This book was such a fun and enjoyable read. I love band of misfits on a grand heist and this provided just that. My only issue was that I didn't enjoy the romance aspect of it, because I felt the FMC had more chemistry with her ex than she did with the love interest. The banter between the fmc and love interest was fun but the FMC had way more reasons to hate her and the only reason she seemed to like her was lust. There was more sexual tension between them than actual chemistry so them being together didn't make sense to me. Absolutely everything else about the book I enjoyed, from the adventures to the descriptions, the world building and the representation all made this a really fun and engaging read for me.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN!
What an entertaining booK! Such high stakes, so mich adrenaline, and love, and smartasses who makes jokes! This is my best read of the year so far, it was such a joy to read it! The plot went so fast, the magic system works so well, people are smart and courageous, and sexy and cute, and they all go so well together! Truly one of my favourite books from now on.
I will have to add Lyons other books to my neverendinh tbr now.

This book had a slower start for me… at some point it was difficult to remember all the characters and their roles. I would say I had this issue for the first 70-80 pages.
After that it picked up quite a lot.

It was fast paced, I never knew what is going to happen next, the action was always changing and moving. The situations were creative and unexpected.

The characters were lovely, their interactions were great, the world was interesting and vast.

I really liked the politics (I would have loved more). I liked the ring sistem even if we did not get a clear definition (how many types of rings are there, why those associations, is there a ritual to getting them?).

And there are many more teasers(what really happened to Ris, have maybe a heartfelt discussion with Claw, the trans father, the genius mom with issues, the bio dad(how did that happen), etc)

The downside to this vast world is that it felt incomplete… it felt like the first book of a series… many characters that we did not explore thoroughly, relashionships left budding, the ending felt very rushed.

The last fight was just “fade to black” and then we got the epilogue. We got a lot of intrigue and tension building and it ended with “and they lived happily” with no real finality.

Another thing… most of the characters were over 30 but acting like early 20s. The “love story” was not really a love story. There was flirting, a drunk sex scene, word of family and worry for eachother but I did not get romance vibes. If it weren’t for the threesome (fade to black), I would have said it is an YA book.

Conclusion: good but the ending felt rushed and incomplete.

I was provided a copy of this book via @NetGalley.

Anahrod has lived most of her life hiding in the Deep. She can talk to animals but it’s her ability to talk to dragons that is putting her in danger. When she is kidnapped by Skylanders , she is forced to choose between safely hiding or risking her life for her long lost family and new friends/kidnappers. Ocean 11 but with dragons!
Thanks Netgalley for the ARC- my opinions are my own.

The Sky on Fire is an exhilarating read, packed with fun and adventure from start to finish. The author masterfully crafts a diverse cast of characters, each bringing their unique flair to the story. The world-building is rich and immersive, transporting readers into a vividly imagined realm where dragons soar through the skies. If you're looking for a book that combines excitement, depth, and fantasy, The Sky on Fire is a must-read.

CHARACTERS
🔲 mary-sue party
🔲 mostly 2D
✅ great main cast, forgettable side characters
🔲 well-written
🔲 complex and fascinating
🔲 hard to believe they are fictional

PLOT
🔲 you've already heard this exact story a thousand times
🔲 nothing memorable
✅ gripping
🔲 exceptional
🔲 mind=blown

WORLDBUILDING
🔲 takes place in our world
🔲 incoherent
🔲 OK
✅ nicely detailed
🔲 meticulous
🔲 even the last tree in the forest has its own story

ATMOSPHERE
🔲 nonexistent
✅ fine
🔲 immersive
🔲 you forget you are reading a book

PACING
🔲 dragging
🔲 inconsistent
✅ picks up with time
🔲 page-turner
🔲 impossible to put down

Sadly this didn't work for me, I couldn't get invested in the story or the characters :c

This "ragtag group on a heist" with dragons was a genuinely fun read. The worldbuilding and magic were coherent and interesting. The only slight downside was that some of the side characters blended together for so much of the story.

I really wanted to love this. I tried picking it up multiple times but I just couldn’t get through it. I’m sure it has everything to do with me and not the book.

I had a hard time with this book, but every reader is different and reads differently. I was crying a few pages in when the first beloved creature died! I really wanted to love this book more but for me it was difficult to follow. I personally need something slower paced.

I do love the descriptive, immersive writing, the rag tag misfit main characters, the exciting heist, and the idea of dragons controlling the realms of Sklylanders, rather than humans being in control of the dragons. The magic system and Anarhod’s powers are amazing. It’s a novel idea that pays off at the end, making the story that much more interesting.

However, so many characters, places, realms, types of monsters, tribes, bits of world building, complex magic systems, dragons, and political systems were introduced in the prologue and first chapter that my head was spinning in the DEEP. The reader is tossed right into the action without knowing a single thing.

The romance between Ris and Anarhod seemed a bit forced and out of place. The story didn’t really need a romance subplot. As far as the characters I loved fiesty and fiery dragon rider Ris!

This is an action-packed extremely fast paced story that doesn’t give the reader a break. The heist is fun and very high stakes, but for me, the story moved too fast without taking the time to properly convey fleshed out characters and world building. I really wish this was a series so there would be time to add more depth and detail.

As always, I recommend reading this twist on the traditional “dragon narrative” for yourself to see if you like it!

The Sky on Fire was such an unexpected favorite for me! I struggled to get into The Ruin of Kings, but I had heard that this book didn't have all of the timeline switching and whatnot, and I was so pleasantly surprised! Despite being a pretty long book, The Sky on Fire was a fast read that kept me hooked the entire time. I loved the heist plotline, as well as the "lost magical woman" trope. The worldbuilding was so unique, with dragons being able to hop into the bodies of their riders, as well as dragons being at the top of society. I read a lot of books that feature dragons that are treated basically like horses, so it was interesting to see that trope flipped around.

Last year I finally read The Ruin Of Kings and I was amazed by it. I loved that book to pieces and so, when I saw that the author was publishing a new series I just had to read it. And okay, I know, the most logical thing would have been continuing the first series (and I am planning on it, I have the second book waiting for me on my shelves, and I have all the intentions of going back to it pretty soon), but I am just a little bookworm, and my will power is nowhere to be found when we talk about books. And we have dragons! And it is a shiny new book!! And have you looked at the cover?? It’s beautiful! So… how could I resist?? It was a lost fight from the start.

Anyway, back to the book. I think that if we compare Ruin of Kings to this one, this new baby will come out as the “loser”, because the first book is really complex and deep and layered. And these things were all things I loved about it. And my emotional investment in the characters and in the story was really high. The Sky On Fire is a bit lacking in this respect. I am not saying that this is a bad book (I loved it!) but it is less. It is not as complex and the emotional investment wasn’t as high, to be honest.
But still, it has a fascinating and deep world-building, and I enjoyed the characters. And all in all, reading Ruin Of Kings was, from time to time, a bit of work (and I am saying this in the best possible way, but it was a demanding book) while The Sky On Fire is easier to follow, reading it was a more relaxed endeavor, if this makes sense to you. As a whole, reading this book was a nice experience, almost a relaxed one (if we compare it to the other book. I am not saying that this is a cozy book. It is not. By any means. We have high stakes, a lot of action, dangers, and twists, and all that. ) and I couldn’t have enough of it. Every time I put it down all I wanted to do was pick it back up again. But life can be so cruel!! But still, even with all the things that real life demands of us, I devoured this book!

I know that comparing books is not always a good thing to do, because our expectations can be our worst enemy, but it is so hard sometimes. But now that is out of our way, so let me tell you a little bit more about this book. It is its moment to shine!
We have a complex world-building, diverse and full of details. The author did a pretty good job with it, I think. I loved that we have a lot of different cultures, and I loved the part about the rings. It was a really complicated side of the culture, and it is a bit confusing, but people wear rings to show their identification (like their pronouns), their romantic status, their preferences, and all that. And I wanted to know more about that. I think that it was a bit confusing at times, sure, but I loved it! And maybe we would learn more in the sequels?? (I really hope there will be other books in this series, and I hope to learn more about this world! And the characters!!). Also, we know that there are different cultures, and I just wanted to explore more!
And we have dragons!! Let’s not forget about that!

We have also a diverse cast of characters, and every single one of them has their own personality. They all feel real, even if, to be completely honest, my emotional investment in them wasn’t as high as it could have been. I don’t know what it was lacking, but even if I enjoyed all of the characters, and even if I was interested in them and invested in them, I wasn’t all in. For example, at one point one of them dies. I won’t say who or how or anything like that, just this. And I was sad, sure, but not so moved by it as I could have been (and as I wished to be). So there was something lacking here, but still, I enjoyed all of them, and I really really liked Ana and Sicaryon (I hope I got his name right!). Especially this last one, I wanted to know more because he was like an itch to scratch, you know what I mean? He is a character with so much potential, and I just wanted to know more about him, to see more of him around because he just shimmers with all the unexpressed potential.
And let me tell you that all the characters are still worth meeting. I had a lot of fun with them.

And last, but not least, the plot. I think that this book can be compared to some action movies, the ones you watch with popcorn, to chill out and have fun. Because we have so much happening here! A heist, twists and turns, a bit of political intrigues, dragons, and magic! There is a bit of everything or almost everything, and it was fun! Also, it has quite a fast pace, so I didn’t have a single moment of boredom. I was constantly engaged in the story and I always wanted more!

I think that if you read this one expecting something as complex and deep as the other series, you may be disappointed, because this is simply not what this book is. But if you are in for some fun, a lot of action, dragons, and good characters, with a vivid and diverse world, well… you would not be disappointed!

Thank you to Tor and NetGalley for the early readers copy of The Sky on Fire.

Wow! I was excited to read this and it did not disappoint. I thought Lyons executed this story wonderfully. A ragtag crew attempting a heist, and from dragons; sign me up!
This is a very approachable and easily digestible slice of fantasy. I haven’t read Lyons other series, but I can tell you that after reading this, I fully intend to move it up my TBR.
I really enjoyed the pacing in this story; Lyons successfully builds a world that feels fleshed out, yet still has room for expansion in future installments. I enjoyed the political machinations and the lore. I actually found that to be what I was looking most forward to learning more about. I typically prefer a very character driven book, so the one area that I wish I felt a bit more connected is with the characters. Jen sets them up well enough that she can easily build that deeper connection in future books if she chooses. However, I was so interested in the plot and how the heist and the aftermath would play out that it didn’t bother me. Each of the main characters is layered enough to peak my interest, draw a little connection, and has me looking forward to finding out more about them in the upcoming rest of the series. I would totally binge book 2 right now if it were available!

This book has dragons and a queer normative society, I was pretty well sold from the outset, but the vibes also hit 👌 so an easy five star for me.

Starting with the couple things that didn’t hit quite right for me before I dive into all the things that did - given this was a standalone epic fantasy, the pacing was a little off. It started a little slow, but definitely picked up in the second half. Additionally, I would have loved just a bit more world building, particularly in the societal structure! There was also one scene related to the romance plot line that I thought didn’t fit in with the tone of the rest of the book, but that was just one minor gripe.

On to what I loved - the queer normative society! I loved the setup, where they use rings to indicate to others your job, identity, and romantic and sexual interests. I would love a guide to learn what they all mean, as it wasn’t fully explained, only implied in some areas. There was a wide variety of identities and relationship setups that I LOVED - definitely diverse rep in this area, including bi, trans, and poly rep.

I also loved the characters and their interactions and growth. It felt natural throughout the story. And the DRAGONS. I loved those interactions as well and how the various dragons were characterized.

Audience: New Adult / Adult
Plot: 4 out of 5
Characters: 3.5 out of 5
Spice: 1 out of 5, very mild romance, closed-door romance
Keywords: Fantasy, Dragons, LGBTQ, Redemption, Found Family, Save-the-world, Slow burn, Magic

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley from Tor Publishing. Additionally, the audiobook was from Macmillan Audio. Thank you!

This novel is a stand-alone fantasy that is centered around dragons. In this world, dragons are the rulers, and the human dragon-riders are there to serve them. But not everyone is ready to serve the dragons, in fact, some even resent it. Enter Anahrod, a young woman who is on the run from her past. But even hidden in the depths of the darkest jungles, she can’t hide forever. She is recruited by a group of unlikely allies to participate in a heist – because she had done something similar before – but had she really? Or is it a case of mistaken identity?

The world-building in this book is very thoughtfully done. I appreciated all the details of the different societies and cultures represented by each city and general location. My particular favorite location was the Crimson Skies, a flying vessel that is used to harvest sky amber. It reminded me of the flying vessels depicted in Shadow and Bone (Netflix show), and the entire scene of Anahrod flying with the crew was one of my favorite parts in the novel.

I thought character development of the main characters (Anahrod, Ris, and Sicaryon) were done particularly well. However, one of my favorite secondary characters was Claw, who readers met as part of Ris’s heist group. From very early on, I especially liked Claw’s interactions with Kaibren, and how she would “translate” his poetic responses for everyone else, and how Claw’s “no-nonsense” attitude created some tension within the group. But throughout, readers see each character’s personal motivations for wanting to pull the biggest dragon heist – and it was interesting to find out the whys.

I also listened to the audiobook, which was narrated by Lauren Fortgang. I particularly enjoyed Fortgang’s different voices of the dragons, as well as the various characters. The pacing of the narration was very good, and the pronunciation of the characters' names (especially the dragons), was particularly helpful for me as a reader. The audiobook was about 18 hours long, but it didn’t seem like that at all. The narrator was very engaging in her presentation, and made the time seem to fly by.

Overall, the magic system is unique, the dragons aren’t all good-guys, and the world is captivating. I would recommend this book to anyone who might enjoy fantasy, action/adventure stories which feature dragons, but isn’t looking for something in a series.

2.5 stars.

i was excited to read a high fantasy with politics and dragons, but this book disappointed me. the beginning was slow to start, the middle dragged, and it felt like most of the plot happened in the final 1/3rd of the book. it had a bit of a strong start, but plateaued pretty quickly. the plot felt like it didn't really get started until halfway through. as a rule of thumb, i feel like the plot (or whatever the premise is) has kicked off before 25%, or even 20%. to make matters worse, the ending felt very rushed and there was very little resolution and pay-off after all the time spent building up in the beginning.

as far as the world-building goes, it was a pretty simple supercontinent. you have the seven crests and nothing happens outside of them. the dragons are super intelligent and have their own politics going on, and there was a hint of something about power imbalance and abuse that went nowhere. yagrahai is like a more boring, less explored basgiath. (cool name tho) it's a queernormative world, which is cool, but i just could not suspend my disbelief about the concept of garden rings, which are rings that use designs to display one's sexual availability and preferences (down to kinks). i don't believe that ALL people would adhere to this very rigid social system if it weren't enforced. they're mostly forgotten by the halfway point, and i feel like they only existed to easily shoehorn one love interest's bdsm kink, which the author did absolutely nothing with.

speaking of love interests. no love triangle. played like a poly f/f/m from the jump. don't know why anybody would call it a love triangle. the insta-lust was insta-lusting in this one. unfortunately, there is absolutely no build up to attraction or chemistry imo. it literally went from flirting and one high-stress kiss given to the former flame (that still burned) to fucking while blackout drunk. one chapter ended where they popped some bottles, and the next began with the polycule naked in bed. that's about the spiciest it gets, except some weirdly inappropriately timed dirty talk that played up the nothingburger bdsm kink. the only romance i was rooting (a little) for was with side characters that was abandoned in the climax and sees no payoff. bummer.

i only cared about exactly two (2) dragons and they were hardly in the book at all. i would've liked to see more of the one (1) dragon that the book felt like it was building up. what was given was not very satisfying. bummer.

the last 7% was pretty dope tho, ngl. it was a solid 2 stars until that. i wish the rest of the book was more like that last 7%.

3.5 ⭐️
Thank you to NetGalley for the e-ARC.
Revenge, a diamond heist, and dragons. This was like reading a fun D&D campaign which is no surprise as that is what Jenn Lyons is known for.
Anahrod, wrongly accused as a child and hunted by dragons, is hiding in the deep jungles away from the mountains the dragons consider their dominion. She is pulled back into Skylander politics by a fiery red headed dragon rider who plots revenge against her family’s killer. Their common enemy is a dragon and the current ruler, Neveranimas.
The banter was reminiscent of Firefly, a found family full of inside jokes and jabs.
What lost me was the pacing and how goofy the characters were, I wasn’t expecting it at all and is probably more a me problem. I can definitely see this being a favorite of many.

¿Alguna vez has leído un libro y has pensado: «Ojalá hicieran serie, porque molaría un puñao»?

Pues eso es justo lo que me ha pasado con The Sky on Fire, de Jenn Lyons, una novela de fantasía épica autoconclusiva con muchos dragones (de seis patas), mucha acción (desde peleas de espadas hasta batallas en el aire), mucho compañerismo (y relaciones poliamorosas) y mucho lío así en general (a los pobres personajes nada les sale bien).

Me recuerda mucho a la serie de Willow, a Renegade Nell y a la peli de Dungeons & Dragons. Las protagonistas tienen que robar una cosa a una dragona (y de paso derrocarla del gobierno) y, entre medias, les pasan tantas cosas que, cuando llega el momento del robo en sí, te das cuenta de que eso es lo de menos, de que lo importante no era el objetivo, sino el camino que han tenido que recorrer para llegar hasta allí.

Me lo he pasado en grande leyendo The Sky on Fire y me han encantado todas las aventuras y desventuras de Anahrod, Ris, Sicaryon y compañía. He leído la novela casi como si ya conociera el mundo en el que se ambienta, porque la autora lo presenta de una forma muy natural. Es autoconclusiva, sí, pero me dio la sensación de que formaba parte de algo mucho más grande; de hecho, es el escenario ideal para ambientar otros libros en él.

Pegas tiene pocas, si acaso que es un buen tocho y he tardado lo suyo en leerlo, aunque lo he disfrutado mucho por el camino. Es una novela para evadirse, para leerla como si caminaras y volaras con los personajes. Y, obviamente, si te molan los dragones, lánzate de cabeza a por ella.

Por cierto, la cubierta fue precisamente lo que me llevó a leer este libro, así que mil gracias a Michael Rogers por haber diseñado esta maravilla. Y gracias también a Tor por cederme un ejemplar en digital para poder disfrutar y reseñar esta maravilla.

I thought this book was a lot of fun, the story was interesting and I absolutely loved the writing. Dragons have always been a big love of mine, and after the disappointment of recent dragon books I'm glad to have read one I enjoyed so much.
That being said, the romance just didn't hit for me. It felt rushed and underdeveloped, and honestly if it hadn't existed the book would be 5 stars. I would much rather read a book with no romance than a bad one

I had a really hard time getting through this book unfortunately. It just drug on for me and I didn’t feel a connection to any of the characters.

This was so fun. Anahrod has been surviving in the Deep with her titan drake, a formidable pair to be sure. When she's rescued from a local warlord by a ragtag band of people, she never expects where they will lead her.

Taking her back to the Skylands, where unfortunately, the ruler wants her dead, they have few options for the path moving forward. The question becomes how will they avoid handing her over to the dragons, and how important to them will she be?