The Fire Sermon Audiobook By Francesca Haig cover art

The Fire Sermon

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The Fire Sermon

By: Francesca Haig
Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang
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The Hunger Games meets Cormac McCarthy's The Road in this richly imagined first novel in a new postapocalyptic trilogy by award-winning poet Francesca Haig.

Four hundred years in the future, the Earth has turned primitive following a nuclear fire that laid waste to civilization and nature. Though the radiation fallout has ended, for some unknowable reason every person is born with a twin. Of each pair one is an Alpha - physically perfect in every way - and the other an Omega burdened with deformity, small or large.

With the Council ruling an apartheid-like society, Omegas are branded and ostracized while the Alphas have gathered the world’s sparse resources for themselves. Though proclaiming their superiority, for all their effort Alphas cannot escape one harsh fact: Whenever one twin dies, so does the other. Cass is a rare Omega, one burdened with psychic foresight. While her twin, Zach, gains power on the Alpha Council, she dares to dream the most dangerous dream of all: equality. For daring to envision a world in which Alphas and Omegas live side by side as equals, both the Council and the Resistance have her in their sights.

©2015 De Tores Ltd (P)2015 Audible Inc. Action & Adventure Classics Dystopian Fantasy Fiction Genetic Engineering Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction Dream Adventure

Editorial reviews

Editors Select, March 2015 - When The Fire Sermon was presented to the team here at Audible, my ears immediately perked up. I am a bit of a YA junkie, and this fresh and compelling take on dystopian YA lit was exactly what I was looking for to get my next fix. 400 years ago, Earth experienced an apocalyptic event that nearly wiped out humanity. Ever since, any child that is born has a twin – one is an Alpha and one is an Omega. Alphas are the rulers in society, while Omegas are treated like second class citizens. While most twins are separated soon after birth, Cass and Zach remain together until they are teenagers, and their separation may lead to a war between the classes. I can't wait to dive into this inventive new world with Lauren Fortgang – a personal favorite narrator of mine – guiding my way. —Katie, Audible Editor

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Most of the book was exceptional, but the dialogue was simply poorly executed, making 1 of the lead characters seem like a sarcastic high school student, rather than a man in his 20's who had been through a life-altering experience.

Great story, amazing development, horrific dialogu

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It's kind of a combination of Maze Runner and the Matrix in a post apocalypse setting. Even if this is the first of a series it failed to really have a great storyline. In the end you are left with a recycled story in a trendy setting.

It was just ok

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I enjoyed this book so much! Can't wait for the next one! Up there with divergent and maze runner. The narrator was great too.

Awesome

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Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I like the concept of the story, but felt that the story itself fell flat of my expectations

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

predictable

What three words best describe Lauren Fortgang’s performance?

Reads Too Fast

Do you think The Fire Sermon needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Not really, don't know what else they could bring in

Slow moving story line

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You must read this!!! This story is perfect if you love hunger games,maze runners,and divergent.

love it!

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Very thought provoking, a new take on a possible future for mankind if we don't become more responsible inhabitants of this earth of ours. Well read, I look forward to the sequel!

Hoping there is a sequel coming.

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I absolutely LOVED it! Very well written. I struggle with words to describe how well the story was played out. And the narrator was Perfection! Everything about the book kept me at attention, which is just not easy to do. You need to listen to the preview, and you'll want to read it all in one sitting. Really!

W😰W!

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How the series ends and continues may increase our decrease this rating. I can't decide just yet how much I like the story

a good beginning to the series

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What to say about "The Fire Sermon"... It's a decent listen. The narrator is good and brings across the right inflection to the female and male characters. The thing about this book is that it's in the same sort of vein as Divergent and the other "run-of-the-mill" post apocalyptic types of stories.

What stood for me the most was the beginning in how the protagonist describes how everyone is born with a twin and the sets of twins are separated at some point in their lives according to their traits (normal or mutant). This sounds so much like a part of Stephen King's book: Wolves of the Calla where sets of twins are also separated. The author, Francesca Haig, even writes how riders on horses come to take a twin away (much like what happens in Wolves of the Calla). It made me wonder if this is where Haig got the general idea for her story. In Haig's story, the twins are separated into Alphas and Omegas. The Alphas are the royalty and Omegas the peasantry. One interesting aspect is that the twins remained linked forever and if a twin dies, the other twins dies. If one feels pain, the other feels pain.

The protagonist discovers that she has a power as a seer and for that she is imprisoned and tortured to try and "see" into the future. She escapes and meets up with another Omega twin and they take off together in search of a safe haven. Here's where you get into the "run-of-the-mill" type of story. The characters inexplicably are able to ride horses, despite never haven ridden before. They meet up with various groups who are either friend or foe or both. There wasn't much that stood out in the story as it's all been told before. It's the same tried and true story arc that so many of these types of novels go through.

Of course, it ends in a manner that hints at a sequel (as most of these types of books do these days) but I didn't find it interesting enough to care if there is a sequel. Not the best. Not the worst. Just kind of mediocre.

Run of the mill

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I liked the story concept I did not like the lack of mastery of the English language and the fact that the story was too drawn out to fit anything else in.

Ally

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