32. Enna Burning by Shannon Hale (Children’s Fantasy) 317 p.

Takes up a year or two after the events of The Goose Girl. It’s main character is Enna, a major character from the previous book. We learn that Enna left the capital and returned to the forest to take care of her brother and dying mother, although by the time the book starts, her mother is already gone.

Enna and her brother Leifer live a fairly contented life together, until Leifer finds a vellum scroll that teaches him to control fire. He attempts to control his power, but instead, it seems to control him, making him paranoid and quick to anger. When he sets Enna’s skirt on fire, she begins to realize just how dangerous Leifer’s abilities are.

Meanwhile, Bayern is invaded by Tira, one of its neighbours. Leifer is determined to use his abilities to fight for his country, and while he has some success, his efforts ultimately end in tragedy. Through a series of events, Enna reads the vellum and becomes a fire-witch herself, and slowly begins to lose control of herself and her power.

This is a more mature and complex book than The Goose Girl. In some ways, Enna’s inner life is more important than the plot, although the story is never dull or slow. There were times when I wanted to slap Enna for how stupid she was being, but it turned out there was a good reason for it.

Enna Burning is a worthy sequel to The Goose Girl, with even more adventure and political plotting, as well as the return of one of the more unsavoury magical powers ever conceived (and with an even more gorgeous cover!) I’m really looking forward to the release of the third Bayern book, River Secrets, in paperback later this year.

Pages read: 9,458

Tags: 50 Book Challenge 2008, 888 Challenge, Bayern, Cardathon Challenge, Eponymous Challenge, Shannon Hale