I think my rating may go down with time away from this book, but I without doubt enjoyed it. Cashore has a talent for creating female characters who are not only strong but are capable of being swayed by logic instead of just blind compassion (Not to say there's anything wrong with compassion, but lordy, YA world. There are other traits a girl can be known for). My biggest problems were the pacing and that throughout the book the question "Why did Cashore write this?" held in my head and was never answered. Fire fits in with the world and was a great story, but I'm not sure what it added to the series plot as a whole. It seemed like this should have been an addition at the saga's conclusion, but that's probably a personal pet peeve.
