The Rage of Dragons

I am in awe. Amazed. I had no expectations at all heading into this book. Never did I imagine I would end up as mindblown as I am. Sincerely exceptional writing. Reading this book is an experience that is truly hard to compare to anything else I have ever read. Tau Solarin is my favorite character of all time. There has never been such a depth to a character's development. To go from fhe Tau you meet to the Tau you are left with is just beyond the scope of what I thought he could become. The way it is written, you feel what he feels while on this journey with him. So many emotions from anxiety, to rage, to fear, to strength to saddness. You go through it all with him and you understand truly grear he is!! There so many characters to appreciate and love. Aren, Jabri, Zuri, Hadith, Uduak, Yaw, Oyibo, Jayyed, Anan. I love them all. These are characters I fell I will never forget, ever. I am still quite new to fantasy. Reading this made me sure that fantasy is a genre I can enjoy and immerse myself in. This book was all consuming. It takes you in and holds to the end. I didn't think of much else other what could happen next when I was not reading. Its pulls you back to its pages and it does not disappoint. It is unpredictable and it is incredible.

One has to forget a lot and be willing to learn as you go to get through this punchy read. Yet, it’s a page turner and the main character, Tau, is especially hard to dislike. The development of his character is something that is enjoyable as the story unfolds. All the magic and its implications go far and beyond anything provided in Game of Thrones. The quality of this story falls well short of GOT. And yet, the spirit and energy of the story keep things moving. The interesting caste system that ruthlessly plays to burn itself down is hard to navigate throughout the story. This can be frustrating for a tale that tends to move too fast, but the goal here is to set up the series, so it takes some getting used to. There is too much fantasy and not enough patiently plotted architecture, and yet, I still enjoyed it. Will I read the next one…I give it 50/50.

What a great book! This African culture inspired fantasy is a breath of fresh and a great addition to the genre. I've researched some African cultures for projects I'm pursuing, so I was very interested to see how Evan Winter would incorporate this influence while still creating a world of his own. I think he did a fantastic job of introducing new terms, names, customs, world building and societal hierarchies seeped with African influence into a traditional epic fantasy format. Tau is the protagonist and the main POV except for just a few instances. Its a coming of age, warrior school story line that becomes the path that Tau's character follows. While that's a common story telling approach, Evan did it in a very unique and believable way for Tau. Its a full-on revenge arc for Tau and along the way his character is a little frustrating to read at times with the decisions he makes, but that's why I liked him so much. He wasn't perfect and didn't always do, think or say the right thing. But he was loyal, loved his friends deeply, earnest and driven. The cast around him was very good and several were fleshed out pretty well and you cared about them and saddened when some of the ones you became invested in were killed. Because there is lots of killing, lots of fighting, lots of duels and lots of close quarter combat. Give the book a few chapters while it builds its story, because once it gets rolling, its a sprint to the end with action, surprises, reveals and big story turns. Its very exciting and action packed read and I read the last 75% of the book in 2 days. I couldn't put it down once Tau got in warrior school. While there is lots of fighting, there are also good relationships that are created that give some balance to the violence that Tau always finds himself in the middle of. He does care for his friend and finds love, but struggles with how to address that while wanting to stay single-minded and focused on his goal. I really enjoyed this book and its great to see an African inspired fantasy done so well. The magic system was also very unique and well done. The Isihogo is something that you will learn about and enjoy and fear at the same time. Evan revealed more and more through the characters about how it worked, but only when it served the story. I enjoyed the methodical paced explanation of the magic system The Gifted, female mages, used through "seeing" them use it rather than an information dump from one character to another about how the whole thing works. Did I mention there are dragons and demons? Once you get to the end of the book, you will enjoy the rich and complex story that Evan created and the next 3 books will carry on. I can't wait to read the 2 book in the series, The Fires of Vengeance and see how Tau deals with the aftermath of how Rage of Dragons ended.

Wow. Wow. Wow! After (trying- and failing -to read) Black Leopard, Red Wolf, I was nervous to pick this one up. I let it sit for months on account of that nervousness. And I'm here to tell you that I wish I hadn't! This book has the appeal of being culturally and structurally different from almost everything else out there while still being relatable, epic, brilliantly narrated, and realistic in the way that matters most: human reactions and motivations. Prentice Onayemi gives a brilliant audio performance. His narration is clear and precise. His voices are varied, distinct, and have just enough accent to add authenticity while still being easy to understand. His vocal inflections are spot on, and his tempo shifts are nearly perfect, clearly conveying the tension in any given scene. The story opens with a brilliant prologue that gives us a wonderful taste of the magic system while establishing a bit of the world's mythology that later proves highly misunderstood. In the main story, we're introduced to a very interesting culture and caste system s we get to know Tau, the main character. Although he is definitely obsessive with a severe case of tunnel vision, he's a very interesting character that feels so real he's almost like a good friend now. I have to admire and applaud his dedication to his goals. A good chunk of the novel passed before I had any real idea where the story was going and I absolutely love that. The romance sub plot was a little too simple and over-convenient, but it was still fun. The writing itself is pretty brilliant. I love the chapter setup, with longer chapters that are broken up into shorter sub headings. My only real complaints are there were a few point of view shifts that felt really random and unnecessary, and there are some instances of passive voice that likewise felt unnecessary. Overall brilliantly written. Now, for the ending. There are so many threads that come together, so many questions finally answered, so many new questions asked, and so much utterly awesome here that I just don't know where to begin! On a personal note, I'm not terribly fond of what dragons are in this world, but elsewise this is a brilliantly imagined setting, and a brilliantly told story. Every fan of epic fantasy should read this book, particularly if you're fond of antiheroes, conflicted characters, and situations that force them to choose between bad, worse, or a different kind of worse.

Mythology. An original magic system. The hero’s journey. That and so much more. This was my third reread, and I already look forward to the next one!

I'll start with what I liked. The combat scenes are a good start, and they were amazing! I loved all the creative weapon and action descriptions, and the way a move was described first as what the attacker wanted it to be and then as what actually happened was a really unique touch. The characters were charming, Zuri especially, and each of them had realistic motivations and interactions. I especially liked Zuri, the way she manipulated her power to force her and the people she liked into favorable positions was really cool! The twists were also really interesting. I like that there was an actual reason for the dragons to be helping them instead of the whole "we bonded them" everywhere else has. The youngling was an amazing twist, and the twist at the end was also really good! It did feel a bit out of left field but it was handled well and I enjoyed reading about it. Now onto the things I didn't like. An easy start is the whole "both sides" narrative approach the novel takes when talking about genocide. In this book both the native people and the colonists were trying to fully wipe each other out and make the other suffer as much as humanly possible. It feels a bit odd to tell the story of a group of people colonizing land, but then making the native people's violence a lot worse and more demonic than the settlers. A much smaller issue was how Tau's edgy-ness got a bit excessive at times. It's believable for the most part, but then he's calling himself death and then spending 5 pages talking about the tragedies he's faced and the people he's lost. It's a bit overdone.

Let’s start the review where the book starts, the prologue. This is a far meatier prologue than most fantasy novels. It does a lot for the novel in terms of world-building and establishing the magick system used throughout. It also establishes that this is a book where giant, bloody battles are going to happen, and that the protagonists (NOT the good guys, but we’ll get into that later) are going to be fighting against overwhelming odds throughout the novel. I was very impressed how much heavy lifting is done , especially considering this is the author’s debut novel. After the prologue, we pick up the story of Tau, the main character, a teenage boy. Like, most teenage boys, Tau is angry. And he’s going to stay angry throughout the book. His rage is going to inform all of his choices, and form the backbone of the story. He’s got a lot to be angry about. His society is a caste system, the girl he likes isn’t attainable, in order to become a citizen he has to become a soldier and go fight against an overwhelming horde hell bent on destroying his entire society, etc. etc. Not that their society is a shining beacon of morality justice. Heavily caste based, fled from their own homeland due to a mysterious big bad (who I’m pretty sure will show up in Book 3, but I get ahead of myself), invaded and took over a large chunk of land from an indigenous culture, which they then used WMDs (dragons) on to maintain their fragile graspi, and then spent the next two hundred years throwing every available citizen into the grinder instead of, you know, forging a peace. Tau leaves his small hamlet to go to the big city, where he manages to get picked for an elite military through sheer stubbornness. My favorite part of the book is the middle section training montage. I’m a sucker for those. The end of the book is satisfyingly twisty, and Winter’s build up of angsty Tau makes the choices made at the end feel earned and sets up a sequel. Good news on that front as Winters signed a deal for another 4 books in the series. Revelant Tweet Without giving too much away, I like how this book, subtly, manages to discuss and comment upon colonialism, class inequality, nation level diplomacy, while tackling “lesser” personal issues as well. How much do you owe your country? Is serving more or less important than being happy? Is a life worth living if revenge is your every thought? Are the things we do meaningful if done selfishly? Winter’s writing is good enough that the various moral and ethical issues he interrogates are woven throughout the story, and don’t stand out until you put the book down for a bit and start thinking about what you read. He also has the book broken up into mini-arcs, making for a lot of natural places to pause. I ignored them and read the last 40 percent of the book in one sitting. Whoops. Final Verdict: I’m super excited for the FOUR sequels we’re going to get. I can’t wait to see how Tau’s unique training regime is going to feature in the sequels. I’m sorta hoping for him to get his own unit. On the preorder list.

Amazing world and character building. I felt the emotions and pain of Tau and it was like being right there beside him as he trained and fought. Loved the way the author showed the emotional pain and madness within Tau as he pushes himself to go beyond the caste he was born into.On the other side is a greatness he doesn’t even see but his sword brothers and allies ground him, love him whether he wants it or not. This is the birth of a true legend!

I stumbled on a recommendation on reddit for this book and just had to try it. And I have to say that this was one of the best fantasy novels I ever read. The action is breathtaking, the characters are wonderful and the conflicts are so believable and well written! Also I love the world Evan Winter has created, it's not your typical nothern-oriented culture, which I'm kind of tired of. There are so many cool ideas in this story and so many depths even if there is a lot of action and great described fights. Not one moment was boring! Thanks for this great book, I can't wait for the next!

Últimamente me ha dado por leer literatura fantástica, y dentro de la categoría, este es de las mejores opciones. Toda la historia sigue al personaje principal, sin saltos en el tiempo ni deviandose hacia acontecimientos paralelos, por lo que la trama se desarrolla a buen ritmo. El escenario está bien planteado y es original, sin largas ni complicadas descripciones: un poco de historia, marco social y religioso bien definido, y clara justificación de las partes enfrentadas. El progreso del personaje principal tiene sentido, no hay romanticismo absurdo que interfiera con la historia, ocasionales recursos a la magia en la medida correcta y dentro de límites razonables. En definitiva, evita los errores en los que normalmente caen este tipo de libros. Mi única duda... creo que el autor podría haber terminado aquí la historia, y sin embargo continuará. Los personajes que se han ido en el camino, el protagonista que ha alcanzado su máximo apogeo, la estructura social y política desmantelada, me hacen difícil imaginar una continuación a la misma altura. Por curiosidad y como premio a una buena primera parte, voy a por la segunda.

“And, like that, there was no going back. A Dragon had been called and someone would have to die.” Leah and I are back with our backlist buddy reads, and this time we picked up The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter. You can check out her review here! I’ll admit, reading the first 25% of this story, I wasn’t sure it would be for me. The story meandered a little, and I wasn’t too sure where it was heading, but the other 75% was absolutely outstanding and ensured this book would make my top reads of the year. I do think this story is seriously hard to sum up without giving away spoilers, so I wont even try except to say you should go in knowing as little as humanly possible because the plot twists and story line are simply epic. The story is told predominantly from the POV of Tau, a lesser who is training to become one of the Ishash, a low rung on the ladder of the Omehi military. At the start of the story he fears war, fears the death it will bring and is determined to get himself injured so he never had to see it for himself. But then, as every great protagonist before him, he goes through a tragic, life changing event that opens up a new path before him. Instead of fear, he now finds himself fuelled by revenge, and on a journey to become the greatest fighter the Omehi have ever seen. He is an incredibly complicated character, someone who I loved and wanted to hit over the head in equal measure. His thirst for vengeance causes him to develop blinders in so many other parts of his life. He could become the greatest fighter ever and end the war between the Omehi and the Hedeni for good, but he is too focused on his vengeance to look at the bigger picture. He is neither a hero, nor an anti-hero, but rather someone who sits in the muggy place in between which makes for one interesting journey. As well as Tau we do get the odd chapter from another POV, none of which I will mention for spoilers, but Winter brings them in at the perfect moment of the story to make an impact. These additional POV’s add tension, drama, emotion and everything in between and allow us to see the true strength of Tau’s progression through the story. I think what first threw me about this story was the writing style. As a lover of descriptive, prose filled writing, Winter’s brash and simplistic style took a little getting used to, but after a few chapters I found it incredibly refreshing. There were no superfluous sections, rather every single paragraph, sentence, word added something to the story and, despite it being a fast paced story line, you find yourself going slowly, making sure you take everything in knowing that it will turn up or have a part to play in future chapters. With the addition of some truly epic and emotional plot twists, The Rage of Dragons is a story that starts at a fast pace and never truly lets up. I think to really enjoy this book you need patience. Patience and trust in the author that he absolutely knows what he is doing. I mentioned above that the first quarter or so of the book meandered a little, but it’s only as you get further in that you realise just how much world building he put into this first section, something I was incredibly glad for because it meant that the story didn’t have to slow down in later chapters for things to be explained. I also adored how he used Tau’s interactions with the other characters, especially Zuri his love interest, to give us a greater insight into the spirit based magic system that runs through the story. For the Omehi people, it is only Women who can become gifted (use magic) and within them there are different levels of power, all linked to Ishigo, the Spirt World where there power comes from. There are no info dumps, instead any information we get feels naturally placed in the story and I loved learning about the history of the Omehi people. There’s a real old-style epic fantasy feel to this story. Everything from the morally grey hero that, despite not being wholly good, you can’t help but root for, to the Dragons & magic system. But I think what I loved most about this book was seeing Tau develop his relationships both romantic and not. Zuri, his love interest was a fantastic character, she didn’t take any of Tau’s shit and tried to show him the error of his ways, but was always 100% on his side. And then there are the brothers Tau makes when he starts training to become an Ishago. It’s slow going, his thirst for vengeance means he has little time for anything else, least of all making friends. But he soon comes to realise that his fight is not his alone and the comradery and humour these characters added was truly special. To say I loved this book would be an understatement, and Leah and I already have plans to pick up book two. If you like epic fantasy, with truly amazing world building and an epic magic system, a character you can’t help but root for and a story that packs a punch, as well as incredibly fast paced then look no further.

I don't have the heart to give it less of a score, but this wasn't really for me. It's OK, for sure, like I didn't fall asleep reading and I definitely respect the writing and felt for some characters, but I also wasn't really intrigued or cared about the world. The "mystical" journeys of the protagonist Tau is the only reason why I bought the next book.

Just right off the bat: excellent book, must read for anyone who likes fantasy. Don't overthink it, buy it and get ready for an amazing time. The excellent: the world! We are so used to european fantasy with castles, generals, legions and such. Evan Winter throws all that away and throws us right into the deep end of scene that feels right out of The Woman King. The very good: character development. Our protagonist Tau grows non stop, you can see him being more mature and immature depending on the situations, but there is a continual growth in the novel. Whether you like him or not (and at times I wanted to punch Tau) you can't deny he feels very fleshed out and a real protagonist/hero/folk hero. The good: the pacing and action. It's packed with battles, training and action. Doesn't let up and the chapters are mostly brief, to the point and keep you hooked. Once it starts, it grabs you and doesn't let go. The difficult: the terminology. We are all used to "general" "commander" and such, so when you first read "the inkokeli" you go like wait what is happening? but you quickly get the hang of it and I was using terms from the novel in conversation when telling my gf why it was so good. The bad: there's no bad. This is a must read 5 star.