---
product_id: 22700997
title: "The Fire-Eaters Mass Market Paperback – January 12, 2010"
brand: "david almond"
price: "€ 19.13"
currency: EUR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 9
url: https://www.desertcart.fi/products/22700997-the-fire-eaters-mass-market-paperback-january-12-2010
store_origin: FI
region: Finland
---

# The Fire-Eaters Mass Market Paperback – January 12, 2010

**Brand:** david almond
**Price:** € 19.13
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** The Fire-Eaters Mass Market Paperback – January 12, 2010 by david almond
- **How much does it cost?** € 19.13 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.fi](https://www.desertcart.fi/products/22700997-the-fire-eaters-mass-market-paperback-january-12-2010)

## Best For

- david almond enthusiasts

## Why This Product

- Trusted david almond brand quality
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## Description

Full description not available

## Images

![The Fire-Eaters Mass Market Paperback – January 12, 2010 - Image 1](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51uU5mGNRNL.jpg)
![The Fire-Eaters Mass Market Paperback – January 12, 2010 - Image 2](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41r70dEQ86L.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Five Stars
  

*by S***L on Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2017*

Exactly what I was looking for and it arrived when I needed it <3

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    1962 – Nuclear war build-up
  

*by A***A on Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2018*

It is 1962.  Robert (Bobby) Burns lives in Keely Bay, not too far from Newcastle in England.  The world is gathering to a knot formed by the nuclear build-up between USA and USSR, John F. Kennedy and Kruschev.  The potential of world war 3 builds up in the last quarter of the story.In Newcastle, Bobby meets Mr. McNulty, a fire-eater, an escapologist, who eventually makes his way to Keely Bay.  Coincidentally, Bobby’s Dad remembers McNulty from Burma, in 1945 during the war.Other characters are Ailsa Spink and her family of father and two brothers who bring coal out of the seabed, her mother having recently died. Joseph Connor, a few years older than Bobby, a school-wagger and lout, is Bobby’s oldest friend. Then there’s the new boy, Daniel, and his family. Daniel will go to Sacred Heart as a new boy with Bobby. They’re more educated than the rest of Bobby’s friends.PTSD is hinted at, but never defined, which makes the telling smoother. There’s illness and survival. There’s miracles like the fawn that Ailsa rescues.  There’s bullies like the teachers at Sacred Heart.  There’s rebellion, in the world by the nuclear disarmament crowd, and in Keely Bay.It is a lyrical and emotional story, with some unresolved threads. For example, how Daniel and Bobby resolve the huge differences evident in their bringing up is not really told, other than they are on the same side at school. I didn’t really get how the fire-eating motif related to the nuclear war theme. It is a tale that stays with you.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    City on fire
  

*by B***D on Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2005*

The greatest testament there is to the power of good writing is the ability it has to tell universal stories in very particular settings.  For example, when you think of the author David Almond you pretty much have to think of one place in the world.  North-eastern England.  Books like "Kit's Wilderness" (one of the greatest children's books ever dreamt up) would be nothing without their location.  And the same goes for his particularly ambitious effort, "The Fire-Eaters".  This book is set, in his own words in, "a tatty place, a coaly beach by a coaly sea".  The characters talk with thick beautiful brogues.  Their lives and the lives of their ancestors are rooted to the beaches on which they were born.  Yet somehow this book could apply to any human being on any land on this small planet we call our own.  And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a testament to good writing.Keely Bay is set apart from the rest of the world.  It's the kind of place where a family can make a living simply by panning for the coal that appears naturally in the sea around it.  Bobby Burns, however, is bound for higher things.  He has been accepted into the nearby public school (along with some of his friends) and away from people like his friend Joseph.  Then the world comes crashing down around him.  When Bobby meets a mysterious fire-eater in a nearby city, that's the moment when his life starts to take a turn for the bizarre.  Suddenly his dad has a mysterious illness and far away in America the Russian Missle Crisis is taking place.  Bobby finds himself standing up to the oppressive corporeal punishment wielded at his school and dealing with the darkness that's coming far too close to his once perfect life.  Deftly, author David Almond weaves fact and fancy, history and mystical goings-on to create a story that's technically fictional but more real than any other book being published today.Almond as an author has always been fascinated with stories in which a young male protagonist has a deep connection with an older male father-figure.  In "Skellig" (his best known and most magical work) it was the mysterious bird-man found in the boy's garage.  In "Kit's Wilderness" it was both the boy's grandfather and the boy he befriended in the deep dark coal mines.  Here, Bobby befriends a mysterious stranger (like in "Skellig") but also has a deep meaningful relationship with his own father (like in "Kit's Wilderness").  Also, Almond tends to place a magical girl-figure in his books.  This one is no exception.  And it's funny... for all that Mr. Almond can be relied upon to create such regular cut-out characters, his books are some of the freshest and deeply moving out there today.  Every time I read a David Almond book I think it's the best thing I've ever read.  Until I happen to read the next David Almond book and the whole process starts again.  His talent is in his ability to weave plots, themes, and ideas together.  The fact that Almond makes his work seem so effortless is part of its charm.I doubt "The Fire-Eaters" is assigned all that often in school.  Which is a real pity, to be blunt.  Will kids who read it enjoy it?  I dunno.  Maybe.  The book isn't particularly hard to get through, though the language may strike some Yankee tots as hard to translate.  In the end though, I think it's perfect for the child reader that's just a hair touch smarter than his or her brethren.  If you happen to know a child who excels a little more than their fellows, try "The Fire-Eaters" out on them.  They may see the heights to which Almond aspires even more clearly than I do.  A great work of art.

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*Product available on Desertcart Finland*
*Store origin: FI*
*Last updated: 2026-03-05*