User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
I think someone cursed me because lately, I'm facing too many disappointing books, I do not like this.
So, at first, I was really curious about this book. I have to say that I was a bit nervous about the number of other books this book was compared to.
"Game of Thrones meets Red Rising in a debut young adult fantasy that's full of rivalry, romance... and dragons."
"Inspired by Plato’s Republic"
"the story is pitched as Aegon Targaryen and Hermione Granger with dragons, set in the aftermath of a bloody revolution."
Because once a book is so heavily compared to other (popular) books, it better to really deliver.
And for me, it did not. It's simple as that.
In the beginning, I really struggled with the characters. I was unsure if I really enjoyed Lee's POV because just in his first POV, I was annoyed by Annie before we even really meet her. She was just so heavily mentioned that I could not stand her. But in the end, I prefered Lee's POV to Annie's. His character was calmer, more reasonable and less... sensitive in a sense. I felt like Annie was always annoyed by something or someone.
Here, I need to share my favourite quote from this book which really made me giggle at the moment.
"Maybe you could be my maidservant or something."
"I don't know how to be a maidservant."
"I think they just wash things. You're really good at that. Want to plan the trip with me."However, I have to say that the first chapter was one of the lowest points of the book. It gets slightly better after that, but it still dragged. In all honesty, the book had few "interesting" moments when you thought something would happen and you turned the page and... nothing. Something really started to happen around the 84% mark. And then it all got super rushed. Not sure if it really made any kind of sense. I guess it was supposed to hype the reader for the rest of the series, which did not work, at least for me because I have no plans on continuing with this series.
As I mentioned above, I turned the page, and nothing happened, that's because so much happened off-page. When Lee was somewhere doing something interesting, we got Annie's POV instead. And then we would get some sort of recap of what the other experienced.
And even sometimes when the things were happening on-page, I felt like they were not really happening more like we were told and it was described to us what was going on.
As for the books to which it was compared to, I do not get those. I see the comparison and mention of Plato's Republic and the French Revolution, even Blitz and I personally saw some similarity with the Russian Revolution. And this aspect was really good, probably the strongest point of the book. But the rest, Hermione Granger (I suppose that was Annie, but I don't really see it), Game of Thrones... No, nowhere near.
The story may have been good. The idea is good, but I did not enjoy the execution. And the writing is nowhere near the books mentioned above. Those "name-dropping" popular books may have done a huge disservice to the author and the book.
Beyond this, it might be slightly spoiler-ish! But spoiler will be still under the spoiler tag.
The whole book felt just like background noise to Lee/Annie drama. And I cannot stand them as a couple. I like them standing up for each other, but they do not work together as a couple. Annie spends the majority of the book being offended/annoyed/worried or whatever by something Lee did, did not do, how he moved his muscle or whatever.
(view spoiler)
[ I think that the Lee and Crissa relationship makes way more sense. As for Annie, I don't really get her with Duck, but even that's better than Lee. (hide spoiler)]In all this, Power was the best character. He was my favourite, he was the only one who made any kind of sense, had a motive and somehow felt like a real character. Plus he was one of the few who could think for himself. (view spoiler)
[ Though I do not 100% buy his support of Annie as the Commander. As for Annie being a Commander, I did not get nor liked how Lee handed her that position in the end. It felt really cheap.
As for Power, I wonder why he sort of "saved" Lee in the end. (hide spoiler)]As for dragons, you're probably wondering "this book has dragons, there is a dragon on a cover, why are you not mentioning the dragons?" Well. I sort of did not feel the dragon were that important. Harry Potter was more excited about his broom than these characters about their dragons. They were just tucked somewhere unless they needed to fly on them... And, they were just missing personality if that makes sense.
(view spoiler)
[ Okay, so Lee is a son of a dragon lord, supposed to be killed off during the Palace Day. He thinks that the new leader saved his life, but he actually ordered his throat to be slit, which is an interesting turn of events. However, Annie noted how he looked similar to his father, many of the Golds knew his father way better than Annie did, even the new leader, I'm surprised no one noted the similarity.
As for Lee's family, let's talk about Julia, I'm really surprised that she got killed off so fast. I expected her to play a more important role in the series, the family standing against each other. Plus she was possibly flying her dragon for longer than Lee, and I suppose she would get better tutors. And still, Lee's win felt very cheap.
So, what I would like to see is Lee finding out that Lee killed his cousin for a person who did not save him but ordered his murder. (hide spoiler)]What I enjoyed and it ties it to the French Revolution inspiration... The idea of bad guys. New regime which replaces the bad old one. Does that make them the good guys? It sort of shows that good and evil in certain cases can be a point of view. Depending on where you stand in one regime, you can see it as a good and others may see it as evil. That was very well done. It just shows that so much is just shades of grey, not white and black.
Plus when they were pressured, they reach out to the practices of the previous regime to reach their goals. This was a good idea, and I wished it was more explored along with the idea of different social groups.
***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***
Rating: really liked it
Solid YA fantasy novel! I really enjoyed these characters and the depth Ms Munda brought to life in Annie and Lee. Unlike some reviews I read, I was impressed that there was not a strong romantic aspect. I feel many YA novels focus on romance when there are so many other emotions to be explored.
In addition to the amazing world building,
Fireborne is centered around friendship, integrity and loyalty. I am very excited to see Annie and Lee grow in future adventures!
Possible violence warning for younger teens.
*Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the free book in exchange for my honest review.
Rating: really liked it
"There was greatness in them. But with that greatness came arrogance, and with that arrogance corruption, and with that corruption downfall."A tale of friendship, understanding, suffering, atonement, dragons, and revolution.
A brutal revolution changed the lives of all its citizens. Gone were the dragonlords of past, and in their place a new system. A self-proclaimed better system was put into place. But nothing is ever as black and white as it seems.
Lee & AnnieOnly children when they were orphaned during the revolution past, the two found friendship in the other. Despite the wretched secrets and past that constantly threaten to rip them apart.
Annie's sobs are drilling into me, that particular sound that I'm primed, from so many years ago, to respond to. Hopeless, lost, frightened. The desire to go to her is almost overwhelming.-
I look down at this boy, vulnerable, at my mercy, and think, To the ends of the earth I will protect you.In some ways, their relationship reminds me a bit of Day & June, from the Legend Trilogy, somewhat star-crossed due to the tragedies that befell one of their family's as a result of the other.
And while the premise and overall idea was a promising one, the execution was just okay for me. I liked enough but did not love the book in its entirety. But I do think I like it enough to tune in for what comes next.
I received a free ARC copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Huge thank you to Putnam's for providing me with a copy to read and review.
Rating: really liked it
"Inspired by Plato’s Republic and told from a dual point of view, the story is pitched as Aegon Targaryen and Hermione Granger with dragons."I have no idea what that even means, but I gotta say I'm intrigued lol.
Rating: really liked it
This book was absolutely phenomenal.
Rating: really liked it
It was alright 😏
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
Rating: really liked it
“And as with gods the world quaked, to see them fireborne.”Holy mother of dragons. What a freaking ride.
Alright folks, if you - like me - belong to the group of I-will-read-anything-with-dragons readers, then you are in for a treat. Because Fireborne is *your* book.
This book has everything to keep you glued to it. A complex fantasy world and political system, layered characters that are a treat to delve into and all the dragon action. Trust me, this was an impressive fantasy debut and it deserves your time and attention.
As for the romance, as you may be wondering, that’s where my teeny tiny complaint lies. You can’t pitch something as dragons + romance and then have a very secondary romantic subplot. Having said that, the romance was still there; the pining, the longing, the almost impossibility of it all that at the same time gave off this meant to be vibe. It was there and it was delicious in all its subtlety, leaving me wanting MORE.
Solid, freaking-A fantasy debut!
Rating: 4.5/5
*Copy gifted by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
*********
Pre-release thoughtsFireborne: romance... AND dragons.
Me:
Rating: really liked it
Update: 8/5/22 My third time reading this book and I somehow fell even more in love with it.
This is my favorite book of all time and, as such, that means I can never bring myself to give it a proper review.
Every time I read it, I find more to love. More to be amazed by. The characters only become more endeared to me and their struggles only become more real. The politics and conversations on class, as well as the academic scenes continue to blow me away.
I can’t believe this trilogy is about to end. I’m not ready to say goodbye to these characters, or witness whatever pain they still have to endure.
All my emotional rambling aside, I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone and everyone.
Now time to reread Flamefall (also affectionately known as 512 pages of nothing but pain and Lee being an idiot)
------------------------------------------------
Update: 3/25/21 Even better than the first time around.
------------------------------------------------
Original Read: 3/6/20 “Bring what fury you have and I will answer it with ours. THIS WAS INCREDIBLE.
The politics. The morally gray characters. The angst. The longing. The complex character dynamics. The DRAGONS.
This is, quite literally, everything I want out of a book.
Rating: really liked it
4.5 rounding up to 5!
Wow! This was fantastic! As someone who has read quite a bit of young adult fantasy, this one stands out from the rest as reading much more mature than others I’ve read recently! I loved the political intrigue in this book and how well realized that aspect of this world was! The characters in this book are also fantastic with Annie being the stand out for me! They read really mature and even with a romance sub-plot thrown in, it never read angsty or young, even the romance was handled really well and felt very believable. I highly recommend this book to all ages, but if you are an older reader who still enjoys YA, go pick this up! I think this is a YA book I could easily see shelved in the adult section and can see even the most seasoned YA reader really enjoying! Can’t wait for the sequel!
Rating: really liked it
[
15 March 2019]
There's a
cover! I love the red, and that
dragon can slay me :))
#CoverLoveAlso, can I just say that the comparison to Seraphina and Red Rising just undid me? I mean, when Rachel Hartman praises a book,
I'm in—that woman has always impressed with the
philosophy in her books...
• • • • • • •
[
Initial review]
Inspired by Plato’s Republic...Wow. That should be interesting for sure!
...the story is pitched as Aegon Targaryen and Hermione Granger with dragons, set in the aftermath of a bloody revolution....Wait.
What???? What kind of synopsis is that?! (The kind to make me add it, that's what kind it is 😐😂)
I mean I don't even know
what that bleeding means!
What that bleeding means: What inspired you to write this particular story?The French Revolution, Plato's Republic, and before either of these, the Blitz...
...listening to an audiobook about the Battle for Britain, imagining dogfights as I drove, the beginnings of a story taking shape. Somewhere along the way, those fighter planes became dragons, and I never looked back.
Well, I mean, that deserves a wow and a definitely-adding-it! Wait,
it getts better:Later, working in Paris, I wandered streets whose legacy from the French Revolution was written in defaced tombs and unmarked sites of guillotines, and I knew I wanted to write about revolution. Not about the beginnings of one—the bloody aftermath. So many beautiful YA novels have been about kids starting a revolution, but I wanted to explore the other side of it. I wanted to write about kids who had to pick up the pieces afterwards. And I wanted to inverse a closely related trope...
...I wanted to imagine an orphaned aristocrat who has every reason to seek revenge, until he realizes that maybe, his family did wrong, too.
And
that is enough for me to know I absolutely need to read this! So many authors
ignore the aftermath of the wars they write and I personally need more books on that topic!
Besides,
grey morality!! My fave thing to ever read! Thank you Ms. Munda!
Thank youThat's not even considering the
explanation to the synopsis:
And then what pulled it all together was Plato's Republic, which I studied a bit in college. I was captivated by its dystopian/utopian approach to propaganda and meritocracy. What would a society look like that granted political power unequally according to intelligence, rather than unequally according to birthright?
And—even more intriguingly—what would that look like in a society where rulers ride dragons? What if a revolution transformed hereditary dragonriding into a test-based selection process?
That's a
yes for me! Thank you very much I'd like it tomorrow?!
That’s where Lee and Annie’s stories start. An aristocrat in hiding, and a former serf who meet in the orphanage, test side by side into their new regime’s dragonriding program, and have to decide if they really can leave the past behind them—and if the new regime really is better than what came before.
I've always
needed a book questioning a revolution rather than starting one!
It looks like this book's gonna be everything I've ever needed ... I don't think anything more needs to be said on the matter:
anticipated read
Rating: really liked it
It's been a long time since a book made me this happy. FIREBORNE is my new favourite dragon book.
Rating: really liked it
“[...] was inspired by Plato’s Republic. Told from a dual point of view, the story is pitched as Aegon Targaryen and Hermione Granger with dragons, [...]”
This is the most OUTRAGEOUS sentence I have
ever read.
Rating: really liked it
“Bring what fury you have and I will answer it with ours.”i genuinely have no words, this was ya fantasy excellence at its finest that left me breathless and riveted while reading. fireborne took me by complete surprise in the best way possible, when i went into this story with the only knowledge that it had an academy for dragonriders. like being the first in a trilogy it was such a distinctive standout already. maybe it’s just me but i thought it was skillfully thought out on its distinct themes of morals in question, loyalties, atonement, and much more. also the writing not too heavy on world building being easy to absorb and elements of lore, history of the old regimes, impressive political intrigue, character bonds, bureacracy of the new regime, social class levels and of course the aspects of dragon riding in how it’s the nation’s core. the politics stuck out to me a lot, it’s been a while since i’ve read fantasy with the morally clashing complexity this book had with its conflicted characters’ political thoughts. our mains lee sur power and antigone sur aela both so layered in both their own orphaned backstories yet led to them being in the same orphanage together, the events entangles their bond and loyalty to one another. antigone, or annie, definitely had the full character development seeing her truly grow, while lee’s arc factored in his past and interesting seeing his views on the regime. seeing both characters’ perspectives on the new regime and figuring out how things aren’t so black and white in terms of good versus bad. coming to terms that morals and personal beliefs sometimes cannot take place to have order and how the inevitable war plays into testing out the reality of how this new regime will hold already seeing the ruptures with propaganda trying to rid of former dragonlord regime beliefs. classism was a huge aspect in the story with the testing to become a dragonrider is open to any class of economic status. yet obviously there is still blood prejudices and visible privilege with the gold class and their children.
really enjoyed how varying input in dialogue makes readers’ contemplate alongside the character’s views, constantly trying to understand the current ruling leader, atreus, who overthrew the dragonlords, if his vision of a nation is something to vow to defend or if they want more change. lee and annie, alongside their friends and classmates, were hardened within months by the realities of war in the high positions they’re in on orders against their morals that makes it a hard to stomach read at times. i’m very excited and scared to continue this incredible world of the aurelians to see where the story will take me next.
“And as she turned, it was revealed by her tread that she was fireborne.”
Rating: really liked it
This book has gotten a lot of advanced buzz, and I have to say, I can see why.
The telepathic dragon/companion trope is pretty well worn by now, and Munda doesn't do much to add to it. But if you like that trope, you're going to be okay with the eggs, impression, shared emotional states with dragons, etc. Munda does a great job with it.
Where this book takes a left turn, I thought, was with the political situation. The story (sort of*) begins ten years after an especially bloody revolution, overthrowing the dragon lords who were this world's nobles. They kept the dragons to themselves, and of course they had everything. Including the leisure time for poetry. The rest of the world scrabbled to support them.
Until the revolution that overthrew them, and nearly stamped them out by killing all the dragon lords down the the smallest kid. But total annihilation is more difficult than it looks when it's hand to hand slaughter, and a few got away, or were spared--including one of our protagonists, Lee, who was born Leo, his father an important dragon lord.
I said "Sort of" above because we get snippets of the revolution, and Lee's story, along with Annie's. She is our secondary protagonist, once a serf. As a serf she would never have been permitted near a dragon, but now she and Lee are dragon riders, for the revolution made it possible for commoners to test for dragon riding.
Early on, we get a glimpse of a past event, an execution. Lee and Annie, tight friends, both misunderstood the other's reaction--and when the reader realizes it, the game alters. Nothing is predictable anymore. Moral dilemmas, with huge emotional freight attached, lie like landmines everywhere. There are no easy choices in this world.
I suspect Munda is a visual writer, as she paints in the complexities of character emotions through subtle observation of body language. That was a real pleasure to read--she avoids the easy but overused LED lights in eyes for emotional conveyance (his eyes gleamed/smoldered/flashed/shot flames, fire, ice, and daggers, blah de blah). That and the difficult choices, plus the twists in the backstory that you think you know, add up to a real page turner.
Tne climax is breathtaking, excruciating, exhilarating by turns. There is an exquisite balance between resolution and hints of what is to come to really make me eager to see what's next.
Wow!
Copy provided by NetGalley
Rating: really liked it
This reads like an amalgamation of several dragon books (A Game of Thrones and Harry Potter among others), but without those books’ distinct voices and characters. There are two POVs (so far), both equally bland and stock. I expected more:(
