A review by hrjones
The House of Sundering Flames by Aliette de Bodard

4.0

All of the Dominion of the Fallen books have their harsh and horrifying moments, but this one feels like the darkest going in (though maybe not so dark coming out). If anyone with less skill than de Bodard were writing this series, I might have noped out after the first book, but she gets past my uneasiness around horror with gripping characters and masterful worldbuilding. The fallen angels, dragon kingdoms, and loose-cannon magical creatures of Paris are plunged into something close to all-out war. Each character finds themselves having to decide what and whom they would save, if they had the power, knowing they can’t save everything. If, like me, you reach the 90% mark and have no idea how the story will end in anything other than complete obliteration, I’ll just say: keep reading.