Hello, Kat here. But I guess you probably already know me, sort of. Uhhhh…so the thing is I have a lot of reading experience and I’m considered to be pretty good at it. Well you’ve seen it, you know, when I was shouting at you to read my favorite book. Uh yeah, I guess I should apologize for that. But anyway…I think it’s time that I shared with you 7 fierce must-read books for firebenders.
7 Fierce Books for Firebenders
The Poppy War Series by R.F. Kuang
As Uncle Iroh once explained: “Fire is the element of power. The people of the Fire Nation have desire and will and the energy and drive to achieve what they want.”
Power. Desire. Will. Energy. Drive. All of these words aptly describe Rin, a dark-skinned peasant girl who, due to her sheer grit and stubborn determination, manages to get into the most prestigious military academy in Nikan. She is the perfect poster girl for the Fire Nation and we 100% stan this morally gray, ruthlessly ambitious, anti-heroine queen.
A Spark of White Fire by Sangu Mandanna
“Your arrow was a spark. A spark of fire so hot and white that no one will be able to put it out. And even a spark of fire can consume an entire forest if it can jump from tree to tree…Watch as one act leads to another and then to another after that. Watch the trees pass white flames on. Watch the forest burn.”
What I got out of that beautiful quote: fire here, fire there, firey fire everywhere! 🔥🔥🔥
📖 RELATED POST: Check out my review of A Spark of White Fire
We are the Fire by Sam Taylor
Any list of books for firebenders would be incomplete without We are the Fire. The author described her story like this:
“Fire magic. Twisted alchemy. Lovers at odds. Strong friendships. Fantasy folklore. A bit of kissing. Eh, I guess it sounds all right.”
The Sun is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon
Since firebending draws its power from the sun, I dug down deep into my endless creative reservoir and came up with the brilliant idea of including a book with the word “Sun” in the title. So amaze, much wow!
Blazewrath Games by Amparo Ortiz
Dragons were the original masters of this element and they passed on all they knew to the first human firebenders (okay, maybe not ALL they knew. Firebenders still can’t fly, afterall.) Is this just a thinly veiled excuse for me to shout about how freaking awesome this book about an international dragon competition looks? Why yes, yes it is.
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Experienced firebenders are able to generate and manipulate lightning, which makes me wonder if Azula would be a daughter of Zeus in the world of Percy Jackson. (I somehow get the feeling like she and Thalia wouldn’t get along.)
📖 Related Post: Get a book recommendation based on your Camp Half-Blood Cabin Number
The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow
It’s easy to think that all fire can do is burn, hurt, consume, destroy. It’s easy to forget that when we’re lost in a dark room, the flicker of a candle can be our salvation. That the warmth of a hearth can chase away the bitterness of a cold night. As Aang put it: “All this time, I thought Firebending was destruction…But now I know what it really is. It’s energy and life.” It’s hope. And no book has filled me with more life, light, and hope in recent memory than The Sound of Stars. (Gosh, I’m starting to sound like the actress who played Katara in “The Ember Island Players” episode.)
📖 Related Post: Check out my full detailed review for The Sound of Stars
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When I’m thinking for firebender recommendations, The Poppy War is certainly on top of my list! The synopsis and the covers just sounds perfect. As always, great recommendations Kat!
Thank you so much, Tasya! And yeah, when I was making this list, The Poppy War was the very first book I thought of haha. It totally has a firebender vibe, right??
KAT YOU ARE A LEGEND!!!! I love this to death 😭😍💕 The start with your recreation of Zuko’s monologue 😭 I’m imagining him saying your version and it’s making me so nostalgic. The gifs too are so great and I love how they relate to the books!! And The Poppy War is perfect to represent firebending (Rin’s power even comes from the fire phoenix so it’s even more fitting)! Ahh, I love this post, and I can’t wait to check out the other ones you did for Water, Air, and Earth! (Earth!! TOPH!!! 😭)
OH MY GOSH, THIS COMMENT MADE MY DAY!!! Rukky, you are the sweetest! I’m so glad that you liked the recreation of Zuko’s monologue. That is like my FAVORITE scene of the entire ATLA series, so I just knew I had to include it somewhere in this series of recommendation posts. And for real, The Poppy War has total firebender energy haha. Also, I totally spent forever finding the PERFECT gifs for each book, so I’m glad that you loved them! Thanks again for this lovely comment!!
I listened to a short story by R.F. Kuang on LeVar Burton Reads and it was beautiful- so I want to read The Poppy War soon!
I didn’t know that she had published any short stories! Now I’m intrigued! The Poppy War is a masterpiece and I hope that you absolutely LOVE it if you ever pick it up. It does have a lot of trigger warnings though, so I would read up on those before you go into it so that you can be prepared.
The Nine Curves River at https://www.levarburtonpodcast.com/
Another great post in this series 🥰 The cover for We Are the Fire is STUNNING and the premise also sounds so interesting, I’m always here for some fire magic 🔥 I didn’t know Blazewrath Games had dragons, but it sounds really cool!! 🐉
Omg hi Kat, idk if you’ll see this but I’m catching up on blog posts today. And I’m ashamed to admit that I haven’t actually watched Avatar yet, well at least not in its entirety. Need to fix that asap!! But I love this post and all your recs. I’m scared but also so excited to read The Poppy War trilogy welp. But PJO is such a spot on pick! Loved this post xoxo
[…] for Avatar the Last Airbender fans and I just knew I HAD to read it. (Check out the original post here). I am a huge ATLA fan so I have to read everything compared to my favourite TV show. We Are The […]
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