6 h 38 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if your people’s survival depends on a flame—and no one knows how to make it?
In Quest for Fire, J.-H. Rosny aîné imagines a world without writing, metal or farms. The Ulhamr carry their precious fire in cages, guarding it for warmth, safety and cooked food. When it dies, cold and darkness close around a tribe that cannot kindle another flame.
Three young men set out to find new fire. Quick, clever Naoh leads the search with steady Nam and fierce hunter Gaw. Their route crosses forests, marshes and open plains, where mammoths, cave lions and great bears roam. Other peoples hold the flame they need, but differ from the Ulhamr in appearance, habits and ways of life.
What you’ll discover
- A flame worth guarding Feel how a single loss threatens warmth, food and safety for an entire tribe.
- Three men facing danger Follow Naoh, Nam and Gaw as they carry their people’s need into the wilderness.
- A world of giants Cross an imagined prehistoric landscape where mammoths and great predators make every journey dangerous.
- Encounters with other peoples Meet human groups whose different habits make the search for fire more than a wilderness journey.
- Survival you can feel Enter a lost world through direct prose filled with movement, smell, sound and weather.
Who will love it
For readers who love survival adventure, vivid animals and wild landscapes, and for anyone curious how early people might have lived, hunted, loved and feared the dark.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- The Oulhamr lose their sacred Fire
- Two rivals race for Fire and Gammla
- Naoh learns to survive the savanna
- A giant lion traps the three nomads
- Stealing fire from the Man-Eaters
- An alliance with the mammoths
- Red Dwarfs and a siege in the marsh
- Fire is a living mystery
- Strength takes many forms
Who’s who
- NaohSon of the Leopard, tallest and fastest of the Oulhamr, a clever fighter who leads the quest for Fire in order to win Gammla.
- NamSon of the Poplar, a young, agile warrior who follows Naoh with total loyalty and guards the Fire.
- GawSon of the Saiga, a swift young hunter and Naoh's second companion on the journey.
- AghooSon of the Aurochs, a hairy, merciless warrior who also seeks the Fire and wants Gammla for himself.
- FaouhmChief of the Oulhamr, strong but suspicious, who offers Gammla to whoever brings back the Fire.
- GammlaThe chief's niece, called the Marsh Girl, strong and skilled with plants, whom both Naoh and Aghoo desire.
- GoûnOld Goûn of the dry bones, the tribe's best counter and keeper of memories, who speaks for caution and unity.
Formats and delivery
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 6 h 38 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 7 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Read and hear La guerra del fuego in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
La guerra del fuego
by J.-H. Rosny aîné · 1911
When the last flame dies, a young hunter named Naoh walks into a hostile prehistoric world to steal fire.
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In short
What would you do if the one thing that kept you alive went out? In Quest for Fire, written by J.-H.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
The Oulhamr lose their sacred Fire
The story opens with a defeat. The Oulhamr tribe has lost a battle against an enemy horde, and in the flight through the marsh their Fire, kept alive in three cages for generations, dies. Without it they are weak and naked before the Lion, the Bear and the cold.
At dawn the chief Faouhm counts his people with twigs and fingers. Old Goûn, the best at counting, sees how few survive. The losses among the children and warriors are especially terrible. Faouhm stands before the survivors and asks what the Oulhamr can do without Fire, for meat will stay raw and spear points will stay soft.
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What is Quest for Fire about?
It is a prehistoric adventure about the Oulhamr tribe, who lose their Fire. A young hunter named Naoh and two companions travel far across a dangerous land to find a new flame and bring it home.
Who are the Oulhamr, the Kzamms and the Wah?
The Oulhamr are Naoh's tribe. The Kzamms are tall man-eating warriors who guard a fire. Naoh's journey also brings him into contact with other peoples.
Is Quest for Fire a true story?
No, it is a novel. J.-H. Rosny aîné imagines life perhaps a hundred thousand years ago.
The author
J.-H. Rosny aîné
1856–1940 · Belgian science fiction novelist
J.-H. Rosny aîné was the pen name of Joseph Henri Honoré Boex, a Belgian writer born in Brussels in 1856. He lived in Paris and died there in 1940. He wrote science fiction and prehistoric novels, including The Death of the Earth (1910) and Quest for Fire (1911).
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