Reviewer: Gail S. Tucker-Griffith
In 1973 I did my "grand tour" of Europe after finishing my doctorate. I was determined to visit some unusual places on that tour...natural, historic, and even potentially dangerous. As it happened, a special package deal was available with a flight to and from LaGuardia via Icelandic Airlines to Keflavik Airport that included land transport to Reykjavik to my hotel. In Reykjavik I enjoyed several tours within Iceland. Having visited there for a very memorable few days I've remained intrigued by that tiny island nation, its people, and its "fires". I traveled to mainland Europe for 10 days and had another day to visit in Iceland before my return flight to LaGuardia.
The Fires, by Sigridur Hagalin Bjornsdottir, is not a book about writing, it is a remarkable novel about the science and lifestyle that is part and parcel of everyday life for the people of modern day Iceland. The author of The Fires wrote as if having lived the events that occur, even as she, a non-scientist, embraces the main protagonist's challenges that develop in so precarious a neighborhood. The main character, as a wife, mother, caregiver, beloved consort and the chief volcanologist in Iceland, must make decisions that impact thousands there as the earth below rumbles and explodes.
“The fires” is the name given to volcanic eruptions in Iceland, and describes the volatility of the volcanic activity beneath the Reykjanes Peninsula of Western Iceland and what happens above the magma when eruptions occur on that small, densely populated place. The arrival of my flight there was my introduction to “the fires”. Imagine flying in to a volcanic island at the very beginning of a spectacular sunrise and looking down to see subsurface magma of an undersea volcano as it erupts to form new land, the ocean around it literally boiling, flames and toxic gasses shooting up hundreds of feet in the air. In that way we on that flight all paid witness to island chain formation in action. Little did I know until then that under about a third of the inhabited landmass of Iceland magma was roiling and shifting in ways that were potentially deadly.
“The Fires” has all the elements that drew me in when reading it...a woman scientist who is the decision maker as the Reykjanes peninsula where the magma stream beneath starts misbehaving and threatening thousands of Iceland's residents. She is confronted by the conflict between old-school and contemporary prognostications about the actions of the underlying magma, and when, or if, and where evacuations should occur. Will the awakened magma stream result in an eruption large enough to release deadly gasses, smoke and steam that require that flights into and out of Iceland to be diverted elsewhere? How is the protagonist to wrestle with the uncertainty of her marriage, embrace her children and comfort them with what she knows are uncertain answers to their questions, sustain her responsibilities to her people, and continue her ongoing love affair? What will her family do if she is off at the very edge of this horrific magma flow collecting data, when they already know that some geologists have already died from undetected magma shifts that cracked the earth below them and spewed deadly magma and toxic gasses at their feet? With what level of stoicism do the people of Iceland function given the unpredictability of their beloved land?
The technical aspects are well-presented as well as the complexities of pyroclastic flow at the surface, but the direction of subsurface flow of the molten underpinnings of many coastal towns in Iceland seem to be determined by those with forecasting responsibilities as with a blindfold abetted by mathematical and statistical uncertainties. As discussions and dissent create conflicts among the experts it all seems to be a mindmeld approach to divining where the next eruptions and lava streams will impact human habitations. Will the production of carbon dioxide, a quiet killer, spread to Reykjavik itself? How will they move tourists away from the unsafe areas when the safe areas are subject to wind and weather impacts on the direction that such toxins move? And when and for how long will airliners, the lifeblood of Iceland’s tourism economy, no longer fly overhead due to the volatility and uncertainty of the Reykjanes?
Author's Biography ( https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B077MNY24V/about?ccs_id=9c9f1389-fec5-479e-ba1d-5d1471306f22 )
Icelandic author Sigríður Hagalín Björnsdóttir studied history in Reykjavík and Salamanca and journalism at Columbia University in New York and previously worked in Copenhagen before moving back to Reykjavík, where she lives with her husband, children, and stepchildren. Her bestselling debut, Island (2016), was nominated for the Icelandic Women’s Literature Prize in 2017. When she isn’t writing, Sigríður works as a journalist and television news anchor at the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service. Her highly anticipated third novel, The Fires, is a bestseller and viral hit in Iceland. It has achieved international favor given the superb rendition provided by Bjornsdottir's translator.
And here are the astounding number of eruptions that occurred in Iceland in the 2020’s:
These began earily at about the time “The Fires” was released, and the book seemed prescient of the events that occurred:
There have been 10 eruptions on the Reykjanes peninsula over the last four years:
The first three, 2021, 2022 and July 2023, were so-called ‘tourist eruptions’ that thousands of locals and tourists witnessed and enjoyed.
The fourth eruption was on December 18, 2023, and lava flow stopped within 72 hours.
This is where the book seems to predict the events as they occurred: The fifth eruption was close to the town of Grindavík, beginning on January 14, 2024. The seismic activity in the area, coupled with the January eruption, has had a devastating effect on this small community.
The sixth eruption began on February 8, close to the site of the fourth eruption. That lava flow stopped within 48 hours.
The seventh eruption began on March 16 in the same area as the eruptions in February and December. It lasted longer than its predecessors and ended on May 9.
The eighth eruption began on May 29 (Sundhnúksgígar crater row) and was declared over on June 22 after 24 days.
The ninth eruption began on August 22, (Sundhnúksgígar area), ending on September 5 after 14 days.
The tenth eruption began at 11:14pm on November 20 in the (Sundhnúksgígar area) and ended on December 8.
None of the recent eruptions have affected flight schedules or operations at Keflavík airport
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