Question: Late '80s/Early '90s. Child has control over fire and is called "firebrand"

Asked by scatterbrain on Tue 30, Aug 2011 02:55am :

Googling "firebrand" or "fire brand" is an exercise in futility. I remember
almost nothing from the story. The boy possibly escaped his village with
the help of some others. Turns out that he can control fire. Then it turns
out he can control water. The most vivid memory is that the group came
under attack from something and he managed to create a flash flood. I seem
to recall the boy being targeted by some sort of evil villain/king/overlord
because of his magical powers. 

Comments:

Comment by sfreader on Tue 30, Aug 2011 11:54pm:

There is a book called "Pawns Dream" by  Eric S.Nylund. A man has had
dreams all his life, in which he lives in a monastery in a strange
world. In his dream, he escapes with the help of some adventurers. One
of them has power over fire and water, and creates the flood to help
them escape. Turns out the man belongs to a family that has magic
powers, which are polarised eg;fire/water, dark/light etc. his power is
life/death.

Comment by scatterbrain on Thu 01, Sep 2011 08:15am:

Hi sfreader, Pawns Dream sounds interesting, but I don't believe it's
the one I'm thinking of, but I'll give it a try anyway. 

Thanks!

Comment by amathesonallen on Thu 03, Nov 2011 10:34am:

This sounds a lot like a Stephen King book I may have read years ago...
would that be a possibility?

Comment by kaoru on Wed 16, Nov 2011 12:07am:

I think I might be looking for the same book as you.  Were there other
people who had abilities called "Talents" and the nature spirits the boy
could summon "Elementals"?  Does the boy get cursed at some time where
another girl (with mental powers) has to "block" the memory from his
mind so that he can function?  I think there's a character named
"Archer", a mentor type character that goes into hiding and contacts the
others via telepathy to guide them?  I seem to recall that there was
more than one book... perhaps if it's the same book we can piece
together enough to google the right combination of words to figure it
out!

Comment by kaoru on Mon 19, Dec 2011 09:10pm:

Hi, 

I know this is old, but I'm convinced that the book you are
looking for was the one I was looking for.  I've since found out what it
is here (thanks to the wonderful Admin) and purchased it -- and the main
character, Jarral, is called "Firebrand" for a time in the book.  He
also causes a flood and finds out he can control other
Elementals.

It's "The Blade of the Poisoner" by Douglass
Hill
http://www.amazon.com/Blade-Poisoner-Douglas-Hill/dp/0553277170/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324357659&sr=8-1

The
sequel is "Master of
Fiends"
http://www.amazon.com/Master-Fiends-Piper-Douglas-Hill/dp/033030691X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1324357659&sr=8-2

I
hope you get a chance to read this book again ^_^