This, my third entry in the unofficial Shannon Hale Week here at Someone’s Read it Already, is Shannon Hale’s second published novel. It’s one of the companion books to Goose Girl, yesterday’s installment. I think she balks at calling it a direct sequel, but other than the fact that Ani is not the main character, it’s a sequel. It takes place a year or two after the events in Goose Girl, involves the same setting and many of the same characters, and does have Ani as a major part of the story.

Unlike Goose Girl, Enna Burning is not based explicitly on a fairy tale. At the beginning of the story, we find out that after the events in the previous story, Enna has moved back to the Forest with her family. One day, her brother comes home after being out all night, and he’s warm to the touch. Eventually Enna pries from him the information that he has learned how to set things on fire without using a tinderbox or anything. Enna wants to learn, of course — fire has always appealed to her in many ways. She does eventually, but only after war has started in Bayern and things have all gone to hell in a handbasket. And the fire? Much harder to control than it sounds.

That’s not a very good description of the plot, but I’m afraid to give too much away. In any case, as a novel, it hangs together very well. Although there are other events in the book — physical events, like battles in the war — the main plotline is concerned with Enna . . . burning. Enna has to learn to control the fire, or it will burn her alive.

In her discussion of the choosing of the title of the book, Shannon Hale says that ‘Enna Burning’ has a slightly different meaning in each section of the book. I can see it, although a couple of them are very similar. Sometimes Enna is burning with various feelings (jealousy, patriotism, fear, etc.); sometimes Enna is, literally, burning things. Fire is the major imagery of the book; in addition to heat, fire represents change, as it almost always does.

Enna as a character is surprisingly constant; while she grows and must, in order to control the fire, change, she remains essentially the same cheery character we met a book and a half ago. The minor characters are generally well-fleshed out. In addition to those, Ani herself goes through a crisis in this book and must adapt to her new situation. She gains a facet or two, but is (of necessity) a lot less round in this book.

Shannon Hale’s language is somewhat less poetic in this book; Enna is a peasant girl, as opposed to Ani’s princess, and she doesn’t speak like a princess. Most of the surrounding characters are also peasants, and the narrator also doesn’t flower up the language behind them. Enna’s also generally a more down-to-earth person than Ani; she won’t hold the entire conflict of the world inside herself nearly as long as Ani would. This contrast is what made Enna Ani’s foil in the previous book, not just Enna’s black hair to Ani’s blonde. The relationship — foil and friend — continues in this book.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit, but it wasn’t quite as perfect as the previous books reviewed this week. I was a little disappointed in the ending; while it was clear and logical, it seemed a little simpler than I would have liked. It is, however, definitely a worthy sequel; I do not know how well it would stand alone, being that so much of Ani’s backstory is necessary to understand her current situation. That aside, I’ll still rate this book 4.5/5 stars.