Firegold is the story of a young man discovering who he is and where he belongs. Jonathon Brae's journey is more complex than the usual adolescent identity quest in novels because he has so much more to discover and to sort out.

He is a "half-breed," not fully accepted by the Valley people among whom he has grown up because his mother was halfDalriada. The Dalriadas are mountain people who ride splendid horses, possess modest psychic powers and, according to Valley belief, grow horns on their heads. Because of this belief and the fact that there has been almost no direct contact between the two groups for generations, Valley dwellers also believe the Dalriadas are not completely human.

Jonathon's Dalriada heritage shows in his blue eyes, an almost unknown trait among Valley folk. One of their laws even requires parents to expose any blue-eyed...