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.”

View all my reviews

Review: The Rage of Dragons

The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In Part One of a Two-Part Evan Winter double feature, we will be revisiting The Rage of Dragons.

Can we take a moment to appreciate the fact that this isn't a generic low-born hero rises to save the world from its ultimate destruction by an ancient evil storyline that fantasy books fall into? We should clap to that. Let's do it and move on.

I've noticed lately a lot of authors struggling with prologues. This year I've seen multiple prologues which should have been the first chapter of the novel. Contrary to that I've also seen at least one novel where the first chapter would've benefited from being separated from the main story. I've been covering newer authors so this is a bit worrying. Everyone is attempting to write novels with prologues and epilogues as if they have to and while some people excel at it, it is not for every story.

The prologue in The Rage of Dragons is an introduction done right. Winter throws you into the thick of a battle that takes place close to 186 years before the rest of the book. I can see where readers might falter as it is also an info dump. A struggle with all fantasy novels is the adjustments a reader has to make when bouncing from one world to the next. It's especially hard for those that read Epic Fantasy. The books that start you off with a Squire or a Kitchen Boy tend to ease you in. The Rage of Dragons doesn't. I tend to read late at night when I am already exhausted. I can see the frustration and lack of accessibility some readers have mentioned but I found that even if there were a lot of places, names, ranks, and magic abilities coming at me that if I kept reading to the next paragraph or page everything would explain itself. Any questions or confusion you may have are dispelled by Chapter 3 where everything is spelled out for you. There is a lot of explanation in this book. You'll either have Tau thinking about the structure of society to himself or characters in conversation explaining how the demon underworld or dragon summoning work. The prologue sets up the bigger story that will unfold over the rest of the series.

This is also where I suggest new writers study on how to write battle scenes. Every writer dreams of being near Abercrombie levels of technique or at least I imagine him to be the plateau to reach. Many entry-level fantasy writers I've seen stumble in this regard. Winter has it down. There is a flow, a dance if you will, that we can visualize. The battles in this book are an artform.

There is a secondary plot that revolves around revenge. I don't know what it is with stories about revenge but I'm a little wary of there always being three people for our hero to overcome. With the murder of his father after losing an impossible duel, Tau swears revenge on those responsible for his death. To kill them without retribution, he follows through with his original plan of becoming an Ihashe which is a group of soldiers made up of lesser-commons. Once in the military, he will be able to challenge anybody including the high noble who ordered his father's death.

Winter has many great side characters. Hadith, Unuak, and Yaw are wonderful. Anytime you read or watch a story that involves characters from different backgrounds banning together in wartime comradery, it tends to feel a little Mulan Montage-esque. I don't feel that here. Each of them comes to terms with Tau in different ways but still stay individualistic enough to not feel regulated to the background. Hadith shines as a strategist. Unuak is a man of few words but his size and strength make up for it. Yaw took on the role of storyteller that spread the legend of Tau throughout his training camp after each victory. Speaking of Victory, a moment I adored came after one of the skirmishes when Tau alone is returning to his tent. The people in the stands start to salute him one by one until they are all standing and saluting. Hadith shows up and advises Tau what to say, then how long to wait before coming inside the tent. Hadith is all about the execution of actions. Other notable characters are Jayyed, Kellan, and Zuri.

Zuri is Tau's love interest. We get to see them develop innocently before Tau is ripped away from the world he knows. However, Zuri is fated as one of the gifted who practices what constitutes as magic in this world and can control dragons as well. I was not expecting her to come back or be as vital a character as she ended up being. One thing about Society in this book is that females were equal or more powerful than men. There are no damsels in distress plots here. It's Tau who is shown to be one of the best fighters who consistently needs saving. It's also easy in literature, mainly fantasy, to have a flawless main character. Tau is flawed by his determination to get his revenge. His bloodlust throws him into situations he has to be pulled out of. Zuri, surprisingly, gives Tau the key to becoming stronger than anyone else he trains with by clueing him in on the notion that anyone can access Isihogo.

I am not a fan of romance but I don't agree with the notion that the love story in this book felt forced. Maybe it's because I was able to roll it off my shoulders and move onto the next bits. I spent a lot of time analyzing the society and war strategies they used so that is where my focus went.

The revenge plot falls apart in exchange for the bigger story taking effect. There is a coup to unseat the Queen because Nobles refuse to give up their titles and self-worth. All roads lead to this moment. I didn't expect to like the Queen. You don't get a true feeling for her until the end of the book where she's trapped in the Keep and must be rescued by Tau, Kellan, and their peers. Based on the interactions between her and Tau I would not be surprised if she turns into his love interest in future books. It's also at the end of the book where Tau's friend from the beginning returns as a member of Kellan's Indlovu. Jabari and his relationship with Tau seemed important during the first few chapters. They even sneak over to a nearby city during a battle to fight side by side. Jabari is being trained by Aren, Tau's father, so the two are sparring buddies. After the events that catalyst Tau into banishment, you never hear about Jabari until the last few chapters from the final skirmish onward. He fades into the background even though he is the one person with Tau when they recover the queen. I'd wondered if the falling out between them would result in Jabari becoming Tau's enemy in a bit of literary atonement. The fact that this didn't happen shows that Winter is not one to fall into the obvious.

And now, the Dragons. It makes me cringe a little to think about Dragons and that is a sign about how far we've fallen as a society. What have Dragons done lately except profess their love of Tacos? Not much, right? If I see a book with Dragons in the title I don't imagine it to be well written. I think it's going to be a cheap fantasy novel. Dragons have moved on to be video game bosses. They have no time for anything literary. Although if I was a dragon, I would horde books instead of Gold. If someone came to steal my treasure I would light books on fire to scare them into leaving me alone. But don't worry because in secret all those books in the burn pile would be The Catcher in the Rye. Do you see what I'm saying? It's hard not to become silly when you start talking about Dragons. This isn't your classic fantasy novel. The Dragons, though important, are secondhand. The relationships between the other characters and the quest for peace between two warring cultures comes first. The dragons may be a part of that, but only as a means to an end and not overbearing. You will not have a Dragon Rider or any silly nonsense like that. They are murder machines summoned as a last resort.

I'll add in a brief shout out here for the demons of Isihogo. I love how different they all looked and acted and how horrifying it came across to be trapped with them. Tau dies hundreds of times to these monsters. Beautiful.

The Rage of Dragons is an inspiration for new writers who think they will never be good enough to make it to one of the big publishes houses. Self-publishing is not rock bottom. If your work is strong enough, the masses will respond. Publishers will see that.

View all my reviews