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A review by leebraries
The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
good grief did this book take me a while to finish.
i picked this up on recommendation (from Smitty123 on TikTok, AGAIN), and was immediately drawn into the world of the Umhloba, the Ihashe, and the Indlovu; their dragons and their Gifted. it was epic fantasy worldbuilding that reminded me of many great works, set against the rich background of an African (Zambian, in particular) inspired world and culture. there aren’t many books like that exists in the genre, which must have been what prompted Evan Winters to write this in the first place. and he did a magnificent job at that.
many who give the book bad reviews criticize its too-many fight scenes or its too-stoic main character, etc. i could see why those criticisms would be valid, but i found myself enjoying those aspects of the book in particular. i loved tau as a character. he was hell-bent on vengeance, driven by fury and love, and that’s what made him so Interesting. as for the action, it came to life so beautifully in audio format. read by prentice onayemi, the audiobook breathes a new fire (heh) into the novel, giving it color and character vastly different from reading the words on page alone. it was an experience, and it made this book so much better than it already was.
that final battle as well — so brilliant! so much action and political intrigue, though i do wish we got to see more of kellan and tsiora (hopefully remedied by the second book), and i am so sad at having to mourn those who perished in it. still, it proves tau’s abilities like no other, and we, as readers, having seen and felt all he had to go through to reach that point, can’t help but gawp at the difference in the Tau we meet in the first chapter and the one we bid a temporary farewell to in the last. as a longtime fantasy reader, i can say that that was one hell of a battle.
so, all in all, i have very few things that i don’t like about this book (about none, really, except how irritated i am at myself to have only committed to reading it now after having picked it up weeks ago), and will be eagerly picking up the second (and third) books when the mood hits. kudos to winter.
i picked this up on recommendation (from Smitty123 on TikTok, AGAIN), and was immediately drawn into the world of the Umhloba, the Ihashe, and the Indlovu; their dragons and their Gifted. it was epic fantasy worldbuilding that reminded me of many great works, set against the rich background of an African (Zambian, in particular) inspired world and culture. there aren’t many books like that exists in the genre, which must have been what prompted Evan Winters to write this in the first place. and he did a magnificent job at that.
many who give the book bad reviews criticize its too-many fight scenes or its too-stoic main character, etc. i could see why those criticisms would be valid, but i found myself enjoying those aspects of the book in particular. i loved tau as a character. he was hell-bent on vengeance, driven by fury and love, and that’s what made him so Interesting. as for the action, it came to life so beautifully in audio format. read by prentice onayemi, the audiobook breathes a new fire (heh) into the novel, giving it color and character vastly different from reading the words on page alone. it was an experience, and it made this book so much better than it already was.
that final battle as well — so brilliant! so much action and political intrigue, though i do wish we got to see more of kellan and tsiora (hopefully remedied by the second book), and i am so sad at having to mourn those who perished in it. still, it proves tau’s abilities like no other, and we, as readers, having seen and felt all he had to go through to reach that point, can’t help but gawp at the difference in the Tau we meet in the first chapter and the one we bid a temporary farewell to in the last. as a longtime fantasy reader, i can say that that was one hell of a battle.
so, all in all, i have very few things that i don’t like about this book (about none, really, except how irritated i am at myself to have only committed to reading it now after having picked it up weeks ago), and will be eagerly picking up the second (and third) books when the mood hits. kudos to winter.