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The Sky on Fire
Enter a world ruled by dragons…
Anahrod lives only for survival, preferring to thrive in the jungles of the Deep with the titan drake she keeps by her side. When an adventuring party saves her from capture by the local warlord, Sicaryon, she is eager to return to her solitary life, but this is no ordinary rescue. Anahrod's past has caught up with her. And these cunning misfits intend to spirit her away to the cloud cities, where they need her help to steal from a dragon’s hoard.
There’s only one in the cloud cities, dragons rule, and the hoard in question belongs to the current regent, Neveranimas―and she wants Anahrod dead.
Anahrod lives only for survival, preferring to thrive in the jungles of the Deep with the titan drake she keeps by her side. When an adventuring party saves her from capture by the local warlord, Sicaryon, she is eager to return to her solitary life, but this is no ordinary rescue. Anahrod's past has caught up with her. And these cunning misfits intend to spirit her away to the cloud cities, where they need her help to steal from a dragon’s hoard.
There’s only one in the cloud cities, dragons rule, and the hoard in question belongs to the current regent, Neveranimas―and she wants Anahrod dead.
14 pages, Audiobook
First published July 9, 2024
About the author
Jenn Lyons
15 books1,507 followersJenn Lyons lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband, three cats, and a lot of opinions on anything from the Sumerian creation myths to the correct way to make a martini. At various points in her life, she has wanted to be an archaeologist, anthropologist, architect, diamond cutter, fashion illustrator, graphic designer, or Batman. Turning from such obvious trades, she is now a video game producer by day, and spends her evenings writing science fiction and fantasy. When not writing, she can be founding debating the Oxford comma and Joss Whedon’s oeuvre at various local coffee shops.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 529 reviews
June 19, 2024
I was very excited for this book. Dragon overlords, a heist, a group of misfits... It's got everything!
It starts really strongly with a fantastic prologue, a diverse cast of characters, a good pacing and some kinky undertones.
The story in itself is satisfying and well crafted, and the narrator for the audiobook version did a great job, but unfortunately I couldn't connect to any of the characters, so I didn't care enough about them to feel fully immersed in the story.
It was a good book, but something was missing for me.
3.5 overall
It starts really strongly with a fantastic prologue, a diverse cast of characters, a good pacing and some kinky undertones.
The story in itself is satisfying and well crafted, and the narrator for the audiobook version did a great job, but unfortunately I couldn't connect to any of the characters, so I didn't care enough about them to feel fully immersed in the story.
It was a good book, but something was missing for me.
3.5 overall
July 13, 2024
"It's something much harder to kill than a lie: it's a story"
The Sky On Fire is... a puzzle.
Its individual elements are all things that should work, and work for me, specifically. This is a competently written book, with decent worldbuilding and an interesting take on the dragon/dragonrider dynamics. I love a book that drops you in the middle of the action and leaves you to figure things out, demanding your attention. I love a heist. Love dragons. Love a band of misfits on a quest. Love a queer-normative world. Absolutely adored the narrator and her different voices for every single character.
And yet. Here we are with another two star rating. No one is more distraught about this than myself.
To start off, the pacing is absolute whack. You get dropped in the middle of the action (love), and after all the exposition-laden dialogue (don't love) you're left thinking oh this is a political drama. But then it's a jungle adventure. Then it's a band of misfits on a journey? THEN things get horny out of the blue? Then for some reason the protagonist joins a ship crew? Then it's a heist. Then... I don't even know. This book jumps you from situation to situation, from place to place to place in so short a span that none of it even feels distinct anymore. This felt direction-less for a huge part of the narration, and it didn't help that by the halfway point a main motive for the protagonist (who, I have to say, made me doubt my own degree of comfort with silly names in fantasy with a name such as Anahrod) had not yet been established. To this day I am not entirely sure Anahrod has something she wanted, or if she was just getting carried by the plot to wherever she needed to be next.
The directionless-ness comes to a climax in the last 20%, where so much happens: there are revelations, lore drops, deep dives into a magic system previously ignored, character deaths, kind-of-sex-scenes apropos of absolutely nothing, huge battles and new characters introduced, and there's virtually no time to let any of it have the gravitas it deserves. I'm still reeling.
I maintain my opinion that this book should either have cut significantly on a lot of elements to focus on what was really important, or been a trilogy. Or at the very least a duology. There is so much that suffers from the massive under-development of this unfocused mess, first amongst them all the characters and relationships. I mentioned Anahrod having no real characterisation or motive to speak of, but what bothered me most were her relationships to other characters, especially the romantic ones. The insta-lust was insta-lusting, so to speak. Half the time I forgot characters were supposed to be in their thirties (or older), because they kept acting like horny teenagers. Calling the relationship with Ris "rushed" would be paying it a compliment, truly: entirely based off of attraction (which I was not feeling, but that may be me), and yet after a couple of days Anahrod was acting as though they had known each other forever and she could read Ris's innermost thoughts.
The spice level was so inconsistent I almost ragequit for that alone. Throughout the narrative there is some teasing, some flirting, some much appreciated conversations about sex, a tasteful fade-to-black threesome, and then, just when the story is coming to its climax, genuinely out of the blue there is this public quasi-sex scene with explicit dirty talking that made me want to close this book and never open it again.
But more than the insta-lust, more than the inconsistent pacing, more than the protagonist with no driving motivations... My biggest gripe is how this "queer-normative" world handles queerness. Nobody is more surprised and disappointed than myself, I promise you.
I cannot begin to tell you how much I HATED the whole concept of garden rings. Social rings I could absolutely get behind, ones indicating one's profession, place of origin, marital status, all that jazz. Wearing rings that tell all about your sexual or romantic preferences, down to your kinks, for everyone to see? Miss me with that. No, the existence of a "prefer not to say" ring does not make it better. This may be down to personal preference, but my favourite aspect of queer-normative fantasy is the total absence of labels, the non-issue of categorising one's gender identity or attraction. The sheer freedom of that is, for me, the absolute pinnacle of what queer-normative means. Repurposing labels and making them into neat shiny rings defeats the purpose, especially if displaying them is *expected*. And they came up so much, too! I don't care about the preferences of a random guy on the sky ambership if that's never going to come up naturally, or have any bearing on the plot or characters! What even!!
Worse, any instance of trans people being mentioned ("late-blooming", in this world, which I actually don't hate) is coated in so much virtue signalling and tokenisation to be cringeworthy. For instance, Anahrod finds out one of her parents came out as trans while she was gone, and goes to see him for a brief scene. They don't talk. She sees him and runs away. This never comes up again.
So... what was the point? Was there meant to be a reflection on changing, on finding your place, on how Anahrod's father found himself while she herself was not allowed any of that, on how she doesn't even know her own parent anymore? Because there was absolutely NONE OF THAT ON THE PAGE.
Another minor trans character is later introduced. This was my second almost-ragequit. It is so patronising to see the mental gymnastics the PoV character demonstrates to correct herself, to note that "admittedly, the girl was late-blooming, but still a girl". I feel like if you have to constantly remark upon the fact that your society has trans people and is soooooo good at accepting them "even though they're trans"... Then we're missing the point of your world being queer-normative, at least in part? It feels clumsy, it feels patronising and virtue-signalling.
(Note: the queer community is not a monolith. Some people may appreciate this kind of narrative device and storytelling, and if you do, that's valid and I'm happy for you. I still fucking hate it though)
I'll conclude with some things that I actually liked.
I love everything about the main gang. Don't care if they're not revolutionary in characterisation. They feel like a DnD party: goofy, edgy, nerdy and tropey in the best possible way. There's a reason if the formula works, and it's that it WORKS.
The last 30% of the book, when the action gets really going, is actually quite enjoyable.
The sections that were specifically about the heist had me giggling and cheering, sitting at the edge of my seat in anticipation.
That's the most frustrating thing about The Sky On Fire, I think. When it's good it's great! When it's bad, it's TERRIBLE.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!
The Sky On Fire is... a puzzle.
Its individual elements are all things that should work, and work for me, specifically. This is a competently written book, with decent worldbuilding and an interesting take on the dragon/dragonrider dynamics. I love a book that drops you in the middle of the action and leaves you to figure things out, demanding your attention. I love a heist. Love dragons. Love a band of misfits on a quest. Love a queer-normative world. Absolutely adored the narrator and her different voices for every single character.
And yet. Here we are with another two star rating. No one is more distraught about this than myself.
To start off, the pacing is absolute whack. You get dropped in the middle of the action (love), and after all the exposition-laden dialogue (don't love) you're left thinking oh this is a political drama. But then it's a jungle adventure. Then it's a band of misfits on a journey? THEN things get horny out of the blue? Then for some reason the protagonist joins a ship crew? Then it's a heist. Then... I don't even know. This book jumps you from situation to situation, from place to place to place in so short a span that none of it even feels distinct anymore. This felt direction-less for a huge part of the narration, and it didn't help that by the halfway point a main motive for the protagonist (who, I have to say, made me doubt my own degree of comfort with silly names in fantasy with a name such as Anahrod) had not yet been established. To this day I am not entirely sure Anahrod has something she wanted, or if she was just getting carried by the plot to wherever she needed to be next.
The directionless-ness comes to a climax in the last 20%, where so much happens: there are revelations, lore drops, deep dives into a magic system previously ignored, character deaths, kind-of-sex-scenes apropos of absolutely nothing, huge battles and new characters introduced, and there's virtually no time to let any of it have the gravitas it deserves. I'm still reeling.
I maintain my opinion that this book should either have cut significantly on a lot of elements to focus on what was really important, or been a trilogy. Or at the very least a duology. There is so much that suffers from the massive under-development of this unfocused mess, first amongst them all the characters and relationships. I mentioned Anahrod having no real characterisation or motive to speak of, but what bothered me most were her relationships to other characters, especially the romantic ones. The insta-lust was insta-lusting, so to speak. Half the time I forgot characters were supposed to be in their thirties (or older), because they kept acting like horny teenagers. Calling the relationship with Ris "rushed" would be paying it a compliment, truly: entirely based off of attraction (which I was not feeling, but that may be me), and yet after a couple of days Anahrod was acting as though they had known each other forever and she could read Ris's innermost thoughts.
The spice level was so inconsistent I almost ragequit for that alone. Throughout the narrative there is some teasing, some flirting, some much appreciated conversations about sex, a tasteful fade-to-black threesome, and then, just when the story is coming to its climax, genuinely out of the blue there is this public quasi-sex scene with explicit dirty talking that made me want to close this book and never open it again.
But more than the insta-lust, more than the inconsistent pacing, more than the protagonist with no driving motivations... My biggest gripe is how this "queer-normative" world handles queerness. Nobody is more surprised and disappointed than myself, I promise you.
I cannot begin to tell you how much I HATED the whole concept of garden rings. Social rings I could absolutely get behind, ones indicating one's profession, place of origin, marital status, all that jazz. Wearing rings that tell all about your sexual or romantic preferences, down to your kinks, for everyone to see? Miss me with that. No, the existence of a "prefer not to say" ring does not make it better. This may be down to personal preference, but my favourite aspect of queer-normative fantasy is the total absence of labels, the non-issue of categorising one's gender identity or attraction. The sheer freedom of that is, for me, the absolute pinnacle of what queer-normative means. Repurposing labels and making them into neat shiny rings defeats the purpose, especially if displaying them is *expected*. And they came up so much, too! I don't care about the preferences of a random guy on the sky ambership if that's never going to come up naturally, or have any bearing on the plot or characters! What even!!
Worse, any instance of trans people being mentioned ("late-blooming", in this world, which I actually don't hate) is coated in so much virtue signalling and tokenisation to be cringeworthy. For instance, Anahrod finds out one of her parents came out as trans while she was gone, and goes to see him for a brief scene. They don't talk. She sees him and runs away. This never comes up again.
So... what was the point? Was there meant to be a reflection on changing, on finding your place, on how Anahrod's father found himself while she herself was not allowed any of that, on how she doesn't even know her own parent anymore? Because there was absolutely NONE OF THAT ON THE PAGE.
Another minor trans character is later introduced. This was my second almost-ragequit. It is so patronising to see the mental gymnastics the PoV character demonstrates to correct herself, to note that "admittedly, the girl was late-blooming, but still a girl". I feel like if you have to constantly remark upon the fact that your society has trans people and is soooooo good at accepting them "even though they're trans"... Then we're missing the point of your world being queer-normative, at least in part? It feels clumsy, it feels patronising and virtue-signalling.
(Note: the queer community is not a monolith. Some people may appreciate this kind of narrative device and storytelling, and if you do, that's valid and I'm happy for you. I still fucking hate it though)
I'll conclude with some things that I actually liked.
I love everything about the main gang. Don't care if they're not revolutionary in characterisation. They feel like a DnD party: goofy, edgy, nerdy and tropey in the best possible way. There's a reason if the formula works, and it's that it WORKS.
The last 30% of the book, when the action gets really going, is actually quite enjoyable.
The sections that were specifically about the heist had me giggling and cheering, sitting at the edge of my seat in anticipation.
That's the most frustrating thing about The Sky On Fire, I think. When it's good it's great! When it's bad, it's TERRIBLE.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!
Shelved as 'interested-in'
August 17, 2024i think it’s pretty obvious why i started this .. 🐉❤️
August 8, 2024
9.29 on CAWPILE
April 14, 2024
A heist with dragons?!!!
A group of misfits save Anahrod, independent and wilful and capable of communicating with animals, from capture by the local warlord. In return, they plan to rob the most powerful dragon’s hoard. A dragon that wants Anahrod dead.
All of Lyonn’s characters are always extremely quirky, distinct, and oftentimes brash. In such a diverse group with varying ages, motives, skills, and identities, she is able to build a fun, strong, and bold dynamic.
”It was easier," Ris corrected, "when the only person I loved was a dragon." Then she realized what she'd just said and sighed, closed her eyes, hung her head. "You're both like damn jungle vines." Hopefully that was because they were growing on her, and not because she thought they both needed to be pruned with a sword.
Don’t worry - this is not nearly as complex as Ruin of Kings.
Lyonns is always genius with her worldbuilding. Here, citizens wear ring which denote different aspects of their identity: career, gender, sexual preference, bedroom activities, etc. This seems like such an easier way of knowing who to date.
One thing that remains the same from her Chorus of Dragons series is the teasing at BDSM. Whilst this isn’t a ‘spicy’ book per se, it’s more dialogue hinting at fantasies, I personally didn’t find it to my taste.
"Shame I couldn't find a ring that means 'I'm attracted to people who are vengeance -obsessed and prone to extreme violence! Would've been perfect.’”
“Very niche.”
“No, very niche is renic root, which apparently means I am sexually attracted to cloth dolls."
This could be read as a standalone, and only the epilogue hints at how the next book might start. I am always astounded at authors who manage to write a high epic fantasy that satisfyingly ties off most loose ends in one book.
Thank you to Tor for providing an arc in exchange for a review.
Bookstagram
A group of misfits save Anahrod, independent and wilful and capable of communicating with animals, from capture by the local warlord. In return, they plan to rob the most powerful dragon’s hoard. A dragon that wants Anahrod dead.
All of Lyonn’s characters are always extremely quirky, distinct, and oftentimes brash. In such a diverse group with varying ages, motives, skills, and identities, she is able to build a fun, strong, and bold dynamic.
”It was easier," Ris corrected, "when the only person I loved was a dragon." Then she realized what she'd just said and sighed, closed her eyes, hung her head. "You're both like damn jungle vines." Hopefully that was because they were growing on her, and not because she thought they both needed to be pruned with a sword.
Don’t worry - this is not nearly as complex as Ruin of Kings.
Lyonns is always genius with her worldbuilding. Here, citizens wear ring which denote different aspects of their identity: career, gender, sexual preference, bedroom activities, etc. This seems like such an easier way of knowing who to date.
One thing that remains the same from her Chorus of Dragons series is the teasing at BDSM. Whilst this isn’t a ‘spicy’ book per se, it’s more dialogue hinting at fantasies, I personally didn’t find it to my taste.
"Shame I couldn't find a ring that means 'I'm attracted to people who are vengeance -obsessed and prone to extreme violence! Would've been perfect.’”
“Very niche.”
“No, very niche is renic root, which apparently means I am sexually attracted to cloth dolls."
This could be read as a standalone, and only the epilogue hints at how the next book might start. I am always astounded at authors who manage to write a high epic fantasy that satisfyingly ties off most loose ends in one book.
Thank you to Tor for providing an arc in exchange for a review.
Bookstagram
August 4, 2024
4.0 Stars
This was a really enjoyable dragon heist story. I was pleasantly surprised to find a decent amount of depth to the characters and their underlying story.
I've seen this compared to Fourth Wing but since I haven't read that one and I cannot comment if they are similar or not. On its own, I found this to be a really fun story.
I would recommend this to someone looking for a lighter, but worthwhile fantasy story. I have read the entire Chorus of Dragons and felt this had a very similar tone. If you love that series, you will very likely enjoy this book too
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
This was a really enjoyable dragon heist story. I was pleasantly surprised to find a decent amount of depth to the characters and their underlying story.
I've seen this compared to Fourth Wing but since I haven't read that one and I cannot comment if they are similar or not. On its own, I found this to be a really fun story.
I would recommend this to someone looking for a lighter, but worthwhile fantasy story. I have read the entire Chorus of Dragons and felt this had a very similar tone. If you love that series, you will very likely enjoy this book too
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
July 16, 2024
3.5 stars rounded up
Dangerously intelligent dragons, an infamous woman who was supposed to be dead, secrets, betrayal, and a magical heist! The Sky on Fire is a standalone fantasy novel with intricate world-building (honestly, I would be surprised if we don't get more books set in this world), rogues, plots, and lots of dragons. Lyons' background is in D&D and I feel like that comes through in her writing- it feels like you're following the twists of a campaign through the perspective of a main character and occasionally others.
Anahrod supposedly died after committing a crime and has gone down in infamy, except that she says she's innocent and has been hiding out in the Deep. But two groups are trying to kidnap her for their own reasons and she is drawn back into the messy politics she ran from. Because she has a secret ability that someone doesn't like...
Because this doesn't totally follow a typical plot structure, I found it a little frustrating at times even though I liked the characters and the overall story. I've seen other reviewers say that this needed space to breathe and I agree. It feels like a LOT crammed into the book and I would have preferred to take more time with the characters, world, and relationships.
You may know I tend to be a hard sell on a heist story, but in this case it was only a part of a much larger plot and I think it works. This was pitched for fans of Fourth Wing, and while I enjoyed that book this is VERY different. Sky on Fire is high fantasy, not a popcorn read with a lot of romance. It's not an easy entry point to the genre for people who are mostly reading romantasy. That said I liked it and the audiobook is good. I received an audio review copy via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.
Dangerously intelligent dragons, an infamous woman who was supposed to be dead, secrets, betrayal, and a magical heist! The Sky on Fire is a standalone fantasy novel with intricate world-building (honestly, I would be surprised if we don't get more books set in this world), rogues, plots, and lots of dragons. Lyons' background is in D&D and I feel like that comes through in her writing- it feels like you're following the twists of a campaign through the perspective of a main character and occasionally others.
Anahrod supposedly died after committing a crime and has gone down in infamy, except that she says she's innocent and has been hiding out in the Deep. But two groups are trying to kidnap her for their own reasons and she is drawn back into the messy politics she ran from. Because she has a secret ability that someone doesn't like...
Because this doesn't totally follow a typical plot structure, I found it a little frustrating at times even though I liked the characters and the overall story. I've seen other reviewers say that this needed space to breathe and I agree. It feels like a LOT crammed into the book and I would have preferred to take more time with the characters, world, and relationships.
You may know I tend to be a hard sell on a heist story, but in this case it was only a part of a much larger plot and I think it works. This was pitched for fans of Fourth Wing, and while I enjoyed that book this is VERY different. Sky on Fire is high fantasy, not a popcorn read with a lot of romance. It's not an easy entry point to the genre for people who are mostly reading romantasy. That said I liked it and the audiobook is good. I received an audio review copy via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.
August 5, 2024
The pacing in the second half got a bit wonky and the ending was really rushed. But overall really fun! Loved the depiction of dragons. The characters were all really engaging. Mixed feelings on how successfully the romance was incorporated into the story
Full review to come
Full review to come
April 23, 2024
This is such an exciting premise and such a disappointing outcome. The Sky on Fire whisks you through its narrative too fast to ever feel truly immersed or invested - which is a pity, because there's so much to love.The world itself is rich and fascinating, and the general conceit of a society ruled by tyrannical magical beasts is fresh and exciting. I love what Lyons does with the fantasy dragonrider trope, turning it on its head to explore consent and power. Boiled down, the core heist plot is beat-by-beat pretty great and the rag-tag team of antiheros SHOULD be lovably scampy enough to smooth over any rough plot points.
All of this fails to come together, however, if the relationships between characters lack any degree of psychological depth or complexity. The Sky on Fire feels like a script for a movie that could be great - but it's missing the human element that would make me care about what any of these people are up to. This isn't helped by the truly immense number of location changes and new character additions, as well as the wobbly ever-changing stakes that never fully manifest in a compelling way. I'm not convinced Lyons truly knows what matters to her own characters - let alone cares about how they are written. The ever-expanding cast of characters seems to exist purely for the function of meeting story beats, being put through their paces to ensure the next big plot twist is reached. It's simply not enough to hold onto through 450 pages of record scratches and soulless quips.
A shorter book - or, more ambitiously, a trilogy - would have been much better equipped to reconcile tone and plot with the elaborate world Lyons has created.
Roses where they're due: Three heartfelt cheers for one of the first romantasy love triangles to just straight up turn into a polycule. I wish there was a scrap of chemistry to make it the celebration of queer love it no doubt was intended to be.
Read
May 24, 2024After careful consideration I decided to DNF this book at 56%. Sadly, for a book with so much promise (dragons, heists, a potentially relationship), I didn't find myself picking it up nearly as much as I'd like, it's just too boring and convenient.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
June 23, 2024
4.5 Stars
A sweeping and intricately woven, high stakes fantasy —with dragons, heists, secrets and a gloriously queer romance that has been living in my head (rent-free) since reading.
Full disclosure, I went into this solely for the dragons but, having absolutely devoured it I can tell you it’s soo much more than that! The rag-tag cast of characters were utterly endearing and their found family-esque bonds were soo satisfying to explore.
The banter and humour was top notch (as was the flirting), and really showcased the trust they had in one another.
We do learn a lot interesting things about many of the characters, including backstories and connections to one another that I found as perfectly timed and suspenseful as a Game of Thrones episode (in the earlier seasons not the last one.) I won’t spoil the reveals, but just know some of them were definitely edge of your seat worthy— particularly when it came to Anahrod, Gwydinion, Ris (and Ris’s dragon Peralon)
The LGBTQIA rep was wonderful too and the use of symbolic rings to denote gender, relationship status and romantic preferences was ingenious! It made meeting new characters feel soo much more meaningful (and I kinda want this to take off in our world.)
I also love that our MC is part of a burgeoning, polyamorous throuple relationship which I really enjoyed exploring, the chemistry between all three characters was spectacularly swoon-worthy. It’s a relationship dynamic that I’m not too familiar with, but the tender moments we glimpse (in the midst of all the danger) were incredibly sweet.
I do have to admit, that the pacing is quite slow at the start for a story primarily focused on a heist, but the amount of detail in the world-building (and dragon lore) definitely made up for it. If slower paced books aren’t really your thing though, then you probably won’t enjoy this nearly as much.
If you love them however, and enjoyed The Dragonriders of Pern series, Game of Thrones or Six of Crows — and have always wondered what a mashup of all three could produce; then you definitely have to consider adding this to your TBR! (Just check TWs first though.)
Also, thanks to Book Break UK/ Olivia at Pan MacMillan for the wonderful proof copy.
A sweeping and intricately woven, high stakes fantasy —with dragons, heists, secrets and a gloriously queer romance that has been living in my head (rent-free) since reading.
Full disclosure, I went into this solely for the dragons but, having absolutely devoured it I can tell you it’s soo much more than that! The rag-tag cast of characters were utterly endearing and their found family-esque bonds were soo satisfying to explore.
The banter and humour was top notch (as was the flirting), and really showcased the trust they had in one another.
We do learn a lot interesting things about many of the characters, including backstories and connections to one another that I found as perfectly timed and suspenseful as a Game of Thrones episode (in the earlier seasons not the last one.) I won’t spoil the reveals, but just know some of them were definitely edge of your seat worthy— particularly when it came to Anahrod, Gwydinion, Ris (and Ris’s dragon Peralon)
The LGBTQIA rep was wonderful too and the use of symbolic rings to denote gender, relationship status and romantic preferences was ingenious! It made meeting new characters feel soo much more meaningful (and I kinda want this to take off in our world.)
I also love that our MC is part of a burgeoning, polyamorous throuple relationship which I really enjoyed exploring, the chemistry between all three characters was spectacularly swoon-worthy. It’s a relationship dynamic that I’m not too familiar with, but the tender moments we glimpse (in the midst of all the danger) were incredibly sweet.
I do have to admit, that the pacing is quite slow at the start for a story primarily focused on a heist, but the amount of detail in the world-building (and dragon lore) definitely made up for it. If slower paced books aren’t really your thing though, then you probably won’t enjoy this nearly as much.
If you love them however, and enjoyed The Dragonriders of Pern series, Game of Thrones or Six of Crows — and have always wondered what a mashup of all three could produce; then you definitely have to consider adding this to your TBR! (Just check TWs first though.)
Also, thanks to Book Break UK/ Olivia at Pan MacMillan for the wonderful proof copy.
June 25, 2024
This book was so much freaking fun.
It’s got so much cool shit in it. Airships. Jungles infested with fantasy dinosaurs. Found family. Heists. Love triangles that don’t make me want to smack everyone involved. Terrible puns. Wonderful puns. (Often the same pun.) Dragons. More dragons. And check out that cover! Seriously, that is such a cool cover.
This is set in a world split in two. On the one hand, you have the Skylands, mountain top cities linked by airships. On the other hand, you have the jungles of the Deeps. The humans of the Skylands are ruled by dragons, whose leadership sits somewhere between tyrannical and disinterested neglect. The Skylanders see the people of the Deeps as primitive savages, though of course it’s not so simple.
Our main character is Anahrod, cast out of the Skylands and into the Deeps for a crime she did not commit. Literally cast out: she was tossed off an airship 50,000 feet up. But she was able to survive and start a life in the Deeps with herfantasy dinosaur titan drake Overbite. Anahrod finds herself between a rock and a very large, scaled, be-toothed, breath-weapon-wielding place when she is hunted both by the self-proclaimed king of the Deeps (also her ex-boyfriend) and a dragon, dragonrider, and miscellaneous companions searching for her on the rumor that she somehow survived her fall. That group wants her for something they keep quiet about, but they also aren’t trying to kidnap or kill her (and Ris the dragonrider is distractingly sexy) so it’s not really a hard choice for Anahrod which group to go with.
From there we’re off. This is, as I said at the top, a hell of a lot of fun. Pure popcorn fiction in the very best sense of the term. Highly recommended.
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It’s got so much cool shit in it. Airships. Jungles infested with fantasy dinosaurs. Found family. Heists. Love triangles that don’t make me want to smack everyone involved. Terrible puns. Wonderful puns. (Often the same pun.) Dragons. More dragons. And check out that cover! Seriously, that is such a cool cover.
This is set in a world split in two. On the one hand, you have the Skylands, mountain top cities linked by airships. On the other hand, you have the jungles of the Deeps. The humans of the Skylands are ruled by dragons, whose leadership sits somewhere between tyrannical and disinterested neglect. The Skylanders see the people of the Deeps as primitive savages, though of course it’s not so simple.
Our main character is Anahrod, cast out of the Skylands and into the Deeps for a crime she did not commit. Literally cast out: she was tossed off an airship 50,000 feet up. But she was able to survive and start a life in the Deeps with her
From there we’re off. This is, as I said at the top, a hell of a lot of fun. Pure popcorn fiction in the very best sense of the term. Highly recommended.
My blog
Read
August 20, 2024After seeing an early reader of this book post a glowing review on Twitter and gushing that it was perfect for fans of FOURTH WING, I came running to NetGalley to slam the request button.
This was my first experience reading anything by Jenn Lyons, though I did score the first book in the Chorus of Dragons series to work into my TBR at some point.
Dragons, magic, betrayal and a heist - all ingredients for a potentially spicy fantasy - except that none of the potential was executed well, or at all in some cases.
There was little to no depth to the characters. Lyons intrigued me with this "late-sprouting/late-blooming" element, yet never explained it in any detail, just small, confusing references. Same with the rings the Skylanders chose to reflect their personal choices/preferences. It got to a point where I just didn't want to pick this one back up, but still tried to soldier on because I didn't want it to be a DNF and tank my NetGalley ratio, but I did finally throw in the towel 63% of the way in.
A full non spoiler video discussion regarding my experience with THE SKY ON FIRE has been uploaded on my BookTube Channel!
A heartfelt thanks to my Patrons on Patreon for their support towards my enthusiasm for reading and reviewing!
Special thanks to my highest level Patrons: Ev, Amanda L., Sharon, Andrew, Star, Kate, Gail, Amanda F., Tara, John, Ann, Chad K., Ashley E. & Mel
This was my first experience reading anything by Jenn Lyons, though I did score the first book in the Chorus of Dragons series to work into my TBR at some point.
Dragons, magic, betrayal and a heist - all ingredients for a potentially spicy fantasy - except that none of the potential was executed well, or at all in some cases.
There was little to no depth to the characters. Lyons intrigued me with this "late-sprouting/late-blooming" element, yet never explained it in any detail, just small, confusing references. Same with the rings the Skylanders chose to reflect their personal choices/preferences. It got to a point where I just didn't want to pick this one back up, but still tried to soldier on because I didn't want it to be a DNF and tank my NetGalley ratio, but I did finally throw in the towel 63% of the way in.
A full non spoiler video discussion regarding my experience with THE SKY ON FIRE has been uploaded on my BookTube Channel!
A heartfelt thanks to my Patrons on Patreon for their support towards my enthusiasm for reading and reviewing!
Special thanks to my highest level Patrons: Ev, Amanda L., Sharon, Andrew, Star, Kate, Gail, Amanda F., Tara, John, Ann, Chad K., Ashley E. & Mel
Want to read
September 17, 2023Added to TBR based 1000% on the cover. Probably should at least read the synopsis now.
June 21, 2024
DNF 5%
2 stars just to not bring the overall rating too low but it was so messy I gave up faster than I've ever given up before. I usually push myself to reach at least 15% of a book before DNFing it but from page 1 to page something it wasn't engaging in any way. you get thrown right in the middle of something with a bunch of characters and history and world building that you have to learn on the spot to understand what is going on. there was no subtle interdiction to characters or to the main plot or even to how the world works in itself, just hey there's a dragon on the roof and for some reason its rider is more important than the mayor but also the dragon speaks? through his rider? and IT wants a girl from 15 years ago dead who's already supposed to be dead but wait that's her in the next pov but she's in the underworld? and she can take control of animals (as in Bran from GOT her body just collapses and she transfers into the animal) but not any animal no no a titan? titan drake? who is fighting giant wyrms? and everyone has ridiculous names bc why not: Anahrod, Overbite (that's the animal she controls' name but it's so annoying to read and it's mentioned everywhere), Gwydinion, Kaibren, Naeron (ngl I dig this one), Ris, Belsaor, Amnead, Tiendremos (sounds like the Spanish verb) etc etc just random fantasy sounding names that grated on my already frail nerves.
I guess it was off to a really bad start and I couldn't climb up from it, sorry it wasn't for me I'd rather give up now that force myself to read all of it and write an even more bitter review bc I used too much hater energy hate-reading it
[arc review, honest opinion]
2 stars just to not bring the overall rating too low but it was so messy I gave up faster than I've ever given up before. I usually push myself to reach at least 15% of a book before DNFing it but from page 1 to page something it wasn't engaging in any way. you get thrown right in the middle of something with a bunch of characters and history and world building that you have to learn on the spot to understand what is going on. there was no subtle interdiction to characters or to the main plot or even to how the world works in itself, just hey there's a dragon on the roof and for some reason its rider is more important than the mayor but also the dragon speaks? through his rider? and IT wants a girl from 15 years ago dead who's already supposed to be dead but wait that's her in the next pov but she's in the underworld? and she can take control of animals (as in Bran from GOT her body just collapses and she transfers into the animal) but not any animal no no a titan? titan drake? who is fighting giant wyrms? and everyone has ridiculous names bc why not: Anahrod, Overbite (that's the animal she controls' name but it's so annoying to read and it's mentioned everywhere), Gwydinion, Kaibren, Naeron (ngl I dig this one), Ris, Belsaor, Amnead, Tiendremos (sounds like the Spanish verb) etc etc just random fantasy sounding names that grated on my already frail nerves.
I guess it was off to a really bad start and I couldn't climb up from it, sorry it wasn't for me I'd rather give up now that force myself to read all of it and write an even more bitter review bc I used too much hater energy hate-reading it
[arc review, honest opinion]
July 9, 2024
This review was originally published on Grimdark Magazine
3.5 stars (rounded up)
After the blazing success of her epic A Chorus of Dragons series, Jenn Lyons is now back with another delightfully queer dragon adventure in The Sky on Fire. Set in a richly imagined world ruled by moody dragon overlords, this brand-new standalone is a flaming fun take on a heist fantasy!
The Sky on Fire opens with one hell of an intriguing prologue which immediately sets the stakes and reassures the reader that: yes, here there do indeed be dragons, and they have dark demands about a certain previously believed dead woman. Enter Anahrod, our wayward protagonist with animal communion skills who has quietly been surviving in the murky jungles of The Deep for the past seventeen years. When a motley crew of morally grey misfits saves her from capture by the local warlord, she realises that the time of running from her past has come to an end. Against her will, she is whisked back to the deceptively lustrous cloud cities and conscripted into their schemes to rob the most powerful dragon’s hoard; a dragon that wants Anahrod dead.
Look, with the ambitiously epic A Chorus of Dragons being one of my all-time favourites, I was nervously excited to see what Lyons could deliver in a contained standalone. And honestly, while this story is not nearly as complex as her previous series, Lyons’ wild imagination and quintessentially quirky storytelling is still on full display in The Sky on Fire.
A divided society ruled by tyrannical dragons with all kinds of unique magical powers, an religion based on humans being thrown out of heaven to serve the dragons, a twisted history written by the victors, and an extremely nuanced and refreshing take on the familiar dragonrider trope which explores consent, co-dependency and power in terrifyingly fascinating ways; how there is so much rich world building packed into such a fast-paced standalone is truly beyond me, but I was gobbling it all up!
Not to mention, Lyons has once again crafted a casually queer-normative world full of beautifully diverse characters who are embraced just the way they are. I especially loved the concept of people expressing their gender, sexuality, and bedroom preferences through wearing different types of rings; we should do ourselves a favour and steal this idea to make dating infinitely easier.
All that said, I personally would not have minded if the pacing had slowed down a bit to let us fully appreciate all these amazing concepts in their full glory. The Sky on Fire zooms along at breakneck speed, and there is truly not a single dull moment to be found. On the one hand, I really liked the utterly addictive ‘just one more chapter’ quality, but on the other hand I found it a bit exhausting that neither the characters nor the reader gets any time to just sit, breathe, reflect, and process for a while.
Don’t get me wrong, I think Lyons has a true knack for creating vibrant, quirky and distinct characters whose clasing identities and motivations make for a very fun dynamic. Yet I also have to admit that I never felt overly invested in any of the characters here, as I barely got any time to get connected to them. Moreover, while I loved the little teases of a beautifully queer poly romance here, I personally think that relationship deserved a lot more development; the feels just weren’t feeling.
Ultimately, the fun factor and highly engaging storytelling made up for some of these quibbles for me, and there’s no denying that Lyons delivered an impressively ambitious standalone story here. True, some of the plot beats and resolutions might have felt a bit overly convoluted or suspiciously convenient, but I think Lyons gets away with it by delivering a story that is just so refreshingly unconventional and inventive in every other way.
If you liked the dragonrider bond in Yarros’ Fourth Wing or Novik’s Temeraire, but also want some heisty action and queer goodness like in M.J. Kuhn’s Thieves duology, then you better try The Sky on Fire. Filled with loveable anti heroes, complicated family drama, brutal beasties, immersive settings, exhilaration action, and a dash of queer love, this fast-paced and action-packed fantasy heist is a smoking hot adventure from start to finish.
Thank you to Tor for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
3.5 stars (rounded up)
After the blazing success of her epic A Chorus of Dragons series, Jenn Lyons is now back with another delightfully queer dragon adventure in The Sky on Fire. Set in a richly imagined world ruled by moody dragon overlords, this brand-new standalone is a flaming fun take on a heist fantasy!
The Sky on Fire opens with one hell of an intriguing prologue which immediately sets the stakes and reassures the reader that: yes, here there do indeed be dragons, and they have dark demands about a certain previously believed dead woman. Enter Anahrod, our wayward protagonist with animal communion skills who has quietly been surviving in the murky jungles of The Deep for the past seventeen years. When a motley crew of morally grey misfits saves her from capture by the local warlord, she realises that the time of running from her past has come to an end. Against her will, she is whisked back to the deceptively lustrous cloud cities and conscripted into their schemes to rob the most powerful dragon’s hoard; a dragon that wants Anahrod dead.
Look, with the ambitiously epic A Chorus of Dragons being one of my all-time favourites, I was nervously excited to see what Lyons could deliver in a contained standalone. And honestly, while this story is not nearly as complex as her previous series, Lyons’ wild imagination and quintessentially quirky storytelling is still on full display in The Sky on Fire.
A divided society ruled by tyrannical dragons with all kinds of unique magical powers, an religion based on humans being thrown out of heaven to serve the dragons, a twisted history written by the victors, and an extremely nuanced and refreshing take on the familiar dragonrider trope which explores consent, co-dependency and power in terrifyingly fascinating ways; how there is so much rich world building packed into such a fast-paced standalone is truly beyond me, but I was gobbling it all up!
Not to mention, Lyons has once again crafted a casually queer-normative world full of beautifully diverse characters who are embraced just the way they are. I especially loved the concept of people expressing their gender, sexuality, and bedroom preferences through wearing different types of rings; we should do ourselves a favour and steal this idea to make dating infinitely easier.
All that said, I personally would not have minded if the pacing had slowed down a bit to let us fully appreciate all these amazing concepts in their full glory. The Sky on Fire zooms along at breakneck speed, and there is truly not a single dull moment to be found. On the one hand, I really liked the utterly addictive ‘just one more chapter’ quality, but on the other hand I found it a bit exhausting that neither the characters nor the reader gets any time to just sit, breathe, reflect, and process for a while.
Don’t get me wrong, I think Lyons has a true knack for creating vibrant, quirky and distinct characters whose clasing identities and motivations make for a very fun dynamic. Yet I also have to admit that I never felt overly invested in any of the characters here, as I barely got any time to get connected to them. Moreover, while I loved the little teases of a beautifully queer poly romance here, I personally think that relationship deserved a lot more development; the feels just weren’t feeling.
Ultimately, the fun factor and highly engaging storytelling made up for some of these quibbles for me, and there’s no denying that Lyons delivered an impressively ambitious standalone story here. True, some of the plot beats and resolutions might have felt a bit overly convoluted or suspiciously convenient, but I think Lyons gets away with it by delivering a story that is just so refreshingly unconventional and inventive in every other way.
If you liked the dragonrider bond in Yarros’ Fourth Wing or Novik’s Temeraire, but also want some heisty action and queer goodness like in M.J. Kuhn’s Thieves duology, then you better try The Sky on Fire. Filled with loveable anti heroes, complicated family drama, brutal beasties, immersive settings, exhilaration action, and a dash of queer love, this fast-paced and action-packed fantasy heist is a smoking hot adventure from start to finish.
Thank you to Tor for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
June 20, 2024
Dragonriders, a band of misfits, a heist, political intrigue, and romance. A fun, twisty time with a diverse cast of characters. I appreciated the high to low world the author created (the Deep jungles to the cloud cities). While I was interested in the plot, I didn’t feel connected to the characters or the romance, making for an uneven read. Still a fun time, 3.5, rounded up.
I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Want to read
December 15, 2023Jenn Lyons???!!! YES PLEASE
May 24, 2024
Oh, the disappointment is real. Everything about this book sounds so incredibly cool, and I've heard only great things about the author's previous work. Also, a fantasy heist story with dragons, what's not to love? I really wanted to enjoy the hell out of this book, but it actively worked against me even just liking it at every single point.
Starting with the things I actually did enjoy: Parts of the world building are great! I love the concept of dragons as the ones ruling humans this time around, and the relationship between them and their riders is so so so interesting and unique. I loved this part. I also liked the general world this story takes place in, the Skylands and the Deep and the people that live there - it was all really intriguing. While the world building can be a little infodumpy at times, I do love that part in fantasy books so this is a major plus. The second thing I really liked was the love triangle actually developing into a polycule, which I didn't expect.
That's also where my problems with the book start, though. A poly relationship is fun, yes, but you actually need fully developed likeable characters to root for in this relationship, you need chemistry between them. The characters on a whole are underdeveloped, with most of them representing about one character trait. The character development feels just as bland and superficial, and the same goes for the relationship building. I wanted found family, I wanted ragtag group of people coming together for a heist and developing cool dynamics. I got random people with sometimes really weird, wattpad fiction type names (Jaemeh.......) that run around with their one personality trait, expecting me to like them based on just that and some tell-don't-show development and tragic past infodumps. I can see the potential there, but that's about it. I didn't care who lived or died, and that includes not only the poly couple as a whole, but the main character even. For a character feared by the very dragon queen, born with powerful magic, capable of controlling animals and maybe even dragons, she sure is bland. I also felt like most of the flirting between her and Ris, one of the love interests, was really cringeworthy at times.
The pacing is also incredibly meandering. I was getting bored by all the endless preperations for a heist that then happened in what felt like five seconds tops. The whole book needs some more editing, cutting out a lot of the unnecessary side noise that doesn't add anything to either the plot or the characters. There are also some sudden pov changes later on in the book which I didn't enjoy.
So yeah, this is me being really disappointed because I was so excited for the cool heist with dragons story, and a standalone one at that. But sadly, this one fell flat on too many levels for me, and I started skim reading more and more at about 20%, hoping until the very end that it would finally get better. For me, it didn't, but I hope others can enjoy this one more.
Many thanks to Pan Macmillan and Netgalley for the arc!
Starting with the things I actually did enjoy: Parts of the world building are great! I love the concept of dragons as the ones ruling humans this time around, and the relationship between them and their riders is so so so interesting and unique. I loved this part. I also liked the general world this story takes place in, the Skylands and the Deep and the people that live there - it was all really intriguing. While the world building can be a little infodumpy at times, I do love that part in fantasy books so this is a major plus. The second thing I really liked was the love triangle actually developing into a polycule, which I didn't expect.
That's also where my problems with the book start, though. A poly relationship is fun, yes, but you actually need fully developed likeable characters to root for in this relationship, you need chemistry between them. The characters on a whole are underdeveloped, with most of them representing about one character trait. The character development feels just as bland and superficial, and the same goes for the relationship building. I wanted found family, I wanted ragtag group of people coming together for a heist and developing cool dynamics. I got random people with sometimes really weird, wattpad fiction type names (Jaemeh.......) that run around with their one personality trait, expecting me to like them based on just that and some tell-don't-show development and tragic past infodumps. I can see the potential there, but that's about it. I didn't care who lived or died, and that includes not only the poly couple as a whole, but the main character even. For a character feared by the very dragon queen, born with powerful magic, capable of controlling animals and maybe even dragons, she sure is bland. I also felt like most of the flirting between her and Ris, one of the love interests, was really cringeworthy at times.
The pacing is also incredibly meandering. I was getting bored by all the endless preperations for a heist that then happened in what felt like five seconds tops. The whole book needs some more editing, cutting out a lot of the unnecessary side noise that doesn't add anything to either the plot or the characters. There are also some sudden pov changes later on in the book which I didn't enjoy.
So yeah, this is me being really disappointed because I was so excited for the cool heist with dragons story, and a standalone one at that. But sadly, this one fell flat on too many levels for me, and I started skim reading more and more at about 20%, hoping until the very end that it would finally get better. For me, it didn't, but I hope others can enjoy this one more.
Many thanks to Pan Macmillan and Netgalley for the arc!
June 12, 2024
This upsets no one more than me. I was so incredibly ready to enjoy this after hearing nothing but fantastic things about the Chorus of Dragons series and Lyons's writing. Nonetheless, here we are with me disappointed.
The book begins with a fantastic scene where a dragonrider confronts the mayor of Crystalspire demanding that a previously believed dead woman is found so she can be killed frfr this time. From there, the pace does not let up, with plot, characters, and worldbuilding hitting you like flies as you drive a motorcycle with only some sticking in your teeth as the rest bounce off. I wish more than anything that this book would breathe! Just a bigggggg inhale, sit with the characters, develop relationships, soak in the mystery, experience the world, and then a biggggg exhale. Instead, so much happens that a lot of the plot hinges on coincidence and quickly delivered exposition to explain how problems were resolved.
As you can probably tell, I'm frustrated with this experience because the concept of dragonriders and the relationships between the dragon and rider had soooo much potential. I loved a lot of the romance that happened in this book and a lot of the characters had brilliant moments that I wish I was more connected to. But I simply didn't have the time with them to develop these stronger emotions. I wish more than anything that this was a trilogy instead of one book. It needed that sooooo badly.
I will definitely be reading Chorus of Dragons despite this experience, but yeah... I hope all pre-existing fans have a much better time than me.
The book begins with a fantastic scene where a dragonrider confronts the mayor of Crystalspire demanding that a previously believed dead woman is found so she can be killed frfr this time. From there, the pace does not let up, with plot, characters, and worldbuilding hitting you like flies as you drive a motorcycle with only some sticking in your teeth as the rest bounce off. I wish more than anything that this book would breathe! Just a bigggggg inhale, sit with the characters, develop relationships, soak in the mystery, experience the world, and then a biggggg exhale. Instead, so much happens that a lot of the plot hinges on coincidence and quickly delivered exposition to explain how problems were resolved.
As you can probably tell, I'm frustrated with this experience because the concept of dragonriders and the relationships between the dragon and rider had soooo much potential. I loved a lot of the romance that happened in this book and a lot of the characters had brilliant moments that I wish I was more connected to. But I simply didn't have the time with them to develop these stronger emotions. I wish more than anything that this was a trilogy instead of one book. It needed that sooooo badly.
I will definitely be reading Chorus of Dragons despite this experience, but yeah... I hope all pre-existing fans have a much better time than me.
June 10, 2024
I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Sky on Fire is a supremely fun book centering around heists, dragons, and magic with fantastic world-building. In a year when books can barely hold my attention, I was immediately hooked on The Sky on Fire and never wanted to put the book down.
For me, the standout of The Sky on Fire was definitely the world-building. The world is divided into high and lows, with the rich and powerful living high up in the mountains, where dragons like to live, and the poor and otherwise undesirable living down on the hellishly hot and lawless jungles of what is called The Deep. The Deep is where people go to disappear and that’s no exception for our protagonist, Anahrod, who hides there from a world filled with dragons who want her dead.
Ever since playing Skyrim for the first time, a game where an evil dragon, Alduin, seeks to take over the world, I have always wondered what it would be like to exist in a world ruled entirely by dragons. What kind of decisions would they make? How would they view humans? What would their ruling system or class divisions look like? The Sky on Fire gives an incredibly intriguing version of that world. In this world, humans are considered lesser than dragons, largely in part due to religious reasons, and humans with magic potential are forced to attempt to become a dragonrider in a pact that usually looks a lot like lifelong enslavement for the human.
I really enjoyed this more nuanced portrayal of dragons, which I fear are usually depicted as wise and benevolent or malicious and greedy with no in between. The Sky on Fire imagines a world where dragons have different breaths, religions, and attitudes on humans. It was nice to see dragons depicted as actual characters over mythological beings that merely offer human characters something. I especially loved that each dragon has his or her own designated item that they—and they alone—can hoard. That’s the kind of unique quirk that I love about Jenn Lyons’s works. It also adds another interesting challenge to the already daunting premise of stealing from a dragon’s hoard.
Even with all of the layered world-building, The Sky on Fire is definitely a plot driven book. As someone who typically lives and breathes for character development, you’d think I would consider that a negative, but I was so enthralled by the world and the fast paced events that I wasn’t bothered by the characters not being the most developed. Characters have one or two defining traits, mostly from much-loved archetypes, and there’s just not a whole lot of actual depth to go around. The idea of all of these characters are great, but their execution is not—simply too much of the writing relies on the reader recognizing these familiar types of character and knowing what that trope typically entails to know the idea of the character.
Even though the character building in The Sky on Fire as a whole is not ideal, I really enjoyed seeing multiple female characters at the forefront of a heist novel. So often books featuring heists are always run by men, with maybe one female character involved as a love interest or as a side character who is clearly not a love interest and has a quirky ability, like hacking. This is not at all the case in The Sky on Fire, which features three female characters involved in the planning and carrying out of the heist itself, and the ultimate final say on the plan goes to a female character.
Despite my joy at having all of these female characters wearing the pants of this operation, I felt like I had whiplash from a lot of, “but actually” moments concerning the plot and the heist itself. There were constant surprises, quick changes, and last minute discoveries, which kept things incredibly exciting. However, the characters were always able to pivot in order to meet new challenges with little to no panic, no matter how dire the situation. Their reactions and ability to meet any possible catastrophic situation or knowledge bombs being dropped felt quite unbelievable to me.
I also struggled to get on board with the romance of the novel. Anahrod has insta-lust for the sexy female dragonrider, Ris, but still has a thing for her ex, self-proclaimed king Sicaryon. As someone who really love a slow burn romance and the build up of characters realizing and later acting on their feelings, I was disappointed with how the romance played out. Instead of Anharod picking between the two characters, these three characters are all coincidentally mutually attracted to one another and have no problems sharing one another with each other, without so much as having even one single serious conversation about pesky things like feelings, expectations, or boundaries. While it’s nice to not always have to read a love triangle and the jealousy and other complications that come with it, I honestly think this novel could have benefited from some of the tension and conflict that results from a love triangle.
The romantic relationship between the three characters just felt way too random and easy, even if the author threw in what felt like obviously contrived moments of Anahrod telling herself that she shouldn’t get involved with either Sicaryon or Ris. And with all of the characters rather underdeveloped, I was rather indifferent to who ended up with whom and the constant “will-they-won’t-they,” when it was very obvious that they were all going to act on their urges. It just didn’t work as well for me as the throuple relationship between Khirin, Janel and Tareath in Lyon’s other series, A Chorus of Dragons. This could be because there just isn’t as much time in a standalone novel compared to a series to do the same amount of setup to make this type of relationship feel natural.
Regardless of the parts of the novel that didn’t work as well for me, such as the character building and romance, I really enjoyed The Sky on Firee due to its unique portrayal of dragons, interesting world-building, and fast-paced story with lots of surprises. I would wholeheartedly recommend The Sky on Fire to people who are looking for a more light-hearted and fun fantasy read that doesn’t take itself too seriously. I think fans of Rachel Aaron’s The Legend of Eli Monpress and James Logan’s The Silverblood Promise would enjoy this novel as well.
The Sky on Fire is a supremely fun book centering around heists, dragons, and magic with fantastic world-building. In a year when books can barely hold my attention, I was immediately hooked on The Sky on Fire and never wanted to put the book down.
For me, the standout of The Sky on Fire was definitely the world-building. The world is divided into high and lows, with the rich and powerful living high up in the mountains, where dragons like to live, and the poor and otherwise undesirable living down on the hellishly hot and lawless jungles of what is called The Deep. The Deep is where people go to disappear and that’s no exception for our protagonist, Anahrod, who hides there from a world filled with dragons who want her dead.
Ever since playing Skyrim for the first time, a game where an evil dragon, Alduin, seeks to take over the world, I have always wondered what it would be like to exist in a world ruled entirely by dragons. What kind of decisions would they make? How would they view humans? What would their ruling system or class divisions look like? The Sky on Fire gives an incredibly intriguing version of that world. In this world, humans are considered lesser than dragons, largely in part due to religious reasons, and humans with magic potential are forced to attempt to become a dragonrider in a pact that usually looks a lot like lifelong enslavement for the human.
“To become a dragonrider was to be all but a slave, perpetually locked in obedience to a single master, from whom one could never be parted. Not in the human’s lifetime, anyway.”
I really enjoyed this more nuanced portrayal of dragons, which I fear are usually depicted as wise and benevolent or malicious and greedy with no in between. The Sky on Fire imagines a world where dragons have different breaths, religions, and attitudes on humans. It was nice to see dragons depicted as actual characters over mythological beings that merely offer human characters something. I especially loved that each dragon has his or her own designated item that they—and they alone—can hoard. That’s the kind of unique quirk that I love about Jenn Lyons’s works. It also adds another interesting challenge to the already daunting premise of stealing from a dragon’s hoard.
Even with all of the layered world-building, The Sky on Fire is definitely a plot driven book. As someone who typically lives and breathes for character development, you’d think I would consider that a negative, but I was so enthralled by the world and the fast paced events that I wasn’t bothered by the characters not being the most developed. Characters have one or two defining traits, mostly from much-loved archetypes, and there’s just not a whole lot of actual depth to go around. The idea of all of these characters are great, but their execution is not—simply too much of the writing relies on the reader recognizing these familiar types of character and knowing what that trope typically entails to know the idea of the character.
Even though the character building in The Sky on Fire as a whole is not ideal, I really enjoyed seeing multiple female characters at the forefront of a heist novel. So often books featuring heists are always run by men, with maybe one female character involved as a love interest or as a side character who is clearly not a love interest and has a quirky ability, like hacking. This is not at all the case in The Sky on Fire, which features three female characters involved in the planning and carrying out of the heist itself, and the ultimate final say on the plan goes to a female character.
Despite my joy at having all of these female characters wearing the pants of this operation, I felt like I had whiplash from a lot of, “but actually” moments concerning the plot and the heist itself. There were constant surprises, quick changes, and last minute discoveries, which kept things incredibly exciting. However, the characters were always able to pivot in order to meet new challenges with little to no panic, no matter how dire the situation. Their reactions and ability to meet any possible catastrophic situation or knowledge bombs being dropped felt quite unbelievable to me.
I also struggled to get on board with the romance of the novel. Anahrod has insta-lust for the sexy female dragonrider, Ris, but still has a thing for her ex, self-proclaimed king Sicaryon. As someone who really love a slow burn romance and the build up of characters realizing and later acting on their feelings, I was disappointed with how the romance played out. Instead of Anharod picking between the two characters, these three characters are all coincidentally mutually attracted to one another and have no problems sharing one another with each other, without so much as having even one single serious conversation about pesky things like feelings, expectations, or boundaries. While it’s nice to not always have to read a love triangle and the jealousy and other complications that come with it, I honestly think this novel could have benefited from some of the tension and conflict that results from a love triangle.
“She groaned and rubbed a finger into her eye. Why make a single bad decision, she supposed, when could make two at the same time. Much more efficient. Ris and Sicaryon both. Why not?”
The romantic relationship between the three characters just felt way too random and easy, even if the author threw in what felt like obviously contrived moments of Anahrod telling herself that she shouldn’t get involved with either Sicaryon or Ris. And with all of the characters rather underdeveloped, I was rather indifferent to who ended up with whom and the constant “will-they-won’t-they,” when it was very obvious that they were all going to act on their urges. It just didn’t work as well for me as the throuple relationship between Khirin, Janel and Tareath in Lyon’s other series, A Chorus of Dragons. This could be because there just isn’t as much time in a standalone novel compared to a series to do the same amount of setup to make this type of relationship feel natural.
Regardless of the parts of the novel that didn’t work as well for me, such as the character building and romance, I really enjoyed The Sky on Firee due to its unique portrayal of dragons, interesting world-building, and fast-paced story with lots of surprises. I would wholeheartedly recommend The Sky on Fire to people who are looking for a more light-hearted and fun fantasy read that doesn’t take itself too seriously. I think fans of Rachel Aaron’s The Legend of Eli Monpress and James Logan’s The Silverblood Promise would enjoy this novel as well.
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August 1, 2024
I was pleasantly surprised by this book! Dragons plus heists?! What more can a girl want?
The world building in this book was amazing! So many (literal) layers with floating cities and the deep dark surface level jungle. The complexity of the dragons was also a major plus. Usually dragons are either good or evil in books, the villains or the hero’s. This was a great mixture of both, some dragons were religious, other not, all had different affinity’s and personalities
The plot was very fast paced, constantly moving. The only part I found lacking is that they overcame the challenges along the way and bit to easily… also the character development wasn’t the best
Overall I enjoyed it though, something different with an epic heist 🔮
The world building in this book was amazing! So many (literal) layers with floating cities and the deep dark surface level jungle. The complexity of the dragons was also a major plus. Usually dragons are either good or evil in books, the villains or the hero’s. This was a great mixture of both, some dragons were religious, other not, all had different affinity’s and personalities
The plot was very fast paced, constantly moving. The only part I found lacking is that they overcame the challenges along the way and bit to easily… also the character development wasn’t the best
Overall I enjoyed it though, something different with an epic heist 🔮
May 26, 2024
Rating: Absolutely Loved It, 5 stars
Jenn Lyons is back with her first novel after wrapping up A Chorus of Dragons, and she knocked it out of the park! The Sky on Fire is a standalone that follows Anahrod, a woman who lives in the jungles of the Deep after being cast out of the cloud cities ruled by dragons on the mountain peaks high above. She is just trying to mind her own business and live her life when she endures multiple rescues and subsequent kidnappings in a row and is drafted for a daring heist to steal the hoard of the current dragon ruler.
Some of what I loved about this book:
- The characters. I think that Jenn Lyons does a fantastic job of writing characters. When I feel like I know the characters well enough to anticipate their reactions to certain events that will happen, I know that they feel real. I think that Lyons' characters are so well crafted. The whole cast of characters is endearing and I loved all the character interactions that took place. The banter and back and forth discussions, even with side characters is top-notch. Anahrod is such an endearing, chaotic, disaster, and those are my favorite kinds of characters. I also loved Sicaryon, Peralon, Gwyndion, and Claw so much. I feel like even though this was a relatively short period of time that we spent with the characters, they felt authentic and fully fleshed out.
- The world: Jenn Lyons creates some of my favorite worlds. This is no exception. It felt so creative and fully formed. I felt like it was a place that I could actually visit and wander around - it felt like it extended beyond the story. I was fascinated with not only the different settings, but also the general set-up, the culture, and the magic. The dragons are the absolute power in this world, but they are forced to take on humans as riders to keep them from going rampant, a sort of maddened state brought about by magic usage, the only cure for which is death. In general they treat humans pretty terribly and ensure that they remain subjugated, but I loved Peralon's relationship with his rider and his general perspective on the world. The magic was interesting and there is sorcery, inscription, the ability to talk to animals, and the dragon's different affinities. The world building is just so rich and immersive.
- The inclusivity: this is a queer-norm world with a really cool system of identifying so many different things through the rings that one wears. This includes preferred pronouns, gender, sexual preferences, career, and so many other things. There was not much explanation for these rings and it was explained as we went, but I am hopeful that the finished copy may have some appendixes that explain them more fully because I found them fascinating. I also appreciated some of the discourse around the peoples of the Deep compared to the peoples of the sky cities and the pushback on the concept of "savages." There was also disability representation that I really appreciated - one of the characters is a double amputee in a wheelchair. He doesn't get a ton of page time, but I felt the way that he was portrayed was pretty well done and it was just a portion of his character, not his defining, sole characteristic.
- The plot: I am a hard sell on heist stories, but when they are more about the characters than the heist, I can get on board. I had such a great time with the plot. It is just such a fun adventure. I just had a blast being along for the ride. I loved the humor that we get, and just the general absurdity of some of the situations. This book made me chuckle numerous times whether it was character interactions, internal dialogue, or just goofy situations in general. Also, I feel like this did a fantastic job of wrapping up the loose ends of the story into a standalone book. The epilogue leaves a door open for a return, but I felt like the story this book was telling wrapped up nicely.
Overall, I definitely think that fans of A Chorus of Dragons will love this book! It has so many of the things I came to love so intensely about that series. I also think that this is a really good entry point to Lyons' works - the storytelling is much more standard and straightforward, and it's a standalone. I highly recommend this book, and it is definitely a favorite of the year so far!
The Sky on Fire releases on July 9, 2024. Thank you to Tor and Netgalley for an early copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Jenn Lyons is back with her first novel after wrapping up A Chorus of Dragons, and she knocked it out of the park! The Sky on Fire is a standalone that follows Anahrod, a woman who lives in the jungles of the Deep after being cast out of the cloud cities ruled by dragons on the mountain peaks high above. She is just trying to mind her own business and live her life when she endures multiple rescues and subsequent kidnappings in a row and is drafted for a daring heist to steal the hoard of the current dragon ruler.
Some of what I loved about this book:
- The characters. I think that Jenn Lyons does a fantastic job of writing characters. When I feel like I know the characters well enough to anticipate their reactions to certain events that will happen, I know that they feel real. I think that Lyons' characters are so well crafted. The whole cast of characters is endearing and I loved all the character interactions that took place. The banter and back and forth discussions, even with side characters is top-notch. Anahrod is such an endearing, chaotic, disaster, and those are my favorite kinds of characters. I also loved Sicaryon, Peralon, Gwyndion, and Claw so much. I feel like even though this was a relatively short period of time that we spent with the characters, they felt authentic and fully fleshed out.
- The world: Jenn Lyons creates some of my favorite worlds. This is no exception. It felt so creative and fully formed. I felt like it was a place that I could actually visit and wander around - it felt like it extended beyond the story. I was fascinated with not only the different settings, but also the general set-up, the culture, and the magic. The dragons are the absolute power in this world, but they are forced to take on humans as riders to keep them from going rampant, a sort of maddened state brought about by magic usage, the only cure for which is death. In general they treat humans pretty terribly and ensure that they remain subjugated, but I loved Peralon's relationship with his rider and his general perspective on the world. The magic was interesting and there is sorcery, inscription, the ability to talk to animals, and the dragon's different affinities. The world building is just so rich and immersive.
- The inclusivity: this is a queer-norm world with a really cool system of identifying so many different things through the rings that one wears. This includes preferred pronouns, gender, sexual preferences, career, and so many other things. There was not much explanation for these rings and it was explained as we went, but I am hopeful that the finished copy may have some appendixes that explain them more fully because I found them fascinating. I also appreciated some of the discourse around the peoples of the Deep compared to the peoples of the sky cities and the pushback on the concept of "savages." There was also disability representation that I really appreciated - one of the characters is a double amputee in a wheelchair. He doesn't get a ton of page time, but I felt the way that he was portrayed was pretty well done and it was just a portion of his character, not his defining, sole characteristic.
- The plot: I am a hard sell on heist stories, but when they are more about the characters than the heist, I can get on board. I had such a great time with the plot. It is just such a fun adventure. I just had a blast being along for the ride. I loved the humor that we get, and just the general absurdity of some of the situations. This book made me chuckle numerous times whether it was character interactions, internal dialogue, or just goofy situations in general. Also, I feel like this did a fantastic job of wrapping up the loose ends of the story into a standalone book. The epilogue leaves a door open for a return, but I felt like the story this book was telling wrapped up nicely.
Overall, I definitely think that fans of A Chorus of Dragons will love this book! It has so many of the things I came to love so intensely about that series. I also think that this is a really good entry point to Lyons' works - the storytelling is much more standard and straightforward, and it's a standalone. I highly recommend this book, and it is definitely a favorite of the year so far!
The Sky on Fire releases on July 9, 2024. Thank you to Tor and Netgalley for an early copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
April 5, 2024
generally liked this but i felt like the character arcs were underdeveloped (especially considering how long this book is) and ultimately unsatisfying
(thank you to Tor for the eARC!)
(thank you to Tor for the eARC!)
June 6, 2024
Overall thoughts:
I thought this was a fun and engaging story. I loved the main character, she felt strong and independent. Also, I enjoyed that Anahrod was not a 16 year old chosen one. She her fellow characters felt quite real throughout the story, though I did have some hangups further into the story. I loved the plot and the idea of a heist/overthrowing an evil empire but I don't know that I ever felt the severity or how high the stakes were within the story. Oh, I loved the world building and how the dragon society used scales as money, the religion being based upon a goddess creating dragons, humans being kicked out of heaven to serve the dragons etc. OH! And the garden rings to declare preferences, identities, and status. Brilliant.
That all said, I will definitely keep an eye on Jenn Lyons and check out all their other books because I loved the descriptions and how detailed the dragons were here. I want to know more about all the dragon books!
Rating the book:
1..Characters? Nope. Everything just kind of fell together if that makes sense. I didn't really see the main character, Anahrod, has some pretty intense preferences at the beginning but they seem to just fall away instead of her making a conscious choice. 0
2. World-building/setting? Check. Loved the world! The socieity living and serving with the dragons were within the mountains at serious elevation. While those that lived at sea level, were in an inhospitable and quite dangerous jungle. Also, the garden rings that people decide on as they grow was brilliant. I want my own lmao. 1
3. Plot? Loved it. 1
4. Originality? - CHECK - loved this new way to visualize the dragon/dragon-rider bond. And how a society would look if it was beholden to dragons. 1
5. Writing? I thought the writing was good, I had no issues with the words pulling me out of the story. 1
6. Pacing? I finished the book in a couple days, the pacing kept me wanting to know what would happen next. 1
7. Themes? Idk, it felt like there was an attempt to address the serious gulf between the power of dragons and humans, and the humans upholding that gulf. For me it ended up feeling quite surface level. 0
8. DID I CRY/WILL IT STICK - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯? I did not cry and I honestly don't think this one will stick with me, it just felt too surface level. BUT the world building and new take on dragon/dragon riders will. 0
9. Enjoyment? check - This book was fun, and it kept me engaged throughout the story. 1
10. THE end. It felt kinda flat for me? idk. It was an ending but it just felt kinda blah. .5?
6.5/10 = 3.25/5 but I'm the boss so I'm rounding up to 4
(I borrowed Elyse Meyers' breakdown because it's too good)
Also, thank you to Tor and NetGalley for providing me with an early copy of the book and the chance to leave an honest, voluntary review.
I thought this was a fun and engaging story. I loved the main character, she felt strong and independent. Also, I enjoyed that Anahrod was not a 16 year old chosen one. She her fellow characters felt quite real throughout the story, though I did have some hangups further into the story. I loved the plot and the idea of a heist/overthrowing an evil empire but I don't know that I ever felt the severity or how high the stakes were within the story. Oh, I loved the world building and how the dragon society used scales as money, the religion being based upon a goddess creating dragons, humans being kicked out of heaven to serve the dragons etc. OH! And the garden rings to declare preferences, identities, and status. Brilliant.
That all said, I will definitely keep an eye on Jenn Lyons and check out all their other books because I loved the descriptions and how detailed the dragons were here. I want to know more about all the dragon books!
Rating the book:
1..Characters? Nope. Everything just kind of fell together if that makes sense. I didn't really see the main character, Anahrod, has some pretty intense preferences at the beginning but they seem to just fall away instead of her making a conscious choice. 0
2. World-building/setting? Check. Loved the world! The socieity living and serving with the dragons were within the mountains at serious elevation. While those that lived at sea level, were in an inhospitable and quite dangerous jungle. Also, the garden rings that people decide on as they grow was brilliant. I want my own lmao. 1
3. Plot? Loved it. 1
4. Originality? - CHECK - loved this new way to visualize the dragon/dragon-rider bond. And how a society would look if it was beholden to dragons. 1
5. Writing? I thought the writing was good, I had no issues with the words pulling me out of the story. 1
6. Pacing? I finished the book in a couple days, the pacing kept me wanting to know what would happen next. 1
7. Themes? Idk, it felt like there was an attempt to address the serious gulf between the power of dragons and humans, and the humans upholding that gulf. For me it ended up feeling quite surface level. 0
8. DID I CRY/WILL IT STICK - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯? I did not cry and I honestly don't think this one will stick with me, it just felt too surface level. BUT the world building and new take on dragon/dragon riders will. 0
9. Enjoyment? check - This book was fun, and it kept me engaged throughout the story. 1
10. THE end. It felt kinda flat for me? idk. It was an ending but it just felt kinda blah. .5?
6.5/10 = 3.25/5 but I'm the boss so I'm rounding up to 4
(I borrowed Elyse Meyers' breakdown because it's too good)
Also, thank you to Tor and NetGalley for providing me with an early copy of the book and the chance to leave an honest, voluntary review.
August 5, 2024
It's like a dagger to the chest everytime a dragon-focused story dissapoints me.
Anahrod, in the Deep jungles with her titan drake, is reluctantly rescued from a warlord by an adventuring party. Instead of returning to the Deep, she is dragged into a scheme to steal from the dragon regent of the cloud cities, Neveranimas, who has a deadly vendetta against her. Caught between her desire for freedom and the looming threat of the dragon’s wrath, Anahrod faces a daunting challenge.
The author did an incredible job building a unique world. From the landscape and creatures to the magic system and daily life, Lyon explained everything naturally without info-dumps. The concept of humans serving dragons? Perfectly executed. Every aspect of world-building was flawlessly handled.
I’m usually a fan of misfit groups, but I struggled to connect with the characters here. They felt shallow, and I found it hard to discern their motivations. The limited information we receive about them is conveyed through surface-level dialogue and planning, lacking depth and nuance. Anahrod could have been a great female lead. She had the backstory to create rage and intense emotional conflict, but the author spent more time focusing on the shallow parts of her journey. As for the rest of the characters, I don't feel one way or the other, since none of them are particularly interesting to read about.
The pacing was abysmal. I love a steady paced plot balanced by character development and context. While the prologue suggested a fast-paced, action-filled adventure, by 20% into the book, I was forcing myself to keep reading. What began as a compelling read soon became a chore. It’s a shame, as I love heist and quest novels.
Overall, it’s unfortunate this book didn’t work for me. However, if you prioritize world-building over character development, and are willing to slog through the middle, this might be worth your time. Also, this is a standalone, so no need to be too dissapointed if it doesn't work for you!
Thank you, NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group, for the advance copy. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
Anahrod, in the Deep jungles with her titan drake, is reluctantly rescued from a warlord by an adventuring party. Instead of returning to the Deep, she is dragged into a scheme to steal from the dragon regent of the cloud cities, Neveranimas, who has a deadly vendetta against her. Caught between her desire for freedom and the looming threat of the dragon’s wrath, Anahrod faces a daunting challenge.
The author did an incredible job building a unique world. From the landscape and creatures to the magic system and daily life, Lyon explained everything naturally without info-dumps. The concept of humans serving dragons? Perfectly executed. Every aspect of world-building was flawlessly handled.
I’m usually a fan of misfit groups, but I struggled to connect with the characters here. They felt shallow, and I found it hard to discern their motivations. The limited information we receive about them is conveyed through surface-level dialogue and planning, lacking depth and nuance. Anahrod could have been a great female lead. She had the backstory to create rage and intense emotional conflict, but the author spent more time focusing on the shallow parts of her journey. As for the rest of the characters, I don't feel one way or the other, since none of them are particularly interesting to read about.
The pacing was abysmal. I love a steady paced plot balanced by character development and context. While the prologue suggested a fast-paced, action-filled adventure, by 20% into the book, I was forcing myself to keep reading. What began as a compelling read soon became a chore. It’s a shame, as I love heist and quest novels.
Overall, it’s unfortunate this book didn’t work for me. However, if you prioritize world-building over character development, and are willing to slog through the middle, this might be worth your time. Also, this is a standalone, so no need to be too dissapointed if it doesn't work for you!
Thank you, NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group, for the advance copy. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
July 26, 2024
Thank you to Tor and NetGalley for the early readers copy of The Sky on Fire.
Wow! I was excited to read this and it did not disappoint. I thought Lyons executed this story wonderfully. A ragtag crew attempting a heist, and from dragons; sign me up!
This is a very approachable and easily digestible slice of fantasy. I haven’t read Lyons other series, but I can tell you that after reading this, I fully intend to move it up my TBR.
I really enjoyed the pacing in this story; Lyons successfully builds a world that feels fleshed out, yet still has room for expansion in future installments. I enjoyed the political machinations and the lore. I actually found that to be what I was looking most forward to learning more about. I typically prefer a very character driven book, so the one area that I wish I felt a bit more connected is with the characters. Jen sets them up well enough that she can easily build that deeper connection in future books if she chooses. However, I was so interested in the plot and how the heist and the aftermath would play out that it didn’t bother me. Each of the main characters is layered enough to peak my interest, draw a little connection, and has me looking forward to finding out more about them in the upcoming rest of the series. I would totally binge book 2 right now if it were available!
Edit to say: I know this is supposed to be a standalone, and no other books have been announced. However, the ending makes me think that there will be.
Wow! I was excited to read this and it did not disappoint. I thought Lyons executed this story wonderfully. A ragtag crew attempting a heist, and from dragons; sign me up!
This is a very approachable and easily digestible slice of fantasy. I haven’t read Lyons other series, but I can tell you that after reading this, I fully intend to move it up my TBR.
I really enjoyed the pacing in this story; Lyons successfully builds a world that feels fleshed out, yet still has room for expansion in future installments. I enjoyed the political machinations and the lore. I actually found that to be what I was looking most forward to learning more about. I typically prefer a very character driven book, so the one area that I wish I felt a bit more connected is with the characters. Jen sets them up well enough that she can easily build that deeper connection in future books if she chooses. However, I was so interested in the plot and how the heist and the aftermath would play out that it didn’t bother me. Each of the main characters is layered enough to peak my interest, draw a little connection, and has me looking forward to finding out more about them in the upcoming rest of the series. I would totally binge book 2 right now if it were available!
Edit to say: I know this is supposed to be a standalone, and no other books have been announced. However, the ending makes me think that there will be.
April 12, 2024
This is a standalone fantasy set in a world full of dragons and dragonriders. I was entertained by Anahrod and everyone involved in the heist. The worldbuilding was quite rich, and I enjoyed learning more about the bonds between dragons and dragonriders, as well as Anahrod's own abilities.
The beginning was slow and took some time to really pick up (for me, that was at the 20% mark). The author's writing style leans more descriptive, which isn't a bad thing, but made the book feel longer than it really was. The majority of the plot revolved around planning for a heist, which lead to a lot less action than I expected, until the very end. I enjoyed all the plot twists, but found the resolution for Neveranimas anticlimactic and unbelievable. Possibly as a result of the large cast of characters, there were some I didn't care about even when they died.
Overall, I did enjoy reading this, but found it a bit lacking in terms of action and pacing. I would recommend for fans of dragons, dragonriders, and heists!
[ARC provided by the publisher for review]
The beginning was slow and took some time to really pick up (for me, that was at the 20% mark). The author's writing style leans more descriptive, which isn't a bad thing, but made the book feel longer than it really was. The majority of the plot revolved around planning for a heist, which lead to a lot less action than I expected, until the very end. I enjoyed all the plot twists, but found the resolution for Neveranimas anticlimactic and unbelievable. Possibly as a result of the large cast of characters, there were some I didn't care about even when they died.
Overall, I did enjoy reading this, but found it a bit lacking in terms of action and pacing. I would recommend for fans of dragons, dragonriders, and heists!
[ARC provided by the publisher for review]
July 9, 2024
I was so excited for this book and I’m bummed to say, it wasn’t for me. I read about 60% fully intending to read it all but had to DNF it at that point. The premise sounded so good and parts of it were executed well but it just wasn’t enough for me at the end of the day. It was such an interesting fantasy world but I also felt the world building was lacking. The characters were all one note to me. Everything was moving so fast, jumping from one place to the next, that I never felt connected to the characters or attached to any of them. It could have been a great found family story but relationships were not developed enough and like I said, the characterization was not good. The plot really began to meander and some plot points were just plain dropped without being referenced again. At the 60% mark I realized that it was becoming a slog to read and I just didn’t care what happened anymore. I wish the entire story had been developed a bit more and I wish I could have loved this book. Your mileage my vary.
July 24, 2024
I really wanted to love this book because on paper it has everything I should love in a book. Dragons + heist? Yes, please. Unfortunately, it fell a little flat. It's not so flat that it's a bad book but flat enough to disappoint me.
First thing. I didn't love the main character, Anahrod, and I almost felt like the wrong character was picked to be the main. The biggest problem with her is that she has no agency. She doesn't really want to be a part of the heist, she doesn't plan any part of the heist and honestly the beginning of the book is just her being continuously kidnapped as almost a way to teleport her around and keep her useful and involved because she's the MC. It's not quite as bad as that, but it is also as bad as that.
I love Cary. He's a hilarious cocky man with seemingly a heart of gold. The perfect type. But he's just hilarious. He's got great comedic timing and also a nose to sniff out the lies among the group. Idk. I just loved his character, and the book immediately picked up when he became a part of it.
The rest of the side characters are fine, but I never really bonded with any of them. We never get to see much in the way of motivations or deeper personalities or those really good found family interactions. They're sort of glossed over, unfortunately, which means I'm not as invested as I wanted to be, especially in a book about a heist crew.
What worldbuilding we are given is good although I wouldn't have minded more detail. Dragons basically rule the world because ya know they're dragons. Might is power. There are two sorts of humans: Skylanders and Deepers. Skylanders more or less live in the civilized world, and Deepers scrape to get back in the jungles of the Deep. Clever, right? 😉 The downside to the privilege of being a Skylander is that dragons are much more likely to be in your business. Some Skylanders are even chosen to go to a dragon riding school because it turns out dragons do need humans and can't just blast them all off the face of the world. Dragons are susceptible to going mad from magic, and having a human dragon rider can help them combat this. Unfortunately for the humans, they're basically treated as slaves for their counterparts.
The book is well written. Some really great moments and well written action. The plot is super intriguing, but unfortunately, the pacing of the plot is another downside. The book starts out fairly fast-paced and then quickly suffers. I don't expect a book to always be at a break neck pace, but I hadn't bonded with the characters enough to care when it slowed down. It does pick up again, and I got really invested in the book. Like thinking, ok, here's where it gets amazing, but unfortunately, then we keep picking up speed and go Mach 9 till the end and just gleefully skip over so much interesting worldbuilding with info dumps to just get to the end. I seriously think this book needed to be at least a duology because that ending still has my head spinning. So. Much. Happens. And we're darting around to different characters, and I just couldn't keep up. I honestly think this book would be so much better for a traditional fantasy trilogy setup with multi povs and time to establish relationships and more worldbuilding.
Also, this book is... oddly sexual in a way to make a gender/sexuality inclusive world, which I appreciated, but it did it in a way that the nods to sex and romance are just... uncomfortable and fake. There's some really weird instalove/lust that just served no purpose at all and felt really distracting. There's a fade to black threesome, random explicit bdsm flirting, and that's not even getting to the idea of wearing rings to tell people your sexual preferences down to kinks. That's right. You basically wear a ring to tell the world you're a bdsm submissive. It's just... odd and not really necessary because in the grand scheme of things, none of it mattered. The relationships have no real bearing on anything. This definitely isn't a romantasy, and the ending for the lovers just felt like... cool, we both survived. If you're not going to invest time into emotions, don't have people fall in love.
So, to make a long story short while I loved the plot and idea of this book, it fell flat on execution to me with characters and pacing. It's not a book I wouldn't recommend to people as obviously some people might vibe harder with the characters than I did but it's not one I'm going to be rushing to the streets to tell everyone to read. I wish it wasn't a standalone because I do think there's a really good book in here. It just needed more time to simmer.
For me/star raters: I'm rounding up to get this to 4 stars. It's probably mostly a 3 star book with some 5 star moments. The writing and Cary go hard enough to get it balanced out to 4.
First thing. I didn't love the main character, Anahrod, and I almost felt like the wrong character was picked to be the main. The biggest problem with her is that she has no agency. She doesn't really want to be a part of the heist, she doesn't plan any part of the heist and honestly the beginning of the book is just her being continuously kidnapped as almost a way to teleport her around and keep her useful and involved because she's the MC. It's not quite as bad as that, but it is also as bad as that.
I love Cary. He's a hilarious cocky man with seemingly a heart of gold. The perfect type. But he's just hilarious. He's got great comedic timing and also a nose to sniff out the lies among the group. Idk. I just loved his character, and the book immediately picked up when he became a part of it.
The rest of the side characters are fine, but I never really bonded with any of them. We never get to see much in the way of motivations or deeper personalities or those really good found family interactions. They're sort of glossed over, unfortunately, which means I'm not as invested as I wanted to be, especially in a book about a heist crew.
What worldbuilding we are given is good although I wouldn't have minded more detail. Dragons basically rule the world because ya know they're dragons. Might is power. There are two sorts of humans: Skylanders and Deepers. Skylanders more or less live in the civilized world, and Deepers scrape to get back in the jungles of the Deep. Clever, right? 😉 The downside to the privilege of being a Skylander is that dragons are much more likely to be in your business. Some Skylanders are even chosen to go to a dragon riding school because it turns out dragons do need humans and can't just blast them all off the face of the world. Dragons are susceptible to going mad from magic, and having a human dragon rider can help them combat this. Unfortunately for the humans, they're basically treated as slaves for their counterparts.
The book is well written. Some really great moments and well written action. The plot is super intriguing, but unfortunately, the pacing of the plot is another downside. The book starts out fairly fast-paced and then quickly suffers. I don't expect a book to always be at a break neck pace, but I hadn't bonded with the characters enough to care when it slowed down. It does pick up again, and I got really invested in the book. Like thinking, ok, here's where it gets amazing, but unfortunately, then we keep picking up speed and go Mach 9 till the end and just gleefully skip over so much interesting worldbuilding with info dumps to just get to the end. I seriously think this book needed to be at least a duology because that ending still has my head spinning. So. Much. Happens. And we're darting around to different characters, and I just couldn't keep up. I honestly think this book would be so much better for a traditional fantasy trilogy setup with multi povs and time to establish relationships and more worldbuilding.
Also, this book is... oddly sexual in a way to make a gender/sexuality inclusive world, which I appreciated, but it did it in a way that the nods to sex and romance are just... uncomfortable and fake. There's some really weird instalove/lust that just served no purpose at all and felt really distracting. There's a fade to black threesome, random explicit bdsm flirting, and that's not even getting to the idea of wearing rings to tell people your sexual preferences down to kinks. That's right. You basically wear a ring to tell the world you're a bdsm submissive. It's just... odd and not really necessary because in the grand scheme of things, none of it mattered. The relationships have no real bearing on anything. This definitely isn't a romantasy, and the ending for the lovers just felt like... cool, we both survived. If you're not going to invest time into emotions, don't have people fall in love.
So, to make a long story short while I loved the plot and idea of this book, it fell flat on execution to me with characters and pacing. It's not a book I wouldn't recommend to people as obviously some people might vibe harder with the characters than I did but it's not one I'm going to be rushing to the streets to tell everyone to read. I wish it wasn't a standalone because I do think there's a really good book in here. It just needed more time to simmer.
For me/star raters: I'm rounding up to get this to 4 stars. It's probably mostly a 3 star book with some 5 star moments. The writing and Cary go hard enough to get it balanced out to 4.
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