told me a lot about it. All the issues I have with it are the same ones she had back then: it's just a copy of Watership Down by Richard Adams, with less understanding of how to combine actual animal behaviour into an anthropomorphised culture.

This doesn't mean it's a bad book, per say. I did really enjoy the writing! It has a nice mix of grand mythology and everyday description, and there are some really original moments in the story itself...Which admittedly just made me think more about which bits were 'inspired'. Adams himself loved the story, from all accounts and quotes I can find, so I definitely don't think people should be annoyed at Clement-Davies for his choices and judge this book too harshly. Personally, I just find it much less interesting because I enjoyed how the plot points were used in Watership Down much more.

Plus, there's some animal behaviour that's just plain wrong. Wolves, for example, do eat a ton of berries to supplement their diet, yet the book shows a wolf thinking berries are 'disgusting' and 'squirrel food'...Even if this wasn't well known behaviour back in '99, it's not a huge leap of logic to see how much variety dogs can have in their diet and then compare them to wolves. Deer, too, will eat small birds and carrion if given the chance, so their being disgusted at a wolf eating meat makes absolutely no sense. I get this is me being picky, these are talking deer written for kids, but I still find it annoying when I see old 'herbivore vs carnivore' tropes in books.

[Francesca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book once, years ago, and it was so bizarre picking it up again. The characters came straight back to me and I had the same images I did the last time I read it. For it to have left such a lasting impression on someone who reads as many books as I do, speaks volumes for the author's incredible imagination.
It does seem as if it's loosely based on something, other reviews have said watership down which I haven't read but, ridiculous as it sounds, I couldn't help thinking of the Lion King. There is no real link between them, it just seemed as if the characters and scenarios were fairly similar.
Anyway, I absolutely love this book. It's not something I would read again in a hurry as it is a bit dense in places, but its a breath-taking read.
My only complaint is a moment when Rannoch "winks" at Willow. It seems absurd for deer to be winking at each other, but then I suppose the whole concept of them talking to each other and everything else in the story is a bit far-fetched.
But still, David Clement-Davies does an incredible job and now I'm itching to order "The Sight", another of his books with a similar story, that I also read years ago. The two of them are among the most memorable books I've ever read and I would definitely recommend them to people who are looking for something a bit different.

[Maddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is easily one of the best books I have ever read. Fire Bringer is about a young fawn named Rannoch who is born with a whit fawn mark shaped like an oak leaf on his brow. Becausde of this mark, he is believed to be part of The Prophecy. Meanwhile, Lord Drail, the herds leader, is plotting to take over all of the herds in the Low Lands. Brechin, Rannochs father, is murdered that same night and some deer realize that Rannoch will be in danger. Fern, Alyth, Bracken, Shira, Canisp, and Breach are all hinds who flee with, if they have them, their fawns, Willow, Peppa, Bankfoot, Thistle, Tain, and Rannoch.

This is not necisarily an animal person kind of book. It has many wars and encounters with other deer, semi-violent fighting, but David Clement-Davies ties this all in to an amzing book. Fire Bringer is a must read book for anyone looking for a good story.