Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.25 AVERAGE
4.25 AVERAGE
adventurous
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
tense
Strong character development:
Yes
The writing was awful, couldn’t make it past the beginning. It was all over the place and too many made up words for groups and just plain juvenile writing
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
From the title, I was fully expecting some very angry dragons. You are dropped into an incredibly written world, rich with history, punishing social castes, and a struggle for survival against an attacking group of “savages” that are threatening to burn everything down to the ground. Lots and lots of rage, not so many dragons.
Underpinning all this is Tau. Tau is fueled by one thing only and that is revenge. He has a plan and is willing to do whatever it takes to cross names off his list. Including sacrificing his humanity. Bucking up against being a Lesser and fighting social traditions, he’s determined to prove “Less” is more.
There is a ton of world-building and character development in this 500+ book. It’s beautifully written and has such rich, immersive story, I find myself lost in it for hours. I usually struggle with what’s considered high fantasy, but Evan Winter made this such an incredible world to get into that I may have to change my mind!
dark
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
“What are savages...against the rage of dragons?”
This is my second time reading this in a year and let me just say that it was so much better for me the second time around.
The Rage of Dragons is set in a world that is in the middle of war. The Omehi people have been in this war with the hedeni for a while now and it looks like they are on the losing side. The only thing they have on their side is a set of talented women called The Gifted, who have the ability to call upon dragons. However, that may not be enough to win this war.
The story focuses on a young boy named Tau who is training to become a soldier. That is not what Tau wants for his life though. He would be content with just having a regular, safe job and settling down with the girl he loves. Unfortunately, Tau’s life gets turned upside down when someone he’s extremely close to gets brutally murdered by those in a higher position of power and now he is on this quest for revenge.
Tau is one of the best and most frustrating characters ever. He is extremely strong willed and focused on his goal that he sometimes doesn’t think about the long term effects of his actions. I know some people will argue that he is being unreasonable, but I don’t think so. Do I agree with everything that he does? No. However, I understand it. What Tau has had to go through and witness just because of the position he was born into in society is completely unfair and I don’t necessarily blame him for his hurt and the need he feels to get even.
I want to reiterate that I believe that Tau’s anger is justified. What he does with that anger is not always productive and may not always be the right thing to do, but who are we to tell someone how to deal with their hurt and anger? What is sad to see is how much of his life Tau sacrifices in order to get that revenge. His whole life revolves around that mission that it actually becomes questionable whether Tau even has a life and what is the quality of that said life.
“Life is nothing more than moments in time. To achieve greatness, you have to give up those moments. You have to give your life to your goal.”
With all of that being said, Tau’s life is not entirely bad. He has friends and even a romance that helps humanize him. I want to specifically talk about the romance, since talking about his friends will be hard to do without spoiling certain things. Zuri is the girl that Tau is in love with and I loved their friendship and relationship so much. I really love what Zuri does for him and how she helps him think more reasonably.
One thing I want to mention and give props to this book on is its complex world building. I love good world building and I feel like Winter did such a good job with that in this book. There is so much history of this world tied up in the actual world building and it is evenly divided in the story so as not to ever feel info-dumpy. I actually recommend paying close attention to the text and maybe even taking notes because there are a lot of people and events to remember. This is such an expansive world and I can’t wait to see more of it in future books.
One of the important aspects of the world building involves the caste based system that the Omehi people are put into. There are two main castes, Nobles and Lessers, and those are divided even more into smaller castes. A lot of the story talks about how the Lessers are treated compared to the Nobles. I mean they aren’t even allowed to fight in the same army and there is so much privilege that the Nobles have that the Lessers do not. This is a huge issue for Tau and it’s also a big source of anger for him.
There were some great discussions about that division and how it’s not the best thing for society, and how despite that, there are people who are interested in keeping it going because it benefits them. There is this question of “are they really different from us?” that is brought up and I loved how it was handled.
Another important thing to mention about this book is that this really is a story that looks at colonization and I would say it is the beginning and middle of colonization, not so much the aftermath. This is not so much in your face with the first book because it is not really known that colonization has taken place, but the way it is revealed towards the end of the book was just amazing. I really hope that we get to see the effects of that in the second book because I really thought some interesting things were being laid out in this first installment.
I will say that the first time I read this, the middle kind of bored me. I think it was because I had put the book down when I was in the middle for a while and came back to it. I don’t recommend doing that because while the middle is definitely a bit slower compared to the beginning and end, it’s so necessary. A lot of Tau’s character development is done during that part and I appreciated it so much more the second time around. I will say that a lot of training is happening during that part and if you don’t like that sort of thing, it may not be the most exciting part. However, if you like good characterization and development, you’ll probably find it more interesting.
That ending still shocks me and makes me kind of emotional. So many things happen and there is never a dull moment. It kept me on the edge of my seat and then broke my heart in a million pieces, which is my favorite kind of ending honestly.
This was just so good, especially considering that it is a debut novel. I am so excited (and nervous) to see what [b: The Fires of Vengeance|43174603|The Fires of Vengeance (The Burning, #2)|Evan Winter|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1586795717l/43174603._SY75_.jpg|66982317] brings!
“I can't imagine a world where the man holding a sword does not have the last say over the man without one.”
CW for violence and death of a parent.
This is my second time reading this in a year and let me just say that it was so much better for me the second time around.
The Rage of Dragons is set in a world that is in the middle of war. The Omehi people have been in this war with the hedeni for a while now and it looks like they are on the losing side. The only thing they have on their side is a set of talented women called The Gifted, who have the ability to call upon dragons. However, that may not be enough to win this war.
The story focuses on a young boy named Tau who is training to become a soldier. That is not what Tau wants for his life though. He would be content with just having a regular, safe job and settling down with the girl he loves. Unfortunately, Tau’s life gets turned upside down when someone he’s extremely close to gets brutally murdered by those in a higher position of power and now he is on this quest for revenge.
“He was not the strongest, the quickest, or the most talented, not by any measure. He knew this and knew he could not control this. However, he could control his effort, the work he put in, and there he would not be beaten.”
Tau is one of the best and most frustrating characters ever. He is extremely strong willed and focused on his goal that he sometimes doesn’t think about the long term effects of his actions. I know some people will argue that he is being unreasonable, but I don’t think so. Do I agree with everything that he does? No. However, I understand it. What Tau has had to go through and witness just because of the position he was born into in society is completely unfair and I don’t necessarily blame him for his hurt and the need he feels to get even.
I want to reiterate that I believe that Tau’s anger is justified. What he does with that anger is not always productive and may not always be the right thing to do, but who are we to tell someone how to deal with their hurt and anger? What is sad to see is how much of his life Tau sacrifices in order to get that revenge. His whole life revolves around that mission that it actually becomes questionable whether Tau even has a life and what is the quality of that said life.
With all of that being said, Tau’s life is not entirely bad. He has friends and even a romance that helps humanize him. I want to specifically talk about the romance, since talking about his friends will be hard to do without spoiling certain things. Zuri is the girl that Tau is in love with and I loved their friendship and relationship so much. I really love what Zuri does for him and how she helps him think more reasonably.
One thing I want to mention and give props to this book on is its complex world building. I love good world building and I feel like Winter did such a good job with that in this book. There is so much history of this world tied up in the actual world building and it is evenly divided in the story so as not to ever feel info-dumpy. I actually recommend paying close attention to the text and maybe even taking notes because there are a lot of people and events to remember. This is such an expansive world and I can’t wait to see more of it in future books.
One of the important aspects of the world building involves the caste based system that the Omehi people are put into. There are two main castes, Nobles and Lessers, and those are divided even more into smaller castes. A lot of the story talks about how the Lessers are treated compared to the Nobles. I mean they aren’t even allowed to fight in the same army and there is so much privilege that the Nobles have that the Lessers do not. This is a huge issue for Tau and it’s also a big source of anger for him.
“His edge didn’t come from his body or blood. It didn’t come from gifts. It was that he desired mastery more than he desired breath. It was that he wanted revenge more than he wanted to live. It was that his father’s life had mattered every bit as much as the lives of Nobles, and though they didn’t believe that yet, they would.”
There were some great discussions about that division and how it’s not the best thing for society, and how despite that, there are people who are interested in keeping it going because it benefits them. There is this question of “are they really different from us?” that is brought up and I loved how it was handled.
Another important thing to mention about this book is that this really is a story that looks at colonization and I would say it is the beginning and middle of colonization, not so much the aftermath. This is not so much in your face with the first book because it is not really known that colonization has taken place, but the way it is revealed towards the end of the book was just amazing. I really hope that we get to see the effects of that in the second book because I really thought some interesting things were being laid out in this first installment.
I will say that the first time I read this, the middle kind of bored me. I think it was because I had put the book down when I was in the middle for a while and came back to it. I don’t recommend doing that because while the middle is definitely a bit slower compared to the beginning and end, it’s so necessary. A lot of Tau’s character development is done during that part and I appreciated it so much more the second time around. I will say that a lot of training is happening during that part and if you don’t like that sort of thing, it may not be the most exciting part. However, if you like good characterization and development, you’ll probably find it more interesting.
That ending still shocks me and makes me kind of emotional. So many things happen and there is never a dull moment. It kept me on the edge of my seat and then broke my heart in a million pieces, which is my favorite kind of ending honestly.
This was just so good, especially considering that it is a debut novel. I am so excited (and nervous) to see what [b: The Fires of Vengeance|43174603|The Fires of Vengeance (The Burning, #2)|Evan Winter|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1586795717l/43174603._SY75_.jpg|66982317] brings!
“I can't imagine a world where the man holding a sword does not have the last say over the man without one.”
CW for violence and death of a parent.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-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
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Good, just not particularly feeling it.