Laeghaire of the Long Road, from Tralee, no less, an Irish mercenary knight, a devil of a fighter and, well, a devil in general, finds his way, indirectly, into the employ of William of Normandy. The two make an impression on each other in the course of a Summer campaign, but to say much more than that might give things away, though I'm sure even the most casual student of history will work out where it's all headed. This is Holland's first novel, and it shows a bit as in her first pages of terse, short sentences she's grappling with her craft and learning the difference between short sentences that are monotonous and repetitive, and short sentences interspersed with sentences of more varied length leading to an effect that would be praised as 'hard-boiled' in a crime novel, but which suits descriptions of deadly but prosaic men going about the business of warfare and statecraft. Laegharie is an intense, morose, driven, haunted man who is beating off bandits one minute and buying peasant girls the next; pillaging a landscape one minute, doting on his son by the bought peasant girl the next; but on the whole, Laeghaire is not destined for happiness, whether by mischance or his own love of violence, and if a happy life eludes him, then violence he gets a-plenty, waiting for him on a hill outside Hastings.Anyway, it's superb.
The Firedrake is a short historical fiction novel about an Irish mercenary named Laeghaire (pronounced Lear) who becomes a captain in the army of William the Conqueror.Holland has a very abrupt writing style, writing in short simplistic sentences. Don't expect any sprawling metaphorical details about the setting or the characters. I do think that her writing style pairs well with the character of Laeghaire. Laeghaire is, first and foremost, a fighter who doesn't put up with nonsense, and when he does talk, he is curt and honest. Laeghaire is a man who learns how to love during the course of the story. He learns that he loves war and fighting.The Firedrake is an interesting read about war, and about what war means to men who love war.
What do You think about The Firedrake (2001)?
Holland is the MASTER of the minimalist sentence. I haven't read any other works by her, so I don't know she employs this style throughout. It is deliberate. It is intentional. It is brilliantly executed. You would think it would be very dull reading sentences like "The knight spat." What happens instead is that Holland succeeds in painting a moving, visual scene inside your head. For all I know, this style is what is by screenwriters (just speculating there). I found this writing style suited the subject content extremely well. The knight is a man of deeds. He is not a man of words. There is a starkness and a harsh clarity to the writing which I loved.
—Mia
This book about the events leading up to the battle of Hastings was Holland's first novel, and it shows all the typical elements of her books already firmly in place. The main character, Leaghaire, an Irish knight who ends up in William of Normandy's retinue, is a solitary man, gruff and smart but somewhat alienated from society. There are plenty of subtle personal interactions that carry political weight. Holland also shows her ability to make historical events feel immediate rather than a foregone conclusion.
—Carol
