The Firebrand by Debra A. Kemp

I rate this novel 3 out of 5

Lin was born a slave, one among many of Dunn na Carraice. But from the moment she came to understand her position in life she knows she must fight it. when she catches the eye of the sadistic Prince Mordred, the youngest Prince of Orkney, he becomes hell bent on seeing her spirit broken and her already desperate life becomes a daily test of courage and strength as the young Lin is put through what no person ever should. She thinks she would rather die than give in, but as the threat of her brother being sold looms over her, she questions all her choices. Is her pride really worth the life of her brother? But a shocking revelation throws everything into a new perspective and Lin finally realizes why she had to fight all along.

This is the first novel in The House of Pendragon series. If it were not for the set up of this story I think I would have rated it as a 4 at least. As it was I think the book-end narration type was a real hindrance to the story. The novel begins with a grown up Lin in a battle that is vaguely talked about and really confusing for a reader who doesn't have any idea what is going on in the story yet. Then it skips ahead a number of years, explaining a bit more background as it goes, before finally getting to Lin telling her young son the story of her childhood as a slave. This brings us to the entire bulk of the story, which we remain in as readers until the very end where it again reverts back to the older story telling Lin.

I think the way the novel was set up was awkward and a disadvantage to the story. I know that as a reader, I nearly stopped reading it several times within the first part before it got to the real story. What's more, with the beginning the way it is, it basically gives away the entire surprise plot point of the ending. It's like telling the end of the story first. I'm not sure if Kemp felt that the real story couldn't stand alone and so she did it this way to give the story more structure and plot, however I found it disappointing. There was nothing I didn't know about how it was going to end and that was a major flaw in the story arc.

I personally think the story could stand on it's own. There was a little stiffness to the narration at first, and I don't quite believe in Kemp's version of how a six year old would think, but it smoothed out as the narration continued and Lin got older.

One last flaw of the set up that bothered me is, with her re-accounting her story, she produces full memory with complete narration. It stretched the believablity of her story telling. How could someone remember so much, so fully, so many years after the fact? Unless they had intense and frankly terrifying memory capabilities, they couldn't.  This story would have worked much better if Kemp had simply started with Lin as a child and then narrated the story normally beginning to end.

All my complaints set aside though, I very much liked the story (as in the the middle part that the book actually focuses on). I read the book fast, and I am interested in reading the second book out in the series. I hope the structure of the second is a bit better though. I usually like books that take place in tandem to the Arthurian legends and I wasn't disappointed with this twist on the story, just the way it was set up.

*A note for any still interested in reading this novel. This is not a YA novel. It is rather graphic and sometimes very disturbing. It is a very intense and interesting story, but the faint of heart should tread carefully.