The Legend of the Firefish - George Bryan

Author:  George Bryan Polivka
Publisher:  Harvest House Publisher
Website:  http://www.harvesthousepublishers.com/

Packer Throme, a failed seminary student, turns to the sword as the means of proving his worth and hatches a daring plan to save his fishing village from poverty. He concocts a plot to stow away aboard the pirate ship Trophy Chase, whose captain, the notorious Scat Wilkins, hunts a treasure far more valuable than silver or gold. Wilkins hunts the Firefish, legendary sea creatures whose meat is a highly prized and valuable commodity. Packer has little idea of the life-threatening dangers facing him when he sets out on his quest—particularly the threat his faith poses to Talon, a godless Drammune warrior woman bent on destroying him because of his beliefs. Meanwhile, Panna Seline leaves the safety of her village life in order to find Packer, little realizing that as Packer’s love she is a target Talon would pay dearly to eliminate in order to destroy him.

Polivka’s prose is richly detailed and his worldcrafting has a nice “dense” feel to it. While Firefish is not a fantasy per se in that there are no dragons or wizards, in some respects Packer’s world can be likened to the classic “fantasy” of Tolkien’s Middle Earth. Where Tolkien constructed the world of Lord of the Rings as a kind of British “pre-history,” Polivka’s world of Nearing Vast feels like it could have taken place in, say, an early American or European fishing village. This sense of familiarity makes the novel very accessible. And while Polivka’s characters are thrust into incredible, life-threatening adventures, their personalities and reactions are firmly grounded in reality. The fact that their fears, hopes, doubts, and dreams are credible and relatable draws the reader into the story and lends a compelling sense of urgency to their struggles.

Firefish has an old-fashioned feel to it, reminscent of classic adventure stories like The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas and Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini, in great part due to Polivka’s succesful use of the omniscent point-of-view. The point-of-view is constantly changing and the transitions from one character’s perspective to a “big picture” view and back again are seamlessly accomplished. While this is a technique that took a little getting used to, I grew to appreciate it as it adds to the richness of the narrative. Every character, from the principals like Packer and Panna (the latter is especially notable as she is no weak and fainting heroine—she meets every challenge thrown her way head on with strength and backbone) to the villagers of Near Vast, are fully and realistically developed. The faith element is expertly incorporated into the storyline as well and Polivka doesn’t beat his readers over the head with a simplistic Christian message. Thanks to his strong characterizations, Packer and Panna’s faith is an integral aspect of their lives and the struggle between their natural and spiritual selves is taut and compelling.

The Legend of the Firefish is a classic hero’s tale wrapped in the swashbuckling excitement of an old-fashioned adventure story, shot through with a ribbon of faith. Book two, The Hand That Bears the Sword, releases July 2007.

Purchase The Legend of the Firefish (Trophy Chase Trilogy).

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