Evan Winter

I rarely find a second installment equally exciting as the first... but this was an exception in spades! Loved getting some of the world-building through oral history, which added layers and layers to the social structure and interpersonal relationships in the story. Also, the slow burn romance was right up my ally! Not over the top, and extremely relevant to the story and the characters' motivations. Evans thanks a friend in the acknowledgments for always keeping him on track with show more portraying what is at stake in every scene, and it shows. This book is a master of stakes!

The cliffhanger tore a hole in my heart, because now I have to wait who knows how long to find out where the story will go next. Loved everything about this one. Definitely give the series a read! show less

This is the rare fantasy novel to be inspired by African culture. Its hero, Tau Solarin, is short in stature and not a fighter by nature. But cruel circumstances drive him to become the best warrior he can be. His people, the militaristic Omehi, have a fascinating caste system, history, and magic system. Even their units of measurement for time and formation size are cool little details.

The first half of the book is about Tau's development as a soldier, often with blow-by-blow descriptions show more of fights. I generally don't find martial minutiae very interesting, but the author writes it well, taking into account the force and angle of impact, as well as the combatants' fatigue, speed, agility, and sense of balance. It's the second half of the book, full of secrets that dramatically alter and enrich the story, that really blew me away.

I read the ebook while listening to the audiobook. Although this is a slow way to read, it helped me stay focused on the story and learn its vernacular. The narrator, Prentice Onayemi, has a soft intensity and is great at giving characters distinct personalities and accents.

I look forward to the sequel that's expected to come out in November. show less

End of June, I had multiple train journeys lined up. Loong journeys. I already had a not-so-tiny list of literary fiction ready on my Kindle but knew that it might not be enough. There are some days when you want an engaging read without having to interpret too much between the lines. That led me to check out Time’s 100 Best Fantasy Novels. And there it was.

I wish I could say that I chose the book for its rather unique influences or for its beautiful cover, but instead, my only reason for show more picking it up was the word dragons in the title. Yup.

Onboarded the train at 16:30, and after a mandatory tea and Parle-G, started the book at 17:30. That night I slept at 2 a.m. and woke up at 6:30 in the morning, only to finish the book by 12, right before my train arrived at the destination. What a ride! Don’t remember the last time I read something with this much commitment.

I landed and immediately that night, recapped the whole book for my boyfriend who I know would never read it. And still, the rush of having read something fun did not die. Anyway, I ended up picking the second book, this, immediately.

I took more time with this book than the first one. However, it was mostly just to savour it, knowing there’s no third part waiting for me.

There is plenty that I expected to dislike in this series - the insane amount of fighting, and talk of fighting, and prep for fighting, and consequences of fighting... you get it. I also do not personally enjoy revenge fantasies as they can get very predictable and on the nose. Not this one though.

The Burning Series, so far, has been one of my most pleasant reading experiences. The African influences, the emotional cost of war, the oppressiveness of the caste system, the innocence of love, the fury of loss, the depth of grief. So much! I’m glad to have read this.

One of my favorite parts of the book is how Winter occasionally includes a chapter from the other side’s perspective. Just when you’ve spent hundreds of pages rooting for one point of view, suddenly, you see reason and justified rage behind the enemy's actions too. It is so annoying! To feel for someone you decided is wrong/bad/evil. It is also beautiful. It really makes you question whether our empathy for others is simply a matter of which side we happen to be born on. show less

Evan Winter follows up last year's wildly entertaining opening book in a new fantasy series with The Fires of Vengeance which keeps the action going from the first page to the last. At the end of the first book, The Rage of Dragons, Tau finds the Omehi people split and facing civil war. Tau is still seeking vengeance for those he holds responsible for the murder of his loved ones.

Tau is now the champion for Queen Tsiora and they must find a way to stop the general who has installed show more Tsiora’s sister as a rival queen and divided the nobles. If the Omehi are divided they will certainly be conquered by the Xideen, whose land they invaded but have never fully conquered.

It is up to Tau and the Queen to devise a strategy and raise an army to take back the capital city. The Queen's appointment of Tau as her champion has upset the rigid caste system that elevates the nobles and views people like Tau as lesser. They must walk a tight rope of changing an inherently unfair caste system while maintaining the support of the nobles who they need to fight with them to retake the city.

Every page in this book rings with intensity. You can practically feel the vibrations of each blow in the sword fights. Against the backdrop of an unjust society facing threats both from within and without, Evan Winter has created some truly epic battle scenes and a hero who is driven by rage and revenge. Tau can see no further than a future in which his quest ends with the death by his hand of the man who killed his father. He is distracted by a budding romance with the young queen whose strength is as quiet as Tau’s is loud.

There's a moral complexity to the decisions made by Tau and Queen Tsoira. Along with a fascinating political and social structure and action scenes that jump off the page Evan Winter has delivered another winner and a fantasy series that is a must-read. I can't wait to read the next book. The series is essential for all epic fantasy lovers and is sure to delight both new and old readers.

Highly recommended.

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher. show less