Having previously read this author in the Tensorate series, I was expecting gender exploration and cool worldbuilding, and Yang absolutely delivered in this, packaging it all in dragons and the mythologising of storytelling, an absolute favourite trope of mine. Brighter than Scale Swifter than Flame is a story of indoctrination and being torn up from your roots, learning to reconnect with them even if it might tear down the entirety of your known world. With lyrical prose and memorable characters, this is a beautiful and quick read I highly recommend to every fantasy fan out there.

The narrator does an incredible job of balancing the narrative voice with the character vocals, I listened to this in one sitting because i was so enamoured with their storytelling!

Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame is a standalone sapphic fantasy about a knight, Yeva, who is scooped up by the imperial guard for her innate ability to kill dragons. She is sent to a neighboring kingdom to investigate rumors of dragons in their possession, and there learns more about her parents and family as she spies for her king.

I found this story a bit slow moving, but overall enjoyed it.

Great audio narration.

This book absolutely blew me away. Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame is the kind of fantasy that pulls you in with its rich world and gorgeous writing, but what really makes it shine are the characters and the emotional depth. It feels epic without ever losing its heart.

The story moves quickly but still gives you time to connect with what’s really going on—there’s magic, yes, but also a lot of personal, human moments that stick with you. The world feels alive, full of history and mystery, and the themes of identity, legacy, and change are handled in a really thoughtful way.

It’s poetic without being confusing, powerful without being too heavy. If you like fantasy that’s beautiful, bold, and full of feeling, this one’s a must-read.

Thank you NetGalley and Recorded Books for this ARC Audio Copy!

Gorgeous cover, sapphic, tea, and dragons, what more could a girl possibly want from a book right? Maybe for the story to be just a little longer because I was not ready to leave the world. When will I ever learn with novellas that I will always be left wanting more. That is in no way a complaint about this book and actually quite a bit of praise.

I really enjoyed the folklorist prose and the world building, and I am definitely interested in reading more works from this author.

I would have liked this better as a full novel. There was plenty of opportunities to further flesh out the characters and show their development over the course of the story. Some minor inconsistencies also threw me off. With a longer novel we could really tease out the relationship between Yeva and Sookhee, the power behind the everstones, the dynamic of the Quanbao court, the relationship between Yeva's parents, and the history between Yeva's mother and Sookhee's mother. This novella was good but I would have been happy spending more time in the world. I was left with lots of questions and few answers.

What I did like about this novella was the representation of queerness and identity. Yeva has to fight against the expectations of everyone around her, first as a biracial outsider joining the knights, and then as an outsider knight joining the girl-king's court. The exploration of duty, loyalty, and command was important in Yeva's journey. She has to find a way to assert her own will instead of blindly following orders.

This is a review of the audiobook.

I got this as an audio arc on Netgalley and it has since come out. My God this was stunning and the narrator with this story was a perfect match. I got completely lulled into a slumbering state of enjoyment, like a dream. It's sapphic, it has dragons, it has mythes. Everything my queer heart needs.

Solid fantasy romance about a dragon slaying knight and the sickly princess of a kingdom she is sent to as an envoy. The twists aren't too subtle, you'll be able to see them coming, but they're still well done and the story itself is a lovely, wistful one. Great narrator as well. Worth your time.

I don't think I've ever read anything with this kind of prose before, and it was a bit jarring at first, but once I settled in and imagined an old storyteller sitting by a fireplace, narrating to their rapt audience the events of Yeva's story, I was able to enjoy it for what it was. As a novella, this does a great job of grounding you in the world and the characters pretty quickly. I loved the lore of this world, the rich descriptions of setting, food, culture, and legend.
Because I liked the setup so much, I of course ended up wanting this to be at least a little bit longer. The ending wrapped up super quickly; not surprising, for a novella, but still a bit disappointing to me. I couldn't help but want a bit more! I would love to know more about the dragon father.

Thank you to NetGallery

This Novella was really well done. For such a short story it felt very complete. It was well thought out, the characters were complex their story made sense. I felt like I got the past present and future all in the 140 pages and wasn’t rushed or too slow. It was interesting, although I did figure out the plot twist was before our MFC. But that’s didn’t deter for the story. Definitely worth the read!

**Thank you to NetGalley and RBmedia for the ALC; all opinions are my own.**

4.0 ⭐️
1🌶
🎧

This was a very good novella about dragons and the knights that hunt them. If you're looking for a sapphic, Asian-inspired fantasy, look no further.

☆sapphic
☆forbidden romance
☆queen x knight
☆dragons
☆sad childhoods
☆complicated choices
☆magic

This was an interesting story, but it could have used a bit more backstory and I didn't connect with the maincharacters.
I think with more length the worldbuiding and characters could have been more interesting.

“An awful sensation swifts Yeva, so struckingly similar to the sensation she gets when the secret fire activates that leaves her dizzy. In a moment of terror she wonders if this is what it means to be in love.”

I had a great time with Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame. I discovered the book through its audio version and I really liked how the narrator remained pretty neutral, as if she was truly telling us a tale. Because it’s really how this story feels like, a tale from folklore. Making a complete review is difficult to avoid spoilers, so I’ll stick with only general feelings.
Even though it’s pretty short (less than 200 pages, less than 4h30 if you listen), the story is complete and doesn't feel like something is missing.
Yeva’s path was interesting as she questioned the conditionnement resulting from her training, and wondered where would go her trust and faithfulness as her roots (and love, and that romance is beautiful) come back into her life. I loved the writing’s fluidity and rhythm, and the themes around duty, identity and loyalty. What if, in the end, being trustworthy is first and foremost following your guts and who you feel you are. Afterall, that might be the meaning of the promesse that Yeva had made to herself at the end of her training.

Thank you to the author and Recorded Books for the ALC on NetGalley. My opinions are my own.

3.5 ⭐ Thank you to NetGalley and the author for letting me have this audiobook in exchange for a review.

I devoured this in one day. A very sweet novella full of gorgeous descriptions and similes. The writing really enabled the reader to follow along with the FMC and know how she is feeling and why. I can imagine this story being turned into a trilogy, there's certainly enough background and story to flesh out. I would absolutely read those.There's enough detail for the story to hold meaning and capture your attention while also not being so in depth as to deviate from the story.

if you want a quick fantasy tale about lesbians and dragons to be enraptured by then this is the novella for you!

I listened to this audiobook in one sitting. It is short and sweet and is a story of queer love, self-discovery, and dragons. Nancy Wu, as always, was an excellent narrator and really gave this story life.

Thank you Netgalley, author Neon Yang and RBMedia for an advanced copy edition of this audiobook in exchange of an honest review.

This was such an unexpected gem! I absolutely adored Yeva and Lady Sookhee. I loved how they slowly warmed up to each other, how Yeva slowly lost the coldness of the masked guildknights and started reverting back into someone and not something. Not a weapon, not a puppet to command but an actual person who follows their own feelings and heart.

This short novella touches the strength of being themselves and the fragility of society that forces you to become someone who you would have never wanted to become in first place.

To all this we add the amazing setting the novella is set in, and the narrator Nancy Wu did an excellent job and narrating this short book as a fable like tale of a character from a distant land. A tale lost in the past that lives through memories and stories.

What set me off was the fact that the whole setting was too vague, her mother's relationship with Yeva and her father, barely mentions of what had been introduced as an important figure aka her younger sister and all the mystery related to her family alone with the world problem I came across while listening to the audiobook.

3.8/4⭐️ 0.5/0.75🌶️ (one scene)

Is this the year of lady knights? because I'm here for it 😁

This was a beautiful short story about finding yourself, and finding the place and the people that make you feel like you belong. I listened to the audiobook version and the voice actress was incredible!

I enjoyed the world building very much. The narration was reminiscent of a fairytale or old story, the way the audio version was narrated also contributed to this and worked really well.
The mystery was a bit predictable but compelling all the same.

I'm definitely following this author for more of their works!

Public Review:


((I listened to the ALC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.))

⭐️⭐️⭐️
3 stars (marked up to 5 because we the readers want for LGBTQ+ stories & Asian-centric mythology)

I love the premise of this book. It is an epic journey of someone reclaiming their heritage in their own unique way. It has a badass main character, Asian-centric mythology, anti-colonialism and a sapphic love story.

Honestly my biggest complaint is that I wanted more. I wanted more backstory, more character interactions and most importantly more TENSION. It was a beautiful novella — but it was trying to pack an epic fantasy into a novella. For having such limited words, the author did a great job at world building. I felt the intrigue of putting puzzle pieces together as the main character did

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
🌶️

A gifted dragon slayer sets on a mission to travel to a reclusive kingdom with the intention of hunting and slaying a harbored dragon. The girl-king welcomes the FMC and starts up a romantic relationship. Suddenly the girl-king falls ill at the same time the dragon is spotted…the reason for this is very predictable.

The imaginary in this book was written beautifully. I could clearly visualize the setting. I love that the main relationship in this book was sapphic.

The narration was very good. I do recommend listening to the audio. This is a short book and the narrator was able to pack a punch.

I thought this book was very predictable overall but the writing was very good. I really loved the way the final chapter was written.

I quite enjoyed this story.

Yera is a knight, using her gift to serve the Sun Emperor as a member of the guild knights hunting and slaying dragons. When she is sent to the neighboring kingdom, near the town where she grew up and was forced to leave behind after slaying her first dragon as a kid, she meets their King and the two women becomes friends. The writing was lovely and I liked the storytelling aspect of recounting Yera's tale. And you can't go wrong with dragons and a bit of mystery and secrets.

Ever pick up a book and think, “Whoa—this is so different… and I love it”? 🐉💖

I just finished Brighter Than Scale, Swifter Than Flame by Neon Yang and I seriously flew through it! It’s fast-paced, super unique, and had me hooked from the first page. I gave it ⭐⭐⭐⭐ because while it’s short, it packs in so much emotion, worldbuilding, and DRAGONS. Oh—and the slow-burn sapphic romance? Yes please. 👀💫

Tropes you’ll find:
🐉 Dragon slayers & dragon worshippers
👩‍❤️‍👩 Soft sapphic slow burn
🛡️ Stoic knight with secrets
🌏 Asian-inspired fantasy vibes
💭 Finding yourself along the way

If you’re looking for a quick fantasy read that feels fresh and different, definitely check this one out!