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David Almond
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The Fire-Eaters Paperback – January 1, 2004

by David Almond (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars 83 ratings
The Fire-Eaters:
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  1. Language
    English
  2. Publisher
    Hodder Children's Books
  3. Publication date
    January 1, 2004
  4. Dimensions
    5 x 0.67 x 7.72 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    0340773839
  6. ISBN-13
    978-0340773833
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hodder Children's Books; First Paperback Edition (January 1, 2004)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0340773839
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0340773833
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 0.67 x 7.72 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 out of 5 stars 83 ratings

About the author

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David Almond

David Almond

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David Almond is the author of Skellig, Bone Music, Island, The Savage, The Tightrope Walkers, A Song for Ella Grey, The Dam, The Colour of the Sun, and many other novels, stories, picture books, opera librettos, songs and plays. His work is translated into over 40 languages and is widely adapted for stage and screen. His innovative, boundary-breaking work is loved by readers of all ages, and receives widespread critical acclaim. His major awards include The Carnegie Medal, two Whitbreads, The Michael L Printz Award, Le Prix Sorcieres, The Nonino International Prize, The James Kruss Award and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. In 2010 he received the Hans Christian Andersen Award, the world's most prestigious prize for children's authors. He is Emeritus Professor of Creative Writing at Bath Spa University. He lives on the North East coast. In 2021 he received an OBE for services to literature.

Go to David's website: www.davidalmond.com

‘There really is nobody quite like Almond writing in children’s or adult’s fiction today.’ The Times

‘A writer of visionary, Blakean intensity.’ The Times.

‘It is impossible not to be swept up in the power of his storytelling.’ Daily Telegraph

‘A master storyteller.’ The Independent.

‘David Almond’s books are strange, unsettling wild things – unfettered by the normal constraints of children’s literature. They are, like all great literature, beyond classification.’ The Guardian

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
83 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Sal
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Exactly what I was looking for and it arrived when I needed it <3
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  • Sir Furboy
    5.0 out of 5 stars Probably the Best Book I read in 2008
    Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2011
    This was one of the best books I read last year. There are a couple of intertwined themes here all set in the background of a working class family in the Durham coalfields.

    The protagonist passes the 11 plus and is thus accepted into a grammar school, where he is nevertheless subjected -along with other children there - to daily cruelty, and ingrained prejudices, which during the novel, and through a friendship, he gains the power to overcome.

    At the same time there is a theme with a character - McNulty - of mental illness, as well as the strains on the family under the threat of a life threatening illness - all set against the fear of approaching apocalypse in the cuban missile crisis.

    There is so much in this book, it cannot be described - it has to be read. And Reading is not a chore, because David Almond is such a good writer. His prose is simple, but still manages to be vivid and engaging.

    This is a book to read and ponder. Highly recommended
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  • On the beach
    5.0 out of 5 stars A new David Almond fan...
    Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2005
    This story was most engaging as I was brought back to my youth in a flood of memories. The author also succeeded in re-awakening the same feelings of joy and anxiety that I remembered from this time in history. My 13 year old son had recommended this book to me and I must be developing an interest in young adult fiction. Another book in this genre that captured my attention was Mark McNulty's `The Sea Shack'. Each book involved tales of young boys and their experiences in seacoast communities. I could identify with these times and circumstances and the authors remarkable talent for developing young characters. These books are terrific offerings for true `summer escape' reading. And, they are to be enjoyed by young and old alike as I have learned. Now, I must read the other David Almond books. I have become a fan.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Ameya
    4.0 out of 5 stars 1962 – Nuclear war build-up
    Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2018
    It is 1962. Robert (Bobby) Burns lives in Keely Bay, not too far from Newcastle in England. The world is gathering to a knot formed by the nuclear build-up between USA and USSR, John F. Kennedy and Kruschev. The potential of world war 3 builds up in the last quarter of the story.

    In Newcastle, Bobby meets Mr. McNulty, a fire-eater, an escapologist, who eventually makes his way to Keely Bay. Coincidentally, Bobby’s Dad remembers McNulty from Burma, in 1945 during the war.

    Other characters are Ailsa Spink and her family of father and two brothers who bring coal out of the seabed, her mother having recently died. Joseph Connor, a few years older than Bobby, a school-wagger and lout, is Bobby’s oldest friend. Then there’s the new boy, Daniel, and his family. Daniel will go to Sacred Heart as a new boy with Bobby. They’re more educated than the rest of Bobby’s friends.

    PTSD is hinted at, but never defined, which makes the telling smoother. There’s illness and survival. There’s miracles like the fawn that Ailsa rescues. There’s bullies like the teachers at Sacred Heart. There’s rebellion, in the world by the nuclear disarmament crowd, and in Keely Bay.

    It is a lyrical and emotional story, with some unresolved threads. For example, how Daniel and Bobby resolve the huge differences evident in their bringing up is not really told, other than they are on the same side at school. I didn’t really get how the fire-eating motif related to the nuclear war theme. It is a tale that stays with you.
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  • Calamari
    3.0 out of 5 stars Rambling, inconsistant, and strange
    Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2006
    This book takes place in 1962, before and during the Cuban missile crisis. Bobby Burns lives in a sleepy little coal-mining town near Keely Bay. When Bobby goes into Newcastle one Sunday, he sees a mysterious street performer, McNulty, eating fire, escaping from chains, and sticking sharp implements through his cheeks. McNulty drags Bobby out of the audience to be his assistant. Instead of being frightened by the very obviously crazy McNulty, Bobby forms an instant bond with him. When Bobby gets home, he tells his father about McNulty. Bobby's father tells him that he and McNulty served together in W.W.II, and that McNulty was bullied and beaten up by the other men on the ship.

    When Bobby's father begins suffering from a mysterious illness, Bobby's parents reassure him that it's nothing, but after multiple trips to the hospital, Bobby begins to fear for his father's health.

    Meanwhile, Bobby has just started at a new school where one of the teachers beats the children across the hands with a strap at the slightest provocation. Bobby and another boy, Daniel, decide to fight back against the tyranny by taking pictures of the teacher beating children and putting the pictures everywhere in the school.

    Bobby has another friend, Ailsa, who doesn't want to go to school. She's very bright, but her father wants her to stay at home and cook and clean for the family. Ailsa also believes that she can heal things with her prayers and dreams, such as the dead fawn she found. She prayed for it to come back to life until she fell asleep beside it, and when she woke up it was alive again. Bobby asks Ailsa if she can heal his dad the same way she healed the fawn.

    At the same time, the Cuban missile crisis breaks out. Everyone thinks it might be the end of the world, so Bobby keeps sticking himself with a pin and praying that he'll be taken as a sacrifice so everyone else can be safe.

    For a book that's supposed to be about how miracles can save the world, there are very few to save this book. The author rambles, so there are many, many, story lines which must be resolved. Unfortunately, few are.

    The characters are also very one-dimensional. There are many characters who are simply names with no personalities. There are also characters which do things that conflict with their personalities. For example, Bobby doesn't like being beaten at school, yet he's constantly hanging around a boy who bullies him. Does this make sense? Not really.

    There are some good scenes, such as when Bobby and Daniel stand up to the principal, but they are few and far between. Much of the book is Bobby praying, sticking himself with a pin, or thinking about something that happened a couple of chapters ago. There is also no climax. The book just wanders until it's over.

    Of course, since The Fire-Eaters is an award-winning book, it means someone has to die, become terminally ill, or both. It's getting to be a trend in the children's books world that the awards only go to books about children with terminally ill parents/siblings/best friends or books where there is a least one character who is destined to never make it to the last page. If you don't believe me, check out the last several years' Newberry award books.

    This is not a bad book; it's just not a very good one. Too much of it is spent rambling on and on; too little is spent developing the characters or the plot. So, save you money, your time, and your eyesight for a better book.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Helen Frost
    5.0 out of 5 stars Strong and Beautiful
    Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2004
    Another book by David Almond that carries you along in the story as miracles slowly unfold beneath the surface. The characters are drawn with tenderness and humor and the community they create and inhabit becomes almost a character in itself. I remember the Cuban missile crisis--I was about the same age as Bobby Burns, the main character in this story, and the story evoked the memory of those days so hauntingly.

    I keep marveling at the title, that plural that makes you think "together we can save the world."
    3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • E. A. Spencer-Goodier
    5.0 out of 5 stars Simply beautiful
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 1, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    Sometimes genre is irrelevant. A child’s book? Not really, it’s a stunning anthem exploring love and pain, faith and community. Enjoy it like you would a ballad.
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  • DC
    5.0 out of 5 stars Well, it's David Almond isn't it?
    Reviewed in France on February 19, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    My children are 8 and 10 years old and they have books that they read to themselves and each other and then books that I read to them. I love David Almond. It's so wonderful to find a children's/young adults' writer that is actually enjoyable to read out loud to your kids. I find that most childrens' books have interesting or fun stories but horrible, or at best inoffensive, writing styles. David Almond's words are bewitching. In this climate of tablets and widespread ADD, I cannot describe the relief of seeing my children's faces, rapt, their eyes distant, hanging onto Mr. Almond's every word. THANK GOD FOR DAVID ALMOND. I do.
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  • john reynolds
    5.0 out of 5 stars fire eaters
    Reviewed in France on December 8, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    j'avais acheté pour mon fils et son travaille au college. C' est excellent, un livre trés bien ecris et interressant.
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  • Shirley O'hare
    5.0 out of 5 stars I would recommend it to other customers
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 21, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    My daughter is really enjoying reading The Fire Eaters novel, they are actually doing there English at school about The Fire Eaters, it seems to be an interesting book. I would recommend it to other customers.
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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars excellent
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 4, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    I was impressed with the early delivery date, the secure packaging and the book itself, which was as described. I would definitely recommend you to my friends and family for excellent service.
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