Fire Country

Fire Country

by David Estes

Warning! This book is highly addictive!

Fire Country is a post-apocalyptic dystopian novel by David Estes. It is part of The Country Saga which is a sister series to Estes’ Dweller series. The novel follows the story of an isolated society that lives in the desert. The community is plagued by “The Fire” which is a deadly disease that kills most people around the age of thirty. As the population has such a short life expectancy, all young females are forced to have children as soon as they reach the age of 16. They also are expected to have another child every three years in order to sustain the population. Once the men reach the age of 16, they are expected to join the “hunt” in order to provide enough food to feed the people in the community (who are known as “The Heaters”). Once they are 18, they are paired with up to three women, or Calls, in order to produce more children. The Greynotes are the elders in the community and they decide on the partnerships.

Fire Country focuses on the story of fifteen-year-old Siena who is a Youngling, soon to be a Bearer.  She worries that she will not be able to talk with her best friend, Circ, once she becomes a Bearer as that would not be socially acceptable. She questions if she wants to be a “breeder” when she starts hearing rumors of another tribe of all women, called the Wild Ones. They are known to kidnap Youngling girls before the Call, the ceremony in which Bearers are given a husband with whom to bear children. Siena even suspects that they kidnapped her sister before her Call.

Meanwhile, Siena becomes suspicious that they Greynotes are making questionable decisions that could be very harmful for the Heaters. She sneaks around to try to gather as much information as possible without her father, the Head Greynote, discovering that she is on to his secrets. She works hard to learn as much as possible before her Call.

Will Siena discover something that will change the lives of the Heaters forever? Can she escape the authoritarian rule of her father? Are the Wild Ones real, and will Siena consider joining them if given the opportunity? Read David Estes’ Fire Country to find out!

Other books in The Country Saga include Ice Country and Water & Storm Country.