I loved this book. Dearly. The writing is stellar and transporting. It is what I aspire to in my own writing.
Annie and Lee were just children when a brutal revolution changed their world, giving everyone–even the lowborn–a chance to test into the governing class of dragonriders.
Now they are both rising stars in the new regime, despite backgrounds that couldn’t be more different. Annie’s lowborn family was executed by dragonfire, while Lee’s aristocratic family was murdered by revolutionaries. Growing up in the same orphanage forged their friendship, and seven years of training have made them rivals for the top position in the dragonriding fleet.
But everything changes when survivors from the old regime surface, bent on reclaiming the city.
With war on the horizon and his relationship with Annie changing fast, Lee must choose to kill the only family he has left or to betray everything he’s come to believe in. And Annie must decide whether to protect the boy she loves . . . or step up to be the champion her city needs.
From debut author Rosaria Munda comes a gripping adventure that calls into question which matters most: the family you were born into, or the one you’ve chosen.
Everything I love about fantasy is in this book. A unique dragon riding world. Both side and main characters that pop off the page. Lessons that you can apply to your own world.
Lately, I have found myself drawn to the grey. When it comes to what is right and what is wrong I think lines can be blurred. I don’t want a book to preach to me, but I do want a book to lay things down for me to pick up and examine. This book does that and it does it well.
This is near a masterclass in the art of creating tension, while keeping it fresh. Tension is constantly shifted in this story, it maintains so well because it flows with the story arc so well. It’s almost like there is overarching tension and then smaller tensions and they just work so well. It is rare for me to find something that provides book long tension, while also being unpredictable. When those books come along they’re like a huge exciting exclamation point in my reading year.
I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’m not going to get into huge commentary, but if you’re interested in:
- Character driven books
- A non-preachy look at the marxist cycle
- DRAGONS
Then this book is for you. I read it in November and it skyrocketed into my Best of 2019 list easily. Will be one of my most highly recommended.
You can find out more about Rosaria Munda at her website, Fireborne is her debut novel, the first of a trilogy.
A.J. Eversole 