An excellent new voice in fantasy fiction. If you're looking for something new, with great characters, world-building and writing, then THE RAGE OF DRAGONS is for you. Definitely recommended.

This book was a delightful foray back into the adult fantasy world I love so much. After taking a break from fantasy for a while, I am so happy I decided to jump back into the world through this novel.

The action in this novel was one of the reasons I loved it so much. The revenge plot kept the plot moving and kept my interest for the entirety of this novel.

I also can’t deny that the fact that only women can access the magic in this novel (girl power!), was a definite plus for me.

I enjoyed moving into the world where the characters were black and not entirely European and white. I do wish I saw more African inspired cultural aspects in this novel, but perhaps we’ll get that in the sequel.

The only negative I had (a big one unfortunately) was that I didn’t connect with the characters as much as I wish I could have. They were interesting but they fell very flat for me and that took away from my enjoyment of this novel .

I had mixed feelings going into this book. On one hand, I had seen a number of positive reviews from sources I trust, it’s published by Orbit and I tend to really like nearly everything I read from them, and it is set in an African inspired world which fits my intent to read more books set in non-European or American-stylized worlds. However, based on the little I knew going in, there were some possible red flags, namely that this is a debut author which is unproven to me, it supposedly featured dragons which feel over-saturated in recent fantasy books and which can be done poorly, and that it apparently contains excessive action/fight scenes which I can easily find myself glazing over. Also, as much as I want to read books set in non-traditional fantasy worlds making that quality a positive one, I have found that it can also be a negative when it becomes an uphill battle as I struggle with names as well as cultural practices that are not within my experience.

Fortunately I was able to read the book from both the audio and the print copies of the book. The audio book was an excellent resource in that its narrator spoke with an African accent, which helped with pronunciation as well as creating a mood that complemented the world in which it took place.

As I went through the book, several things stood out. The most prevalent aspect that dripped from every page was the caste system of this world. This context was so integrated into the story, and it fueled the motives of many of the character actions. To be honest, it kept me in a state of irritation, frustration, and at times disgust, given the disparity between the elite and the inferior who had virtually no hope of a better life. This was most troubling in the scenes when the “Greaters” treated the “Lessers” with such deep scorn, often speaking as though they are less than human. While I credit the author that this was well written, it kept me uncomfortable for large portions of the book. (As an aside, in evaluating my emotions and why it bothered me, I believe I discovered new insights into myself and my world. Being uncomfortable perhaps was the point.)

Another standout element to this book was the depth of commitment Tau had to his goals. In part this drove him to achieve higher levels of self-growth, becoming a trained fighter that eclipsed his Lesser status. However, his thirst for revenge often clouded his decision making, creating a singular focus and not allowing him to choose a small sacrifice of personal objective to do what would be the greater good. This both bothered me as the reader because he could become so driven to accomplish his motives, making him seem like a brutal weapon. But it also filled me with compassion for him because his intent was birthed out of great loss and grief.

There were several other themes that I appreciated. I love how crucial teamwork is portrayed throughout the book as well as the importance of hard work and a “no quit” attitude. I also appreciated how central the concept of familial heritage and societal obligations wove throughout the story.

Given that the title of the book includes the word “Dragons” there is not much actual screen time with the creatures. There is a reasonable amount of coverage for their place in this world, how their magic works, how certain humans interact with and control the dragons, and the threat of their use in the warfare. I much prefer this subtle usage over page after page of these mighty beasts eating people left and right with one bite, killing dozens at a time with a sweep of the tail, or incinerating everything in its path. I was glad to see nuance, and tension, and conflict. I like how it built anticipation rather than jumping into the action.

The African inspired component to the book ended up largely as I expected. While I was very eager to discover a world unknown to me, it came only thorough a deliberate amount of effort and focus. It also felt in places that I was not able to grasp the full depth of the plight of the characters. I was very glad for the exposure to this world, but I can see that it is still well outside my comfort zone, and it took a fair amount of effort at times to stay on page.

Finally, while there were a large amount of fight scenes, the majority of them were relatively short, and they were typically separated with plenty of story points between the fighting. The fighting scenes were well written, allowing a sense of dread since a number of low to mid-level people end up dying.

Ultimately, this book worked for me, not because it was just like so many other books I have read and enjoyed, but because it was able to stretch me into uncharted territory. It worked because of the emotional gamut it led me through. It worked because it exposed me to a new culture full of both beauty and injustice. And the effort of pushing through uncomfortable emotions in a culture that was foreign to me paid off with an enriching experience.

While this book might not be for everyone, I like the fresh direction it takes the fantasy genre, and I think it will appeal to many. Recommended! 4.1 out of 5 stars.

The tension in this book is amazing. Even thought I *know* there's more books there's so many points where I was sure Tau wouldn't make it. We don't follow the supporting cast too closely but Winters characterizes them well, and when they're in mortal danger it really feels like they survive by the skin of their teeth.

I loved this story. It had a morally grey main character who was still very likeable, well developed relationships and very real characters. The background of the world in this book was blended seamlessly in to the present day aspect of the story and I felt that every element of this book was well explained. The action scenes were very engaging and I enjoyed reading about the Tau's learning process (regarding sword fighting etc) and I enjoyed watching his character develop, both in what can be considered a positive and negative light. The writing style was very engaging and the setting was well described.

The Rage of Dragons // by Evan Winter

This is one of those books that I saw my Twitter mutuals talk about and knew I just had to read. Fantasy is one of my favorite genres and I love any books with dragons so I knew it was meant to be, I was lucky enough to receive a print copy by the publisher so I now have that stunning book gracing my shelves. It is very eye-catching and I am excited every time I see it. There are several different things that I really enjoyed about this book that came together to form one of my favorite fantasy reads of the year.

The prologue was attention-grabbing and set the pace for the entire novel. If you are looking for a story that moves the entire time, you have come to the right place. But the constant movement doesn't take away from the character development either. Winter knows how to write a character that you want to root for, the underdog that we all want to support in his quest for revenge. As a fantasy reader, of course I enjoy a good magical system and that is no exception here. I personally have not read anything else with this kind of setup for magic and I thoroughly enjoyed exploring it right along with Tau. The way it was tied into his other experiences was fascinating and I'm looking forward to seeing how that plays out later.

I'm a big fan of school settings and find it interesting when that is tied into the rest of society as well. There are also a lot of different social classes in this society that are intertwined with a unique military system and the level of complications that added to Tau's life was interesting as well as frustrating at times. I love how dragon terminology came into play there. Winter did a great job at conveying the feelings of his main character and I always found myself loving, hating, and admiring the same people as Tau. I don't care much for fighting scenes on the TV but I love a good description of them in a book. Winter does not disappoint on that front at all! He delivers again and again without making you feel like there is no other substance to the book. I thoroughly enjoyed this read despite there not being as many dragons as I would've liked and am very excited about the second book in the series!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Story

I honestly don’t know where to begin when describing Evan Winter’s fantastical story that he has created. It was everything I wanted and more. It was what I thought Game of Thrones should’ve been tbh. It gave me complex characters, a nice map with relevant landmarks, political intrigue, and DRAGONS! I really wish this story had no end because I could be stuck in this world forever. The way that Winter manages to make non-stop action as interesting as it was is just phenomenal. The description of the fight scenes is really what drove me to rating this book 5 stars. They were just so well done and I don’t think they could’ve been written any better. I knew where each character stood in battle, I knew what kind of terrain they were on, I knew how each fighting stance looked if it were done in person. It was just amazing.

The Characters

Tau is a force. I wanted to be Mulan so bad when I grew up, but honestly now I just want to be Tau. He was knocked down over and over again in the course of his journey and he managed to get back up each and every time. Even though Tau’s determination and need for success is rooted in a plan of vengeance, I shockingly found myself siding with him again and again, even though I’m normally against plans of revenge. The journey that I followed Tau on in this book gave me a deep connection to this character. He is someone who wishes to rise above his circumstances and the role he has been given in life and, as a black woman, this is definitely something that I can resonate with.

Also, there is Zuri. I loved her so much even though we only get glimpses of her throughout this story. You really have to read about her to understand how great and selfless she is.

The Writing

Winter’s writing really pulls you in. He manages to create a fully realized fantasy world without any huge info dumps or lulls in the action. By the end of this novel I had a complete understanding of the world that the Omehi live in, their culture, and their history. It was very hard for me to make the distinction in my head that this was not a book about factual events, just an amazing story brought to life by Winter. Not too many people can manage what this author managed to do with his book. He made an unfamiliar world familiar to me and the understanding that I had by the end of The Rage of Dragons is something that I want to stay with me forever. I felt that I truly knew each and every one of the characters that I read about, like they were my own friends. And that made reading about their ordeals so much more heartbreaking than it already was.

The first time I heard about The Rage of Dragons, through a fellow blogger’s review, I was beyond intrigued when learning that the book takes a different approach to the usual fantasy themes by basing the story on an African-like background, which is indeed new and refreshing in the genre. Besides, how could I resist a tale of vengeance? Since my long-ago encounter with The Count of Montecristo I always found revenge stories to be quite compelling, so there was no doubt that this would be an intriguing read.

At the start of the story we meet the Omehi people, refugees in search of a place to settle in and re-build their society: they just landed in a promising location, but the natives’ fierce resistance forces them into a bitter conflict that is still ongoing some two hundred years later, when we encounter the novel’s main character, Tau. In a society geared for endless war, everyone must be trained for combat, but Tau is not very sanguine about that and his goal is to finish his mandatory warrior training and then injure himself in a way that will allow him to still be a productive member of society in a non-belligerent role.

Fate, however, brings such an upheaval to Tau’s life that it sends him on a very different path, one that will turn him into the fierce warrior he never meant to be, so he can carry out his vengeance against those who wronged him. And as Tau pursues that aim, the conflict with the Xideen keeps escalating and the future for the Omehi looks increasingly bleaker…

The Rage of Dragons started out in a very promising way for me, with its original approach and setting, but ultimately it failed to engage me fully, which saddened me quite a bit since I had hoped for more – or maybe set those expectations too high. For example, the background is a potentially fascinating one: the novel is marketed as an African-inspired story and there is indeed an intriguing feeling in the descriptions of the scorched, unforgiving land settled by the Omehi, of the relentless sun beating down on people and their activities. The language is permeated by terms calling out to the African culture, and even though they sometimes overwhelm the readers, asking them for an effort of memory to place them in the right context, they enhance the difference from the more traditional fantasy storytelling. Still, I could not avoid the sensation that those elements of originality were only skin deep, because none of them helped in making me perceive the depth and complexity of such a different culture.

From the opening we learn that Omehi society is divided into two castes, nobles and commoners, assigned by matrilineal descent, and that women hold the highest powers: the ruler is a Queen and the magic wielders are women, which would lay the ground for a strong female presence throughout the story, and yet the narrative evidence is contradictory. As far as the caste system is concerned, for example, we only know it’s there and that the nobles often misuse their influence for personal gain, but there is nothing more here aside from the perception of the inherent injustice of this social structure. Female figures, what few there are, hardly impact the storyline, giving me the unwelcome sensation that their apparent agency in Omehi culture is more a token one than the real thing.

Still, these misgivings would be minor ones, and easily ascribed to the “growing pains” of a debut work, if it were not for what turned out to be my major contention with The Rage of Dragons, which was its main focus – Tau. It was difficult, not to say impossible, to find a connection with the character: at first he comes across as a variation on the theme of the reluctant hero: he has no heart for fighting, which in a military culture is a huge problem indeed (those who are unwilling to fight are relegated to the role of ‘drudge’, little more than slaves forced to serve the community in the more menial and demanding tasks), while his plan for a self-inflicted injury, which would free him from military service while maintaining his status and freedom, sounds mildly cowardly and did little to endear him to me. Then tragedy strikes and Tau spins in the very opposite direction, training hard and succeeding quite shortly in becoming a fearsome warrior, which is somewhat difficult to believe given his initial lack of interest for warfare – even taking into account the powerful drive offered by his thirst for revenge, it’s a change I struggled to accept.

That desire for revenge (an element, as I said, that can powerfully drive any story) leads Tau to a single-mindedness that further alienated him from me, because it was not so much a tight focus on a goal but rather a tunnel vision to the exclusion of all else, be it the bonding with his comrades or the consequences of rash choices – and Tau is quite prone to the latter, to the point that I often wondered if he was stupidly foolish rather than powerfully driven. Moreover, the emphasis on hand-to-hand combat, which takes a considerable space in the overall narrative, turned out to be too much – at least for my tastes – and those descriptions, no matter their cinematic detail that would work very well on screen, felt boring and repetitive after the umpteenth flashing of bronze swords.

When all is said and done, I would not label The Rage of Dragons as a bad book, because it’s not, but in the end it felt to me as an unfulfilled promise, a story with a great potential that remained mostly untapped, and that’s the main reason for my overall disappointment. Which does not mean that this story could not get better along the way…

Hollis’ 3 star review

If the pitch of <I>Gladiator</I> meets GAME OF THRONES drew you in, you’ll probably be very happy with THE RAGE OF DRAGONS. Because in addition to those things, it’s also as not-white as you can possibly be. This is a world that I guess would be the fantasy version of Africa, or fantasy-inspired version, and the “savage” people are no less dark than the “Chosen” people.

This is a pretty long book, clocking in at almost five hundred and fifty pages, but if you love battle scenes, or long arduous periods of training, you probably won’t notice the passing of time. There’s a whole lot of worldbuilding that we don’t really get at the beginning, though we definitely get some, and that Winter actually sprinkles in along the way and, surprisingly, this worked really well for me. It’s not overly complicated but there are complexities to this world and I found easing us into it made it much easier to digest.

“<I>You won’t help your people if you don’t know your place.</I>”
“<b>I don’t think I like the place they’ve set for me</b>.”
“<I>It’s based on what you are.</I>”
“<b>They don’t know what I am.</b>”

Think RED RISING, if you’re familiar with that series, as far as this caste system goes. There are Lessers, and Nobles, full bloods and not, and then Gifted. Crammed in there are also various rankings of military people, too. Also similar to RED RISING, Tau, our lead character and the main POV (we do get brief chapter interludes with three other characters, I believe, but they are single-shot snapshots), is very much like Darrow, like all lower-born men who rise to become more, or to represent more. There’s also shades of The Princess Bride as he does get a little Inigo Montoya along the way.. (+10 points if you understood that reference). But don’t get it twisted, this isn’t an African RED RISING, there’s so much of this world that stands alone. There’s a spirit world at play, demons, and, of course, the dragons.

Despite how long this book is, I won’t say that it felt long until.. the sixty percent mark. By this point it was all Revenge Time, all the time. And the training and battle scenes (though maybe more the training than the battle) were, well, proving a point. The time was definitely taken to show Tau becoming better, stronger, faster. I think this is a hard balance to maintain; too short and it’s not believable, too long and it can get boring. I wouldn’t have minded a few time jumps with convenient flashback or summary paragraphs though..

That said, when I was reading it, I was invested. But if I put it down, I never thought about it or felt any burning desire to pick it up. It’s good but I would say the weakness, beyond the drawn out moments, was definitely the dialogue. It felt either kind of cheese or just weak. The storytelling, though, felt pretty solid which, thankfully, helped to bolster some of those moments where I side-eyed the words coming out of the characters’ mouths.

Overall I was surprised by one or two characters along the way, grew to enjoy some of the others (not Tau but that’s mostly because I think he’s the driving force, the change, not so much a personality) but the plot itself didn’t wow me or blow my mind. I will still read on in the series because I think there’s a lot of backstory and worldbuilding to explore, and I have questions about what happened prior to the opening chapter of the book that started everything that lead to this particular place and time. I think, ultimately, I’m hoping for more GAME OF THRONES plot twists and less playing-with-swords or ruminating-on-my-revenge montages. Fingers crossed for that!

** I received an ARC from the publisher (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review. **

Rating: ★★★★★

Synopsis

Game of Thrones meets Gladiator in this debut epic fantasy about a world caught in an eternal war, and the young man who will become his people’s only hope for survival.

The Omehi people have been fighting an unwinnable fight for almost two hundred years. Their society has been built around war and only war. The lucky ones are born gifted. One in every two thousand women has the power to call down dragons. One in every hundred men is able to magically transform himself into a bigger, stronger, faster killing machine.

Everyone else is fodder, destined to fight and die in the endless war. Young, gift-less Tau knows all this, but he has a plan of escape. He’s going to get himself injured, get out early, and settle down to marriage, children, and land. Only, he doesn’t get the chance. Those closest to him are brutally murdered, and his grief swiftly turns to anger. Fixated on revenge, Tau dedicates himself to an unthinkable path. He’ll become the greatest swordsman to ever live, a man willing to die a hundred thousand times for the chance to kill the three who betrayed him.

Review

So, I have actually had a Kindle copy of Winter’s The Rage of Dragons (The Burning #1) for a while now as it was originally released in September of 2017. I picked it up purely based on the original cover, synopsis, glowing reviews, and the fact that it happened to be on sale when I came across it. Suffice it to say, it was going to be on Mt. TBR for a good little while as it wasn’t on my “review radar”. (Sorry, Evan…)

Well, low and behold, Winter’s baby (which would make a good book or movie title on its own) was picked up by Orbit – THE premier fantasy and science fiction publisher right now (a publisher that has failed to send me a book I didn’t at least enjoy, let alone LOVE) – and given a makeover.

I MEAN, LOOK AT THAT ASTOUNDING COVER BY KARLA ORTIZ.
IT GIVES ME GOOSIES EVERY TIME I LOOK AT IT.

Having said that, I do love how they kept the “Gladiator meets Game of Thrones” bit, though they could’ve added “with a dash of Wakanda” to give you an even more approximate picture of what you are getting yourself into. Easy to see why I decided to go ahead and give it a shot.

The Rage of Dragons (The Burning #1) is, at its very heart, a tale of revenge. Oh sweet, sweet revenge. It is a bittersweet thing. One that clouds the mind and creates tunnel vision, blocking out all exterior influences until climax, leaving a then unfillable void. Tau knows this, but the emotion he is overcome with blinds him. He sacrifices his wants and the future he has set for himself to fixate on the the life now thrust upon his shoulders.

But it also a tale of overcoming adversity. Destined to be apart of a lower class of society, one that will always be crushed under the heel of the upper class and flung into the front lines of war, Tau sets out to prove his worth and grit. Though he doesn’t have the ability to call dragons or go into a berzerker-like state, Tau manages to gather strength and determination through consistent and torturous training, giving him the edge he needs to fulfill his need.

While the author plays on some of the well-known fantasy tropes, he brings them to life in a new light. Epic world-building, a new and enchanting magic system, never-ending / fast-paced action, and a protagonist that you will become fully spellbound by. The Rage of Dragons is the fantasy epic you didn’t know you needed and I, for one, am kicking myself for not getting to it sooner.

Fans of Pierce Brown’s Red Rising series will find a lot to love here. Honestly, anyone with an epic fantasy bone in their body needs to give this book a shot. I see big things coming for Winter as this story continues to unfold and I am excited to see where things escalate from here.

I just…WOW. This book is all the RAGE—pun intended. I’m completely blown away by this book. I love when a fantasy is filled with endless action! This story completely sucked me in and tore me to shreds and I’m still left craving more. Honestly, I get how this is compared to Game of Thrones, but damn after being disappointed by that show I am HERE for this book. It is a total cutthroat story.

Tau is a man with a plan. He never really wanted to become part of the war and fight endless battles. His plan was to marry the girl he has always loved and somehow escape the plan his father has for him. Everything turns upside down for Tau, though, and suddenly thoughts of revenge take over his mind. This is where I found his character to share similarities with Arya because he becomes obsessed with becoming a soldier to challenge those who wronged him. I love his journey in this book because he overcame his fears and weaknesses and sought to make himself stronger through sheer will. Here I’ll also add his similarity to Jon Snow in that he defies death at every turn.

I just HAVE to talk about the action in this book. Oh boy, there was lot of it! Most of the book is spent with the warriors in training and they had to fight not only against each other, but superior soldiers as well as the Gifted (yay for women!). There was a ton of bloodshed throughout and this is only them training with each other. Not even the enemy! And trust me…they fight the enemy and it is bloody. Also, I didn’t know there were going to be DEMONS in this book. I was so excited every time they were mentioned! For some reason those scenes brought my mind back to Shadow of the Fox. Also, the DRAGONS. Now that we’ve absorbed all that info, let me tell you that these beings are controlled by WOMEN. YUP, women have the power in this story!

I will point out one thing that was problematic for me. The word savage is used throughout the book to describe people native to the land. While this is an African-inspired story, it’s just such a derogatory term and I felt it was completely unnecessary. It’s not only used to describe a race of people, but their behaviour as well and I was extremely bothered by it.

This is a fierce story of brotherhood, revenge, sacrifice, love, friendship, and determination. There are definitely more than a few twists and while I did see the ending coming, I wasn’t prepared for the soul-crushing events that led there. I’m so excited to see where this series will go!

The Rage of Dragons is the first in a new fantasy series by Evan Winter and what a strong start it is. I read it in just 2 sittings as the world drew me in so completely. The story is constantly driving forward through short and cliffhanger style chapters that made me need to keep turning the pages. I just had to find out what happened next. Whilst the opening chapters set the tone as high fantasy with it's prose, it soon becomes an easy read as I was fed only the information needed to progress the story rather than getting bogged down in lore and family heirachys that so much high fantasy falls prey too.

It is very much a character driven piece though and what it lacks in traditional world building it makes up for in spades with attention to detail to those that I was sharing the pages with. Tau is a breath of fresh air in a genre somewhat saturated with female protagonists and I loved being able to get into a different mindset through his character.

Overall, this is an intense thrill-ride across disreputable cities, sprawling plains, and the deepest dark; where conflicts of power, marauding bands and the deadly unknown reign supreme. With a cast of colourful characters, and a blisteringly bloody pace throughout, this novel is a thrilling and high-octane opener to what promises to be a spectacular new series.