And Here Be Dragons! (Highfire by Eoin Colfer - Book Review)

Title: Highfire

Author: Eoin Colfer

Publisher: Harper Perennial

Date of Publication: January 28th 2020

Number of Pages: 377

See it on Goodreads: Highfire

Summary

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Artemis Fowl series comes a hilarious and high-octane adult novel about a vodka-drinking, Flashdance-loving dragon who lives an isolated life in the bayous of Louisiana—and the raucous adventures that ensue when he crosses paths with a fifteen-year-old troublemaker on the run from a crooked sheriff.

In the days of yore, he flew the skies and scorched angry mobs—now he hides from swamp tour boats and rises only with the greatest reluctance from his Laz-Z-Boy recliner. Laying low in the bayou, this once-magnificent fire breather has been reduced to lighting Marlboros with nose sparks, swilling Absolut in a Flashdance T-shirt, and binging Netflix in a fishing shack. For centuries, he struck fear in hearts far and wide as Wyvern, Lord Highfire of the Highfire Eyrie—now he goes by Vern. However...he has survived, unlike the rest. He is the last of his kind, the last dragon. Still, no amount of vodka can drown the loneliness in his molten core. Vern’s glory days are long gone. Or are they?

A canny Cajun swamp rat, young Everett “Squib” Moreau does what he can to survive, trying not to break the heart of his saintly single mother. He’s finally decided to work for a shady smuggler—but on his first night, he witnesses his boss murdered by a crooked constable.

Regence Hooke is not just a dirty cop, he’s a despicable human being—who happens to want Squib’s momma in the worst way. When Hooke goes after his hidden witness with a grenade launcher, Squib finds himself airlifted from certain death by…a dragon?

The swamp can make strange bedfellows, and rather than be fried alive so the dragon can keep his secret, Squib strikes a deal with the scaly apex predator. He can act as his go-between (aka familiar)—fetch his vodka, keep him company, etc.—in exchange for protection from Hooke. Soon the three of them are careening headlong toward a combustible confrontation. There’s about to be a fiery reckoning, in which either dragons finally go extinct—or Vern’s glory days are back.

Review - And Here Be Dragons!

Growing up, I was a big fan of Artemis Fowl. Even now, I still consider that this series one of the best fantasy series for kids, with great characters and humour. So, when I learnt about Highfire, I was eager to read it. I couldn't imagine how Eoin Colfer's writing style would fit into an adult novel about a vodka-drinking dragon. One of the things I was most curious about was the fact that there was a vodka-drinking dragon. I am used to having dragons in fantasy novels, but they never are the protagonists of the book, or at least treated in this way.

The summary of the book is quite extensive, so I don't need to get into details about the plot. Vern is the last dragon on Earth (or at least he thinks so) and he likes to spend his days watching cable and drinking vodka. His life in the swamp gets disrupted when Everett "Squib" Moreau learns of his existence. Vern decides to kill the teenager but he ends up employing him. The two of them get closer until their peaceful life in the swamp is threatened by Regence Hooke, a constable who has other plans.

Highfire is a book that contains a little bit of everything – action, fantasy, violence, folklore, history, gangsters, heart-warming moments, and even some romance. I somewhat enjoyed this mixture because there is always something happening. Of course, the fact that the main protagonist is a dragon plays a big role in enjoyment. The fight scenes are extravagant and worthy of a mythical creature. I mean, how can a scene about a dragon storming into a gangster hotel and burning everyone ever be boring? But somewhere along the story, the spark has gone.

Other than that, the main trope of the book is pretty over-used (see enemies to lovers, frenemies, etc.). I expected some kind of twist that would bring something new, but oh well... Vern and Squib are in similar but also vastly different situations. At first, they begin on the wrong foot. However, as they get to know each other, the prejudices disappear and they become close. By the end of the book, they no longer are a dragon and his familiar but a family.  

Friedrich Justin Bertuch, Bilderbuch für Kinder, 1790-1830 (Eigenbesitz), Fabelwesen.

Vern is by far the best character of Highfire. The chapters where we are reading Vern’s POV are the easiest to read and if I had a choice, I would want more of them. Vern believes that he is the last dragon, even though he is not sure about it. He prefers self-preservation, rather than risking getting spotted in his attempt to find the rest of his kin. In ancient times, he wasn’t the bulkiest or bravest of a dragon. Even so, this turned out to be an advantage of him as he manages to avoid the mob and survive for centuries. 

Throughout the book, we read about his hate for humans and what they did to his species. So, instead of having to deal with them, he prefers to stay in his cabin deep in the swamp, watch cable, and drink as much as he can. There is only one guy he trusts, Waxman, and he is not even entirely human (more on him later). Vern has a complexity that I really enjoyed even though I would like to get more backstory. At this point, we only learn about Vern’s past from what he reveals to Squib. A thing that struck me as odd is that the friendship between Vern and Squib came relatively easily. I mean, humans have killed every dragon, apart from Vern. Yes, he argues that this was long ago and he thinks about it from time to time, but I feel like it could play a bigger role. 

However, I would like to comment on a specific scene with Vern. When Waxman isn’t around anymore, Vern feels depressed. He is at a point where he feels that his life has no meaning. He is alone and once he is gone, his species will die with him. So, he decides to kill himself by taking a pill that Waxman has. Squib finds him and manages to save him and from this point on, they start bonding. I think that this is the best scene in the whole book. Vern shows a complexity that no other character possesses. At this moment, you can feel the loneliness of having to leave alone for so long, without being able to reveal himself. He not just a lazy dragon who enjoys his alcohol a little too much - something happened to him and he has fallen into this half-alive state.

Squib is a somewhat interesting character. I like that he is a Kajun and I find it interesting that his talking reminds me of New Orleans. Squib is a teenager who has grown up without a dad and has suffered from a horrible step-dad. He has a really soft spot for his mother and tries to stay out of trouble for her sake. However, he has the bad luck to witness something he shouldn’t, thus finding himself in a dangerous position. No, I’m not talking about Vern. The fateful night, he witnesses Regence Hooke murder someone in cold blood and gets spotted by a dragon. Well, he manages to get in good terms with the dragon but I can’t say the same about Hooke. 

I honestly don't have much more to say about Squib, as I found his character pretty standard. He is a good boy, even though he has to do some illegal things now and then. His friendship with Vern brings him a whole new world and the economic comfort to study and make his life easier. I feel like I should find him more compelling. Even so, I can't say nothing else rather than he's ok. 🤷‍♀️

Hooke is the villain of Highfire and he is the character that I couldn’t stand. He is so over the top that I can only characterize him as a cartoon villain. He is one of those ruthless guys with no conscience that will stop at nothing. Moreover, like all the super-villains, he won’t die even though a dragon is throwing fire on him. The only intriguing part about him is that he is the son of a clergyman. His father apparently was delusional and Hooke at some point killed him. A common theme is Hooke’s thinking is that maybe heaven rewards bad guys after all. But was this enough to make up for his unnatural evilness? Not really. 

Let’s return to the summary of the book to talk about my main issue with Highfire. As you can see, it is too wordy and the book is no different! I have to admit that it took me about two weeks to reach chapter 4 (which is just the 17% of the book) and once I got through this part I finished the book in 4-5 days. The reason why I struggled? We have too much backstory about Regence Hooke! In fact, I find that the whole book dedicates an almost illogical amount of pages on Hooke and his past. Almost half of the book is about the story's villain. If I’m going to read about someone’s past, let it be Vern’s. Hooke’s pattern of thought is very specific and I consistently found it very tiring to get through. Even towards the climax, I was almost inclined to skip the pages in Hooke’s POV. 

Another thing that disappointed me in this novel is that it has so many missed opportunities. Waxman is an excellent example. This character is supposed to be a mogwai, dragon and human. How cool would it be to have some dragon AND mogwai action? Waxman in this story is the one that brings Vern what he needs and we are told that they share a true friendship for about half a century. However, somewhere in the first one-third of the book, Waxman informs Vern that he has to be buried to replenish his energy. This is also the incident that pushes Vern to employ Squib. Until this point, everything is great. The next time we see Waxman again is when Hooke unearths him. At first, Waxman seems formidable but Hooke somehow bullies him and then kills him (???). That's a total waste of a character that was setup to become so much more. Anyway. 🤷‍♀️ 

The next missed opportunity is also related to Waxman. I’ve already mentioned the pill that can kill Vern. Waxman is supposed to have a bag with various trinkets that can deal with anything. Anything. If a writer mentions this bag multiple times, it’s only natural that I would expect it to be used, right? Turns out, I was wrong! In the final battle, Vern is injured and cannot produce fire. For this reason, I thought that he would use Waxman’s bag on Hooke. This would work perfectly as it would also serve as some kind of revenge for Waxman’s death. But no, Vern has a better idea – call the alligators to eat Hooke. The alligators that we had earlier seen try to provoke Vern about the territory. It's as if you have Chekov's gun in the story, but you never use it. 

As you may have guessed, I am disappointed in this book. It could be so much more, but it fails time and time again. In my opinion, this novel needs serious re-working with an editor. They need to find a good balance on the POV distribution and the enrichment of the character. I really enjoy it when the characters turn to have more facets, just like Vern. As it turns out, Vern is only the exception. Now that it has been a few days since I’ve finished it, I can only recall how overwhelming Hooke’s presence is.

I wouldn’t call Highfire a masterpiece. There are a few good and fun parts. Apart from these though, there are bad parts that at some point had me wanting to quit reading.