The FiremanAudiobook review by Paul Fiander
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Written by: Joe Hill
Narrated by: Kate Mulgrew Length: 22 hrs and 27 mins Publisher: Orion Publishing Group |
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Why Should I…...Listen to The Fireman?
Instead of worrying about the end of the world Joe Hill uses his mix of Horror storytelling and pop culture references to tell a story about a spore and a nurse with a Mary Poppins complex. It sounds odd but this mix allows for an often thrilling story that does have a slower paced middle section. The story has two stars Harper Willows (the aforementioned Nurse and Draco Incendia Trichophyton aka Dragonscale. It’s this rather unique spore that sets up the story but also the thing that elevates the story beyond your usual Apocalyptic tale. Narrator Kate Mulgrew does a great job for the most part of the Twenty Two and a half hour book. Her English Accent does have a ring of a certain Chimney Sweep from Mary Poppins about it. Don’t worry though it is not that much of a distraction from the rest of performance. |
Review
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I first got to grips Joe Hill through his work in Comics. Locke and Key is a great read and the Audiobook production is one of the best full cast productions I’ve experienced. I will honestly admit that is was a surprise when I found out he was the son of Tabitha and Stephen King. Obviously with parents on that scale of literary genius you would hope he could write and this book along with Locke and Key shows he can live with his very famous parents.
The title of this book is rather a misleading one, we usually assume that Firemen are those that fight fire. However though nowadays the name has been replaced the expectation is still there. In this story though the main players are a Nurse named Harper and a spore named Draco Incendia Trichophyton or Dragonscale in the colloquial vernacular. Harper is a fascinating character for me as she is a ray of sunshine that nothing seems to phase. She passes her time treating kids at an elementary school humming a Spoonful of Sugar and generally being very pleasant. This in some ways does not sound like the type of character to get your teeth into but due to some rather combustible events Harper really is just that. |
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These events centre around the Spore Draco Incendia Trichophyton (called Dragonscale from now on). A spore that has the ability to bind with humans and take on an almost parasitic relationship that ultimately leads in the host combusting into ash. It’s the type of enemy in a book that feels chilling as it has no motive except survival. Hill obviously researched this to death as although there are a few suspensions of disbelief needed for the most part the spore feels plausible. This is necessary to keep the tone of the book believable and throughout he achieves this.
Believability is perhaps the biggest factor in what makes this book a success. The chapters are littered with real to life characters who have sensible hopes and fears ranging from trying to look after cats to the need to control people. This is a character driven story and Hill allows each of his players to have room to breath and develop. Harper is our central focus and we do get to spend more time with her than anybody both with her speaking and her internal monologue. This is where the narration from Kate Mulgrew hits its peak.
She has Harper down perfectly from her sunny disposition to her anger, every line we encounter is given the weight it needs. With such a large cast Mulgrew does have a job on her hands and for the most part each character feels authentic and most importantly uniquely voiced. My one issue and it's more a funny aspect than anything is her English accent for The Fireman. I can not decide where in England the accent is from and it is rather funny when the book makes fun of Dick Van Dyke’s accent in Mary Poppins. When although not that bad it still does not quite ring true for a genuine English accent. She does keep the energy up especially through the more quiet periods in the middle of the book and that’s an important period where some listeners could become lost.
The story itself is divided into a number of pretty distinct areas. Firstly we have before the Spore has really taken hold and from there it’s all about how the Dragonscale effects Harper’s life. You get the feeling of a number of previous stories like Lord of the Flies and Sleeping With the Enemy (rather random but it’s in there) having a n imprint on the narrative but at no point does it feel derivative. Instead you can the natural progression of characters as they try to survive. With a narrow focus geographical focus (the book is set predominantly in New England) we are never overwhelmed with too many characters but more than that we are never lost by the scale of destruction. Many apocalyptic stories try to overwhelm you with destruction and while deaths are eluded too we never see first hand these occurring.
The story is littered with pop references from Mary Poppins to a wonderful cameo story about JK.Rowling. These feel apt for the character that Harper is and I did find myself having a chuckle at a few the best being about Keith Richards. It may seem a little mundane but the idea of entertainment having an effect on our lives feeds into the idea of real people living in and through a crisis. Again this is to Hill’s credit but may count listeners who prefer the amazing atle instead of one grounded in reality.
Overall The Fireman is a character driven story that owes much to the voices of the people we meet throughout. There is action and in Dragonscale we have a brilliantly created threat to humanity however if you are looking for epic battles this may not be the book for you. If the above has sparked your interest though then make sure you listen all the way through the credits as I have a feeling Hill is a Marvel fan (If you catch my drift).
Believability is perhaps the biggest factor in what makes this book a success. The chapters are littered with real to life characters who have sensible hopes and fears ranging from trying to look after cats to the need to control people. This is a character driven story and Hill allows each of his players to have room to breath and develop. Harper is our central focus and we do get to spend more time with her than anybody both with her speaking and her internal monologue. This is where the narration from Kate Mulgrew hits its peak.
She has Harper down perfectly from her sunny disposition to her anger, every line we encounter is given the weight it needs. With such a large cast Mulgrew does have a job on her hands and for the most part each character feels authentic and most importantly uniquely voiced. My one issue and it's more a funny aspect than anything is her English accent for The Fireman. I can not decide where in England the accent is from and it is rather funny when the book makes fun of Dick Van Dyke’s accent in Mary Poppins. When although not that bad it still does not quite ring true for a genuine English accent. She does keep the energy up especially through the more quiet periods in the middle of the book and that’s an important period where some listeners could become lost.
The story itself is divided into a number of pretty distinct areas. Firstly we have before the Spore has really taken hold and from there it’s all about how the Dragonscale effects Harper’s life. You get the feeling of a number of previous stories like Lord of the Flies and Sleeping With the Enemy (rather random but it’s in there) having a n imprint on the narrative but at no point does it feel derivative. Instead you can the natural progression of characters as they try to survive. With a narrow focus geographical focus (the book is set predominantly in New England) we are never overwhelmed with too many characters but more than that we are never lost by the scale of destruction. Many apocalyptic stories try to overwhelm you with destruction and while deaths are eluded too we never see first hand these occurring.
The story is littered with pop references from Mary Poppins to a wonderful cameo story about JK.Rowling. These feel apt for the character that Harper is and I did find myself having a chuckle at a few the best being about Keith Richards. It may seem a little mundane but the idea of entertainment having an effect on our lives feeds into the idea of real people living in and through a crisis. Again this is to Hill’s credit but may count listeners who prefer the amazing atle instead of one grounded in reality.
Overall The Fireman is a character driven story that owes much to the voices of the people we meet throughout. There is action and in Dragonscale we have a brilliantly created threat to humanity however if you are looking for epic battles this may not be the book for you. If the above has sparked your interest though then make sure you listen all the way through the credits as I have a feeling Hill is a Marvel fan (If you catch my drift).
Review copy and Cover Image courtesy of Publisher
