The Fires of December
A Book About Boxes
Introduction:
Brandon Sanderson announced last year, at his DragonSteel convention, another Secret Project named “The Fires of December”. I have followed Sanderson since about 2021 and it is a meme in his sphere of influence that he cannot stop writing. That he just keeps on going and going. Reading the author’s note at the end of this story I can’t help but agree. He literally busted this book out in between installments in his broader Cosmire, like Athena popping out of Zeus’s head fully formed.
As an aspiring storyteller I can’t help but be jealous and impressed. Although credit where credit is due; Sanderson has spent every waking moment from his teens till now thinking about storytelling and writing. He has gamified it, if you will. So, another surprise book being announced last year wasn’t as big of a surprise as his last couple of surprises. Because it is what we expect from him at this point. Which, surprisingly, is what this book is about; expectations, boxes, how they shape our interactions.
Art of December from “The Fires of December”
What’s Inspirational About “The Fires of December”?:
The Fires of December takes place in Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmire. But, similar to his other secret projects, they are stand alone stories. So, you don’t need the context of this bazillion other Cosmire books to enjoy it. This is a very smart move by Sanderson so that people aren’t so intimidated to start reading his books. Although you will notice that his book is labeled as one of Hoid’s Travails. That’s because, like in Sanderson’s other secret projects, we are being told this story by Hoid, the trickster immortal, who shows up in most of his books.
This specific story being told to us is about December. “The girl was born in the last cold hour of the last cold day of the last cold month of an unseasonably cold winter” (Pg 1, The Fires of December). December is a female protagonist who is constantly being put into boxes. Not literal boxes mind you, but the boxes that society creates for each of us. In the first few chapters alone December is put into the boxes of ‘old soul’, maiden, wife, harlot, witch, mother, healer, and crone. She is constantly dealing with other’s expectations that others place upon her. December deals with boxes, those people put her in, and the ones that she assigns others.
Being put in a box is a feeling that I believe most people can relate to. We all judge each other and have ideas about how a person should and shouldn’t act. We have societal, class, and gender norms we assign others and are expected to fill ourselves. Boxes that are invisible, boxes we do not question, boxes that are harmful as they are helpful. These boxes are all made up and we rarely perfectly fit into any one of them.
December’s story explicitly explores these boxes and surprisingly doesn't shun the idea of them. It goes out of its way to show December’s journey of fighting against the boxes she is expected to fit into, to her using the knowledge of the boxes she’s lived in to help other, to her recognizing that she puts people into boxes just as much as they do to her, then she learns how to expand her perception to extend outside of those boxes. It is so elegant and a true lesson in empathy.
To take a quick detour to one of my favorite movies “Into the Spider-verse” Miles Morales has to learn not to live within other’s expectations of him but to create his own identity and break free of what is holding him back. There are loads of stories like this but not so many that execute it as well as the “Spider-verse” series does. Most of these stories however are coming of age stories featuring teens or young adults. Rarely do we get a story like this that features a woman who has lived a lifetime like December. Rarely do we get a story that dives deeper into this theme and looks beyond breaking free from the box.
“Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse” Poster.
This leads to my favorite part of this book. December is forced to look at the structure that these boxes form and see that while she doesn’t perfectly fit into them or while others don’t fit into them either she learns that the real power isn’t breaking free of a box. But being able to choose what fits you best in the moment and change or discard it as you need to. As you grow, change, and become a new person. That is the true beauty of this book, the wonderful idea that we don’t need to go through the world breaking boxes, but reshaping them, expanding them, discarding them, and giving others the permission to do the same.
Final Thoughts:
One thing that I have to admire about Sanderson’s secret projects is how much emphasis he puts on skill. Skill that is developed through practice, consistency, and experimentation. It really is December’s plethora of skills and her knowledge enough to bend the rules, knowing what boxes to not only use but shape and build that saves the day. Developing true skill is a superpower and I am so happy to see Sanderson acknowledge that.
It is awesome, the only shame is that while this book is all about the boxes that women are put into throughout society it doesn't even once touch on what that’s like for the queer community to not only be put in a box but have to transition out of it. However I don’t know if Sanderson is the right author to confront that topic, yet. It seems that he has some boxes of his own he needs to explore. Still, this is a very well done book and an excellent example of his skill as an author.
It is just so inspiring to see a story that not only shows us that as humans we are far more than we seem. While we have infinite worlds behind our eyes we still need boxes to grow, explore, and use as stepping stools to the next best thing. I am so glad that I was able to read “The Fires of December” and I hope that you enjoy it as well. Please let me know what you think!
Thank you for coming aboard this week! See you at the next stop!
Looking for more Inspiration? Continue Here:
Brandon Sanderson’s new Secret Project in the new Cosmire series called Hoid’s Travails comes The Fires of December. A book about December as girl with an inner fire who learns about societies boxes and how to shape them.