Yes.
Hell yes.

Masked guildknight of Mithrandon, Yeva, killed her first dragon at thirteen. Shipped off to train further, she’s now a legendary dragon hunter and removed from her hometown but also feels isolated in her role. She’s sent as an ambassador to Quanbao, where they revere and worship dragons, may even be harboring one that will need slaying. In the girl king Lady Sookhee, Yeva finds someone she longs to open up to, but her duty demands that dragons be slayed, wherever they reside. She’ll have a tough choice to make if she finds the rumored dragon in Quanbao.

What a stunning novella! It’s super character-driven (which you don’t always get in novellas), but the plot still moves at a good pace. Even the side characters had depth, which made the world feel really full and believable. The writing is beautiful and poetic, and the world-building is packed with mythology, magic, and meaning.

I mean, what more could I possibly ask for?

It flew by so fast, I wanted more. That's my only gripe. I wanted more!

Thank you for approving my request!

When Yeva was 13, she slew her first dragon, a small creature that managed to corner her sister in the kitchen of their rural home. Soon after, she was sent to the capital city to become a guildknight, an elite force dedicated to eradicating dragons from Mithrandon. When she arrives, she's treated differently and finds that the only way to feel safe is to constantly wear her armor, including her golden mask, when in the presence of others, eventually becoming a legend in Mithrandon. When she's sent on a fact-finding mission to the dragon-worshipping kingdom of Quanbao, Yeva quickly learns that the armor that made her comfortable is now a barrier to fitting in, something she must do if she's to build a relationship with Lady Sookhee, the girl-king of Quanbao.

This short novel feels very much like a fairy tale in that it's somehow both epic and self-contained in a fully realized world that's both familiar and magically strange. I loved Yeva's growth and self-discovery, as well as the relationship she builds with Lady Sookhee. An excellent fantasy, perfect for someone who enjoyed Priory of the Orange Tree but would like a shorter read.

What an amazing novella! This story makes such good use of its time. The worldbuilding is phenomenal and a setting I would enjoy coming back to. Yeva is an interesting and dynamic character.

An excellent weekend read for those looking for fantastic settings, romance, strong fem characters, and the optimism of second chances.

I wanted to spend more time with this story and the realm! Really hoping there's a second installment that explains some of the origins of the magic and the mysterious mother. The romance felt a smidgen rushed, but it was very tender and sweet. There weren't any real surprises with the twists or reveals, which was fine. I did really enjoy the healing journey and coming-back-to-self the main character has.

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame
𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿: Neon Yang
𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁 + 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁: Ebook, 121 pages by Tor

★★★

💌 First of all, I would like to thank @NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ebook in exchange for a honest review. I requested this ebook because the title was really intriguing, and I loved the cover of the book.

📖 Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame is a queer, Asian-inspired and adult novella in which we follow Yeva, a famous dragon hunter as she must seduce Lady Sookhee in order to understand what secrets she is hiding.

🔥 The blurb is selling this novella as perfect for the fans of She Who Became The Sun, and I could not agree more! The writing style is really similar and gives the book a very serious tone. It is also selling this as perfect for The Mandalorian fans, but I have not seen anything from this universe or the Star Wars one, so I can not tell you if this part is accurate or not.
The plot was interesting and very well executed, and I did not really have the feeling that I was reading while reading this book. (Does it make sense?) Instead, I was under the impression that someone else was telling me about an ancient legend, and I really enjoyed that aspect. I also really like the vibes (lady knight, tea, politics, dragons…), and they fit really well with the worldbuilding.
My only regret is that I did not really have time to form a bond with the characters because of the shortness of the novella.
I still highly recommend this book if you like Asian fantasy.

Yeva was thirteen when she killed a dragon and was sworn to the ranks of the Emperor's guildknights. Never having removed her armour in public since earning it, she is sent to the neighbouring kingdom of Quanbao to discover if they are harboring a dragon, and if so, to do her duty. But armour cracks and whose duty will Yeva stand by?

This is a lovely queer romance with dragons and a wee bit of Bluebeard – how could I not love it? This reads like a newly discovered fairy tale and I was enraptured by it.

Recommended for older teens and up.

I received an ARC copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Neon Yang always has really interesting world building and I love to see what their mind will come up with. This idea, unfortunately, missed for me. It read like it was supposed to be a character study, but the style of writing was very impersonal and I struggled to connect with any of the characters. I loved the idea of a dragon hunter but there was so much that got skipped around on that I never really felt like we did get to know Yeva as closely as a character driven book would suggest.

I really enjoyed this novella. It was a bit of a pallet cleanser for me. There weren't many twists (I anticipated pretty much what would happen from the start) but it was a well-written and thought-provoking story. If you want depth and philosophical discussion to come of it, you can definitely get that, but you can also just enjoy it as a story about things not always being what they seem and a girl falling in love.

This was described as a sapphic lady knight story with The Mandalorian vibes, so obviously I had to pick it up. It’s a novella—so pretty short—but I devoured it.

It’s super character-driven (which you don’t always get in novellas), but the plot still moves at a good pace. Even the side characters had depth, which made the world feel really full and believable. The writing is beautiful and poetic, and the worldbuilding is packed with mythology, magic, and meaning.

It touches on some big themes—gender, duty, identity, colonization, and more—but it doesn’t feel preachy or heavy.

I really loved the relationship that builds between the main character and the king (yes, it’s sapphic—the king is a “girl king,” don’t worry). The twist was a little predictable, but honestly, getting there was so satisfying I didn’t mind at all.

Easy five stars from me. Highly recommend if you’re into fantasy, dragons, lady knights, or strong sapphic leads.

This was a nice quick and cozy read! It was interesting to read this shorter narrative about a strong FMC, high-action backstory, but have it also be cozy. I liked the author’s writing style and it pulls you in immediately. It’s the perfect book if you want to curl up on the couch on a rainy afternoon and finish a book in one sitting.

Really loved this short novel. Very much enjoyed the plot and characters! Wish it was longer though.

Thank you for the chance to read this!

As usual with some novellas, I struggle with how short they are and how the plot goes so quickly. I feel like I couldn't really connect with any of the characters and I had so many questions about why these different empires were enemies. I did like the dragon aspect, but that was about it.

This was much more character driven than I expected for a fantasy novella, but Yeva was such a great character I would have happily spent 1000 pages with her.

Imagine a queer Mandalorian in an Asian inspired fantasy world instead of space. The vibes were immaculate. The writing was beautiful and poetic, and the dragon mythology was perfectly incorporated. It explored themes of duty, loyalty, challenging one’s prejudices, and identity. I did find some of the twists a bit obvious, but it didn’t take away from the flow or my enjoyment of the story.

Overall it was a short but really fun fantasy. This was my first time reading Neon Yang, but I will definitely be checking out their other work next time I’m in the mood for fantasy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for an e copy of this book. All the thoughts and opinions in this review are my own

3.75⭐️

This was written so beautifully. Neon Yang writes like an artist paints which is normally amazing, but was a little too much for this short of a novella. I felt like it was harder to connect to the story and the characters, despite how intriguing the premise was.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for sending this egalley for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Masked guildknight of Mithrandon, Yeva, killed her first dragon at thirteen. Shipped off to train further, she’s now a legendary dragon hunter and removed from her hometown but also feels isolated in her role. She’s sent as an ambassador to Quanbao, where they revere and worship dragons, may even be harboring one that will need slaying. In the girl king Lady Sookhee, Yeva finds someone she longs to open up to, but her duty demands that dragons be slayed, wherever they reside. She’ll have a tough choice to make if she finds the rumored dragon in Quanbao.

Almost immediately, this gave me Mandolorian vibes. And it’s queer? Winwin. I liked the relationship building, not only between Yeva and Sookhee but between Yeva and a lady who knew her mother, a loner building community is great for arcs. I saw the twist coming, but the twist wasn’t the point. It was about Yeva’s journey and character arc, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for a copy to review

This was like Priory of the Orange Tree meets Swan Princess

Aka a queer fairytale of a knight sent to slay a dragon, but the dragon ends up being a member of the royal family

Loved it. Ate it up. Wish it was longer.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

This is a short, powerful fantasy story about Yeva, a masked dragon slayer sent to spy on a foreign queen. But the mission gets complicated when she starts to question her duty—and her own identity. Set in an Asian-inspired world, the book mixes action, romance, and deep themes like colonization, gender, and culture.

The worldbuilding is beautiful, with lots of small, rich details (like tea, politics, and rice porridge!). Yeva is a strong, queer, disabled main character, and her journey feels emotional and meaningful. While the ending comes a little fast and the twist is easy to guess, the story is still satisfying.

This is a great read for fantasy fans who like dragons, lady knights, sapphic romance, and stories about finding where you belong. It’s short but leaves a strong impression.

after a tragedy hit yeva’s home, they were sent away to their uncle’s guild, to fulfill their destiny to become a legendary dragon slayer, who will never be able to show their face! but our story really starts when yeva is on a mission to investigate queen sookhee and find out secrets about dragons at any and all costs! but obviously the mission does not go as planned, romance ensues, and yeva starts questioning the expectations of their father’s people, while also having questions about where their mother came from.

i love the conversations around the fluidity of gender, i love the discussions on biracial identity and colonization that you can very much be born into, and i loved the themes of masks and how we all wear them at times. and i just really loved seeing a queer disabled mandalorian doing cool things and falling in love, and i really hope that we get more stories to follow.

lastly, i really do believe that your culture's rice porridge does in fact have magical healing properties! (arroz caldo, i love you)

trigger + content warnings: death, dragon death, talk of colonization, blood, parental abuse (off page), talk of a blood disease, loss of parents in past, grief

What a delightful novella! So efficient in its storytelling! LOVED the writing -- the plot was quite predictable, and yet I found myself on the edge of my seat several times during the read. And the prose was delightful and gentle and oh so good! So glad I read it!