I also put this book in the “just okay” category. It was way too long, imo. I wish Hill had cut the camp section at least in half. I wanted these people to move so I would know what was happening in the rest of the world. Yes, The Fireman seems like a good title choice: catchy enough for both male and female readers 
I guess I’ll tackle #8: The New York Times reviewer also states that in The Fireman, “the community’s residents aren’t as interesting as the wild array of heroes and villains stalking NOS4A2, a book whose heroine and villain were indelible.”
I could keep my answer simple with an “I agree” but I did so love the heroine Victoria - “Vic” - of NOS4A2. For those who’ve read The Millennium Trilogy think Lisbeth Salander but Lisbeth with a child of her own (named Bruce Wayne 
) to love and protect. In other words all you can do is stand back and watch her do so.
FWIW I rated NOS4A2 five stars on Goodreads and did so because of the characters - and not just Vic but also her husband Lou and assorted others - and because the book is just plain hard to put down.
Another FWIW: Library Journal and Time magazine also named NOS4A2 as one of the ten best books of 2013.
And still another FWIW: The car driven by the evil Manx is a 1938 Rolls-Royce Wraith, license plate NOS4A2; Vic rides a Raleigh Tuff Burner bicycle as a child and a Triumph motorcycle as an adult. In The Fireman the evil Jakob drives a freightliner and John Rookwood, a vintage firetruck. Vehicles play a part in Hill’s books.
Ha! I actually finished this month’s selection over a week early! (That may be 2 in a row for me …) Overall I enjoyed the book, much to my surprise. I went in with the idea it was another “apocalypse novel,” and I usually don’t like those at all. Plus, I’m not a fan of Stephen King, (with the exception of “11/22/63”) and figured like father like son. I was wrong.
That said, I agree with those of you saying parts of the book dragged on too much. The camp section could definitely have been shorter, IMO. Part of my frustration may have been that by that point in the story I really just wanted to know how it would end.
I’m OK with the title being “The Fireman,” although the story seems to revolve more around Harper. Speaking of whom – some of the stuff she was doing while pregnant? I’m not entirely convinced …
Re: some of the other characters – did anyone else think Jakob was like Jason, the character who wore a hockey mask in the “Friday the 13th” movies who never, ever died? Every time it seemed as if Harper didn’t have to worry about Jakob any longer, he’d show up in his snowplow. And, when did you figure out Michael was a “bad guy?”
I wasn’t so much bothered by her being pregnant - it was when she was escaping bad guys on foot with a broken leg! There was an easy fix too - they just needed to say that the spore helped you heal more quickly and gave you more energy and I’d have been on board.
I was fine with the title. It lets you know early on to pay attention to his character even when he is off the set much of the time. He’s kind of a catalyst who pushes the story forward at crucial moments.
I haven’t watched the Friday the 13th movies, but at some point I was “enough already with Jakob, just kill him off!”
I did not figure out Michael was a bad guy until he was proven to be bad. I’ve never been very good at mysteries. I’m sure there were all sorts of clues I should have caught though.
I agree very much with PlantMom and CBBBlinker regarding the book’s length. I thought it was way, way, too long. All of the book’s interesting, engaging content could easily have been fit into 300 pages or less.
The early part of the book where Harper was at home with Jakob, with Jakob acting worse and worse, was just excruciating, in my opinion. I simply hated it. Jakob seemed to have basically no redeeming qualities, and neither did his family members of whom we caught glimpses.
Most of the camp section, before the truth was revealed about various things and the final dramatic part began, was a real drag, too, I thought. Boring and muddled.
The whole concept of the Dragonscale was intriguing and imaginative, and some of Hill’s descriptions of it were rather beautiful. The guy can write, I think, but his dialogue tends to be childish except when peppered with gratuitous vulgarity. I really feel that he is somewhat lazy. To me, all his pop culture references were grating (couldn’t believe I was googling “Snuffleupagus”!) and often provided an easy shorthand that some readers may find cute, but which will date the book quickly.
I agree that the camp was too long. One of my favorite parts about apocalyptic books is seeing how society changes and functions, so once we established all the cool and interesting ideas, it became a somewhat dull section about people who weren’t that interesting.
It reminded me so much of The Stand for the basic premise – a fatal disease is rapidly spreading and a small group of immune people must create their own society and start the nation over. The character of Harold Cross was blatantly taken from Harold Lauder, the loner black sheep in The Stand, who has a relationship with Nadine Cross. Harper’s middle name is revealed to be Fran, who is the protagonist of The Stand. Oh, and there’s a deaf guy named Nick in both stories. And a Mother ____ figure who leads the camp (Carol here, Abigail there).
I was not at all surprised when Martha’s Island turned out to be a hoax. I kept wondering why they trusted the idea of this magical safe haven so completely, without any reservations that it might not be what it seemed. Especially since they spend most of the book up against people who want to eliminate anyone with Dragonscale.
I took a look at the Guardian review. They seem to find humor in an aspect of the book that was distasteful to me.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/jun/21/the-fireman-joe-hill-incendiary-apocalypse
By referring to the deaths of the individuals the Guardian mentions (a couple of others are George Clooney and Glenn Beck), or by mentioning – in passing! – that the entire Celtics basketball team had perished, or the Eiffel Tower had collapsed, or that Southern California was all burned up, Joe Hill – providing us with no details about these occurrences whatsoever – makes the apocalypse seem rather like a joke…or a movie. He imposes a distance between the main story and all the remote devastation that I didn’t like at all.
As PlantMom wrote:
Yes! There needed to be more in the book about the rest of the world. Hill should have thrown out some of his interminable writing about Harper’s early, confused days at the camp and given us some meatier, more thoughtful context instead.
Surely Keith Richards would fall into the category of those who learn how to control Dragonscale.
I really didn’t mind the specificity of the cultural references. To me this put the book firmly in the “this could happen tomorrow” category. Yes, movie like. (Right now I’m reading a book full of cultural references to a culture that isn’t mine - 1950s India - I’m not seeing this as a problem.)
I agree Harper’s husband was too much of a cartoon character and the camp section dragged on far too long.
Martha’s Island didn’t start off as a hoax though did it? It was just too late by the time they headed out. I couldn’t decide what I thought about the coda to the book. So there’s another Martha’s Island out there, populated by people who can control the fungus? It seemed both too pat, and yet I did want them to survive.
Re Mary’s question #4: Why does Hill create a protagonist who was pregnant?
I’ve noticed that authors tend to do this in stories where the main female character’s love interest dies at the end. “Well, at least she’ll have the baby” (even if it’s another guy’s baby).
Re Mary’s question #8: “Did you think that the characters were better drawn depending on their gender (i.e., does Hill have a greater gift for creating female characters or male characters)?”
I thought he was a bit better with the female characters. There were a couple of guys at the camp that I never could keep straight – Ben and Don. Those two were under-characterized.
I’m sorry to say that I really hated this book. I was intrigued at the beginning – I found the concept of Dragonscale interesting and thought that the set-up provided lots of opportunities for interesting plot developments, but I thought the execution was just abysmal. I found the characters wooden and one dimensional (especially the Fireman) and the camp scenes plodding and boring. I thought there were giant holes in the logic of the world he created that made it hard for me to suspend disbelief (will explain my thoughts on this later, when I have more time).
Most importantly, until the very, very end, there was not any point in the book in which I was swept up in the story. At literally any point, I could have easily and happily put down the book and not returned. That’s a pretty big fail for me for a plot-driven beach read. When all else fails, I’m hoping for a page-turner, and these pages didn’t turn for me. The only exception to this was at the very end, when they were trekking through Maine, going from mailbox to mailbox. I did like that portion, and I liked that the mythical island didn’t really exist.
All that said, it’s not really fair for me to judge because this is just not a genre I enjoy. I’m not big in post-apocalytic thrillers in general, and this was definitely one that did not transcend the genre. So I’m not really in the target audience. I definitely would have put it down after 100 pages if not for this group.
PS – I did like the very few passages when he provided some pseudo-scientific explanation of the spores, etc. And I liked the descriptions of the physical marks the dragonscale caused. Other than that, I found the writing as clunky as the plot and characters.
Scattered thoughts:
Mary: “I loved reading this book, although it won’t go on my short list of favorites.”
- A really good way to put it. The Fireman won’t make my list of favorites either but it seemed right for a summer read, even the length. In my humble opinion, The Fireman practically shouts “Take me outside and settle in.”
Caraid: “I liked the character of John Rookwood. He was endearing and charismatic in a bristly kind of way.”
- Perfect - I particularly like “in a bristly kind of way.”
mathmom: “I think what bothered me most was that I felt that what started off as a pretty realistic what if went off into over the top fantasy land with the ability to spray fire (barely believable) and to send off shapes of fire separate from you (not believable at all). That really took away from my ultimate enjoyment of the story, which was too bad because there was much to love.”
- I agree and disagree. I felt much the same way till near the end and those not-believable-at-all parts rescued our small band of “good guys.” We have Nick with his ability to stop everyone in their tracks, Sarah there when needed most, John as phoenix saving the day more than once. For me, Hill tied the unbelievable parts well into the narrative by the end.
“I really didn’t mind the specificity of the cultural references. To me this put the book firmly in the “this could happen tomorrow” category. Yes, movie like. (Right now I’m reading a book full of cultural references to a culture that isn’t mine - 1950s India - I’m not seeing this as a problem.)”
I agree. I like cultural references: I spent a heck of a lot of time looking them up in Far from the Madding Crowd. I’m not sure this is all that different except that they’re our cultural references. Future generations may enjoy finding out about Snuffleupagus - assuming they don’t already know.
CBBBlinker: “Some of the stuff she [Harper] was doing while pregnant? I’m not entirely convinced …”
- Me either!!!
“And, when did you figure out Michael was a ‘bad guy?’”
- I didn’t.
NJTM: “The whole concept of the Dragonscale was intriguing and imaginative, and some of Hill’s descriptions of it were rather beautiful.”
- Yes! and yes to the “gratuitous vulgarity.”
… “(couldn’t believe I was googling “Snuffleupagus”!)”
- I can’t believe you needed to google Snuffleupagus.
"I took a look at the Guardian review. They seem to find humor in an aspect of the book that was distasteful to me.
- Uh oh. I must have the same humor as the Guardian reviewer: “Nothing can kill him [KeithRichards]. He’ll outlast us all.” :))
rebeccar: “It reminded me so much of The Stand for the basic premise – a fatal disease is rapidly spreading and a small group of immune people must create their own society and start the nation over.”
- Except it turns the premise somewhat upside down in that this is a small group of infected people creating their own society. I also think it brings into play the question of tolerance: will it be an integration of those with Dragonscale and those not; will it be separate but equal; or will it remain the hunted vs the hunters.
“I was not at all surprised when Martha’s Island turned out to be a hoax.”
- Me either. I thought it was sketchy that our intrepid travelers have to wear gear that scream infected.
NJTM: “I’ve noticed that authors tend to do this in stories where the main female character’s love interest dies at the end. “Well, at least she’ll have the baby” (even if it’s another guy’s baby).”
- I had a different take. I think Harper’s pregnancy gives her a reason to live and, perhaps, a reason for others to let her live. It also brings into play the question of future generations which goes back to what I mentioned earlier about tolerance. Dragonscale may or may not be the present in a newborn. Are the infected not to have children? It brings up some interesting questions. Uninfected people here, there, and everywhere, so what happens …
Mary: Good job on the questions by the way!
I knew Snuffleupagus was some sort of shaggy, elephant-like Sesame Street character, but I didn’t know the following (from Wikipedia):
“In an interview on a Canadian telethon that was hosted by Bob McGrath, Snuffy’s performer, Martin P. Robinson, revealed that Snuffy was finally introduced to the main human cast mainly due to a string of high-profile and sometimes graphic stories of pedophilia and sexual abuse of children that had been aired on shows such as 60 Minutes and 20/20. The writers felt that by having the adults refuse to believe Big Bird despite the fact that he was telling the truth, they were scaring children into thinking that their parents would not believe them if they had been sexually abused and that they would just be better off remaining silent.”
I really did think the book was overloaded with references to things like Disney, Hunger Games, Harry Potter, etc, etc. Guess I’m just a snobby old fogey. 
If we are mentioning things that bothered us, I was bothered that they never put gas in the firetruck. The world was on fire! Are we to believe that gas was easily accessible? When they were escaping from the camp, they drove for miles and miles. Hill could’ve mentioned John siphoning gas out of the abandon cars on the side of the road, but no, we were to believe they always had a full tank. Thank you for letting me get that off my chest.
Thanks for mentioning this, @Caraid! This really bothered me, too – but I temporarily forgot about it. (That’s what happens when I finish a book almost 2 weeks before the discussion!) That old firetruck just kept going, and never seemed to run out of gas. And this is a vehicle that probably got really lousy mileage!!! AND, speaking of gas, where was Jakob getting all the gas for his snowplow thingamajig? So, yeah, the whole gasoline part of the story really doesn’t hang together.
Although not completely surprised that Martha’s Island was a hoax, I was definitely disappointed. (Who doesn’t like a happy ending?) The fact that it wasn’t a haven, though, made me less optimistic about the other rumored haven they were headed to at the end of the book.
What I got from the end of the book and the coda (and forgive me as it was a library loan on Kindle and I finished it weeks ago) was that Don had heard of another island off the coast of Ireland where people with the Scale were safe. They decided to head that way with John giving them some extra fire pushes. Then in the coda, it was an Irish lady and a child walking on the coast—both were infected—seeing a sailboat arriving in the distance (presumably Harper and Co). I thought it was pretty optimistic.
I thought it got off to a kind of slow start but I have to say by the time all heck broke loose at the camp I was hooked. I read through straight to the end pacing around my living room. I was suspicious they were being drugged when they got to the intake for the island, but for some reason I still didn’t suspect they were just going to be tossed overboard.
There was a lot of hard to believe stuff re: what a human body can take but I kind of decided in my head that maybe the infection helped them heal/be strong. (In fact, I thought I even remembered a short passage where Harper theorizes this very thing.)
On page 330- enjoying it ! Not reading any posts, yet, don’t want to read spoilers-
Back to book -
So many wonderful observations! A few thoughts…
As far as “screen time” goes, the book really belonged to Harper, but titling the story The Nurse wouldn’t have made a whole lot of sense. Using “The Fireman” as the title is also Hill’s way of paying homage to Farenheit 451. Still, I did feel like it raised John Rookwood to greater hero status than he deserved, given that Harper seemed to spend a lot of time trying to keep him alive. No matter, though–I liked him. The way he combined reckless, life-saving action with irreverent humor reminded me of John McClane of Die Hard fame.
I agree. The dramatic supernatural elements like Sarah being a woman of fire and, later, John being a guiding fiery falcon, did not captivate me as much as the psychological drama. I found the most compelling part of the novel to be when the camp was slowly beginning to turn from good to evil, and Harper found her role shifting from beloved nurse to “enemy of the state.”
I plan to read it. I agree with the others that The Fireman needed some editing; nonetheless, the book convinced me that Joe Hill can write a page-turner.
Snuffleupagus and I are old friends, but I had to google Martha Quinn. Had no idea who she was. At first, I thought all the pop culture references were a mistake, for the very reason you mentioned. And then it occurred to me that perhaps Joe Hill had no interest in writing the Great American Novel to stand the test of time. Maybe he just wanted to pen a rollicking, current events adventure that would entertain the masses for a year or so and maybe hit the bestseller list. If so, mission accomplished.
I stopped thinking of The Fireman as an apocalyptic book early on. The book did not examine end-of-the-world ramifications in ways like The Road or Station Eleven. It was more of a fantasy to me–one that studied the dramatic way a microcosm is affected by a change in leadership. Look at how the nature of the camp altered with the substitution of ONE person (Father Storey) for another (Carol). I found it really interesting (but not apocalyptic).
I’m glad you stuck with it and joined us! The Fireman did hold my interest, but I understand your perspective. I felt much the same way through large portions of Seveneves, with all its extensive diagramming of flamshooters and such (but I know others felt differently – waving at NJTheatreMOM :-h ).
I agree that the psychological drama of the camp microcosm was more important than the apocalyptic elements of the story. That’s why my problems with the book were not problems related to the genre (horror, apocalyptic, whatever). I thought the psychological drama was rather clunkily handled. I must confess that I kept falling asleep while trying to read this book, literally up until about the point when Father Storey died.