I had high hopes for this story. It promised everything I love: a strong lady knight, dragons, mythology, fantasy novella, sapphic romance. Unfortunately, it did just not engage me in any capacity. It took me almost 4 months to finish even though it's less than 200 pages. I liked the writer's voice but the plot just felt so mundane and like a story I've read 100 times before. I needed the characters and their relationship to be much more fleshed out.

I guessed how it would end by chapter two and lost all interest. Good ideas, just poorly executed.

Thank you to Tor and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed the writing style this novella had, but i found the story to be bland. The relationship between the two characters was underdeveloped, and the whole story was very predictable.

Thanks to NetGalley & Tor Publishing Group for the early copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun story, though I think I would have liked it more if the protagonist weren't as dumb as a pile of rocks.

Don't get me wrong, it was entertaining from beginning to end, but I feel like everything was pretty obvious in its development and world-building. It's just very flat and predictable. The amount of telling and not showing didn't help either. Still, an interesting read.

Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame is a beautiful Asian-inspired, Sapphic, lady-knight novella with dragons, secrets, and a self-discovering love story. The beginning of the story kind of reminded me of The Poppy war with the military school and the young kids away from home. This story is well written, and a quick read. I was able to tell how things were going to turn out pretty early on, but it didn’t bother me so much.
If you like Asian-inspired stories with strong female leads, this is one for you. Overall, I liked it!

LADY KNIGHT YEAR CONTINUES

A beautifully told novella, as predictable as fairytale and just as compelling - gorgeously descriptive prose that tells the story of a girl-knight and a girl-king, both trapped in their roles and yearning for something more; a story of secrets and how they are both a prison and a safety, and where those lines blur.

Yeva is a dragon-knight, blessed with a holy power, but damaged from her wounds. An outsider due to her sex and to her heritage, she is nonetheless sent as envoy to a strange court in the land where her mother was young, where she must act as both threat and guardian to the woman who rules. But as she finds greater acceptance within the court, can she truly lay down her armour and her sword without becoming less than what she is?

It is a story of courage and of cowardice, a story about the stories men tell, of the love between women, and of the search for freedom. I loved it.

Thank you to Samantha at Tor who provided me with an Arc copy through NetGalley.

Yang's work has been on my tbr for years now, and there's nothing like a novella featuring dragons to get my interest more easily attracted.

I can be pretty hit/miss with prose that sometimes carries a lot of world/character building in a few short sentences, but Yang’s work was easy enough for me to pick up on all they giving.

Yeva is such an interesting character to follow, and I loved their journey. From choosing to close themselves off from nearly everyone by wearing their armor as more than just a physical shield, to learning to shed that armor in Quanbao, to become known as more than just a soldier to themselves and the public.

This was a very enjoyable read and I highly recommend it.

✨ Review ✨ Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame by Neon Yang, Narrated by Nancy Wu

Thanks to Tor, Recorded Books, and #netgalley for the gifted advanced copy/ies of this book!

Yeva is the masked guildknight, one of the legendary dragon hunters in the kingdom. As part of her identity, she must never remove her armor in public, and she's been living live this for years.

Now, she sets off for Quanbao, a remote kingdom, where she's sent to investigate rumors of a dragon. She befriends the leader of the kingdom, Lady Sookhee, and comes to respect her and appreciate her company. As she explores the kingdom, what will she find, and where do her loyalties lie?

This was a fun fantasy novella with great worldbuilding that fit within its short space constraints. While I'd have loved a bit more character building, it worked for a novella and I was invested in the story. I really enjoyed this one!

🎧 This was one that I had to read a bit on the page to get situated before I could listen on audio. Once I felt settled into the story and setting, the audio was great!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️(4.25+)
Genre: fantasy novella
Setting: fantasy world
Length: 4 hours, 54 minutes
Reminds me of: The Mandalorian meets Freya Marske
Pub Date: May 6, 2025

Read this if you like:
⭕️ The Mandalorian
⭕️ Queer fantasy
⭕️ Dragons
⭕️ Novellas

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this, its exactly what I wanted it to be. I liked how the framing served to expand on a myth in this fantasy world, giving a bit more detail but maintaining an air of mystery by its nature. The big reveal wasn't a surprise by any means, but that's not a bad thing; the blurb implies lesbians and dragons, and it delivered. It doesn't ruin the real question, which is what Yeva would do with the reveal, and I couldn't tell which way she'd fall until the very end.

Oh I loved this. Yeva is a guildknight, loyal to the kingdom of Mithrandon and forced to conceal her face and what sets her apart. When political interests land her a station in Quanbao, her mother's home country, she must learn how to find her place there without forgetting her duty to slay the dragon that supposedly threatens them.

This had sapphic knights, themes of colonialism, and accepting your own otherness. I can't recommend it enough.

Great novella, short and to the point. Everything in this story is face paced. You are instantly thrown into the world of dragon slaying and mysterious kingdoms. The reveal is pretty predictable but that took away nothing from the story.

Cannot properly review this book as Netgalley has made it difficult to review anything. This is an accessibility issue now going from ASCM to LCPL.

This is an epic fantasy novella, but the story felt very cozy in scale. It follows a masked knight who is sent to the neighboring kingdom to find evidence of dragons. She finds something much more valuable instead. It’s a story about reconnecting with your roots, growing comfortable with shedding your shell (or armor), and learning how to love.

I just wish the story was longer. There’s so much depth to the world, but the story itself is told in a summary in a way that feels similar to novellas by Nghi Vo. I think people who like Nghi Vo’s work will enjoy this book.

I was both excited and nervous going into this book. Excited because it felt like it was made for me; lesbian fantasy with dragons inspired by The Mandalorian and written by one of my all-time favorite authors??? Yes, please! But I was just as nervous because what if I hyped it up too much?
Well, I definitely enjoyed this, so I thankfully avoided the latter.
This is more of a slow fantasy novella, with famed dragon hunter Yeva exploring parts of herself she thought she’d left behind in order to become a dragon hunter. Yeva is sent to a rival kingdom as an envoy to see if the rumors that the kingdom is hiding a dragon is true.
I really enjoyed following Yeva as a character. For years, for her own reasons, she has remained faceless, wearing her helmet as both physical and emotional armor. While she has their air of mystery to all the other characters, we the readers are able to see her thoughts and just how she does not have everything together.
Parts of the book moved a bit too quick for me, but I could also see how it lent itself to its brevity; it’s not trying to be an epic quest and long-winded romance.
I gave this book 3.5 stars. I would definitely recommend this to certain fans of The Mandalorian (if you like slower pieces thinking about the person behind the helmet).

Everyone wears masks, metaphorically speaking. We show different versions of ourselves to different people. And conversely, we shield off other parts, for better or worse, depending on who we’re with, what surrounds us, or how much we’ve explored, and embraced who we fundamentally are.

Neon Yang makes those masks literal for the protagonist in their latest novella, Brighter Than Scale, Swifter Than Flame. Kunlin Yeva has become the notorious guildknight from Mithrandon, a dragon-slayer with no equal in the Sun Empire, who never takes off their armor, including the helm on their head.

This masked guildknight is a symbol, a fearsome living myth much more—and much less—than a person. Brighter Than Scale, Swifter Than Flame, however, gives us a tender examination of Yeva and who she is (and was before her time at Mithrandon).

[rest on webiste]

The cover -- obsessed. At first glance, I was expecting an epic/high fantasy story and was grateful that someone informed me it was a cozy fantasy novella.

The prose is beautiful. I loved the theme of finding the sense of belonging, reconnecting with the main character's mother's story, and dismantling what they were told to believe. I would have loved this novella to have a full story because I was invested in the character's background, their journey, and would have wanted the relationship to be flushed out more.

The twist in the end was predictable and that aside I enjoyed the novella.

at face value, this book really seemed like it would be for me. dragon slayers, lady knights, sapphic romance--these are all things that make a story exciting to me. unfortunately i felt like this one fell flat. my biggest issue was the way the narrative was told (third person present tense)--it felt like a fairytale or a story told around a campfire instead of an immersive experience in which we actually have the ability to get to know the characters. for this reason, most of it felt pretty surface level. i felt like i was being told what was happening instead of being shown, which really took me out of it. i think this can be a really fun way to while a prologue to introduce the main plot line/lore, but for an entire 200 page novella, it was complete overkill and took me out of the story.

i think this could be a great pallet cleaner for the right reader being as it is so short, however it was not for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan publishers for the eARC copy of this book!

Yeva becomes a dragon slayer knight at a young age and is separated from her family to train for her new life. She never removes the armor she has been using to train for many years as it has become her identity and many people know her by it. Even though everyone knows her as a knight, nobody remembers the girl she was or the woman she becomes. She must go to the kingdom of Quanbao in search of a dragon they supposedly keep within their borders. In Quanbao, the dragons are not slayed but worshipped.

The cover of this book drew me in but the story itself kept me interested. Its short length made it easy to follow along. The writing style was simple but detailed which made it a beautiful read, specially for the descriptions of the scenery and creatures. The main characters were well written, I liked that their backstories were easy to follow and made sense with the development of the story and characters themselves. I liked that the romance is not too cheesy nor the main/prevalent focus of the story. It is important to the story but in a way that makes sense and is not just mindlessly added to create a hook. I love the queer/lesbian representation here, it was described so naturally that it made it seem as if it was not a weird occurrence for the characters in those kingdoms (and it shouldn't be.)

The only reason why I did not give it a 5 star rating is because I haven't read many stories of the same or similar topic so I'm technically new to reading about dragons. But it was the best way I could have imagined for getting into dragons. Another thing is that the ending left me wanting to know more of Yeva's family and Sookhee's ancestors and past life (maybe a novella or extra/special chapter?)

Overall, the book was lovely and I enjoyed reading it. From the beautiful cover to the character's backgrounds, this book managed to capture my attention and make me want to read more.

Ahoy there mateys. This is "A new Queer, Asian-inspired fantasy novella about a renowned dragon slayer who never takes her armor off in public."  There is also a f/f romance element as well.  I like elements of this novella well enough.  The main character, Yeva, is a dragon hunter sent to the reclusive nation of Quanbao as a diplomat.  It is rumored that Quanbao worships dragons.  The ruler, Lady Sookhee, has secrets and Yeva is supposed to find them out, not fall in love with the queen.  I did feel that the first part of the book was much stronger than when Yeva goes to Quanbao.

The character of Yeva was my favorite.  I really enjoyed reading about Yeva's childhood and how she became a dragon hunter.  The juxtaposition of world building between Yeva's realm and the culture of Quanbao was nice.  Yeva's king seems to be an all-powerful, selfish dictator.  Lady Sookhee may be queen but rules with the help of a women's council.  The political details were rather lightly touched upon but I did enjoy what was presented.

The main issue for me was that I did not buy the romance.  I didn't hate it but I didn't love it either.  I did not get to really see the relationship start or evolve.  Instead, it just kinda skipped ahead.  I also thought that Yeva was rather dense about the queen's secret given how much time they spent together.  The ending was also fine but did not thrill me.  These issues may all stem from the novella-length.  I think I would have prefered a novel instead.

I liked the author's writing style enough that I bought the Tensorate series.  I shall see if I like those novellas better.

3.5 rounded down

The story told is stunning and the prose is beautiful. Unfortunately, the heart of the story is missing from the telling. There is clearly a full novel's worth of story here, but the important parts are cut out in the telling. The entire story is told as if seen by an impersonal 3rd party. At the heart of this story there is a romance, but every aspect of the couple's time together is skimmed over or referenced only in passing. This story could have been glorious, but instead it is merely good.

Neon Yang’s Brighter Than Scale, Swifter Than Flame is a book I’m definitely getting for my sister once it’s out — which, to those who know me/my sister tells you something right up front, but I’ll elaborate for the rest of the world! There are dragons, a female protagonist, and a lesbian relationship, which also meets her criteria that the lesbians don’t come to a tragic end.

It’s also a story of belonging, of dislocation from culture and finding your way back into it, which I’m sure will resonate for a lot of readers, even if the stakes aren’t as high as these for most people. Yeva is initially very divorced from her body and her “foreign” appearance, hiding it all to make her own place among the guildknights, but rest assured: that isn’t allowed to stand unchallenged (while at the same time she maintains some bond to her adopted home, in the form of her one friendship).

It’s a novella, so we don’t get large-scale worldbuilding or a very slow build relationship, but what we do get works well for me: Yeva’s fumbling attempts to fit into her new place, her confused loyalties, and her growing feelings for Lady Sookhee.

I predicted the twist of the story fairly swiftly, but it was still satisfying to see it play out. I’d have loved a little more play with the strangeness of… well, a certain character (not Yeva), but maybe that would’ve given the game away too much.

Overall, I really liked it.