A great continuation to a series. If you thought after reading The Rage of Dragons that this guy cannot take anymore mental and physical pain, think again. Tau went from zero to hero, propelled by the need for revenge, only to be faced with impossible tasks and decades of segregation and bias. This story has got so many layers to it, and at the centre of it all is a broken man with a clear goal bordering on obsession. I cannot wait to read the next book in this series.

Thankyou to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me a copy of this book. I absolutely loved Rage of Dragons and was so excited to move straight onto this, I already loved the characters and i could not wait to see how they grew in this sequel. I enjoyed the fact that it picks up straight from where book 1 ended, the world is full of drama and politics, war and violence and i live for it, This has most definitely become my favourite series of 2021.

After picking up this book I realised it was book 2 in a series so went out and bought book 1 to read first and I am so glad that I did. I fell in love with this story and it's characters very quickly and was happy to see that this book started immediately after the first book ended.

Whilst there was a lot less fight scenes in this book (which honestly I kind of preferred) there was still plenty of action, but it also allowed for some great character growth. We were able to learn more about the history of their world as well as further develop the inter-character relationships.

I found this book easier to read than book 1 but that may be because all of the worldbuilding was already in place and did not slow the pace of the book down. I will say that I think it does suffer slightly from being a middle book, there does not seem to be enough in it and if I had read it as a stand alone it would have been disappointing. But it isn't so I didn't! However I am not keen on books that finish just before a big battle etc as it appears to end too abruptly.

But do not let the above detract from what I thought was a great sequel that kept me so engaged I was able to finish it within 2 days. I also appreciated a glossary in the back of this one that I have just asked for in book one.

I will certainly keep an eye out for book 3 and for now must wait :(

Thank you to Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for a complimentary advanced reader's copy of this book.

4.5🌟

Paperback copy of 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑽𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 is out now! This is the second installment of the African-inspired series, 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈✨.

I read 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑫𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒔 two days ago, it was brilliant which made me a lil bit terrified that the second book won't live up to it. But I was just stressing for nothing because 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑽𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 is a blazing sequel! Second book syndrome who? 😎

It picked up where the first book ended, and it's great that the author gave a recap on the first chapter. Three things are definitely my favorite - world-building, character development, and writing style 💯.

The war is from over and the stakes are higher. One minute we're strategizing to retake the throne, the next, we're in a battle. And it's more violent and bloodier than ever!

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑽𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 is a masterpiece! It took me some time before I picked it up, but I'm really regretting not reading it sooner 🙈. And how on earth am going to wait for one year for the third book?!

Big thanks to Orbit/Little, Brown Book Group and Netgalley for graciously providing a DRC 🥰✨ All thoughts and opinions are mine.

The Fires of Vengence is the second book in The Burning series and it was fantastic. The first book was amazing and this book did not disappoint me either. The worldbuilding and the character growth improved so much. I liked reading Tau's change a lot. This series has so much potential and Evan Winter is an excellent author. I can't wait to read the next installment. I'll recommend everyone who wants to read an epic story.

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 it matter, 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.