The Fire Sermon
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4.4 • 38 Ratings
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
BORN AS TWINS
RAISED AS ENEMIES
BOUND BY DEATH
Cass is born a few minutes after her brother, Zach. Both infants are perfect, but only one is a blessing; only one is an Alpha.
The other child must be cast out. But with no discernible difference, other than their genders, their parents cannot tell which baby is tainted.
Perfect twins. So rare, they are almost a myth. But sooner or later the Omega will slip up. It will eventually show its true self. The polluted cannot help themselves.
Then its face can be branded. Then it can be sent away.
Reviews
‘Set in a vividly realised world of elite Alphas and their ‘weaker’ Omega twins, it holds a mirror up to our obsession with perfection’ Guardian
‘Words like ‘masterpiece’ and ‘instant classic’ are cliché, but in the case of Francesca Haig’s astounding The Fire Sermon, they’re the only words to use’ Starburst Magazine
‘This terrific set-up spools out into a high tension tale of mistrust and dependency, injustice and optimism, told with poetic intensity’ Daily Mail
‘This book is a thought-provoking whirlwind of a story, with a fab lead character, grisly politics and brave adventure. I loved it!’ Jessie Burton
'A hell of a ride. I would recommend it to anyone I can, regardless of age' James Oswald
‘Haig’s post-apocalyptic world is colorfully fleshed out, and the conclusion ask us to consider who, really, is the Other’ Washington Post
‘With its well-built world, vivid characters and suspenseful plot, this book… is poised to become the next must-read hit.’ Kirkus
About the author
Francesca Haig grew up in Tasmania, gained her PhD from the University of Melbourne, and was a senior lecturer at the University of Chester. Her poetry has been published in literary journals and anthologies in both Australia and England, and her first collection of poetry, BODIES OF WATER, was published in 2006. In 2010 she was awarded a Hawthornden Fellowship. THE FIRE SERMON, her first novel, was published in 2015. She lives in London with her husband and son.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Ever since the success of the Hunger Games series, postapocalyptic trilogies have become a genre unto themselves—but the category is better known for page-turning action than exquisite writing. Enter Francesca Haig. A published poet, she’s also a PhD who specialises in Holocaust literature. The first volume of her series about the aftermath of nuclear disaster contains beautiful descriptions of everyday details that stopped us in our tracks. But Haig’s writing is never precious or distracting—it heightens the power of her story, which follows twin siblings on opposite sides of an unbridgeable societal divide.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Best known for her poetry, Haig debuts as a novelist with this first installment of a post-apocalyptic, dystopian trilogy. Centuries after a devastating nuclear war, all children are born as twins: a physically perfect Alpha paired with a deformed or mutated Omega. The Alphas oppress and shun their opposites, but if either an Alpha or an Omega dies, their twin is psychically constrained to die as well. Cass, an Omega with vaguely defined psychic abilities, is imprisoned by her brother, who has risen to prominence among the Alphas. When she escapes, she rescues the amnesiac Kip and discovers a terrifying secret about the Alphas' ultimate plan for dealing with the Omegas. Haig presents a scenario ripe with potential, but the harsh divide between the Alphas and Omegas is hard to believe in, given their inherent dependence on one another. Cass's powers work conveniently as the plot demands, and the twists still carry an air of familiarity. Haig's prose is almost wistfully descriptive, elevating the otherwise tired story.
Customer Reviews
Amazing
A must read! Especially for fans of the Wool Trilogy.
Amazing!
Amazing book! Had me hooked from the beginning!
Captivating start but withered ending
This story gripped me from the beginning and I stayed with it throughout, some nights unable to put the book down. But the ending felt somewhat abrupt and rushed. It's a shame as I was thoroughly enjoying it until then. I'd still read something else by this writer.