Name: Anna Kors's review of The Fires of Vengeance by Evan Winter
Item: The Fires of Vengeance
Rating: 4
Author: Anna Kors

Evan Winter

In order to reclaim her throne and save her people, an ousted queen must join forces with a young warrior in the second book of this "relentlessly gripping, brilliant" epic fantasy series from a breakout author (James Islington). Tau and his Queen, desperate to delay the impending attack on the capital by the indigenous people of Xidda, craft a dangerous plan. If Tau succeeds, the Queen will have the time she needs to assemble her forces and launch an all out assault on her own capital city, where her sister is being propped up as the 'true' Queen of the Omehi. If the city can be taken, if Tsiora can reclaim her throne, and if she can reunite her people then the Omehi have a chance to survive the onslaught. The Burning The Rage of Dragons The Fires of Vengeance

The Fires of Vengeance

Colleen

Anna Kors

Enjoyed the first book more. Still a lot of ass whoopin happening, so I give it 4 stars

Daron Rose

'CAPTIVATING EPIC FANTASY FROM A MAJOR NEW TALENT' Anthony Ryan, on The Rage of Dragons Desperate to delay an impending attack by the indigenous people of Xidda, Tau and his queen craft a dangerous plan. If Tau succeeds, the queen will have the time she needs to assemble her forces and launch an all-out assault on her own capital city, where her sister is being propped up as the 'true' Queen of the Omehi. If the city can be taken, if Tsiora can reclaim her throne and reunite her people, then the Omehi might have a chance to survive the coming onslaught. Praise for The Rage of Dragons: 'Intense, inventive and action-packed from beginning to end - a relentlessly gripping, brilliant read' James Islington, author of The Shadow of What Was Lost 'Stunning debut fantasy' Publishers Weekly 'Intense, vivid and brilliantly realized - a necessary read'Anna Smith Spark, author of The Court of Broken Knives 'Fans of Anthony Ryan's Blood Song will love this' Django Wexler, author of The Thousand Names 'A Xhosa-inspired world complete with magic, dragons, demons and curses, The Rage of Dragons takes classic fantasy and imbues it with a fresh and exciting twist' Anna Stephens, author of Godblind

Book Two of the Burning

Anastasia 

I've seen enough to know Evan winter won't disappoint me at any time in this series 

I did enjoy rage of dragons more than this one but that doesn't mean I didn't love it at all

Tau continues to impress as a charismatic leader, warrior, trainer and maybe an advisor considering the end of this book ...I look forward to him taking on a bigger role in Lord of Demons 

Everything else remains the same, fantastic writing, the battle scenes are so well written, the deaths are still gut wrenching ..maybe more than before, the warriors are still as impressive as ever 

I really look forward to book 3 ....I feel like that would be the peak of this series

Lia Yuliana

The sequel lived up to my expectations. Easily, 5/5!

Update 13/2/21

🌟 5/5 🌟


  
    “When we fight, the world burns.”
  


Trigger Warning : decapitation, mutilation, gore, death, war

ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The rage within still burns, many are lost, now that the fires of rage subsides a different fire burns as Tau Solarin the Queen’s champion returns continuing his bloody path in The Fires of Vengeance by Evan Winter.

January was a bumpy reading month for me, though I ended the year of 2020 on a strong note by finishing one of my most anticipated reads for a the whole month I could not physically look at a book or an ebook. I was experiencing a real horrible case of fantasy burn out, I slowly picked up my reading pace as the month progressed and I am finally ready to pick up The Fires of Vengeance. Before I start my review, I want to thank Orbit and NetGalley for sending me this ARC (Advance Readers Copy) for me to review. I received this ARC 3 days before the book is released at that moment I have not read the first book.


  
    “Rage is love…twisted in on itself. 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.”
  


The Fires of Vengeance is the sequel and second installment to Evan Winter’s amazing debut, The Rage of Dragons, of The Burning series. In this sequel to an already amazing first book, Evan Winter did an absolutely marvelous job writing the continuation of the story. It is rare for sequels to be better than the first book, Evan Winter expanded the foundations laid in the first book. While in The Rage of Dragons the main catalyst for everything is revenge, in The Fires of Vengeance it is still about revenge; but the author also explored grief, forgiveness, love, and companionship. And most importantly is resistance. The Omehi has long since forgotten their history and their true main enemy. This book explores those unanswered questions from the first book, readers will get to explore the world building and the history of the Omehi with the Cull, exploration of Isihogo and its demons, how the Caste system came to be, past queens, and many more.


  
    “Tau. You are enough.”
  


Tau Solarin has grown a lot as a character, starting the story he was a reluctant low caste man that just wants to get by, fueled with revenge he trained day and night in Isihogo to defy people and to show that people like him are capable in being something more. Now, Tau is chosen to be the Queen’s Champion, becoming the Champion he is given new responsibilities and men to lead. He also has to navigate his way through the court being the Queen’s bodyguard and the ‘icon’ for the people of Omehi. Tau emotionally matures in this sequel, seeing him finally become vulnerable as he sits down and discusses his grief with Tsiora is one of the most touching moment in the book. The contrast in Tau’s personality is astounding to witness. The side characters such as Hadith, Uduak, Themba, Yaw, Jabari, and Kellan Okar; they all also grew with Tau. Jabari and Hadith both stood out for me amongst the others as they become a key part in the story. Jabari definitely defied the impossible and it was nice to see his arc with Tau. How they rekindled their brotherhood after so long apart. The found family aspect is stronger than before, Tau and his sword brothers actively look out and support each other no matter what the circumstances are.


  
    "We have the queen, the Gifted, and the army. Nkosi, we have you, and that’s all we need to crush them."
  


Now, I want to praise something that is a huge improvement from the first book. It is the addition of strong female characters. In The Rage of Dragons, we only met one female character, Zuri, though she is a monumental character in the first book I craved for more female presence in the book. Evan Winter teased Tsiora’s character during the end of the first book and I was so excited to see her action. Wow! Evan Winter did not only write about Tsiora but also Nyah, the Queen’s councilor; Thandi, a gifted woman that works closely with Nyah; Esi, Tsiora’s sister; Hafsa, a healer and the queen’s hand maidens, Auset and Ramia. It just made the story much more exciting and more vibrant. The interaction between Tau and his sword brother’s has with the Queen’s troupe is so much fun to read. I love the banter between Themba has with the hand maidens. Though I love Tau’s POV, one of my favorite moments in the previous book is the unexpected POVs from other characters. Evan Winter treated us to a conclusion of the Dossa saga which ended on a bittersweet note, my emotions could not handle it. The author also offered us perspectives from Esi and Tsiora. Both of whom are critical players in the story. Their chapters were refreshing and impactful to the story at the same time.


  
    “We have faith, faith in the Goddess and in all of you. Do not fear, because we walk in Her light, and in it there is nothing to fear.”
  


Evan Winter’s writing is addicting, the way Winter paces his stories is truly magnificent and satisfying. The pace of the story and the emotional aspect gradually builds up with each chapter and towards the end it all explodes leaving you shook. It was an effortless experience to jump back into the world Winter has created. Hands down, Evan Winter is a force to be reckoned with, The Fires of Vengeance cemented him as the leading voice in adult SFF. A stand out chapter for me is the first chapter; for readers you will highly appreciate that first chapter, as the author recaps everything that has happened in the first book in a well thought out way. This book is much more bloody and violent, while the previous book the violence is like a constant hum in the story. In this sequel it hits you harder with each blow it gets more gritty, more savage, and of course more bloody. It is an never ending cycle of death, loss, grief, and sorrow. In this cycle Tau is the main player, he leaves trails of death, smashing foe after foe that stands on his path of revenge.

Final thoughts, Evan Winter returned with a vengeance and smashed my expectations with The Fires of Vengeance. It is truly the sequel that triumphs over it’s predecessor, for readers that struggled with the constant battle scenes will truly love this sequel because it included a lot of character growth, amazing battle scenes, new female characters (which is all of the new characters), a stronger sense of found family and amazing characterization. On top of that is the amount of lore dropped by Winter. More people should read The Burning series! When you think the first book is great it gets better. The last time I felt this great about a sequel is after I read Hollow Empire by Sam Hawke. That’s it I’m putting this book on my list of best sequels. Second book syndrome ? Be gone!


  
    “Keep fighting, and I swear that before it consumes us, we’ll burn our pain to ash in the fires of vengeance.”
  


The quotes in this review were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

Full review - An Ode to Fiction

Risa C

Maybe a bit too harsh, but considering how much I enjoyed the first book, the fact that I could barely stand reading the second installment in Evan Winter's trilogy at times spoke volumes. I did not like this book at all.

In my opinion, the story suffers from being limited to Tau's perspective most of the time. Tau does not undergo any meaningful character growth in his quest for vengeance and instead becomes every male fantasy wish fulfillment character, whose stupidity and rashness are actually laudable traits that make him immune to things like debilitating pain and consequences. While we're stuck in Tau's insipid point of view, the side characters get no character development at all: Tau's sword brothers are all just along for the ride, just extra bodies fit for purpose; Nyah fulfills the role of the constantly disapproving, traditional fishwife, whose advice is constantly being shunted aside for Tau's foolishness; Tsiora is a cipher of a potential love interest, you get no sense of who she is as a person apart from her beauty, her annoying way of referring to herself in the first person plural, and her faith bordering on fanaticism.

Right after reading the first book, I said that the one thing I didn't want from the sequel was a forced romance between Tau and the Queen, but, well, let's just say The Fires of Vengeance doesn't go out of its way to subvert your standard fantasy tropes. In fact, I'd go on to say that it overcorrects and leans way too hard into these tropes and the book becomes a pretty generic war fantasy story, with no interesting variations on the theme or storytelling innovations. Despite all the action and violence this book has to offer, very little actually happens by way of plot, which is understandable, given that this is the second book in a trilogy, but so very little actually gets resolved in this book that Book 3 is going to have to do so much heavy lifting to even attempt to address the scope of the conflict Evan Winter has tried to introduce in this world.

Other people will probably enjoy this book much more than I did. My expectations were too high or maybe even just incorrect for the kind of story Evan Winter wanted to write, but, in any case, they were not met.

Adrianne

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.

Rina

*4.5
What else can I say? This was just epic! I loved the addition of more female characters here, and truly, you have not known stress if you haven't read this.

"Intense, inventive and action-packed from beginning to end - a relentlessly gripping, brilliant read." -- James Islington In order to reclaim her throne and save her people, an ousted queen must join forces with a young warrior in the second book of this must-read epic fantasy series by breakout author Evan Winter. Tau and his Queen, desperate to delay the impending attack on the capital by the indigenous people of Xidda, craft a dangerous plan. If Tau succeeds, the Queen will have the time she needs to assemble her forces and launch an all out assault on her own capital city, where her sister is being propped up as the 'true' Queen of the Omehi. If the city can be taken, if Tsiora can reclaim her throne, and if she can reunite her people then the Omehi have a chance to survive the onslaught. The BurningThe Rage of DragonsThe Fires of Vengeance

Nickie Mohler

I loved this! Which sister was telling the truth? I need the next one!

Kerri McDonald

All the thanks to Caffeine Book Tours and the publisher, Orbit Books, for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book was one of my most anticipated sequels of 2020. That being said and it being 2020, the year the just keeps on giving, I picked The Fires of Vengeance up at the height of a pretty big reading slump. Throughout the month of October, reading just couldn’t hold my interest.

That’s right. My FAVORITE HOBBY couldn’t hold my interest. I don’t know if there is any one reason I can point to that lead to this, but I do know that the general stress of living through this hell year was a big factor. My usual escape just wasn’t an escape anymore. I knew I had to read this book, though. Not only was I yearning to get back into the world, but I had an obligation. I picked it up, hoping and praying that it would be just as captivating as Evan Winter’s first book in this series, The Rage of Dragons.

Well, I’m here to say that this book cleared my skin, watered my plants, and has me T H R I V I N G. Y’all… this sequel was everything I wanted it to be and somehow, impossibly, more! We are thrown right into the action from page one, finding Tau visiting one of his sword brothers that was injured during the events at the end of the last book. As he sits there talking, he quickly recaps many of the important events in The Rage of Dragons which, holy shit, can we do that more often, please?! I love that Winter’s weaves the recap in so seamlessly with the story, making us relive Tau’s journey right alongside him and quickly lodging us back in the world of the Omehi people. But Tau’s journey has just begun. He know has to learn court politics while also trying to keep his friends alive as he tries to help Queen Tsiora quell a rebellion styling her sister as the true queen of the Omehi.

It’s incredible how quickly I was pulled into the story and I soon found myself absolutely flying through the pages. The first night I read this, I blinked and somehow over 100 pages had gone by! There is something so captivating about Winter’s writing that makes it hard to come up for air, even if you wanted to. Which, trust me, you won’t. You’ll want to stay immersed in the rich culture and narrative that the author has built for you. His world-building is top-notch and one of my favorite aspects of this story. I love when I find myself transfixed by a fictional setting and The Fires of Vengeance more than delivers!

As much as I love the world-building, though, what really makes this story shine is its characters. The depth! The emotions! The feeling like these people could climb out of the book to sit and have a conversation with you! Tau is an incredibly vivid character, with so many complexities that make him that much more compelling. He’s ruthless and brutal, but has this gentle side that very few get to see. And the depths to which he cares about his fellows… it’s a beautiful thing to behold. Y’all know that I love a book that has wonderfully crafted characters and Tau certainly doesn’t disappoint. The best part is that the other characters are just as fleshed out! We spend most of the book in Tau’s head (there are a few chapters from different perspectives, but not many), yet you come to know the others surrounding him at the same level. None of them fall flat or feel like a caricature. Honestly, I found myself wishing we did get some other perspectives because I just want to know everything about these characters I’ve come to care about so deeply.

Let’s move from the characters to talk about something else that I don’t usually focus on, but blew me away: the fight scenes. THE FIGHT SCENES! Evan Winter has a way of writing fight scenes that drops you in the middle of the action and makes you a wee bit scared for your life, tbh. They were freakin’ intense! But they also weren’t so over-written that I couldn’t follow along with the action, if that makes sense? It was easy to picture in my mind how the fight scenes would look, visually, and I think that’s a testament to a damn good story. Honestly, this entire book is so visual in it’s descriptions that it’s incredibly easy to get a picture of it if it were to, say, become a movie. HINT HINT, MOVIE EXECUTIVES!

The last thing I’ll talk about that I really enjoyed was the running theme throughout about equality. In Tau’s world, the Omehi have a very distinct class system. Nobles are “better” than Lessers and Lessers should never aspire to more than what Nobles are willing to give them. But Tau, a Lesser himself, has spent most of both book one and two proving that Nobles are worth no more or less than the people they think beneath them. I love watching him fight against a system that is inherently rigged against him. Cause, ya know, it’s something I can really relate to *stares in Black woman* Does the message get a wee bit heavy-handed at times? Ehhh… I guess? But it feels especially relevant and necessary in a time where a lot of people will respond to “Black Lives Matter” with “All Lives Matter”. As the saying goes, all lives can’t matter until Black lives matter, and you can see some parallels with that and what Tau is trying to achieve.

I mean, mostly he just wants to murder everyone who has ever hurt someone he cares about, but the man has morals, too!

Final thoughts: It must be hard to be a perfect sequel. but The Fires of Vengeance Did That. The world-building is so immersive that you will lose hours in this story before you realize what is happening. The characters are all incredibly compelling, even the ones you might not particularly care for. The fight scenes will get your blood pumping and I love the message, as well. If you loved The Rage of Dragons, you will not be disappointed with this follow-up.

Sandra Tammaru

Molly Wonnenberg 

Anna Troughton 

'CAPTIVATING EPIC FANTASY FROM A MAJOR NEW TALENT' Anthony Ryan on The Rage of Dragons Desperate to delay an impending attack by the indigenous people of Xidda, Tau and his queen craft a dangerous plan. If Tau succeeds, the queen will have the time she needs to assemble her forces and launch an all-out assault on her own capital city, where her sister is being propped up as the 'true' Queen of the Omehi. If the city can be taken, if Tsiora can reclaim her throne and reunite her people, then the Omehi might have a chance to survive the coming onslaught. THE FIRES OF VENGEANCE CONTINUES THE UNMISSABLE EPIC FANTASY SERIES THAT BEGAN WITH EVAN WINTER'S ACCLAIMED DEBUT THE RAGE OF DRAGONS. Praise for The Rage of Dragons: 'Intense, inventive and action-packed from beginning to end - a relentlessly gripping, brilliant read' James Islington, author of The Shadow of What Was Lost 'Stunning debut fantasy' Publishers Weekly 'Intense, vivid and brilliantly realised - a necessary read' Anna Smith Spark, author of The Court of Broken Knives 'Impossible to put down' Rick Riordan 'Fans of Anthony Ryan's Blood Song will love this' Django Wexler, author of The Thousand Names 'A Xhosa-inspired world complete with magic, dragons, demons and curses, The Rage of Dragons takes classic fantasy and imbues it with a fresh and exciting twist' Anna Stephens, author of Godblind

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The Fires of Vengeance by Evan Winter

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