Winter of Fire by Sherryl Jordan
This year I’ve been re-reading books from my childhood. Winter of Fire by Sheryyl Jordan I first read in 5/6th grade??? Maybe 4th. I’ve had the book since then, and my copy is missing the cover. I haven’t read it I don’t even know how long. It’s about a world where a meteor crashing to earth puts enough debris in the sky that the sun is blocked out. So the humans have been separated into two groups, Chosen and Quelled, and one is in slavery to the other to mine out firestones which give everyone heat [they used up trees long ago.] Guess which one is enslaved? Firestones are found in the earth by a diviner, known as the Firelord. Without him, all people would die.The heroine is Elsha, who is a young rebellious Quelled woman and is selected to be the Firelord’s Handmaiden. The highest position a woman can attain in their world. She changes everything in the world just being Handmaiden, and even more so later in the book.
The themes are pretty obvious: slavery, prejudice, and sexism.
There’s a more subtle theme that I pick up as a parallel to what happens to aboriginals when people from other countries/regions come to conquer them. It’s very slight, and toward the end. But there’s an abolishment of family ties, religion, culture, and humanity forced upon the enslaved. It’s something I didn’t really notice or make a connection to until I read it this time.
I’ve exercised my imagination when re-reading this book. One time, I imagined them all as humanoid aliens, with gills and extra fingers, and with brightly colored skin [like purple, green, yellow, and blue.] This time, I imagined all of the Quelled at caucasian and all of the Chosen as non-white [even though the book describes varying skin tones in both the Chosen and Quelled.] I don’t know why, I just like to exercise my imagination.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_of_Fire