Review: The Fires of Vengeance

The Fires of Vengeance by Evan Winter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

You'll Choose Wrath: The conclusion of our Two-Part Evan Winter double feature

**Disclaimer 1: This review contains minor spoilers for The Fires of Vengeance. Read at your own risk. **

**Disclaimer 2: After discovering what I believed to be a continuity error, I contacted Evan Winter to discuss it and was informed that when The Rage of Dragons was republished with Orbit he went back and made several changes. This disclaimer is to let everyone be aware of the changes between the two editions and I'll touch on that more later on**

"The things worth fighting for die in darkness if we'll only defend them in the sun."

The Burning series book two. We have come so far on this adventure through this world that Evan Winter has created for us. I just put the book down maybe ten minutes ago, grabbed all of my notes because I took many, and I'm still there in Uhmlaba.

I'll start by saying structure-wise, there is no prologue or epilogue. This was important to me with the first book and you can read all of my thoughts on that in my review of The Rage of Dragons but not having a prologue was an extremely smart choice. Winter, his team at Orbit, everyone else who assisted in this project - those people are gold. Great stylistic choice. Instead, we start more or less where we left off with the first book.

With a lot of Epic Fantasy, at least classical epic fantasy, Authors will put summaries of what happened in the previous book at the beginning to catch you up if you aren't a loyalist who rereads the last books as a refresher before diving into the new one. Or a prologue might serve to fill you in. What Winter does here is to tie up what I considered a mild loose end in the first book with a conversation that recaps in great detail everything that has happened so far. You could probably copy and paste it into Wikipedia, put some flesh on it, and have the plot summary section for The Rage of Dragons filled out. If it's not up there somebody should try it. It works. This conversation, more like a confession, brings us to the here and now and we are right back into it.

Jabari! I disregarded his sacrifice at the end of book one because he was out of the book for so long and then was mainly in the background for the last of the fighting. There was a lot that needed to happen between Tau and Jabari including a huge secret that didn't have a moment to come up. Winter didn't force a conclusion that wouldn't have felt natural. As a reader, I appreciate that and Jabari shines in this book. He is deeply changed after getting blasted with Dragon Fire at the end of the last book. I was afraid because I almost thought after the beginning that Jabari was going to have the same fate that befell him in book one where he was in it until he wasn't. There's a long stretch without him but he is in recovery after all as a burn victim so it's more than justified. Once we get him back with the team, he is superb. The character development, his relationship with Tau, the new struggles he must face as someone whose existence brings constant relentless pain are all satisfactory moments. I'm very glad he didn't die off-page after the battle of the last book. We also have a great line early on in the book where Tau says to Jabari "Keep fighting, and I swear that before it consumes us, we'll burn our pain to ash in the fires of vengeance." Poetic.

The rest of our team are all the same as we have left them. This is one of the many benefits of having written the story to keep ongoing. The big notable difference would be Winter's preference of Themba over Yaw. Themba had many lines and was a stand out in book one mainly because he annoyed everyone. Yaw was the bard-like storyteller whose recounts of Tau's escapades were amusing to read due to their embellishments that never strayed too far from the truth. Yaw spends most of his time here off-screen and when he is present he doesn't have the same storyteller quality to him. He's much more religious here. Themba has a much bigger role and he is another character whose relation with Tau develops quite a lot.

In what is sure to bring some fans into a frenzy, we also have an LGBT relationship reveal. This is big news. What I like about this is that it was not thrown in your face. Many books who try for inclusion overdo it and make characters come out to the reader for no point other than to have something else we can put a checkmark next to and give the author brownie points. You can see this relationship develop from book one if you were paying attention so it is not shocking or forced and never upstages any part of what else is going on. Again, good writing on Winter's part.

The big change I was talking about in disclaimer two happens about a fifth of the way in. The enraged Xiddeen who killed Jayyed in book one makes a return except for this time around it is a woman spear hunter. Much of both books are written through Tau's Point of View so any chapter written through the eyes of another character stands out. Daaso Headtaker was a memorable part of book one for as little as he is in it. As I said above, I contacted Winter about this. Everyone who read the initial release will be the ones affected by the change. Those who read the version published by Orbit will have no problems. I felt Daaso, as a male, was very developed and the enraged Spearhunter was the complete opposite. I'd have to read how that chapter was handled in the revised editions. Her appearance here was short and she could almost have been anybody. Luckily, Winter assured me that this was the biggest change between the editions and I wouldn't be thrown off by anything else.

I wonder how much of this book was a reflection of the times we live in. When the Prequel Trilogy of Star Wars came out it was heavily written with a response to a post-9/11 America. Episode III's political scenes had a direct correlation with how our Government was handling itself. It bogged down what was supposed to be a Children's franchise.

The major plot of this book revolves around one's place in society. The concept of Lessers and Nobles and how they are one people united as Omehi. We also learn how they became united, as it wasn't always this way. The mythology of Uhmlaba is fleshed out here and we are reminded that the true villains of the series are the Cull. That's why all of this has happened. The revenge story in book one overshadowed this but here it takes the main stage because the only way to defeat an enemy that powerful is through unity. How can the Omehi attempt to find unity with the Xiddeen if they can't find unity among their own classes?

This is the aim of Queen Tsiora. I am so happy with how her character was written. I believe Winter does well with his portrayal of women. She isn't a typical ditzy love interest or a strong independent female who happens to fall for the weaker goofball hero against her will. You know, the roles women get shoehorned into. The range of emotions and what her character goes through, this would be an award-winning role in a movie. Tau is typical Tau. For most of the book, he is still of a one-track mind and his selfishness to fulfill his own ends leads to devastation among his peers. His actions cause further major events to form. They were not his alone. Queen Tsiora does have a portion of the blame but they fall on his shoulders as her Champion and also as someone who would have done it anyway because he just does what he wants. I was on the edge of my seat hoping it would not be the last I see of a character I'd rank among my favorites.

The main challenge faced in The Fires of Vengeance is Queen Tsiora's attempts to find a means to reconcile with the Xiddeen after their planned peace fell apart at the end of book one. To do so, she must reunify the Omehi who were split apart by Odili and her sister, now known as Queen Esi. This is all in an attempt to get everybody on one page so that they can eventually face the Cull she believes will still be going after the Omehi much like her Ancestors said in the prologue of the first book. Tau still is on his revenge mission with Odili as his last remaining target. He's also coming to terms with his new role as Champion to the Queen and what that means with his relationship to her as he is a Lesser and no Champion before had ever been one.

We also have Kana returning who had a minor role in the first book but was obviously always intended to have a bigger impact later on. A situation involving Tau leads up to one of the most memorable chapters in the book (Bodies) whose imagery I still cannot get out of my head. Another minor subplot involves a secret council meeting that threatens the Queen's power. Remember, the split in the kingdom is about Nobles and their superiority over Lessers. This is at the beginning of the book and it's where we first see our band of heroes get together again. I'll tell you there was one moment while reading it where I knew things were about to go down. This is the first of those moments in the book and we all know how Winter writes. I had a total freakout. I started rocking back and forth and I got up and paced a little bit. My adrenaline was pumping!!! I read this on a Kindle and right where it stopped I knew when I turned the page ass-kicking was about to begin and I was not disappointed.

This book has some glorious battles. Glorious! The last major battle takes place at night and for all you Dragon lovers out there, this book makes up for the one Dragon we saw in the last one. Your appetite will be quenched. This book takes everything from the last and steps it's game up. Everything is bigger. Everything is harder. The stakes are higher. Everybody has a role to play. Tau is not the only lesser put in a position of power among the Queen's rank and file. Even the Nobles loyal to the Queen have difficulty accepting the changes. You never really know where things are going because you feel like at any minute the whole thing can crumble to pieces. And Isihogo! We spend so much time in Isihogo. Forget everything you thought you knew.

The writing in this is extremely tight. I am pleased. I am satisfied. I am in awe. Why is this so good? Did Winter have a Devil at the Crossroads experience at some point in his life? Some characters get introduced which we know right away are expendable characters. Right away. The minute I saw their names I was like 'Well, you're dead." However, Winter puts so much into these characters that they had meaning and purpose and were elevated from being simple throwaways. He's gifted.

Relationships play an important role in this book and I want to step outside the story to talk about the dedication. Winter shares an extremely powerful and sad story about his father. It sets so much of what goes on into a different spotlight. We know a father and son relationship is a huge part of this series. Tau and his father Aren. Then Tau and his mentor Jayyed. We would not be where we are with this book without Winter having experienced all he had while writing it. There are many aspects of relationships in play both positive and negative. New friends, old friends, alliances, and betrayals. Much love and much loss. And we are all the better for it.

Finally, I'll leave us with what I consider to be a powerful quote from the book which I feel reflects what our country as a whole needs to hear right now.

“Rage is love...twisted in on itself. Rage reaches into the world when we can no longer contain the hurt of being treated as if our life and loves do not matter. Rage, and its consequences, are what we get when the world refuses to change for anything less.”

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