Reviews

• “Stark, atmospheric prose invokes an introspective look into individuality within community.”

• “Fire from the Sky is a superb account of one boy’s struggle to be himself. Åstot does an exemplary job invoking Sámi culture, and an especially good job of capturing Ante’s turbulent emotions, dramatically ratcheting up tension, as it is often agony for Ante to be around the friend he’s so in love with. Much of Ante’s experience is universal, and empathic readers will hope urgently for his happiness.”

• “Despite the looming shadow of canonical queer tragedies in pastoral settings, debut Sámi author Åstot delicately manages to simultaneously honor tradition and push against it. The result is a rare and triumphant look at what it means for queerness to stay put, with all the messiness and pain that entails. The time-stopping emphasis on gazing and longing results in romantic tension that nearly rivals period romances, yet the story is anchored in the present. Sámi words and phrases and rich descriptions make for an immersive read. Though Ánte’s queerness is isolated, an adult gay Sámi’s reappearance hints at queer community. A fresh voice and a setting that’s pure fire.”

• “‘Are there any homosexual reindeer herders out there?’ With that question, the tone is already set on the first page of Fire From the Sky, an empathetic interpretation of love, with distress, doubt, and uncertainty, in which we can all recognize ourselves. /…/ This is a work deeply rooted in Sámi culture and which shows different aspects of it, including the trauma inherited from a long period of oppression. /…/ More than a heated love story, Moa Backe Åstot has given the work additional dimensions. She is herself a Sámi from a reindeer-owning family, so it’s no coincidence that the reader finds her descriptions both credible and authentic. Through her stories, she wants to offer new perspectives on both Sámi culture and Sámi identity. In this debut novel, she does so brilliantly.”

• “In Moa Backe Åstot’s YA novel Fire From the Sky, sixteen-year-old Sámi Ánte is confronted with both historical and more recent oppression. Does he have to sacrifice a part of himself; leave reindeer herding and become a “sidewalk Sámi”? The epicenter of the story is a touching, sensually projected inner friction about how love between boys is possible. The ups and downs of falling in love merge with a vivid depiction of nature, where the cold and the snow meet pulsating, lingering hot love. Traces of old racial biology and oppression are swept away by a warm community within and between generations.”

• “A strong love story. /…/ The message rings from history to the future about the right to speak your own language, the right to belong and the right to love whoever you want. With colorful prose, Åstot describes the conflict between preserving and moving forward. In Fire From the Sky [Moa Backe Åstot] offers hope that both are possible.”

• “Moa Backe Åstot writes about Sámi identity and inherited traumas in a way that connects the individual person with history. [Backe Åstot] does not shy away from the difficult questions and in the young, homosexual Ánte, she creates a painful and believable portrayal of the difficulties of being oneself in a complex web of oppression and prejudice. Fire From the Sky is also a story about love, lust, and friendship that everyone who has ever been in love can relate to and it brings about hope for a changing society.”

• “Moa Backe Åstot’s groundbreaking debut Fire From the Sky is without a doubt one of this year’s best young adult books. /…/ Brilliant debut bursting with love. /…/ It brings us one of the warmest love stories I have read this year.”

• “One of this year’s finest debuts.”

• “Can this really be a debut novel? /…/ Of course it is. It’s just so very rare to, in a debut, see language and portrayals that grab ahold of you as instantly as it does here; both elements are powerful, harrowing, and has great flow.”

• “The pages turn themselves. /…/ A fantastic debut.”

• “An unusually strong debut.”

• “One very rarely reads a novel that burns as brightly as this one does. Ánte’s longing is palpable, it rises from the pages with the force of restrained, forbidden desire. /…/ It shouldn’t be possible to depict this abundance of restrained pathos without it being too much, but Moa Backe Åstot makes it possible.”

• “A star has been born, a star of literature and it shines through the impenetrable, gray January sky. /…/ Moa Backe Åstot debuts in a magnificent way. /…/ [Fire From the Sky] bears witness of an author who has mastered the challenges of writing, using a living language and creating characters that are more than templates. /…/ A story that has us transfixed from beginning to end.”

• “One of the biggest reading experiences of the year.”