Reviews

The Waking Fire by Anthony Ryan

cleothegreat's review against another edition

5.0

gosh talk about a wild ride! it's been so long since i've read a truly captivating fantasy book - even better is the fact that the romance is kept to a minimum and is certainly not essential to the plot. after reading so many books back to back that throw in sex scenes and love triangles like piñata candy, i've been so happy to read a book that actually has sustenance to back the fun scenes. well fuckin done!

emeline_r's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

sharibelle's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

grimdark_dad's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

siu_rose's review against another edition

adventurous challenging medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

This was a fun adventure. The only reason I didn’t rate it higher was because for me personally, I don’t care as much for the fighting, weapons technology, battles, etc. But I enjoyed the story overall, and the characters, and the world in general. Once I got used to the structure of having rather separate stories for the characters, I even enjoyed the mini cliffhangers. It’s probably not something I would reread much but I will definitely finish the series. 

breeperscreepers's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I was hoping this book would be like Temeraire/His Majestys Dragon but it wasn't, for better and worse. It was definitely unique and the author seriously delved into the militaristic details that few books make an effort to include, down to the make and caliber of everyone's guns. It was very action-heavy and dense, with an antiquated exploration/academic vibe - some paragraphs in the beginning felt like genuine history lessons. I loved all of this! It felt authentic and snappy and smart, the world and people felt complex.

However, despite very interesting characters the book failed to connect me to them emotionally, if any of them had died I probably wouldn't have cared. It lacked a distinct charm that could've made this a 5 star read. It was also at least 100 pages too long, by the time I reached the finale, which was very drawn out, I was exhausted and ready for it to be over. Lastly, I was personally a little disappointed with how often drakes were merely cannon fodder, this is where the book most drastically differs from Temeraire. The drakes are a dangerous resource and it doesn't go much beyond that, I learned far more about the history of the empires than anything about their biology or origins. 

micaela_s's review

adventurous challenging inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

ronercat's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.75

skycrane's review against another edition

3.0

I think the main appeal of this book is the cool factor. There are dragons and ironclad steamers. People shoot the dragons with revolvers, bolt-action rifles, and later, Gatling guns. One of the main characters is a magical criminal, another is a magical spy, the third is a naval lieutenant. I quite enjoyed reading it, but I find I don't have much to say about it. There's potentially a lot of interesting ideas being explored. There's the cold war between an absolute empire and a series of corporate pseudo-states, the utterly brutal way the dragons are hunted and harvested, the whole "Darkest Africa" vibe of Arradsia, and many other aspects, but I don't think any one thing really coheres the way it could have. Still, it's a fun read. If you like the idea of people shooting dragons with revolvers, or shooting dragons with cannons from their steam-powered ironclads, or drinking dragon blood to use magic, you should definitely read this book.

PS
This has nothing to do with anything and really doesn't affect my opinion on the book, but I just have to say something. The characters follow a river up from the coast into the interior. They reach a point where they hit a waterfall going... down. Into a lake. I had to stop reading to think about this for a while. I've now thought about it a lot. I'll be thinking about it for a long time yet.

lidka's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5