A first Jenn Lyons book for me, and I was not disappointed. This book ticked all the boxes for a high-fantasy, dragon filled adventure, bursting with action from beginning to end.

The world building is immense - so large that it definitely takes some time to get your head around. The descriptions are lush, the creatures and people painted so strongly, mixed in with the system they have in their world. I will say that I still don't 100% understand the meaning of the social and garden rings which people seem to pick at 15 years of age. Alas, there was no explanation but a lot of hinting, so maybe I'm just dense...

The storyline was amazing, being split into sizable parts to allow a sense of where a new major plot point was happening. While the beginning may have been a bit slower, with the plot set up and the meeting of all our beloved characters, it was worth the build up because it was just non-stop action, adventure and dragons. Gwydinion grew on me a lot, his mischievous mind always turning. I also loved Sicaryon and wished there was almost more of him.

There was also hint of a potential growing poly relationship, which didn't feel forced or sudden at all. While it's true that the attraction between Ris and Anahrod felt quite quick, the story not being too clear on how much time passed between start to end, it wasn't quite insta-love nor slowburn.

I am seeing this a standalone, even though it opens up a way for a sequel if needs be with the ending. Since that is the case, I look forward to reading Jenn Lyons other books.

A new stand-alone fantasy about dragons was definitely a book that I had to read especially as I had enjoyed Jenn Lyons previous books.
Anahrod was supposedly executed 10 years by being thrown off a cliff however, she managed to survive and is now being searched for by a group who want her to join them in stealing a dragon’s hoard.
This is a heist story but it is also about the conflict between the dragons and their riders and the wider human civilisation. The dragons in this novel aren’t cute pets but have the power to destroy cities and won’t tolerate any threat to their supremacy.
I loved parts of this story but other parts didn’t hold my interest so much. The group carrying out the heist didn’t really come to life for me apart from Anahrod and even she at times seemed to be much younger than her supposedly 30 years. I wasn’t convinced by the romance between Anahrod and Ris as it felt as if it came out of nowhere and I’ve never been keen on Instalove.
I did really enjoy the world building and the different cities that we visited. The idea of the garden rings was brilliant and the treatment of gender seemed really well done to me. Although I didn’t feel that many of the characters were that memorable, my favourite character was Gwyndinion and I enjoyed seeing how he grew up during the book.
This was an enjoyable read but didn’t have the depth for me of the author’s previous work.
Thank you to Net Galley and Pan Macmillan for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

After careful consideration I decided to DNF this book at 56%. Sadly, for a book with so much promise (dragons, heists, a potentially poly relationship), I didn't find myself picking it up nearly as much as I'd like, it's just too boring and convenient.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

a big thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing this arc!

i really enjoyed this book! the dragons are very interesting and i like how it doesn’t follow the trope of making them docile pets; here, they’re big and threatening and will probably ruin your life lol
the main character is supposed to be in her ~30s but her characterization fell kind of flat. at lots of times she reads as a teenager or someone on her early 20s. the romantic relationship between her and some others characters felt a bit rushed for me and like it was coming out of nowhere, but perhaps this will be improved on the final version of the story.
there’s a lot of diversity on this book and it’s all very heartwarming! the way the author added the idea of ‘garden rings’ is amazing!! i wish we had something like that in real life 😅 there are a few background characters that i got attached to, so i was glad when i saw them coming back at the end of the book.
overall it was a very good reading experience! i would advise people to not get into this book with the idea they’re going to read another heist like the one in six of crows; though the premise of a heist + found family is similar, their execution is pretty different.

It took me a few chapters to get into the story, but once I was finally in, I didn't want it to end.

In a fantasy world ruled by dragons, humans are considered an inferior species who is supposed to serve the dragons and help them from getting madness due to their magic. Anahrod, a human, was falsely accused of a crime when she was a teenager at the academy, and she has been living in hiding for over 10 years. However, some people come looking for her to have her aid them in stealing from the dragon queen. It's an impossible feat, but their plan reveals a conspiracy against the true king, that the queen started to gain power.

I enjoyed the different relationships among the characters, and especially the polyamory love story. While the ending was a little bit cliche, I'd be curious to see how the relationship between Anahrod and the king of dragons develop.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor for a digital copy of this book.

Anahrod was sentenced to death 17 years ago and thrown off of a cloud cutter at fifty thousand feet, but now has been found by the very people she’s been running from - dragon riders, and, oddly, a 15 year old boy. Unexpectedly though, they don’t plan on returning her to the dragon regent Neveranimas who ordered her death, instead forming a band of misfits intent on stealing from the dragon’s secret hoard. Anahrod tries her best not to bond with friends old and new, while keeping her particular abilities close to her chest.

The premise of this book is intriguing and sounds like a great combination - dragons, magic, romance, and a heist! Sign me up. The plot itself has sufficient twists and turns to remain interesting once you get past the first quarter, although none of said twists and turns are surprising, in fact all of them are heavily foreshadowed.

Unfortunately for me, this book is trying to do too many things, and not succeeding at any of them. If this wasn’t an ARC I would have DNF’d this book at around the 5-10% mark. The introductory chapters are clunky and too heavy with unnecessary worldbuilding that then leaves no space to get a genuine feel for the characters. It fails to follow the advice of “show don’t tell” - we are told for example, that Ris has been flirting with Anahrod, but I recall being surprised by this information, as nothing about their interactions had up until that point been flirty or banter filled. There are too many characters introduced at once with no distinct voice between them, other than the one who speaks only in obscure poetry and quotes from in-world plays and literature.

I believe this book could benefit from another round of editing. It is possible that the author’s writing style just isn’t for me - this is the first Jenn Lyons book I’ve read. However, there are a number of very clunky sentences (especially up front) that can’t just be attributed to “writing style” - for example, “Ris and Naeron might have Deeper ancestry (Ris) or even come from the Deep (Naeron) but neither understood jungles.” The book also suffers from a lack of self-awareness. The characters go to great lengths to mock each other for their lack of creativity when it comes to naming things, while the author added fantasy vowel combinations to the name Jamie to come up with Jaemeh.

Despite supposedly having all the elements I wanted to read, I could not get into this book. One of the main issues for me is that the first tenth of the book simply did not grip me. It can’t decide what it wants to be: it’s a romance, but there’s no build up to the romance; there’s a bit of smutty language, but then there’s a fade to black; it’s a dragon mystery but there’s not that many dragons and it’s also very predictable. I do truly think that there is a good novel in here somewhere, it just needed more time and more editing to be something I would have enjoyed reading.

Unfortunately not for me as a reader. I struggled to get into the story. I really wanted to like this more. The writing style was very hard for me to read. I would still recommend this if you enjoy the authors previous work and dragons.

I LOVED "A chorus of dragons", and so, even though the blurb didn't necessarily captured me that much, I wanted to try "The sky on fire". As expected, I did love it as much as its sibling, but it is still a nice surprise I enjoyed reading.
Jenn Lyons as the knack to create orginal, full worlds that aren't seen and seen again, and I love her for it, especially because she integrate queer characters seemlessly (for me, at least). These characters are not define by their attractions or identity, or at least not only by them, and it is such a pleasure to see it. Same goes for gender. I tend to have trouble with female main character, a personnal bias also rooted in the tendency of having a female character defined mostly by her "feminity", being a woman before being a person and it annoys me to hell.
I didn't have that impression with Anahrod. Or any of the other characters. Sure, Anahrod's relationship with two other characters was proeminent enough, and I can see it being an issue for some, but all in all, I liked the balance with the plot, and the fact that it wasn't a simple love triangle but more than that (like "A chorus of dragons", for those who have read it.) Sure, the characters might have had better defined goal, more concrete desire and better development, but it worked well enough for me, so I call it a well done job.
A plot who goes in many direction while keeping one goal in sight, maybe a bit wobly at time but I enjoyed it, even with the change in location, numerous characters etc. It was a great way to explore the universe.
I liked the dragons too. Cruels, but not only, with some being kinder and fairer, other being way more interested by power and their ego. Diverse, I should say, like humans can be, something I like to see in other "intelligent/sentient" species.
So ! All in all a great read, with a cast of characters I cared enough about, a fast moving plot and wonderful world !

I mostly enjoyed the world-building and adventure aspect of this book, which were very well done. The story is fast paced, which I like and the romance subplot came through well.
The only thing I wished for was more depth in the characters. I wasn't able to form a connection to them and think that was the one thing missing for me.

A group of misfits plan a heist to rob a dragon in a high stakes fantasy adventure.

This was a really good read. Fast paced. Wide detailed world building with a nice ensemble of characters.

I went into this book wanting to find another on off romantacy and was pleasantly surprised that this book chose plot over romance.

Although the plot was fast paced and detailed I did find the characterisation lacking. Would have really liked for the characters motivations to be more fleshed out and to have taken the time to really dive deep. But with this being a one shot story I wasn’t too put off by it.

Such a good standalone, dragon rider fantasy! A well flushed out world, diverse characters and a queer, polyamorous romantic subplot. This just cements how much I love this authors writing.

The sky on fire is a standalone fantasy book with dragons and a high-stakes heist, promising an action-packed and intense story. In theory, I should have loved it. In reality, it was so disappointing I almost cried.

This was my very first book from Jenn Lyons and I'm afraid to say I really, really disliked the writing style, which is what made this book especially hard to finish. It's just personal preference and there's nothing wrong with it, but it's extremely descriptive and wordy. It made me want to skim through the words every time a half-page long description appeared.

However, the main issue is the characters: this book feels like a ton of characters just slapped together at random. New characters are constantly introduced, just to appear only one more time at a super convenient time, to do something to further the plot. The main characters don't fare much better: they are all fun and quirky, but lack complexity and have very minimal personality traits. At this point I have would preferred less characters, but with a developed personality and a satisfying arc.

The plot was also extremely predictable: there were no plot twists of any kind and everything went exactly how I expected it to go, which is simply not good. The pacing was a bit off too. Getting into this novel was very difficult and it dragged quite a lot in the middle. While the last 30% or so redeems it a little (sort of), it's not enough to make it truly satisfying.

To end on a positive note though, there were a few things I enjoyed.
The worldbuilding is dense, perhaps a bit too much for a standalone, but it overall stands on its own legs without infodumping too much.
I especially appreciated the representation we got, even of a few of the "less common" LGBT+ identities.
I also liked the interesting twist the author gives to the classic dragon/dragonrider trope, making dragons the “abusers” and not the other way around.

Overall, I think my main problem was that I was just very bored throughout the whole book. I just wanted to dnf it and I would have under any other circumstances.
The sky on fire is a standalone fantasy book with dragons and a high-stakes heist, promising an action-packed and intense story. In theory, I should have loved it. In reality, it was so disappointing I almost cried.

This was my very first book from Jenn Lyons and I'm afraid to say I really, really disliked the writing style, which is what made this book especially hard to finish. It's just personal preference and there's nothing wrong with it, but it's extremely descriptive and wordy. It made me want to skim through the words every time a half-page long description appeared.

However, the main issue is the characters: this book feels like a ton of characters just slapped together at random. New characters are constantly introduced, just to appear only one more time at a super convenient time, to do something to further the plot. The main characters don't fare much better: they are all fun and quirky, but lack complexity and have very minimal personality traits. At this point I have would preferred less characters, but with a developed personality and a satisfying arc.

The plot was also extremely predictable: there were no plot twists of any kind and everything went exactly how I expected it to go, which is simply not good. The pacing was a bit off too. Getting into this novel was very difficult and it dragged quite a lot in the middle. While the last 30% or so redeems it a little (sort of), it's not enough to make it truly satisfying.

To end on a positive note though, there were a few things I enjoyed.
The worldbuilding is dense, perhaps a bit too much for a standalone, but it overall stands on its own legs without infodumping too much.
I especially appreciated the representation we got, even of a few of the "less common" LGBT+ identities.
I also liked the interesting twist the author gives to the classic dragon/dragonrider trope, making dragons the “abusers” and not the other way around.

Overall, I think my main problem was that I was just very bored throughout the whole book. I just wanted to dnf it and I would have under any other circumstances.

This is the first Jenn Lyons book I've read. Going into it I didn't know what to expect with her writing style.
This started off really well. Had me intrigued to learn about the world and characters.
While the pacing was slow at times, I was still invested for most of the story. Only losing interest for a tiny amount of time but was soon gripped again.
The World was interesting to learn about. With Dragons and riders. How they came to connect etc.
The book ends open enough for a potential sequel. Which if it happens I'll happily pick it up.

A heist with dragons?!!!

A group of misfits save Anahrod, independent and wilful and capable of communicating with animals, from capture by the local warlord. In return, they plan to rob the most powerful dragon’s hoard. A dragon that wants Anahrod dead.

All of Lyonn’s characters are always extremely quirky, distinct, and oftentimes brash. In such a diverse group with varying ages, motives, skills, and identities, she is able to build a fun, strong, and bold dynamic.

“It was easier," Ris corrected, "when the only person I loved was a dragon." Then she realized what she'd just said and sighed, closed her eyes, hung her head. "You're both like damn jungle vines." Hopefully that was because they were growing on her, and not because she thought they both needed to be pruned with a sword.

Don’t worry - this is not nearly as complex as Ruin of Kings.

Lyonns is always genius with her worldbuilding. Here, citizens wear ring which denote different aspects of their identity: career, gender, sexual preference, bedroom activities, etc. This seems like such an easier way of knowing who to date.

One thing that remains the same from her Chorus of Dragons series is the teasing at BDSM. Whilst this isn’t a ‘spicy’ book per se, it’s more dialogue hinting at fantasies, I personally didn’t find it to my taste.

“Shame I couldn't find a ring that means 'I'm attracted to people who are vengeance -obsessed and prone to extreme violence! Would've been perfect.’”
“Very niche.”
“No, very niche is renic root, which apparently means I am sexually attracted to cloth dolls."

This could be read as a standalone, and only the epilogue hints at how the next book might start. I am always astounded at authors who manage to write a high epic fantasy that satisfyingly ties off most loose ends in one book.

Thank you to Tor for providing an arc in exchange for a review.