Enna Burning
First edition cover of Enna Burning
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| Author | Shannon Hale |
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| Illustrator | Alison Jay (first edition), Juliana Kolesova (photograph cover) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Books of Bayern |
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury |
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Publication date
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August 26, 2004 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 317 pp. |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 54081653 |
| LC Class | PZ8.H134 En 2004 |
| Preceded by | The Goose Girl |
| Followed by | River Secrets |
Enna Burning is a fantasy novel by Shannon Hale, and the second book in the Books of Bayern series. It follows the character Enna, who was introduced as a secondary character in the first novel in the series, The Goose Girl.
The story takes place in Bayern, a kingdom divided into forests and towns. Bayern's technology and culture are reminiscent of the Medieval era. It is on the other side of the mountains from Kildenree, where the first book in the "Books of Bayern" series began. At the conclusion of "The Goose Girl," Enna returned to the forest to live with her elder brother, Leifer. After finding a vellum scroll in the forest, Leifer learns the secret of 'Fire Speaking', the ability to control the element of fire. However, he is unable to control the power when he is enraged, frightening Enna. Enna then goes to the city, hoping to talk to her friend Isi (introduced as Princess Ani in "The Goose Girl") about Leifer's new power with fire, but Isi has been unable to manage her own ability to communicate with the wind since the end of the first book.
The neighboring country of Tira invades Bayern, and Enna and her friends, Razo and Finn, travel to the battlefront. Once there, they encounter Leifer, who is anxious to use his new power to fight. However, Leifer later dies in battle; while using his power to set fire to enemy troops, he becomes consumed by the energy of the fire and incinerates himself from the inside. When Enna finds Leifer's body, she finds the vellum and learns its secrets. She then makes a series of rules for herself which she hopes will allow her to fight in the war without meeting the same fate as her brother.
Bayern decides to put on a mock battle between a Tiran prisoner and one of their soldiers to determine the outcome of the war. Finn steps up when the captain asks for a volunteer, but during the fight, Finn comes close to death until he is saved when Enna burns the hilt of the prisoner's sword. This gives Finn the opportunity to kill the other fighter. Enna takes this as a sign that all will be lost unless she uses her power to end the war.
Enna tells Razo and Finn about her power and asks them to come with her on a series of raids to help keep her in check. She quickly finds she is unable to keep the promises she made to herself and cannot control her use of fire. When her friends try to dissuade her from further sabotage raids, she runs away and is captured by Tira. Tiran Captain Sileph uses herbs to drug Enna so that she can't use her power of fire to escape. He tries to brainwash her into teaching him the secret of fire and fighting for Tira. Razo and Finn try to rescue her, but are captured during their attempt.
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