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A review by mweis
The Fireborne Blade by Charlotte Bond
2.5
*I received an audio review copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*
The Fireborne Blade has everything I love about classic fantasy. There's a lady knight and dragons and corrupt magician guilds and so much more. As someone who grew up obsessed with the Song of the Lioness Quartet, I was so looking forward to something that would take my nostalgia for that series and make it modern and/or more adult.
Unfortunately I think this really fell flat for me. I can't point at a specific aspect of it that didn't work because on paper, this is something I love, but ultimately I think it just didn't do enough that was new for my personal tastes. This book does a lot with its page count in exploring themes of power and identity, but the world building for me felt too reliant on nostalgia for classic dragon fantasies.
I think this was a well written book and clearly has and will work better for other readers, but I think I just expected more of a subversion of classic tropes than I got.
The Fireborne Blade has everything I love about classic fantasy. There's a lady knight and dragons and corrupt magician guilds and so much more. As someone who grew up obsessed with the Song of the Lioness Quartet, I was so looking forward to something that would take my nostalgia for that series and make it modern and/or more adult.
Unfortunately I think this really fell flat for me. I can't point at a specific aspect of it that didn't work because on paper, this is something I love, but ultimately I think it just didn't do enough that was new for my personal tastes. This book does a lot with its page count in exploring themes of power and identity, but the world building for me felt too reliant on nostalgia for classic dragon fantasies.
I think this was a well written book and clearly has and will work better for other readers, but I think I just expected more of a subversion of classic tropes than I got.