The Fires of Vengeance is just as good as The Rage of Dragons. Tau is aiding the usurped queen, Tsiora, to reclaim her throne from her sister and the odious Odili, the man Tau is desperate for revenge against. All whilst fighting demons in the underworld.

What follows is an exciting ride which expands the world greatly and provides the reader with an interesting plot and fantastic characters. Winter expertly weaves the story so it doesn’t drag and is almost constantly exciting. There’s a nice mix of action sequences and character development and the battle scenes are both epic and horrifically violent.

Tau has calmed somewhat in this book, in the sense that he doesn’t just randomly attack the people he wants dead. He thinks things through a bit more and takes others into consideration. The only thing that really irritated me in the first book was that Tau was a bit too hot headed and didn’t think before he acted but that is something that has been fixed in this book so I enjoy his character a bit more.

He’s still a bit dense though since he can’t see that the queen is obviously perving on his hot bod.

The Fires of Vengeance is definitely a step up from The Rage of Dragons. It feels more confident and it really hits its stride. There’s plenty of action and violence and the characters grew on me more than in the first book. The ending ends on an intriguing note so that really makes me look forward to reading the next book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Orbit for providing an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the views expressed in this are my own.
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The first book was explosive and I have been eagerly awaiting this second instalment.

The Fires of Vengeance has everything amazing that the first book had. But it also has more! More action, character development, plot thickening, twists and turns and, my absolute favourite, world building.

Winter has an incredible way of connecting the characters with their environment, showing the interdpendency of the two.

I feel that this is the reason why book 2 shows so much more development of characters than book 1. There's more showing rather than telling in terms of the characters' thoughts and feelings. There is also a constant underlying dread throughout the book. It's subtle but very effective.

I cannot wait to read the next one in the series. This is easily in ny list of top 10 reads of 2020.

Overall rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5 stars

DNF at 36%

I genuinely expected it to be better than the first book but no The Rage of Dragons was superior. The fighting scenes are too detailed and wasn't gripping and the characters somehow lost their charm???

“Keep fighting, and I swear that before it consumes us, we’ll burn our pain to ash in the fires of vengeance.”

The Rage of Dragons ★★★★ 1/4
The Fires of Vengeance ★★★★ 1/4

I read The Rage of Dragons earlier this year and really enjoyed it and i was so excited for this sequence. Thanks for the publisher for providing me with an E-ARC, all opinions are mine though.

Although I read The first book this year, I forgot some of the details because I read 130+ books this year, I found a spoilery video on youtube that refreshed my memory and it was a life-saver, the first pages work as a summary too and I liked that. I may focus on the things I did not like in this review but take it with a grain of salt because if you look at my rating you will know it was a pretty good book.
The Rage of Dragons (The Burning, #1) by Evan Winter

The book was very easy to get into and I like that, I don’t like it when I am confused for hundred of pages before things start to make sense. The plot continues after the tragical events of book 1. I don’t want to spoil anything in either books so I am not gonna elaborate further. But Tau is now preparing for war against Abasi Odili and that’s the main plot in this book.

“Lady Gifted, as far as I know, the only path to becoming what others cannot is to suffer what others will not.”

The characters are well written but there was a problem that bothered me a bit and it was communication between these different characters. I felt most of the characters were hot headed and wanted to achieve their own agendas without giving a fuck about the people around them and that’s just annoying because they all had titles they should live up to. When you are a Councillor or a champion or in charge of an army, try to act like it at least! Winter is still ferocious to his characters and they go through all kind of hardships in the book and we say goodbye to many of the characters so try not getting attached to any of them.

The world-building is as good as book 1, we get to explore the demon realm Isihigo much more than we did in book 1. Does the book have Dragons? It does a bit more than book 1 but it focuses on demons more which I thought was a bit bizarre but it was still cool in its own way!
description

Another thing that I certainly enjoyed in both books was how fast paced the book are, Winter is good at writing action scenes and the book is full of those, there is not a dull moment but maybe we should have some time to breathe a bit and slow down. It makes the book hard to put down, I finished the book in 3 days!

“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.”

Summary: I enjoyed The Fires of Vengeance as much as I did for The Rage of Dragons but for kind of different reasons. The book was fast paced, full of action and easy to get into. I would have preferred more character growth and them calming down a bit. Definitely excited for book 3 now!

Winter amps up the world building from book 1 and it becomes much more interesting as we learn more. I could still do with a glossary because there are so many unusual terms that I'm expected to understand from context or repeated use. It detracts from my enjoyment.

Tau grows as a character too and I continue to enjoy the way Winter writes dynamic and tense combat scenes. Thankfully the distinct lack of female characters is remedied a bit with Queen Tsiora. Her struggles are our struggles as she attempts to fix her broken Kingdom.

The whole story is obviously setting up something big and it's a shame that it feels like the book is in the middle. I'm still intrigued by what will happen next and I can't wait to see how it ends.

CW warning for descriptions of the effects of torture.

Sequel to The Rage of Dragons, The Fires of Vengeance delivers the same gut-wrenching mix of extreme combat, peril and - I honestly don't know how to describe this - a sort of reckless, nihilistic battle-fury.

Except it's all dialled up to 11, or more. Whatever The Rage of Dragons was, this is it with the gloves off, with real blades not training ones, with the safety disabled.

Tau, who we met in the earlier book, basically fought all the way through it. Despairing of his goal - joining the military and winning the right to challenge the man who murdered his father - he found a way to fight, and die, hundreds of times a day, to practice, to become better, a perfect warrior for the Omehi. Always driven by revenge, yet also retaining a loyalty to his people, Tau also found himself embroiled in politics and diplomacy, defending the young Queen Tsiora against a coup at the same time as an invasion.

In The Fires of Vengeance things get even more complicated. This is a very hierarchical world, a world of Lessers and Nobles, both part of the Omehi society which, fleeing the enemy known as the Cull, colonised the land of Xidda, expelling its natives who wage constant war to regain their homeland. Tau is a Lesser, despised by the Nobles and by all the others above him in the hierarchy: being named Queen's Champion, an unheard of development for a Lesser, puts him outside the normal structures of his society and earns fresh enemies - for him and the Queen. There's an irony here in Tau's swearing to defend the Queen who presides over the structures that oppress him and those like him, more irony in his discovery that the "Guardians" - the fierce and beautiful dragons who guard his people - are themselves enslaved.

This is a world of endless moral complexity. Largely told from Tau's viewpoint, we see his physical suffering, the sheer mental cost to him of battling the demons of Isihogo nightly, its toll on his sense of reality. In one horrific passage we see the aftermath of torture for which he blames himself (this is a particularly visceral passage which I found very hard - but I felt it was absolutely justified in context), heaping guilt on physical pain and fear for the future.

There are only a couple of short interruptions to Tau's perspective, where we see things from another's point of view - and each time, it's someone who has good reason to fear and hate Tau. Even our hero, then, may justifiably be seen differently, and that's even without factoring in whether he is allowing himself simply to be a mighty fist for the Empire that's oppressed him.

Winter doesn't offer any easy answers or platitudes in response to this - there is a since in which Tau does his best in circumstances not of his choosing, always though with revenge as his goal, and as you might expect, this does lead to him inflicting real harm and accumulating divided loyalties: it's not clear for example how far his support for the Queen is simply because his enemy is her enemy, and how long this can last in the complicated politics of the Omehi. There's almost no rest in this story, as Tau runs from one, apparently hopeless battle, to another, enemies rising hydra-like at every turn, plans torn to shreds, always a haste, a need to hurry, to improvise. (I say runs, but he does now have use of a rare and precious beast, a horse, and watching him learn to ride is in e of the funnier parts of the story).

Through it all we - slowly - learn more about the origin of the Omehi, and about the magic with which they're bound. The threat, it becomes clear, is even greater(!) than Rage of Dragons let on and it is one which all the martial prowess of the Ihashe, the Indlovu, the Ingonyama and the learning and courage of the Gifted, may not be able to overcome. As so many of Tau's sword-brethren fell in the battle at the end of Rage, so it seems his entire world may be burned away, mere swords and spears useless against the heat and rage that has been set loose.

The writing here is compulsive and apocalyptic but nevertheless, often beautiful and moving. It can also be funny: the great Champion Tau Solarin may be an accomplished warrior but there's a lot about life which he doesn't know and as he moves further and further from the known, the familiar, his baffled reaction to the ways of the world can make the reader smile, understanding more of what's going on than he does.

In brief: Winter tackles that difficult task, the second book in a series, with aplomb, creating something that will satisfy both the reader who wants more of that Rage of Dragons thing and the one who wants to go further and deeper. There no sign of things flagging, even if one rather wished they would slow down a bit so Tau can get some sleep!

Recommended to those who loved Rage and to those who haven't read it yet (though this is one of those cases where you really do need to read the first book first).

I’ve been looking forward to this one. I first read The Rage of Dragons earlier this year and have been eager to see how Tau and Tsiora would face the chaos that results from that ending ever since. I also had many remaining questions about the Xiddeen, the Cull and the Omehi in general. Thankfully this sequel was ready to deliver on all fronts.

The Fires of Vengeance begins immediately following the events of the first book. Tau is now the Champion to Queen Tsiora and the first Lesser to ever serve in the post. But there is little time to celebrate this achievement. The traitorous Abasi Odili has escaped to Palm City where Tsiora’s twin sister Esi resides, and Odili declares Esi to be the “true” Queen of the Omehi. The two are now a rallying point for dissatisfied Nobles who disdain Tsiora’s previous attempts at an alliance with the Xiddeen as well as her pointed political elevations of non-Nobles.

These malcontents are hardly the only enemy to contend with as there is also the threat of an Xiddeen invasion that still looms on the horizon. Tsiora has no choice but to try to defeat Odili and his rebels, thwart attacks by the Xiddeen, and then attempt to unite both peoples against the greater threat of the Cull that she adamantly believes will someday arrive on Xidda. Tau agrees to this and is willing to fight for Tsiora and her goals, but his ultimate aim is still exactly what it has always been – vengeance against Odili for the death of his father.

Tau also faces some new challenges and considerations beyond even these seemingly impossible tasks. For one thing, the visions of demons that plague him from all the time he’s spent training in Isihogo are only getting worse. More and more often Tau wonders if he may truly be going mad – or if truly darker things have finally made their way into his world.

Then there’s the fact that Tau’s elevation to Champion has become a symbol of hope to the Lessers that are oppressed by Noble-enforced impositions of rank and caste. Tau, however, does not always seem to realize the power this holds. He implicitly understands how deeply the odds are stacked against his people and goes out of his way to protect the those he sees struggling in his path, but his quest for revenge is still his primary ambition. This frustrates others such as his friend Hadith, who seems to see the ways Tau may be able to use his status as Champion to inspire the Lessers and possibly slowly reform the Omehi as a whole, but Tau often can’t see farther than his need for retribution. There is also a certain irony that surfaces in that Tau now sees the same rage that inspires his relentless thirst for vengeance is being awakened in others – but through his own actions and directed towards him instead.

I will say this for Tau, though. As short-sighted as he can be at times – and as monstrous as he may appear in the eyes of others – his absolute determination and refusal to accept defeat is as astonishing to watch as ever. It also doesn’t hurt that many of his enemies are so terrible that you can’t wait to see Tau take them down.

Now, if I had to choose the biggest strengths of this book, it would be the characters and the dialogue. The interactions between Tau and his allies were always intriguing which kept me emotionally invested in Tau’s journey. The returning cast members, such as Tau’s sword brothers (Uduak, Hadith, Yaw and Themba) and Tau’s childhood friend Jabari, all get increased responsibilities and some notably standout moments. There were also some fantastic new additions to the supporting cast, such as the Queen’s skeptical vizier Nyah and her deadly handmaidens, Auset and Ramia. These supporting characters were all distinctly unique and occasionally even outshone Tau himself. (And truthfully, I was quite pleased in general that there were more nuanced female characters in this book than there was in the first.)

I never failed to be amused by one of Themba or Hadith’s quips, and I had a particular love for the bickering between Themba and Auset as they had consistently entertaining banter. Really, Themba himself was probably my favourite character of them all due to his relentless, cheerful nonchalance in face of all the depressing events occurring around him. It’s a sign of how much he shines that even the tough vizier Nyah (who forgets the names of most of Tau’s other friends) comically recalls Themba’s name simply because he talks so much “nonsense” that he’s impossible to forget.

But I do have to confess that despite all the things that were wonderfully done, I struggled a little bit with the pacing. Although the book was very action-heavy and tensions were high, it still at times felt like the plot progressed pretty slowly. There was always a lot going on but not very much seemingly achieved. Tau was always running from one skirmish to another between the Omehi rebels and the Xiddeen, but most of these battles felt merely like build-up to the large conflicts that didn’t take place until much later on in the book. There were instances of tonal whiplash in the transitions between these missions as well. Nevertheless, I can understand the importance of raising the stakes and setting the stage for future events. I will also add that the fight scenes were always very well done and I was invested in the storyline overall.

Ultimately this was an enjoyable read and it definitely has me intrigued by the intense, world-shattering conflicts I foresee coming in the next book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Little, Brown Book Group UK and Orbit for providing the free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was exactly what I needed! Fast-paced and action-packed fantasy novel with storyline that sucked me in from the very beginning to the end. Evan Winter did not disappoint. This sequel has everything that made me enjoy first book. Moreover, I finally got what I was missing in The Rage of Dragons and that was proper character development for our main hero Tau.

There are two features that set this series apart from other fantasy novels. Firstly, Evan Winter presented very original and fascinating magic system. Secondly, story moves in neck-breaking speed leaving no hollow or boring parts. Furthermore, it provides almost non-stop action and plenty of satisfying duels and fights which transform this series into immensely enjoyable read for all fans of fantasy and military genre.

All in all, I have to admit that main characters really grew on me in this sequel and I cannot wait to find out how will their story continue in the next instalment. Highly recommended!

Immediately starting from where The Rage of Dragons finished, The Fires of Vengeance finds us once again back with Tau Solarin as he and Queen Tsiori desperately plan to stop the invasion promised by the Xideen people. Hadith composes a complex plan to hopefully stop the Warlord fulfilling his promise to launch all-out war against the Omehi people.
Meanwhile, in Palm city. Ambassador Odili has declared the Queen’s sister as the rightful ruler and is gathering his forces to launch a civil war that will tear the Omehi people in two.
However, demons are breaking through the barriers of hell and Tau must protect his Queen and all those he holds dear.
With his new book The Fires of Vengeance, Evan Winters firmly establishes himself as one of the brightest new voices in fantasy as he weaves a captivating tapestry of pulse beating plot and rich characters, all encapsulated in a distinct world that will get it’s hooks into your reading brain.
I really like The Fires of Vengeance! No, actually, I love the Fires of Vengeance and with this second instalment of his The Burning series, Evan Winter puts the gears into drive and puts his foot to the floor, delivering a truly spectacular book.
Everything is far more developed in this book, his characters, his plot and the world that the Omehi people inhabit.
In the Fires of Vengeance, the plot slows down a little bit and I think that the book is altogether better for it. I also did not find it as dark as the first book. Whilst Tau’s thirst for vengeance is still there, Winters gives the reader some breathing space to allow the characters to develop, and I think some of my favourite pieces are in these quiet moments, and this is where Evan Winter’s writing shines through.. For instance, there are some passages in which Tau spends time with Queen Tsiori in her tent listening to the secret history of the Omehi people whilst sat around a fire. I loved these moments and the scene that Winters describes. I could almost smell the smoke and feel the heat from the fire.
The character of Queen Tsiori is expanded considerably, and we start to understand her motivations for the actions that she is taking and how she actually wants to unite the Omehi people. But not only that, how she wants to diminish the cultural dissonance between the ruling class and the lessers of the Omehi.
Despite it been quite brutal in places, Winters also injects humour and tenderness into the story, and there are many times the book passes the six laughs test, as I laughed or caught myself smiling quite a lot through this book
There is the introduction of some new characters in ‘The Fires of Vengeance’. I have already told you that Queen Tsiori is expanded on, but there are also others which hold and contribute to the story. The standout of which is Nyah, the Queen’s Vizier. She is at once hard and unforgiving, but she develops throughout the book and you begin to see her softer edges. In fact, for me Nyah gets one of the standout lines of the whole book. This happens when she is with her daughter just before one of the big battle scenes. As the men are discussing tactics, Nyah turns to daughter and states
“This, Chibo, is what men call leadership” Nyah said walking up with her daughter. “You can tell they are doing it when you see several of them not doing any work.”
That had me laughing for a good few minutes.
In addition, the two Queens handmaidens are equally as good as they become part of Tau’s team of fighters and they establish themselves as a prominent part of the story.
But don’t worry, the old guard are there too, Hadith and Uduak and although they don’t play as prominent a role as in the first book, it is good to see their inclusion in the story and again there are some moments of tenderness in their story. As injury befalls Hadith, we see just how close the relationship between Hadith and Uduak has developed and how close they are as friends.
Whilst on the whole, the story takes place from Tau’s point of view, there are some instances where this changes and we get to see how others view Tau. One of these is when the point of view changes to Duma. We get to see Tau through the Xideens’ eyes, and on another occasion, the point of view moves to Esi and we see Tau as an enraged demon coming to change her life for ever.
I can’t say how much I enjoyed this book. Unfortunately for me, I finished the book just before going to bed and I was that stoked up I couldn’t sleep for the next hour while I came down a bit!

Oh. Oh my. Oh my goodness! "The Fires of Vengeance" is just perfect in every way. I loved the first book in the series ("The Rage of Dragons"), but this book... this book just blew me away. The world-building continues to be immense - the culture, the landscape, the things I don't want to mention because I want you to read this without any spoilers. The characters have become real. Of course, the superb writing has a lot to do with my rating as well! Please don't miss this series.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

Evan Winter’s debut novel The Rage of Dragons was probably the breakout novel of 2019; indeed, it was a novel that garnered a great deal of popular and critical acclaim. It’s no wonder then that the sequel and book two of Winter’s ‘The Burning’ series is probably one of the most anticipated fantasy reads of 2020.

In my experience sequels tend to either eclipse the original with higher stakes and sharper writing or expands upon the world and acts as a vehicle to push the series towards the authors planned ending.

The Fires of Vengeance in truth does both of these things.

As this review is for book two of a series, I’m going to assume that you have read book one. So there may be some spoilers for The Rage of Dragons (Rage), though hopefully not for The Fires of Vengeance (Fires).

Fires starts almost immediately after the conclusion of Rage, with protagonist Tau reeling from the loss of his love Zuri and all but resigned to the loss of his friend Jabari.

That Fires starts straight away fits fantastically with Tau’s story, as any break in the narrative would, in essence, be giving him a moment of respite and downtime. Winter’s story doesn’t have downtime, and it doesn’t allow anyone to take a breath for any longer than they need to continue living until of course, he decides that they don’t need to live in which they can breathe all they want.

The opening itself while lacking the explosive violence of Rage is far more harrowing, thundering hearts replaced with ringing ears and the cold realisation of what has happened, and what remains to be done.

Almost instantly, you are aware that Winter has pulled the lens back a little. While the focus is primarily still Tau and his unrelenting quest for vengeance, other things are now in focus. Politics is high on the agenda, and we see much more of the Omehi social structure, with far more interactions between Lessers and Nobles.

- ‘The queen’s cause wasn’t his. Tau was fighting to get to Abasi Odili so he could rip him apart, turn him inside out, piece by bloody piece because that was what it would take for the Nobles to see and hear a man like him.

Much like P Djeli Clark’s Ring Shout, there are strong themes of social inequality and inherent privilege. Following Rage and Tau’s elevation to Queen’s Champion, the status-quo has been challenged, adding genuine tension to the story as now there very vocal enemies within as without.

While the inequality was evident in Rage, now that Lessers are being given positions of power, it has a very different flavour, the bedrock of society has been cracked and the glass-ceiling shattered.

- ‘The powerful had to be shown that people can only be pushed so close to the flame before they catch fire and burn everything down.’

Another area that has developed considerably is the attention to the female characters. In Rage, I felt as though there was very little focus on the female characters, though this was perhaps due to the story being focused so closely on Tau’s training.

In Fires, you have an abundance of strong female characters: Queen Tsiora, Nyah, Auset, Ramia, and Hafsa. Across the main characters, there’s probably close to, if no, a 50/50 split between men and women - I loved it. They’re not just added to make the numbers up either which is good as the Omehi are a very matriarchal people, and so they all come across as assured and extremely competent.

Across all the characters, there is a great variety of personality and principles, and Winter writes them all with such skill that it’s hard not to care for them all. There is a definite bond of respect between them, though they don’t always agree with one another, and their dialogue is believable and humorous throughout.

- ”Fellate a scorpion’s sting, you wingless kudliwe!” the umbusi shouted.

Don’t be under any illusions when I say this, but there are flashes of happiness throughout Fires. They’re not close, just a faint burn on the horizon, but between the blood, the death, and the pain there are moments of levity and the promise of something. These tantalising glimmers act as agonising hooks causing you to root all the more, for these fabulous characters to succeed.

That being said, Winter’s precise and surgical battle scenes are back with a vengeance (pun very much intended). The battle scenes from Rage remain the very best I’ve read in 2020 and if anything the ones in Fires are bigger, bolder, and far more violent - an enraged Ingonyama to Rage’s angry Indlovu.

There’s a glorious battle scene around the 80% mark which is just mind-blowingly exhilarating, and when it is eventually adapted for the screen will make The Battle of the Bastards look like an argument over whose turn it is to do the dishes.

The pacing, is again, relentless with action from start to finish. As touched upon earlier, there are scenes which are more personal and perhaps introspective, but even these are written with a nod to the horrors playing out around them. Despite being a chunky book at 500+ pages, it's one that can be devoured in no time at all.

Fires is a fantastic sequel and everything and more that I wanted it to be. As well as being an excellent book in its own right, it’s also a saucy tease for book three. Isihogo isn’t quite as mindless as it seems, a new enemy, new friends - I need it already.

In my mind The Burning was already going to be one of the best fantasy series’ of all time, The Fires of Vengeance has only confirmed it.

I have no qualms in recommending this book, it is a must-read!!

5 Stars

Evan Winter is definitely the new one to watch. I suspected it at the end of Rage of Dragons but now there's no doubt.

It was always going to be hard to be better than Book 1 It was just so different, unique, diverse and engaging. But Winter has knocked it out of the park for this second instalment. It still has all the elements we loved from the first, the great main character (Tau), development through battle, skilled world building and fasted paced action, but in addition to all this we've gained a second POV which is really effective for moving the plot along.

If you haven't read this first, you need to go get it now. This series will be up there with the greats, and I'm really excited to be on this journey.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Book one was a tribute to Rage, Anger and suffering, Book two brings to life pain. Through both books, there is an underlying theme of love. It's said that great artists best work is only achieved when in touch with their emotions, fueling their best work. If so then something in Evan winters life powers his narrative, the books are a symphony to his knowledge of emotional turmoil.

The power throughout the books is rooted in their emotion. The books are not exceptional, the raw emotion is. The Rage, the anger, filled the plot and gave the book life. Passion came from its emotion, from the author's life experience and bleeds through in every page.

At the start of The Fires of Vengeance, it soon becomes clear that pain becomes a motivator for Tau and his friends. Rage and love take a backseat to the new driving emotion. Tau, Jabaris and the others struggle through the story. Displaying at times, different core emotions as the story powers on. The script is eloquent and almost hypnotic at times. Indeed I certainly lost track of time regularly as I grew entranced by the worldbuilding once again.

It's hard to describe the book. The story covers only a short period. With a weaker Author, I would highlight how nothing major happens, a few chase's and fights, a small battle, a few others later and yet nothing really happens. At the same time, everything changes.

This book changes, in part from the story of the individual's hero's journey, to the development of a group's hero's journey. Luckily it continues to focus on the protagonist, Tau. There is no editorial interference such as Anthony Ryan suffered after Blood song. Anthony Ryan's editor forced other characters points of views and plots into his story in subsequent books, ruining a great series. Evan Winters has avoided editorial interference, this remains the story of Tau.

It's hard to explain the book without spoilers, so I won't. The emotion, it's still as raw and brutal and painful as in book one. It's the reason people will love this.

I cant tell you how thrilled I was to receive an early copy of this book. The Rage of Dragons blew me a way and left me wondering why I hadn't picked it up sooner, a mistake I avoided making this time.
This is a fantasy of epic proportions, the world building, magic system, plot and political aspects of this book are meticulously thought out and executed in a superb manner. The writing is engaging and makes it easy to follow everything that's happening, and a lot happens (I won't give you any spoilers, I need you all to read this yourselves!).

The Fires of Vengeance picks up immediately after the Rage of Dragons and easily has one of the most well executed introductory recaps I have ever read! It didn't feel clunky or repetitive and didn't an excellent job of reminding me of small details I had forgotten since reading the first book.

Evan Winters did a stunning job here and it's hard to believe that this is his first series.

Full review will follow closer to launch day. This book was great, it followed on nicely and improved on everything from book one. Evan winter has quickly become one of my favourite authors.

Received from Little Brown Book Group UK and Netgalley for honest read and review.
Thanks to both for allowing me to read this second in the series.

I did not think at the start of this book that it could get any better than book 1.- The Rage of Dragons.How wrong was I.Wow.It had me hooked again from the very first page and brought all the feelings back that I had at end of book 1.

This is an absolutely stunning series,if you have not read the first,please give it a go.
Evan Winter is in my opinion up therewith the very best in this genre and I for one cannot wait to see where this adventure takes him and me...

Tau is without doubt the best character I have read for ages and will stay with me forever.

The Fires of Vengeance is the stunning sequel to The Rage of Dragons; this is a tale of burning hatred, of how far the blazing wrath of hurt, fear and loss can drive someone. This is the story of what happens when a weapon is forged in oppression and how those who take control—who rise-up—have to struggle to stand on the platform they’ve built themselves, with enemies, poison-spitting inyokas, poised to take it back from them. Pair that with Winter’s unparalleled ability to make you care, to build a world and people you dearly care for, then rend that asunder with very human struggles, and you have this masterpiece. The Fires of Vengeance is vigorously face-paced, unapologetically gripping, a thrill-ride with the stakes plastered at every stop.

Tau, what a pleasure it was to see you again, my friend; it seems like you’ve not had time to rest but that wouldn’t be within the author’s remit: One of the things I like the most about Winter’s books is the unending trials and tribulations of his characters. Tau is battered, tired from the last fight, and yet there is more to come. This is a hero in real-life. There are no health potions, no rest stops, just raw strife. Each page of the book tells a story nuanced in the voice of Tau’s burning passion; the prose is elegant when it needs to be, snappy, vicious when it wants to be and damned-well intriguing all of the time. It won’t relent, not while there’s a cause left to fight for.

The plot takes place in the hours, or days, just after the last one. It almost takes you into a seamless entrance from the last; the Xiddeen have given them some reprieve, but Esi (Queen Tsiora’s sister) and her new Champion and Tau’s archenemy, Abasi Odili, have Palm City and won’t let it go without a fight. A lot happens in this book, some things that flash up and quickly go to the back of your mind, only to be revealed in the last pages. There’s a good amount of bait and switch in these pages where you’re cleverly distracted from bits of plot only to regret that when they come to surface. Largely, this is a story of one man’s vengeance, but Winter manages to add political intrigue and mystery while stoking the flames of the main plot which ties nicely into lore and stories that have been told since the first pages of the first book.

Fighting, there’s lots of it. Those in particular that Tau is part of are works of art; I’m sure I read somewhere, maybe a Tweet, that Winter acts out sword-swings in his office when he needs a clearer view of what he is writing. And, while it is funny to imagine the author prancing around next to the computer screen, the results of this are fantastic, clear, technically-realised fights that beat with the thumps of your ever-increasing heartbeat. Fantasy is best seated in the believable and the fights truly are believable. Tau is supposed to be the pinnacle of what an athlete can achieve, and I believe every word of it.

Everything culminates into a latter half of the book that tore my heart out in places (even as I read a scene in my office at work, I struggled to not tear up.) That was because throughout the book I’d been led to care what happened. The character relationships are so well done that you don’t realise you’ve been swept into their emotive state until it’s too late. At the end of the book, I really did love the chapters written from other POVs—we didn’t see much of this in the first book and it was a welcome addition. Seeing Tau from different positions within the world was so damned amazing. It isn’t until you look at him in another light that you see how horrifyingly spectacular, he is. Then the end hits which is when the carefully laid world-building spikes and at only the utterance of a few words, a shiver ran down my back and the goosebumps hit. Truly, I can’t put into words how that makes me feel for the next instalment.

Overall, I need the third book NOW. Why do this to your readers, Evan? I mean come on, man. When is it out and who do I need to bribe to get it already? My advice is don’t wait to get this one—go and hassle (no don’t) your local bookseller for it. Without a doubt, I won’t read a book as good as this one was for this rest of the year.

My many thanks to NetGalley, Orbit, and Little, Brown Book Group UK for providing an e-ARC of this book for an honest review!

About one year after his blazing debut The Rage of Dragons, Evan Winter makes his return with The Fires of Vengeance - and makes good on the unspoken promise of blood its predecessor had offered. Bluntly speaking, The Fires of Vengeance is a book that is best described as The Rage of Dragons on steroids.

I loved The Rage of Dragons, but I had not featured the book in my blog nor my other social media so imagine my surprise when Orbit Books approved my request for The Fires of Vengeance - I hit that "Request" button on a total whim! At this point I was ready to devour it all in one go, but of course I had no idea what was coming. It took 3 days for me to finally finish the book - and y'all best believe this is some of the most intense books I've read in 2020.

The Fires of Vengeance picks up right where The Rage of Dragons left off, with the main character, champion Tau Solaris, and his queen Tsiora left to navigate the aftermath of both the Xiddeen invasion and the betrayal of the queen's council. Queen Tsiora must attempt to find a way to reconcile with the Xiddeen after their planned peace fell apart, in order to unite both the Omehi and the Xiddeen to eventually face the Cull her Ancestors had warned about. Tau, on the other hand, must come to terms with his new role as the Queen's Champion, and what that means with his relationship with her as he is a Lesser and she a Noble.

The war, however, is far from over. With Tau still seeking revenge for both his father and his many sword-brothers' deaths; and the queen seeking to reunify the Omehi split apart by her council's betrayal and their championed queen her sister, the pair faces enemies from multiple fronts with very little time to plan their next move.

First of all, can we appreciate the fact that The Fires of Vengeance immediately opens with a recap chapter? Sure, it is delivered mostly as a monologue from one character to another - but this was immensely helpful for me as I didn't remember all the details from The Rage of Dragons. Having a chance to quickly catch up on which ones are important for context in this book spared me the necessity of re-reading the first book, a task I wasn't sure I was ready to undertake as it matched R.F. Kuang's The Poppy War in intensity and gravitas. Samantha Shannon's upcoming The Mask Falling is also said to have a recap chapter to help keeping readers up to speed, especially since binge-reading the series while pleasurably tempting, may not necessarily help retain all the important details. This really should be a trend in epic fantasy series.

I mentioned earlier that The Fires of Vengeance is best described as its predecessor The Rage of Dragons in steroids. This is true in every aspect. The battle scenes in this book are more chaotic and bloodier than ever, and the character-driven moments are truly electric. True to its name, vengeance is the running theme of this book and it is a tumultuous driving force to the events in its story. It was truly exhilarating to witness how this force affects everything ranging from relationships to the skirmishes in this book, for better or worse.

The Rage of Dragons had mostly focused on Tau's quest for revenge, which is still ongoing in this book with one last target to kill. For most of the book, Tau retains his single-track mind and his decisions made in that interest result in devastating consequences amongst his peers. The Fires of Vengeance forces Tau to truly reckon with the consequences of his actions and pry his attention to larger matters. With Tau, one problem ends and another forms - and this poses a problem for his partnership with Queen Tsiora as her Champion, a matter their peers never fail to astutely address. I appreciate how while everyone has vengeance on their minds for one reason or another, Tau is held especially accountable for his actions as his actions prove to be one of the major devastating forces throughout the book. This is made even more profound with the inclusion of one of the antagonist's POV chapters in the second half of the book, in which their Lesser vs Noble status prejudices are somewhat justified in Tau's more monstrous actions. This forced me to wonder who's truly the villain in this book since the conflict ultimately boils down to the fact that both sides are convinced that they are right and the other is misguided. Not only does this convey Tau's morally questionable character, this shines a light on Winter's talent for characterization. The Burning series, the first half at least, can be described as a tragedy for the Omehi's inability to find unity amongst their own classes, let alone with the Xiddeen - and Tau's revenge story is just a part of it.

The Fires of Vengeance expands beyond Tau's revenge story and highlights Queen Tsiora's quest to unify the Omehi and the Xiddeen - in which the world and the mythology of Uhmlaba and Isihogo are fleshed out and we learn more about the concept of Lessers/Nobles, the demons as we are reminded of the true villains of the series and the impetus of all that has happened. The stakes are constantly driven to new heights from multiple fronts, and it is only a matter of time before Tau's never-ending vengeance inevitably intersects with the threat of the Cull in a spectacular fashion.

Winter also ramps up his game in battle scenes. The violence in this book gets more brutal and destructive, as Tau's wrath left blood in his path and starts another devastating cycle of vengeance. As Petrik from Novel Notions aptly summarises in his review of The Fires of Vengeance, "vengeance begets vengeance, blood begets blood, [and] death begets death." While the duels are spectacular, Winter never forgets to serve gut-punching reminders of the sorrow and loss left in Tau's wake. There is a particularly hard-hitting moment that is as haunting and brutal as the infamous massacre scene in R.F. Kuang's The Poppy War.

Winter's well-written, vivid action sequences hit a lot harder because of his emphasis to emotional conflicts: he gradually builds up emotional tension, and proceeds to combust it in immersive violent skirmishes. He also lets us empathize with various sides of the battle, enabling us to grasp the horror and the gravitas of the important themes he attaches to his story.

Relationships play a very important role in this book, and I am thoroughly impressed with how much character work is beautifully written amongst the chaos. Winter leaves out no one neglected as he pulls off the range of emotion and defining moments of various characters, even minor ones. The bond between several characters are fascinating to read: Tau's relationships with his father Aren and his mentor Jayyed continue to define Tau's character in a powerful and heartbreaking way; Tsiora and her vizier Nyah's bond is preciously ride-or-die; Tau, Hadith, and Uduak together are a hoot; Tau and Jabari's strained relationship is riveting to witness; and our bonding protagonists Tau and Tsiora themselves have of the most beautiful chemistry. Even the antagonists in this book are shown to love, hate, and cherish all the same. There is much love and much loss, and it all makes things worth fighting for.

When I first read The Rage of Dragons, I was captivated with Winter's brutal and dramatic writing. With The Fires of Vengeance, he takes everything from The Rage of Dragons and ups his game in an exceptional sequel that manages to outperform its predecessor. Everything is bloodier, chaotic, and more violent, the scope is bigger, the stakes are higher, and the storytelling is bolder and better than ever. Everyone struggles to adapt to the new, yet tumultuous reality where everything can crumble to pieces at any minute and everything they thought they knew are challenged. Along with the new reality, Winter forces his characters to make drastic choices as they're cornered and live with their consequences as the quest to unite the Uhmlaba continues. The Fires of Vengeance is truly some of the most exhilarating, intense, and emotionally compelling books I have read in 2020 and this has utterly convinced me to continue reading The Burning series to its conclusion.

ARC provided by the publisher—Orbit—in exchange for an honest review.

The Fires of Vengeance is an excellent sequel. If Winter can keep this impressive quality up for the remaining two books, the series is guaranteed to be included in many fantasy reader’s lists of favorite fantasy series.

Two things first. One, can we first appreciate that cover art by Karla Ortiz? The cover art of this series is simply stunning. Just look at it, I thought the cover art of The Rage of Dragons was superb already, but Ortiz managed to create an even better one for The Fires of Vengeance. Second, I want to thank Winter for writing this novel; it appeared to me at the right time. Last month was one of—if not—the worst reading month I’ve ever had in my reading career. I’m not kidding; half of the total number of books I read last month received a 3-stars or below rating from me. Two books I read in September actually took me eight days of struggle to finish even though they’re about 700 pages long. For comparison, none of the books in The Stormlight Archives or Malazan Book of the Fallen ever took me more than a week to finish even though they’re like 500 pages longer. The Fires of Vengeance, though, oh my goodness, I must say, it felt so damn satisfying to read an epic fantasy novel that’s equally page-turning, intense, and emotional again.

“Keep fighting and I swear that before it consumes us, we’ll burn our pain to ash in the fires of vengeance.”


The Fires of Vengeance is the second book in The Burning quartet by Evan Winter, and it’s the sequel to the blazing debut The Rage of Dragons. In my honest opinion, The Fires of Vengeance successfully took the wonderful foundations established in the first book, and Winter ignites them to a new height. As the stories continue immediately from where the first book left off, Tau’s quest for revenge continues to be the main driving strength of the plot. However, at its core, I like to believe that The Fires of Vengeance is not only about revenge; it’s about resistance, it’s about finding and accumulating the collective strength to fight back against injustice. Enough is enough, and I loved reading about it. Plus, we also get to learn a great deal about the world-building and history of the series here, especially regarding Isihogo, the Caste, and The Cull.

“There’s more of us than them, and when we finally refuse to survive on the scraps they throw us, our numbers will make all the difference.”


Similar to the first book, most of the narrative is told from Tau’s POV. I have to say, the more I read about Tau, the more similar he and Darrow from Red Rising Saga by Pierce Brown became, and I loved it. I know Darrow isn’t a popularly well-liked character among many readers of the series, but there’s something extraordinarily adrenaline-pumping about his journey that compelled me insanely; that’s what I also get from reading this series. I highly enjoyed reading Tau’s inspiring determination; suffering and pain constantly visit him, but he won’t back down. One of the biggest improvements I found in this book, though, is related to fixing the small issue I had with the first book. In my review of The Rage of Dragons, I’ve mentioned that it’s a missed opportunity that the role of the female characters was close to non-existent despite being repeatedly praised as Gifted or powerful in the storyline. Thankfully, Winter has completely redeemed that issue with justice here. The addition of Queen Tsiora, Nyah, Esi, and many other strong female characters to the already great cast from the first book made the storyline more exciting, and more importantly, it made me care towards more characters than before. This is what I wanted and expected from the text in the first book, and Winter delivered them satisfyingly with incredible precision.

“Nyah told me that life, like love, is meant to be shared and that we are least linked to our own selves when we have no one with whom to share what we are. None of us are meant to go through this life alone.”


Speaking of characters, either I have forgotten how good Winter was in the first book, or he has tremendously improved his strength in characterizations here. It’s understandably easy to get caught up in Tau and his journey, but if you haven’t read this book, I want you to pay attention to the few non-Tau’s POV chapters when you get to this book. For example, there was this one short chapter told from a new POV character named Duma, and Winter managed to make me care about this character within a few pages. I’ve read books that take me two or three full novels to get me invested in a character. Winter, like many other fantastic authors, did it in a few pages; that’s something magnificent. I have always wondered how Tau looked like in the eyes of his villains, and when Winter put one of the villains as the POV chapters, his talent for characterizations truly shines. From the villain’s perspective, it makes you really wonder who’s the real villain here; Tau himself looked like a demon from their view. When it comes down to it, the conflicts could be boils down to the fact that both sides think they’re in the right.

“You call me a monster because I won’t let you treat me like my life is worthless, a thing to be used and thrown away?” it said. “You call me a monster because I refuse to live like you think I deserve? If that’s what you mean by monster, watch me be monstrous!”


It felt so effortless for me to submerge myself into Winter’s engaging writing and well-written action sequences. The pacing and momentum building in The Fires of Vengeance were impeccable. Winter has a talent for pacing his narrative and building the emotions within each scene gradually before finally exploding them in immersive violent confrontations. Oh yes, believe me, this sequel is a much more violent and bloody—with more dragons and demons—novel than its predecessor. The reminiscent-to-Dark Souls training montage made a return, the tension-packed duels were spectacular, and the scale of the violence in this sequel gets more brutal and destructive. Tau’s wrath left blood in his path, and who remained from the ruin will continue to do the same. Vengeance begets vengeance. Blood begets blood. Death begets death. It’s a never-ending loop of sorrow and loss. Maybe the price of war can be measured by the number of victims of atrocities. Reading Winter’s action sequences is a delight and gripping experience because they’re so well-written and vivid, but what made Winter’s action sequences even better was the empathizing emotional conflicts and intensely important themes attached to the battles.

“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.”


I’ve read and reviewed more than 400 fantasy books now, and my instincts scream that The Fires of Vengeance has efficaciously proven Evan Winter as a future big-name in the fantasy genre. This is, without a shadow of a doubt, an exceptional sequel that succeeded over its incredible predecessor. The characterizations are better, the stakes are higher, the scales of the battles are bigger, and the devastations inflicted are grimmer. The Fires of Vengeance is being released next month in November alongside other future best-selling books in the epic fantasy genre like Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson, The Burning God by Rebecca Kuang, Call of the Bone Ships by R.J. Barker, The Stone Knife by Anna Stephens, and several more. I’m confident in saying that you would be giving yourself a massive disservice if you decided to skip on this in favor of the others. Instead, here’s a better option, buy/borrow and read them all. Consider November as a celebratory month to treat yourself, and consume this absorbing story about war, resistance, camaraderie, and justice.

“Evil must be punished or it will continue undeterred until it consumes all that is good.”


Official release date: 12th November 2020 (UK) and 10th November 2020 (US)

You can pre-order the book from: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Book Depository (Free shipping) | Bookshop (Support Local Bookstores!)

The quotes in this review were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-arc of this book! My opinions are my own. There are spoilers for The Rage of Dragons in this review.

I loved the Rage of Dragons so when I was offered the chance to read The Fires of Vengeance as an e-arc, I litteraly did a happy dance in my living room. The moment I opened the book on my e-reader I was immediately sucked back into this world. If I could have, I would have finished this book in one sitting.

The Fires of Vengeance picks up right where The Rage of Dragons ended. We find the main character, champion Tau Solaris, and his queen Tsiora, in the aftermath of battle. But the war is far from over - they now have 2 enemies to worry about and very little time to figure out how to defeat them. While Tau is still seeking to avenge both his father's death and the loss of many of his sword-brothers. Queen Tsiora has her own reasons for wanting revenge. Betrayed by her own council, she needs to secure her right to the throne.

As the title suggests, vengeance is an important theme in this book. As a reader I could feel the pain, the grief and the burning rage that drove Tau to become what he has. There are so many people that have wronged him. And worse - most of them didn't even think twice about it. Born a Lesser, Tau's life never mattered as much to the higher caste of the Nobles. Neither did the lives of his family, his friends, or any other Lesser in the country. The injustice of this becomes all the clearer to Tau when he keeps losing people he cares about, only because their lives are valued less. Tau's rage feels justified to me, while at the same time it consumes him. There is a constant fight within him between his heart, his sanity and the cold reality of war. I think the injustice of the castes is worked out very well, especially the unwillingness of most Nobles to take command from a Lesser.

There is a a lot of fighting in this book. It goes from one battle scene to the next and there is not a lot of room for the relationships between characters to deepen and to learn to understand the characters better. Apart from Tau and Tsiora, the other characters may have benefited from a little more screen time, so to speak. This might have bothered me, if the fighting scenes weren't written just that damn good. The brutality of it and the horrible decisions that needed to be made, made me feel heartbroken at times.

This series is rapidly rising in my list of favorite fantasy books of all time. If you love epic fantasy with epic fight scenes, you cannot miss this series!