Fire

By George R. Stewart

Book Overview

From the author of Storm, a breathtaking novel about a raging fire and the path of destruction and change it leaves in its wake.

Spitcat, a raging forest fire in the Sierra Nevada of California, had a lifespan of merely eleven days, "yet its effects could be reckoned ahead in centuries." So writes George R. Stewart in this engrossing novel of a fire started by lightning in the dry heat of September, and fanned out of control by unexpected winds. The book begins with the origins of the fire--smoldering quietly at first, unnoticed, then suddenly bursting into a terrifying inferno, devouring trees and animals over acre after acre and leaving nothing but desolation in its wake. Firefighters and lookouts, forest rangers and smokejumpers--as well as animals in the forest, many of them the bewildered victims of the blaze, and all the varied trees and bushes there--are characters of this realistic story.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1681378477
• ISBN13: 9781681378473
• Release Date: August 2024
• Publisher: New York Review of Books
• Length: 312 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.0" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

GET IT RIGHT

All of the reviews below this one are not about this book. Fire is a meticulous description of a forest fire in California in the 1940s and of the people- foresters, fire-watchers, fire-fighters- and animals affected by it and its spread. It is well-written and an interesting companion to Norman Maclean's Young Mern and Fire.

This book is the "BOMB" - "WONDERFUL"

This was one of the best books I have read, that scared me and made me look over my shoulder whenever I heard a sound. This book is the "ONE" "READ IT, WILL SCARE YOU FOREVER".

Captivating

If you liked Stephen King's "The Stand", you'll love this book. I couldn't put the book down. The way that it all comes together in the end is frighteningly brilliant. I have recommended this book to many people. All agree it has a unique storyline that makes it so captivating.

Tremendously inventive read, especially with the millenium.

I first read this book when it was published in 1984 and was very impressed with the author's creativity and originality. I have never read anything quite like it in the years since then, although if you liked Stephen King's The Stand you will LOVE this one. The author's descriptive power makes the situations so real you truly cannot put the book down. With the millenium so close, this is a timely and chilling read!

A wonderful and suspenseful work

Stewart has written a wonderful piece. I easily finished the book in one day because I simply couldn't put it down. And to top it all off I wasn't as captivated by the men and women of the story as by the desire to know the fate of the fire. A great book and one that I would read again and again.