The Fire Stallion

by Stacy Gregg

An enchanting and empowering standalone story from the author of The Princess and the Foal. Twelve-year-old Hilly has landed her dream job, riding on the set of Brunhilda, an epic film based on the fearless warrior of Icelandic legend. Norse fire ritual tells that on mid-summer’s day, animals and humans can shape-shift and one night Hilly finds herself connected to the young warrior and her fire stallion. As the two girls’ lives intertwine, Hilly soon realises that they’ll both have to risk everything for the love of their horses…
Inspired by real-life historical events, The Fire Stallion is an epic tale…

Genres: Horses, Middle Grade, Animals, Childrens, Fiction

304 pages, Hardcover

Published September 24, 2018

About the author

As a young girl living in New Zealand Stacy Gregg wanted to be two things when she grew up – a horse rider and a writer. She now considers herself very, very lucky to be both at once!

Becoming a writer was the easy part – all she needed was an exercise book and a pen. Stacy wrote loads of poetry and short stories at school and then became a journalist, writing features for magazines and newspapers and working as a fashion writer (v. glamorous and lots of fun!) before her first book in the Pony Club Secrets series was published in 2007.

Extract from author's web page

Reviews

[Kerri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stacy Gregg is one of those authors who I love so much that I just buy her books as they come out, often not bothering to read the blurb -- I already know I'll enjoy them! She's my favourite modern day pony book writer, and a name that I associate with a good story. So already this book has a lot going for it in terms of my enjoyment. But then I realized, as I finally looked at the inside flap, just before beginning it, that this story is (mostly) set in Iceland, with Icelandic Horses featuring heavily.

I have something that leans pretty close to an obsession when it comes to Icelandic Horses. Or the idea of them at least, since I haven't met one in real life-- not yet anyway! I'm very drawn to them. They seem in some ways wilder looking than most horse breeds, and there is something quite pure and ancient about them, representing some kind of freedom that we don't see as often these days. But they also seem to be very loyal and reliable--- and they are beautiful.

So I loved this. There are two story lines, one taking place now, on a film set in Iceland, where they are filming the story of Brunhilda, the other following the 'real'* Brunhilda, whose life varies quite a lot to the Hollywood version of it.
Brunhilda and Hilly (past and present respectively) are both wonderful characters, who form a kind of spiritual link, allowing Hilly to experience the past as Brunhilda. Stacy Gregg describes all this much better than I have just done, by the way!

Of course there are the horses-- Brunhilda's stallion Jotun and his modern day equivalent, Hammer/Mjolnir. Given my fascination with the breed, I adored these horses. This is one of my favourite Stacy Gregg books so far, which is saying something!

If you have any interest in Icelandic Horses, there is a really interesting two-part short documentary on YouTube called, 'The Uniqueness of Icelandic Horses', which I would definitely recommend. Or check out their website, which has links to all their social media as well:

www.horsesoficeland.is

*I put real in quotation marks, because this real Brunhilda is still another fictional interpretation of her. A brilliant one though.

[Beatrice Gorman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is AMAZING!!! I love the way Hilly turned into Bru and I also loved the ending where Hilly sorts things out with Anders and she gets Ollie and Hammer!
Love it! 😍🥰

[Tahlia · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love norse mythology and horses so couldn't really go wrong with this book

[Bethany Tyler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ugh, I have such conflicted feelings on this book!
But it wasn't as good as Stacy Gregg's other stand-alones sooo.....
It would have been a 2 stars because of the whole turning into Bru which I didn't like...
and all the mentions of the norse gods.
But I liked Hilly's nice ending and how things patched up nicely for her so I did 3 stars.

[Sam Schroder · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating read. A classic horse-loving adventure story that would definitely appeal to middle school readers, but also a really cleverly written and engaging story based on Norse mythology and set in Iceland.
Hilly’s costume designer mother is on a trip from New Zealand to Reykjavik to work on a film about a mythological warrior girl called Brunhilda. At the last minute, Hilly gets to join her. What she thought would be weeks of sitting around on boring film sets soon changes when she lays eyes on Mjölnir, or Hammer, the huge and spectacular Icelandic horse who will star in the film. It is love at first sight, for both of them. Then, Hilly finds herself caught up in the world of Gudrun, the cultural consultant on set, and before she knows it, Hilly is far more invested in the story of Brunhilda and her fight for survival than ever could have been predicted.
Funnily enough, this book has been in my stack of books for review for possible more than a year. It was my mistake to dismiss it as just another horse book. This is a whole lot more than that and I really enjoyed it.

[Abbie meagher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very Good book

I loved this book and I would love a sequel to it. It was a truly amazing book that which was really interesting and grasping. I could not put this book down. I would recommend it to 11 - 18 year olds for the reason that the switching between characters and Icelandic terms could be a bit confusing for younger readers. Is Stacy Gregg were to release a sequel I would hope that it would be mainly about Hilly again and she could have another adventure of possibly romance with Anders. Overall this was a brilliant read and possibly one of my favorite books of all time

[Ezra Wynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and I would love a sequel to it. It was a truly amazing book that which was really interesting and grasping. I could not put this book down. I would recommend it to 11 - 18 year olds for the reason that the switching between characters and Icelandic terms could be a bit confusing for younger readers. Is Stacy Gregg were to release a sequel I would hope that it would be mainly about Hilly again and she could have another adventure of possibly romance with Anders. Overall this was a brilliant read and possibly one of my favorite books of all time

[Hailey Roy · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was a little girl, my mother would read me the Stacy Gregg novels. I could see the story from my own two eyes, I loved it. I haven't read these in a while but I always get such heart warming memories with these books. I really recommend her stories for young ones who love horses. Although I've only read this once, it's the kind of story that stays engraved in your mind, especially as a little girl 💖

[Layal · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book I didn't even get to read and now it is asking me to write a review well first off can you please allow people to read the book and second make the option to read the audio

But I have seen the first few chapters on another website so it is a good book but the website qualities not so good

[Meegy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick fun read by Aussie Author and Horse Lover, Stacy Gregg. In which we learn about Princess Brunhilda, as well as learn about how to cope with the loss of a loved one, whether it is an animal or a human. A great read, but I'd say more for the older end of middle grade due to the words used, and the knowledge in this book.

[isla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing and I love that Stacy Gregg compared a modern day human to a Viking queen from thousands of years ago and I love that it is based on Norse mythology! Well done Stacy in writing this book and all the others, I myself am a huge horse fan and I love all the books you have written!! Thank you!

[Mya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice bit of YA fiction.
I learnt a little bit more about Norwegian folklore.
I thought the modern-day story was clever because it created a plausible explanation for who was in Norway and what they were interested in.
It's Stacy Gregg's usual recipe of double timelines, cross-over characters, innocent love interests, and HORSES (of course).

[Sean Harding · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gregg's Sausage Rolls #1
Thoroughly engaging tale and unexpected as I had thought it would be far more "horsey" and well dull, interesting and a mixture of mythology and history and in an unexpected environment for this kind of tale.
A good book.

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome Book, Thoroughly Enjoyed!!

[royaevereads · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was a bit outlandish for me - I think the film set thing would’ve been enough without the fantasy elements thrown in. Still enjoyed it though, horses plus romance with a film star 🤩

[Natalia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice although it was most interesting when we got to see how it was in Brun Hilda's times.

[Christine Meunier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to follow

[Audélie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely story, but it was too slow for me. I liked the other books by this author so i thought this one would be as captivating but it lacked something. Learning about Iceland was interesting though!

[Aaliyah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I probably have all ready read this book about a great story line a great read.

[Seghezzi Elena · Rating 1 out of 5]

Non si capisce tanto e non ha un bel finale

[Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well written story with lovable characters. My favourite in this collection so far.

[J Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this many times when I was little and absolutely loved it! My favourite book of my mid-childhood! Magic and horses, no better combination!

[Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made me think about courage between horse and rider because iff you don't have that courage then the bond will fall apart. "Life is about moments. Create them. Don't wait for them".

The writer is teaching us about courage because people often back out of things that might be very useful for future years. It also teaches us about taking those chances that might only happen once in a lifetime.

In my opinion you need courage every step of the way, you need it to get through school and you also need it to find a job because without it you will get know where .