Brightly Burning by Mercedes Lackey

Lavan Chitward comes from a family in the cloth trade, but he has no interest in any of their pursuits. They saw him as lazy and useless. They sent him to school to find a purpose and when things went badly they assumed he was a liar. Lavan’s life will get harder before there is a chance of things getting better. Fire can be useful but it is hard to control.

Lavan as he is early in the book could be anyone. So many people secretly suffer. Even though Lavan seeks out help no one believes him. Even when he begins to find his place in the world, he has a hard time connecting to people. He worries about anyone around him. Being near him is not necessarily a safe place even if he likes you. This is a book where people get hurt. People you love go through hard times. People you love might not love you in the same way. This is not a very happy book but you still care very much about the characters. Vanyel is just a memory, a legend, at this point but memories of him are part of why people like Lavan cannot be turned away. They are both bright stars that were so brief and brilliant but it ends so soon. Men like this do not grow old to see future generations.