Yeva was thirteen when she killed her first dragon. She quickly became famous for being the best dragon killer and most mysterious guildknight in the kingdom. Then the emperor hears a rumor that there is a dragon living in Quentona, a neighboring kingdom. Rather than risk a war by sending a large group, he compromises and sends his best, Yeva. But Quentona and its queen were nothing like anything Yeva had known. In the months she’s there, Yeva learns to be more than a weapon, but this peace may be unsustainable. After all, Yeva is a dragon hunter and Quentona reveres dragons. For the first time in her life, the masked guildknight of Mithrandon must decide where her loyalties lie.

This is such a fun, wacky fantasy novella that left me wanting more. If the Mandalorian was queer and Asian - sounds like a great premise to me. I liked the romance in the story and the short nature of it made it a fun ride.

4.5

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an eARC!

This story follows Yeva as they travel to the isolated nation of Quanbao, a nation that is rumored to worship dragons. Yeva is a strange being to this land as their face is never seen to the public, but also because their birthright has called them to slay dragons. We follow Yeva as they become accustomed to this new long while they attempt to woo the queen, Lady Sookhee.

The novella gives off old school fantasy vibes with a knight in shining armor, travels to faraway lands, dragon-slaying, and an enchanting queen. Yang’s smooth writing, engaging narrative, and shockingly well-paced plot made this novel incredibly enjoyable. Typically the world building can fall a little short in such a small book, but that’s wasn’t the case for this one.

At the very core of this story is a message of self-discovery, accepting who you are, and stepping out of your comfort zone while also interweaving a sapphic romance.

Overall, a lovely and comforting read!

A great queer fantasy - as expected from Neon Yang. Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame's worldbuilding and character work is amazing for ~176 pages. A slower ending would've made the tension of the last conflict more satisfying but Yang's focus on identity and integrity still shines through.

A lush fantasy novella with interesting worldbuilding and a sapphic romance, Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame is intriguing and unputdownable.

First of all, you can almost taste this thing. Food is described so often nd with such detail that it made me hungry. It was easy to picture what the places looked like, as Yang’’s descriptions were plentiful and concrete. I loved the world-building in that regard.

Yeva and Sookhee are great characters. We get a mini bildungsroman of Yeva’s life before the story starts, of how and why she became a dragon knight, which relates to her decisions/indecision later in the story. It also serves to explain certain world-building aspects. Sookhee is less fleshed out than Yeva, but is a great foil for her. She's the opposite to Yeva in a way, as she’s rather physically frail, confident, sensual, and cheerful compared to Yeva's stoic, closed-off, serious persona. Is it a grumpy-sunshine romance? A little bit.

In terms of the plot, I liked that it was languid. The tension behind Yeva’s growing disinterest in her duties and her growing love towards the nation she’s sent to keep an eye on was palpable and understandable. Yet, there isn’t really a twist. Something I assumed from the start ended up happening, though there were some minor red herrings along the way. Still, this didn’t stop me from devouring this book with my eyes.

For a story about a dragon hunter, there are very few scenes of actual fighting. If you were looking for an action fantasy, this isn’t it, but it also didn't bother me!

The prose is just lovely, which paired well with the tangible descriptions.

To wrap up, this novella was a lovely little treat, a scrumptious snack of a story, and I’m so happy I got an ARC! Love that cover!

Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame is a queer fantasy full of dragon hunting and sapphic romance, a new legend is unfolding

Overall I felt like the story moved a little too slowly and I found myself skimming through the pages to get to parts of the story that had more going on. I think it was a sweet story, very fairytale like. Pretty quick read as well.

4.5/5 stars
Recommended if you like: epic fantasy, dragons, sapphic romance, quests

This review has been posted to Goodreads as of 4/3 and my review blog as of 4/8, and will be posted to Instagram on 4/12.

Despite this being less than 200 pages, it had the feel of an epic fantasy novel. I really liked how Yang chose to narrate the story. The beginning and ending were told in a distance 3rd person narration, as if we were being told a mythical tale from long ago. The bulk of the novel is from the limited 3rd person and focuses on Yeva. We get to see part of her childhood and what led to her becoming the Masked Guildknight.

I liked getting to see a couple of different cultures in this book and the way each of them seemed to think of dragons. Yeva is a child when she first comes across a dragon, and at the time it seems mostly like a pest, albeit one to have a healthy fear of. As a guildknight in a different country, dragons are seen solely as threats, something that needs to be dealt with for the good of the people. Then, in Quanbao, dragons are revered and it is a sad thing that there are now so few of them.

Yeva definitely comes into the situation in Quanbao with a certain way of thinking. While she recognizes that Quanbao has very different customs regarding dragons than the Sun Empire does, she still has the set of beliefs regarding dragons that she grew up with. Part of her journey in this book is learning to expand beyond just one understanding of the creatures. Related to this, I feel like getting to know some of the people in Quanbao that her mother knew also allows her to open up new ways of understanding her childhood and who she is as a person.

The couple things that did take this rating down from 5 stars for me was 1) the twist felt pretty obvious from the get-go. I'm not sure whether this was intentional or not, but if it was, I don't think it really worked in this case. 2) The ending felt very quick and had a deus ex machina feel to it. I would've liked to see, at the very least, more emotional tension between some of the characters prior to the conclusion. Things just felt very clean. And 3), though this is perhaps the most minor of them all, people kept using the wrong term for Lady Sookhee. She is the reigning monarch, therefore she goes by majesty, not highness, and no one, not even her own court, seems to realize that.

I really enjoyed this book! It has sapphic love, dragons, secret identity. The world building was good for it being a novella, and i liked how well the story flowed! Highly recommend

thank you netgalley & the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review <3

I know this is a novella but I wish this was a full book! The story was so good but unfortunately it felt super rushed due to it being a novella. The romance and plot itself was faced paced to the point where I was feeling like I missing something at times, but I did enjoyed the romance and the unique plot!

This was a nice little fantasy novella with queer characters, dragons, and romance. It's more of a cozy fantasy, less emphasis on dragon slaying and more emphasis on the main character's internal struggles with identity, role, and allegiance, and their blossoming romantic relationship. If you're looking for an epic quest with lots of action and plot, I'd look elsewhere.

I'm not a full fledged fantasy reader, so a novella like this is perfect for me to just get a taste of fantasy without the massive worldbuilding, loads of characters, political alliances, etc. I haven't read Neon Yang's The Genesis of Misery yet, but it's higher up on my TBR after reading this.

3.75, rounded up.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy for review.

Wasn’t what I was expecting but definitely worth the read!
This novella is a rich Asian-inspired fantasy where our main character Yeva was whisked away as a child to another empire for slaying a dragon. Raised in a foreign land, Yeva becomes a deadly dragon hunter that’s lost all touch with her home country. When tasked to go back to her country to hunt a dragon, she finds herself struggling to realize who she is meant to be.
I really enjoyed this. From the writing to the characters and themes. The atmosphere and magic. I liked it all! What I really loved most was Yeva’s character growth through the story. She’s always been raised as an outsider that hides herself from the world in her armor. When she’s thrusted back into her home country, she’s filled with anxiety and fear of who she would be without the protection of her armor and sword. That was my favorite part.
The mystery in the book was predictable but still very enjoyable. And although I wished there were more to this story— more to the ending and world— it still was a great read.
Definitely give this book a try if you want a nice, feel good queer novella!
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in advance in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tordotcom Publishing for an eARC of this beautiful novella! What we have here is a queer, Asian-inspired fantasy with dragons, lady knights and lady kings (YES I LOVE IT), political intrigue, and a hero’s journey toward identity and self discovery. Yang’s writing is beautiful and the world building and magic drew me in immediately. The story ended up being fairly predictable (….like we all knew, right?) but I enjoyed the hell out of it anyway.

A beautifully written sapphic dragon romance. I don’t normally pick up novellas, but this may have changed my stance on that. It was the absolute definition of short and sweet. Cannot wait to get my hands on a physical copy! Thanks to NetGalley for ARC access.

I wish I had better things to say about Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame, but I wasn’t exactly overwhelmed by my first encounter with Neon Yang. The concept here was interesting, but the pacing and the narrative didn’t live up to it, and Yeva had the potential to be a great protagonist, but I found the character development lacking.

Let me start with the pacing. Aside from two significant time jumps, the story moves very slowly, with no sense of drama or urgency. As for the narrative style, it’s shallow, heavy on telling and light on showing, and all in the first-person, making it read like some kind of YA fairy tale.

As for the characters, I was so excited about the promise of Yeva, the legendary masked guildknight, armored and oath-bound, trained in the art of dragon-slaying . . . and yet an outcast in so many ways, severed from her family by a selfless act of courage that saves her sister’s life, but reveals her magic. She has such potential for depth, but aside from coaxing her out of her armor, none of it is explored, despite the opportunities to do so. As for Lady Sookhee, she was little more than a plot device with no depth beyond her sickly presence and sweet demeanor, with the secret of her illness telegraphed so strongly, the final act is entirely anticlimactic.

This just didn’t work for me, neither as a fantasy nor as a romance. Maybe it would have worked better as a full novel with room to explore and develop, but the only thing that kept this from being a DNF was the length.

A delightfully unique take on the dragon slayer story! Strong female characters abound; but the author does not shy away from giving them vulnerabilities that endear them to the reader. Highly recommended!

This is a solid novella, but its first quarter was more of a traditional high fantasy than I'd been expecting from Yang, so that threw me off a bit. Dragon fantasy isn't usually my favorite, so this wasn't as engaging to me as their other works, but the last half/ending made it a worthwhile read, despite my preferences.

Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame by Neon Yang is a captivating fantasy novella that blends rich world-building with intriguing character dynamics. The story is set in a world of dragons, magic, and complex political intrigue, following characters navigating both external and internal struggles. Yang's writing is immersive and evocative, drawing readers into a tale of transformation, power, and destiny. It's an excellent read for fans of high fantasy and character-driven narratives.

This was a full length, epic novel compacted into a novella. It was a wonderfully unique story that I highly recommend to anyone looking to dip their feet into fantasy or is looking for more diverse books. One thing that may hold people up is that it is told through a 3rd person narrator that feels very present. It didn't bother me as I feel it added to the story, but it may be frustrating to others.

Rated 4 stars. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC ebook.

I really enjoyed this book!

It is about a dragon-slaying knight who is sent back to their homeland on a sort of diplomatic mission. It is thought that this independent nation has dragons, and so Yeva is sent to check things out.

This very much had the feel of Yang's Tensorate series, which I adore. There were also really great questions about sovereignty and choosing to do what's right instead of what's expected of you.

I don't really want to say too much about this one, because it is quite short and I would hate to ruin any of the story.