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HomeFire Weather: the Making of a Beast by John Vaillant

Fire Weather: the Making of a Beast by John Vaillant

Fire Weather: the Making of a Beast by John Vaillant

Fire has been a partner in our evolution for millennia, shaping culture, civilization, and, very likely, our brains. Fire has enabled us to cook food, defend and heat our homes, and power the machines driving our titanic economy. Yet this volatile energy source has always threatened to elude our control. In our new age of intensifying climate change, we see its destructive power unleashed in unimaginable ways.

Last updated: October 4, 2024

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Looking for reviews, author bios, and discussion questions to stimulate conversation? We’ve compiled these for you!

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Forest of Reading: Fire Weather Discussion Questions

Forest of Reading From the award-winning, bestselling author of The Golden Spruce and The Tiger comes a stunning account of a colossal wildfire, and a panoramic exploration of the rapidly changing relationship between fire and humankind.

Contains a review and discussion questions.

John Vaillant Author Biography

Lyceum Agency John Vaillant is an author and freelance writer based in Vancouver, BC whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, National Geographic, and The Guardian, among others. His journalism, fiction, and non-fiction explores collisions between human ambition and the natural world.

Kirkus Reviews: Fire Weather A True Story From A Hotter World: A timely, well-written work of climate change reportage.

A Vancouver-based writer recounts “the most expensive natural disaster in Canadian history.”

Montana Public Radio: John Vaillant’s ‘Fire Weather: A True Story From a Hotter World,’ Pt. 1

This week on The Write Question, in the first of a two-part conversation, host Lauren Korn speaks with Vancouver, Canada-based journalist John Vaillant, author of Fire Weather: A True Story From a Hotter World (Alfred A. Knopf).

You can listen to the second part of their conversation here.

NYT Podcast: How to Tell the Story of a Giant Wildfire

John Vaillant, the author of "Fire Weather" (one of our 10 Best Books this year), discusses climate change and the fire that devastated a Canadian petroleum town in 2026.

WildFire Today Reviews: FIRE WEATHER Two perspectives, similar conclusions

Two reviews of Vaillant’s book, from two well-qualified writers, one in Canada and one in the U.S., written from two divergent perspectives yet reaching similar conclusions and opinions about the book.