Sign up for our newsletters to receive our Best of 2024 ezine!

Book Summary and Reviews of The Boys of Fire and Ash by Meaghan McIsaac

The Boys of Fire and Ash by Meaghan McIsaac

The Boys of Fire and Ash

by Meaghan McIsaac

  • Critics' Consensus (2):
  • Published:
  • May 2015, 336 pages
  • Rate this book

About this book

Book Summary

No boy knows what's beyond the forest. No Brother has ever come back. Until now…

Abandoned at birth, the Brothers of the Ikkuma Pit know no mothers. They fend for themselves, each training their Little Brother to survive until they turn sixteen, when it's their Leaving Day. No boy knows what's beyond the forest. But when Urgle's Little Brother, Cubby, is carried off by troll-like predators, Urgle and two of his Brothers embark on a quest to rescue him from a place from which no one has ever returned.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

Media Reviews

"[T]he novel is urgently gritty, with rich worldbuilding and plenty of action. McIsaac's debut is at its best when it focuses on Urgle, a misfit among the discarded, cleaving to his quest in a world so alien to him." - Publishers Weekly

"This is a great stepping stone for those tweens looking for a postapocalyptic novel without diving head first into the violence and social mores of similar YA titles. There is a hint of romance, appropriate for the intended audience ... This self-contained story is an entertaining read that will be enjoyed by many." - Library Journal

"While we have seen this thing before, it will appeal to those who enjoy the genre and have exhausted the works from the masters of this genre." - VOYA

"The prose is rife with densely written descriptions, and the overlong action sequences can be confusing, but the compelling mythology and dystopian setting will appeal to genre readers. Fans of James Dashner, Margaret Peterson Haddix, and Patrick Ness need look no further. Ages 10-15." - Kirkus Reviews

"Contemplative readers will be left with questions to ponder and ethical decisions to mull as well as a satisfying and tense read." - The Bulletin

This information about The Boys of Fire and Ash was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Author Information

Meaghan McIsaac

Meaghan McIsaac grew up in Canada. A sci-fi/fantasy nerd, she packed up all her movies and books and shipped off to the UK to complete an MA in writing for children. Meaghan eventually returned to Canada broke and worked at a series of unpaid internships at publishing houses, magazines, and gossip rags. Through it all, she was writing stories in the office, on the subway, and on her lunch breaks. The Boys of Fire and Ash is her debut novel.

Visit her at meaghanmcisaac.com and follow @MeaghanMcIsaac.

More Author Information

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

More Recommendations

Readers Also Browsed . . .

more YA fantasy, sci-fi, speculative, alt. history...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: James
    James
    by Percival Everett
    The Oscar-nominated film American Fiction (2023) and the Percival Everett novel it was based on, ...
  • Book Jacket
    But the Girl
    by Jessica Zhan Mei Yu
    Jessica Zhan Mei Yu's But the Girl begins with the real-life disappearance of Malaysia Airlines ...
  • Book Jacket: Patriot
    Patriot
    by Alexei Navalny
    On the 17th of January, 2024, colleagues of Alexei Navalny posted a message to his Instagram account...
  • Book Jacket: Rental House
    Rental House
    by Weike Wang
    For many of us, vacations offer an escape from the everyday — a chance to explore new places, ...

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
In Our Midst
by Nancy Jensen
In Our Midst follows a German immigrant family’s fight for freedom after their internment post–Pearl Harbor.
Book Jacket
The Berry Pickers
by Amanda Peters
A four-year-old Mi'kmaq girl disappears, leaving a mystery unsolved for fifty years.
Who Said...

Men are more moral than they think...

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Big Holiday Wordplay 2024

Enter Now

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.