![]() ![]() While the humans who populate this grittily realised world are sometimes rather too quick to accept the existence of Vern, it’s probably necessary to keep the bouncy plot moving. Highfire is written in the style of a neo-noirish thriller – True Detective meets Swamp Thing, told from the perspectives of Vern (who comes across like the love child of Homer Simpson and Victor Meldrew), Squib and Regence Hooke, a corrupt local cop with ambitiously crooked plans for the dragon. What could have been a fairly saccharine odd-couple, cross-generational confection, with Vern as the ultimate boomer to Squib’s Gen Z-er, becomes something more satisfying in Colfer’s deft hands. ![]() ![]() Vern is closer to the size of a bear than a dinosaur, and the central plank of the book is his relationship with savvy local teenager Squib Moreau, who chances on the dragon’s lair. They are monstrous engines of destruction, as in A Song of Ice and Fire or The Hobbit the noble, benign creatures of Anne McCaffrey’s Pern novels or cuddly dudes with a penchant for befriending small children, such as Pete’s Dragon in the Disney movie or excitable Edgar from last year’s John Lewis Christmas ad. Dragons in fiction tend to occupy one of three positions. ![]()
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