The Fireborne Blade is a fantasy novella following Maddileh, a Knight who is going to attempt to kill the dragon White Lady, in order to steal back the Fireborne Blade. Getting the Fireborne Blade is Maddileh's chance to reclaim her honor after an incident that tarnished her reputation, which is already on the rocks because she is a woman.

The Fireborne Blade is a magical story about knighthood and deception. I really enjoyed the world and the characters Maddlieh encounters as she works to get to White Lady.

The story does jump around a bit in terms of time. Accounts of past dragon encounters throughout history gives readers examples of the dangerous journey Maddileh finds herself on. I really like the budding relationship between Maddileh and Saralene.

This was a great start to a fantasy novella series and I'm looking forward to reading more!

I received a copy of this from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This was fun! For a rather short novella, the pacing didn't feel rushed nor did it feel like anything was left out plot-wise. While the way the magic worked wasn't fully explained, I thought it's usage was fairly original. Blood magic is always interesting to read about. I also did not see that final twist coming. I'll definitely continue on with this series.

A queer knight who's also a dragonslayer but there's a whole host of intrigue happening?

I really liked how this was laid out, with a slow burn story that was aided in worldbuilding by archival segments. The plot twist didn't quite work out for me, but I'm intrigued to see where the second novella is going to go, and how the whole dragon thing is going to be handled, because I need more dragon.

The way the dragon slaying knight genre was tweaked and examined was fascinating, but the novella length wasn't long enough to go into much detail.

I received an ARC from NetGalley

Si es que no aprendo, veo una cubierta hiperrealista y me siento atraída por el libro, aunque en ocasiones como con The Fireborne Blade la cubierta sea lo mejor de la novela, lo cual es un poquito triste para los que nos gusta leer.


Charlotte Bond pretendía, o al menos así pienso yo, condensar en menos de 200 páginas todo lo entretenido de una novela de dragones con algo de magia, pero me temo que ha querido resumir tanto que al final se ha quedado casi sin material. La construcción del mundo en la novela es prácticamente inexistente, solo hace bastante referencia a los ¡14! reinos, pero vamos por no entretenerse ni siquiera sabemos el nombre ni sus relaciones, solo sabemos que son ¡14!, porque eso sí que lo recalca bien.

Una novela corta que no puede o no quiere extenderse mucho en el entorno debería dedicarse más a los personajes o los diálogos, o en algo que llame la atención del lector, como por ejemplo The Builders. En fin, algo que haga destacar tu historia dentro del maremágnum de fantasía que hay disponible en la actualidad. Pues tampoco, a pesar de que a priori elegir una protagonista femenina empeñada en cazar un dragón para limpiar su honor se sale algo de lo normal, pero para protagonista femenina fuerte prefiero cien mil veces a Briar de The Last Shield por mencionar un libro que he leído recientemente. Si me pongo a pensar me saldrían bastantes más y seguro que más memorables que Maddileh, que no sale muy bien parada de su periplo en busca del dragón. Los personajes que aparecen en toda la historias son pocos y la verdad, muy prescindibles. Vale que al final intentan dar un giro de “¡oh, sorpresa!” pero ya os digo yo que tampoco es que te caigas de culo con la revelación.

The Fireborne Blade es un producto de consumo rápido y como tal, no dejará ninguna huella en la memoria del lector.

The Fireborne Blade was a quick fantasy novella that did a pretty decent job of setting up the characters and their struggles. I think there definitely needs to be an expansion on the world-building, as I didn't get a very keen sense of where things were located in terms of countries/territories and just general settings for all the important places. The twist at the end was a big shock, and it's rare for me to say that because 9 times out of 10 I can guess the way a story's going. I'm eager to read the next installment to see what Maddileh does with her newfound status.

The Fireborne Blade is a short, but a very engaging novella that follows Maddileh, a knight that is looking to reclaim her honor. It was very easy to fall into the desperation that Maddileh was feeling throughout her quest, her desperate need to make things right.

I also loved reading the sections that told of previous knights that has slain dragons. It was a great way to get me sucked into the world and eager to learn more of it. The way the dragons were portrayed in The Fireborne Blade was also really interesting and it brought a feeling of epic to the novella. The way that ghosts linger in the Dragon's nest after they die, how death comes instantly to those touched by dragonfire. It was really interesting!

My only small, small gripe with this wonderful novella, and maybe it's a bit selfish as well, but I would've absolutely loved if this was a full novel. There are so many interesting pieces here, but it feels as if the pacing breaks into full sprint at the 90% mark to wrap everything up. However, I do realize that this is a series, and I am more than grateful that there's possibilities to spend more time in this world.

I am very much looking forward to the sequel!

Thank you so much for approving my request.

The Fireborne Blade 2.75⭐️ .5🌶️

High Fantasy Novella
Flashbacks/dual timeline
historical dictation
Dragon slayer FMC
Magic



There was a lot of repetitiveness in the writing, I understand it was a tool and on purpose, but I didn’t like it. I did enjoy the historical/first hand encounters of other dragon slayers. I think it really helped with the world building. There was so much potential, I just wish it had been a full length book.

The character work was fairly shallow, the plot was really good and I think deserved a longer book, to be honest. I wanted a better feel of who I was reading about. I know VeRY little about the FMC, still. And it made me care less about what happened to her.

The twist at the end was really good, but felt cheapened by the lack of character foundation.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for the eARC of this novella. All opinions are my own.

Epic, fast paced high fantasy? Yes please
This was amazing! I wish it was longer, I absolutely loved it.

Received this one from NetGalley, so thanks to them and Tordotcom! The narration done by Helen McAlpine was awesome. Good accents, differing tones and variations. Nice and quick.

This has all the feel of an old school classic fantasy, without any of the additional background world building or lore. As a novella, it gets to the point awfully quick, while some of the additional bits that the author dropped did make the world feel whole to me, like maybe they knew it much deeper than they wrote it out. For me, that works quite well. There’s certainly a line where a lack of information can feel like it’s genuinely missing, but this toed that line just enough with its epitaph-esque interlude chapters, bringing a historical background to why they are on the hunt. IE., a complete and somewhat linear story that doesn’t stray from the plot, while appearing to take place in a whole, fleshed out world/universe.

This novella feels like it spawned from the single line of, “I am no man” and went on from there to become its own thing. A feminist, sapphic dragon hunting novella that packs a punch with its toxic masculinity and gender roles. And Knight Maddileh is knocking down those barriers and putting mouthy squires in their places.

This was quick, enjoyable, and features quite a twist that I was not ready for. I do wish the actual situation with the dragon was longer, as it appeared like it would be the focal point, and with such a beautiful cover, I was imagining Smaug or GoT level battles in my mind, but there is certainly room for more…and an already announced sequel.

A simple yet satisfying read! This short novella is told in a way between past, present, and through snippets of a book the main character has read. At first, those snippets were a little confusing for me. It’s the first chapter of the novella and I thought the whole story would be told like that. I’m glad it was not.
The writing was simple and straightforward. The characters were also simple but I really enjoyed them.
I don’t believe everyone would enjoy this book. There is not much world building, there are times where it can feel a little boring and lack luster. I myself only really started to enjoy it by the midpoint. This book definitely could’ve been awesome if it were a full length novel that could go into every detail and really flush out the characters. But for what it is, I enjoyed my time reading this.
I hope others can appreciate a nice, simple read filled with magic and dragons.

The Fireborne Blade rassemble tout ce que j'adore en fantasy : des femmes fortes, des dragons, un peu de magie et avec le plaisir qui se fait rare actuellement de ne pas verser dans la romance.

On y suit Maddileh, rare femme chevalier, qui va tenter de racheter son honneur et sa réputation, salie par un homme (shocking i know) en allant tuer un dragon pour récupérer une épée légendaire. Easy.

J'ai adoré la narration suivant deux timelines, l'une pendant l'expédition dans l'antre du dragon, l'autre en amont, le tout entrecoupé de passages d'un livre sur les dragons contenant des extraits de rapports de chevaliers ou de mages ayant affronté divers dragons. L'info dumping est du coup géré de manière intelligente et légèrement détournée. On oublie pas les petits tacles féministes bien placés qui font toujours plaisir quel que soit le genre.
Les personnages sont intéressants et attachants et si on pourra voir arriver le plot twist je me suis complètement laissée embarquer. Rien de complètement révolutionnaire c'est vrai mais j'ai trouvé ça efficace et parfaitement mené, et c'est ce que je demande à une novella. Si on a une quête chevalier vs dragons, l'apport des personnages féminins est rafraîchissant et bienvenue.

L'univers pourrait tout à fait se prêter à être plus développé dans le futur et si cette novella peut se lire en stand alone il y aura bien une suite en octobre 2024. Et autant dire que j'ai déjà hâte de le lire, et de suivre ce que fera l'autrice dans le futur.

The Fireborn Blade is a fast-paced, epic fantasy novella with a strong female main character and a world full of magic, unexpected twists, and dragons.

The story follows Maddileh, a disgraced knight, on a quest to regain her honour by claiming The Fireborn Blade by slaying an ancient dragon.

The narrative switches between the quest to retrieve The Fireborn Blade, the slow revelation of Maddileh's past as things start to fall into place slowly, and the stories of other knights as they successfully or not so successfully slay dragons.

I really enjoyed the first half of this novella, but I felt like the pacing fell apart in the second half, and it felt incredibly rushed. Although I really didn't see the peculiar plot twist coming, I feel like there was a lack of build-up, and the twist wasn't as shocking as it could have been
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I feel like this book could work better as a full-length novel, so there would be more time for more in-depth world-building and more time to get to know the characters.

The Fireborne Blade is at first glance a fairly standard medieval dragon-slaying adventure story, but when I dove in I was delighted to see Bond upsets the usual tired plots and traditional endings. I was attracted to this book primarily by the female knight on the cover and Maddileh didn't disappoint. She's a little bit of a Brienne of Tarth, but no-one can deny her fierce determination and bravery when it comes to pursuing her career as a tourney knight and going into the dragon's dens.

The story is told through both a back-and-forwards narrative and the insertion of short dragon-slaying histories recounted by knights of history in between the actual plot. We learn about the world via the latter, and are taken along on a new adventure with the former. Our heroine Maddileh had the misfortune of falling in love with a fellow knight who unceremoniously dumped her. As her honour has been compromised she has to regain some standing and determines the only way to do this is to retrieve the Fireborne Blade, a sword long-lost to history and fairy-tales, and reportedly in the hoard of the oldest and wilest dragon of them all, The White Lady. In her quest to prepare for this dangerous task with magical armour and various protective items she meets mage-apprentice Saralene. Both females in male-dominated fields, their fate becomes unexpectedly entwined and what follows is danger, betrayal, loss and ultimately an unexpected and delightful twist.

I don't often complain a book is too short (indeed most often in this genre I'm moaning about books being too long) however at 180-ish pages I did feel this could easily have been fleshed out into a full-length novel. Note the tags and reviews describe this book as "lesbian" and "sapphic" but honestly the sapphic love is only really there if you squint hard at it sideways. I've learnt there is a sequel so perhaps the relationship between the knight and the mage will be explored more in this next installment.

Maddileh is a knight on a quest. Kill the dragon called the white lady who can't be killed by mortal man, and retrieve the The Fireborne Blade (hard from Tordotcom). Her squire seems to have magical ability, though she hates mages, and he is trying to rescue his sister from the dragon. Charlotte Bond puts a twist on this tale that I never saw coming. Wow.

I would LOVE to get a longer version of this book because 176 pages just isn’t enough. From the alternating timelines, interviews/stories, to the present time it really holds your attention. I wasn’t expecting much since it’s a novella and the first work I’ve read from this author, but I was super impressed. I found the dialogue between the characters entertaining. I also very much enjoyed the history lessons of prior knights and dragons. Sometimes it’s nice to read a fantasy book with no romance in it, and purely about magic and dragons. I thought the dragon-dead and what happens following a dragon’s death was exceptionally intriguing. I look forward to reading the next installment.

Okay this was *chef's kiss*. Like, I'm not going to lie, I was giggling and kicking my feet 😂

This story capitalizes on its world-building. It's clear that this fictional world is rich with history and lore. And I think the author succeeded in showing that—every other chapter alternates between the present storyline, a flashback, and an entry in an archive about dragon lives and deaths. I think this storytelling paints a picture for the readers of how dangerous and magical their world is—and it worked for me.

The plot is easy to follow, although you really have to notice the small details, because trust me they have a part in the story lol. For the most part, it's entertaining. But it wasn't until the last quarter of the book that you get hit on the face with plot twists after plot twists! The level of plot twists reminded me a bit of Harrow the Ninth??? (If you've read Harrow the Ninth, you'll know what I mean 😂) It was so damn good.

I also loved the underlying themes of feminism and misogyny. In this world ruled by men, both Maddileh and Saralene face struggles as a knight and a mage adept. They're both in fields where they're not exactly welcome and definitely not respected enough. I guess you could say this book also falls into the "Good For Her" genre? I love Maddileh and Saralene, and I would k!ll for them probably.

My only complain would be the lack of romance maybe??? The chemistry between Maddileh and Saralene was so palpable on the pages. It's a true shame we never really got something more of full romance? I wanted to see more of them and maybe see where their relationship developed. Still, I'm happy with their individual endings, it was just desserts 👏

((Also I want to mention, I believe this has been marketed as "lesbians and dragons"?? So I originally thought the MC was lesbian. But I think there was no explicit lesbian rep 🥲 Maddileh could be bi or pan imo. So I think it was sapphic rep instead. Unless of course Saralene was lesbian, but then again it wasn't specifically pointed out in the story and we didn't see much of her relationship with Maddileh.))

Exact rating: 4.5 ⭐️

CW: blood, gore, violence, misogyny, murder, death, a bit of body horror, fatal wounds

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for giving me access to a copy of this ARC. Sadly I don't think this book was for me. I got about 20% through, but I was still so confused as to what was going on honestly. I don't rate books publicly if it's a DNF, so I will not be posting this on socials.

The Firebourne Blade is a dragon-centric fantasy novella that unfortunately sort of missed the mark for me.

This was a book where I enjoyed the experience while reading it, but whenever I put it down I never had any inclination to pick it up. The first half is stronger than the second, where there is a twist that is pretty easy to pick up on that changes the story pretty significantly.

At one point a character says verbatim “There’s a lot of backstory that would take too long” when explaining a major plot point for that character…I want the backstory! I wanted more from this novella; the characters, the world, and the stakes never feel fully actualized in a way I would like. I’ve read quite a few fantasy novellas that do accomplish this, so I know it can be done in novella format, but it wasn’t done here.

This may work better for beginners to fantasy, or those who want a quick basic dragon-centric read between bigger fantasy books. The writing was good, it just wasn’t a good fit for me, but I would be willing to check out something else from this author in the future.

Wow!! This book packs an amazing punch!! There have been very few times thatbi have read a fantasy that was short in length but a full and throughly engaging story.the writing was good and easy to follow, the storyline made sense, the characters had growth, and the twist at the end were great! A very fulfilling and fun reading experience! Thank you to Netgalley and TOR publishing for the gifted copy.

I´m torn with this one.
I really enjoyed the read and the characters. The writing had me turning the pages (or swiping as one does with an eARC) so fast.
BUT I did see the big plot twist coming from a miiiile away, so the build up didn´t really do it for me.
Also, I wanted more time with the dragon, not gonna lie. :)
I also wasn´t a fan of the throw backs to other dragon hunters, or rather: I wouldn´t have minded them as much (because they were a great way to show more of the lore and the world), if they didn´t take up soooo much space in such a small novella. Maybe not having every second chapter be a journal entry that didn´t help the main plot go forward, would have been a better strategy.
Overall I would still recommend the book though.