The Fires of Vengeance: The Burning, Book Two

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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. that does nothing to change the facts the general described, the decision he’s made, and the decision that we on the Ruling Council must also make.” “This is what you want?” Tsiora asked. “You wish us to forgive and forget treachery?” “My queen, we’re responsible for more than ourselves in this,” Mirembe said, “and to carry out the duty we owe to those we lead, we have to forgive and forget, or everyone dies.” Someone behind Tau cleared his throat. It was Hadith, and although he looked uncomfortable when the faces in the room turned to him, he didn’t wither beneath the gaze of his betters. Tau was beside Nyah and saw her signal Tsiora. The vizier didn’t want her to let Hadith speak, but Nyah’s want wasn’t enough. In the matter of Guardian Councillor Abasi Odili, Tau and the queen were cut from the same stone. They could not forget and they would never forgive. “Ihashe,” Queen Tsiora said to Hadith. “You have something to say?”

The friendships were still amazing as in the first book. Scale Jayyed’s interactions showed how close they were, how they considered each other sword-brothers and would do anything to help each other out. Their scenes together were light hearted and humorous which was really needed with the multiple tense situations. But of the group, nothing beats the bromance between Tau, Hadith and Uduak. A massive thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for approving my request for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. First off, I once again want to commend Karla Ortiz on the artwork she has created that adorns the covers of this series. I thought she could not top the beautiful art she did for The Rage of Dragons, but I like the cover for Fires of Vengeance even better and can honestly say that it would make me buy this book even knowing nothing about it. It’s gorgeous and I would not be lying in saying I am overly excited to see the remaining two covers!Fair warning, what I write here will undoubtedly sound more negative than I intend. The book was enjoyable for the most part, but there were a handful of elements that seriously detracted from my experience. This story is epic in every sense of the word. The world expands organically as our protagonists are forced to find new and creative ways to defeat their enemies. I loved learning more about the Cull, the history of the Omehi people, and the realm of Isihogo. Every snippet, every single piece of information that was given had me more intrigued and invested in the story as I went along. Rage is love … twisted in on itself,” he said, using some of the words she’d spoken to him on the night Zuri died. “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.”

As I was writing Fires, my father passed away, and going through that pain and loss was the most difficult thing I’ve had to do in all my life. I wasn’t anywhere near normal for an entire year after his passing and that alone was enough to make the experience of writing these two books vastly different. I wrote Rage just for me, while hoping that a few other people might care. I also wrote Fires for me, but it was now also for so many other people too, and one of those people is my father. The Fires of Vengeance is dedicated to him. Demons & edge of your seat action & gritty violence & DRAGONS!! The Fires of Vengeance is a sequel that blazes. This is a world with a diverse cast of characters in an intimate story, told on a grand scale with a deep sense of history, harsh realities & devastating consequences.Tau is still as driven as ever in his quest, but the situations he finds himself in forces him to see past his tunnel vision of vengeance and to glimpse other possible futures, giving him a chance to grow as a person and making the story all the more well rounded for it. While the story up to now was sufficiently carried by this singular goal of Tau’s to utterly destroy those who did him wrong, as a driver for the plot it did not seem sustainable for four books and I am ecstatic that there is now so much more to the story and main character. And while he is given the dragon’s share of development befitting the main character, Winter has not forgotten the rest of the cast, colouring in the empty spaces of the other players as well, giving us much more interesting characters, and apart from rage and its effects, also exploring the themes of brotherhood and camaraderie, family, friendship and love, all the while investing us even further in every possible fight, conversation, relationship and future.

Before you were a writer, one of the many hats you wore was director and cinematographer. Has that skillset been beneficial to you in your writing? All in all, The Fires of Vengeance is a fast-paced adventure that serves well as a good sequel. Some parts felt a little cliché and like a fan-fiction with nonstop action, but it still contained that good storytelling that existed in the first book. This series is not just a trilogy to my pleasant surprise, with at least two more books on the way. It does a good job of setting up for more books to come especially with the surprising reveal at the end. by Daniel Roman 3 years ago The Fires of Vengeance is the second book in Evan Winter’s The Burning, and if it keeps going like this, it could become a new fantasy classic.I swear it feels like I just read The Rage of Dragons, but it was nearly 1.5 years ago now. WHAT EVEN IS TIME?

Tau’s quest for vengeance is one of the major forces that drives forward both this book and The Rage of Dragons, and Winter continues to do an amazing job of exploring what kind of effect that single-minded quest for violence can have on a person’s psyche. The vast majority of Firesis told from Tau’s point of view, allowing plenty of time to really dissect all the deep and dark places he pushes himself to on his journey. There’s also the fact that Tau may or may not be losing his mind, as he finds himself constantly haunted by literal demons. One of the secrets to Tau’s strength is his grueling training in Isihogo, the underworld where demons dwell and from which the Omehi priestesses draw forth the magic to do things like turn warriors into hulking goliaths or bind dragons to their will. The longer a person spends in Isihogo, the greater the chance it’ll permanently damage their mind…and Tau has spent a lotof time there. Image courtesy of Orbit BooksThen, the second thing I must do is make the language rush and flow. My intent with these sections is to write the action as I see it and then to go over and over and over them until the words disappear. The scene is not done until I can read it without faltering. I must tumble through it without effort while also being drawn to each subsequent moment, beat, and blow. By the end, I must be breathless. It should feel like I’ve run a heart-pounding race, and, to make that work, the words need to disappear because letting them have the presence they often want will make the scene stumble when it should soar. Image courtesy of Orbit Books 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! A huge one was that we lost our family cat as I was writing Fires. She’d been with us for a decade, she’d sat with me at my writing desk when I drafted Rage and then again for most of Fires. Losing her was hard, and, still, that wasn’t the hardest thing. by Daniel Roman 3 years ago The next chapter of The Burning, Evan Winter’s epic fantasy saga, is almost upon us.We speak with the author about the highly anticipated sequel, The Fires of Vengeance. When I started reading this, I expected to love it. But, The Rage of Dragons was so brilliant and had so many unique plotting points that I thought this second instalment would not quite reach its predecessor. I am happy to say that I was wrong. So, so wrong. The Fires of Vengeance elevated the groundwork of the previous book to a whole new level of epic.