Super fast paced and I was able to knock it out in one sitting while cleaning my office. I liked the FMC, I thought she was really interesting and well written. I feel like the romance was a bit rushed, but I suppose that's only natural with a book of this length.

Please read through this backcover text, sit for 5 minutes, and imagine where this short story might take you. No matter what you thought of, you are exactly right. Looking past another to-die-for cover by Tran Nguyen, there is nothing unexpected or revolutionary to this book. Free yourself of FOMO, you won't miss a thing.

This was the perfect book for pride month. I had a great time with this audiobook. It was fast paced and I really enjoyed out FMC. She is strong, stubborn, and determined, but also keeps her mind open for the people and things around her, especially when she gets sent to watch this new city that loves Dragons when she is the one who goes out and kills them as her job.

I enjoyed the beginning of this story because it pulls us in because the narrator breaks the fourth wall and begins to tell the story to the reader. It was a really unique way to tell this story which I thought was really refreshing.

I do wish I had more of a connection to the characters but I still really enjoyed this story and watching out FMC slowly open up and allow the woman king to show her a new way to live.

⅗ stars.

I want to say right off the bat that I really enjoyed the book, but I wish that it was longer and that’s really my main gripe with the story. I wish that this book had been longer so there could have been a stronger focus on the central ideas and themes that were working in the background of the story and the romantic relationship.

Yeva as main character is interesting because of the route she takes early on in the story with her becoming a knight. She becomes an image, a tale to be told for others without ever hearing her name or her opinions on what she does for her second home. She has one friend within the guild but also her only family and while you can tell they care for each other…it’s complicated as he knows what she has to do better than all -- which makes me wish there was more time to explain that complicated dynamic. The same can be said about her family because while we catch quick glimpses of them throughout the story, there aren't enough details to really make a reader feel the connection and loss that Yeva feels when it comes to thinking about them.

The world building is another thing that falls under the same category of not enough because there is enough to tell you about the empire and its neighboring countries, and a little about the dragons, but as the main driving force in the background to the climax it lacks.

However, for the main romantic relationship between Yeva and Lady Sookhee, the book really shines. They instantly connect and slowly Soohkee and her country break down the walls that have been set up by Yeva. They seem to care about each other deeply in a short amount of time and it shines brightly in the end and with choices Yeva makes. There are secrets here and there and more connections to think about, but those are just placed there without being pushed forward since this is a novella.

Nancy Wu as a narrator above all else, as she does a great job in bringing Yeva and Lady Sookhee to life. Her tone gives the story and Neon Yang’s words an old story being told to the reader to life as the novella hopes it does.


Above all else, this is a great short romance novella, but with the subjects and tones it touches upon outside the confines of the immediate story and characters, it leaves a lot to be desired in both terms of knowing more about the world and adding more depth to the potential it has. If anything, I would love to see more of this world should Neon Yang ever decide to revisit it one day.

3.5

This was a short novella set in an Asian inspired world with dragons that talked about the masks we wear in public versus private lives and colonization and disability and a whole bunch of other stuff and I really liked it, but I wanted more. I do think it tells a complete story and it was compelling, so maybe it’s not fair to rate it based on wanting more, but I do think that it’s brevity makes it less memorable in the long-term.

That being said, I love Neon Yang’s world building and their writing, and I think that Nancy Wu’s narration was phenomenal as always so I do highly recommend this.

Beautiful, breathtaking enticing and wonderful in glad to have read this and miss the way reading this for the first time made me feel, thankyou for this chance and this world

Really enjoyed this thoughtful little novella that examined love and value, and the ability to question your prior conceptions. The main character becomes a dragon slayer at a very young age and essentially used as a weapon, divided from her family and previous life. Left horribly scarred and mutilated by her first encounter with a dragon, she lives almost exclusively in her armour – both figuratively and actually. Sent on a diplomatic mission to a neighbouring kingdom as cover for finding and rooting out any dragons denned in the area, she comes to question everything she has ever believed. This was beautifully written and believable, showcases two imperfect people who were messy and flawed but somehow made each other greater than the sum of their parts. Highly recommend.

Thank you so much for letting me listen to this audiobook. I listened to this audiobook in one go, I just couldn't stop.

Rounded up from a 3.5

There were a lot of interesting elements to this, but the overall story wasn't terribly interesting to me. I love when kings are women, that's one of my favorite things actually. But I was also a bit bored and the reveal at the end was quite obvious from the beginning, something many other people have noted as well.

Part of my problem was also that I listened to the audiobook and didn't really like the narrator, though I can't say why exactly.

Thank you to NetGalley for making this available in exchange for an honest review!

Overall I thought Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame was a solid novella. The narrator for this audio had a solid voice and brought the story to life well. While I felt that the choice of writing the story like a fable created a bit too much distance to emotionally connect to our characters, it was still really beautiful writing and I was engaged the whole time. The twist was predictable, but I do think it was meant to be, and I did really like the twist, and my other favourite element was the central relationship to the story.

A good novella with strong representation. I appreciated the ideas behind the cultural struggles. The fmc has a hard time maintaining her current identity with her true self. The book has ok world building, but wasn't long enough to really go in depth. It is a shallow fantasy that probably needs to be fleshed out to be considered true high fantasy

My thanks to RBmedia and Net Galley for a free audiobook of "Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame" by Neon Yang narrated by Nancy Wu.
The depictions of the immigrant experience resonated with me and the narrator brought those feelings to life.
While I felt that I needed more from the Romance in this book, it was an overall positive listening experience.

Neon Yang is great, as usual! Awesome fantasy, loved the casual queerness, will be checking out more!

This was a cool short book. I like the mandolorian vibes with the MC not removing their mask. I like the dragon lore as well. There is not much to review though because it was very straightforward nothing too crazy. I do think I should have DNFed it though because it took me so long to read and it was so short. For me that is how I know Im not really invested.

4.5 ⭐️

Thank you Net Galley for granting me this audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Brighter Than Scale Swifter Than Flame is the latest novella by Neon Yang and it was a blast start to finish! I loved how overtly queer this was almost as much as I loved the dragon element (although frankly there could have been more of both).

I think this was a perfect story to listen to as an audiobook as it had the same kind of feel as the novellas in the Singing Hills cycle – like something you might here told around a campfire rather than an epic story. That being said, I also think this had the bones to support a full length novel, or perhaps a movie length adaptation? Just putting it out there…

There was something missing from this and I honestly don’t know what that was, but I do know that its been a month since I finished this and there isn’t a huge amount standing out about it for me which in and of itself might be the issue. It was a fun, romantic, emotional read that was thoroughly enjoyable and I definitely recommend it to lovers of the genre. Was it missing the secret sauce? Maybe, but that shouldn’t stop people reading and enjoying it for what it is!

✨ 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

Neon Yang never misses with their novellas. This was captivating, intriguing and beautifully told. The world building was clear and well developed, which is even more impressive considering the brevity of the story. I could have happily read another 300 pages of this.

Nancy Wu does a fantastic job of bringing this novella to life. 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.

I absolutely loved this book. It was interesting and wild. One of my favorite characters was her cousin and his story. Her father’s brother was horrible. I can’t wait to read or listen to more of the authors books. I highly recommend reading or listening to their books.

Unfortunately life got in the way of my ability to listen to this ALC, but I was really looking forward to it. However I need to leave a review so here we go.