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szeththeassassin's review against another edition
4.0
https://escapistbookcompany.com/2022/07/01/review-burn-red-skies-burn-red-skies-1-by-kerstin-espinosa-rosero/
Please read my review here. Thanks for reading!!
Please read my review here. Thanks for reading!!
eeevenstar's review
4.0
Burn Red Skies is an incredibly fun world!
It is no secret upon cracking open this story that Kerstin Espinosa Rosero has a serious dedication to fleshing out her worldbuilding and making an extremely intriguing magic system that immediately grabs the reader's interest. The magic is fun and a refreshing take on elemental magic (I love that there are biological repercussions to certain magic types mixing). The characters are well-rounded and interesting in various different ways. Valerya's a mean badass (awooga) and Dove is ridiculously lovable; a feat achieved without her having to say a word! When the characters interact it feels natural.
The only reason I give this book 4 stars is because of the somewhat loose plot. I tend to enjoy more fast paced books with constantly raising stakes. This story was definitely character driven, and while I found that definitely served its purpose I want to see more. Now that the characters are firmly introduced, I have hopes that the sequels will tighten up this aspect.
You will be missing out on an epic high fantasy adventure if you choose to shelve this one!
It is no secret upon cracking open this story that Kerstin Espinosa Rosero has a serious dedication to fleshing out her worldbuilding and making an extremely intriguing magic system that immediately grabs the reader's interest. The magic is fun and a refreshing take on elemental magic (I love that there are biological repercussions to certain magic types mixing). The characters are well-rounded and interesting in various different ways. Valerya's a mean badass (awooga) and Dove is ridiculously lovable; a feat achieved without her having to say a word! When the characters interact it feels natural.
The only reason I give this book 4 stars is because of the somewhat loose plot. I tend to enjoy more fast paced books with constantly raising stakes. This story was definitely character driven, and while I found that definitely served its purpose I want to see more. Now that the characters are firmly introduced, I have hopes that the sequels will tighten up this aspect.
You will be missing out on an epic high fantasy adventure if you choose to shelve this one!
theadamholcombe's review against another edition
5.0
Airships, undead dragons, and a genetic-based elemental magic system fill this complexly built world.
Plot: 4/5
The plot mainly follows a brother and a sister who were separated when their village was destroyed. However, even though they want to find each other, they get pulled into conflicts much bigger than themselves and they are not the only POVs brought in to weave this tale.
Overall, I though the story was fantastic, with plenty of action, exploration, and a plot that keeps you invested. The story told is of large conflict and interweaving politics between nations and powerful people, however the plot tends to be rushed at points that I would like to sit back and see more behind the scenes with everything going. The story continued to ramp up with each chapter, and by the end I was glued to the book with everything happening.
Characters: 5/5
There were a wide variety of characters, and all felt deep, complex, and interesting with plenty of growth for the various characters. The main POV is a woman who is unable to speak, and the author does an excellent job in providing interactions with the character without them seeming too one sided. The more you learned of each character, the more it was clear that a lot of care went into this story.
Bonus tidbit, there are a few chapters with characters who go by Bard and Dancer, and I had thought pulling away from the main story would have slowed my reading down as sometimes happens, but these two characters were some of the best characters I’ve read in anything recently. They inspired me in my own writing and I hope I can create characters that thrive off each other as well as Kerstin did here.
Worldbuilding: 5/5
I loved the worldbuilding of this story, elemental magic has been done before, as has specifically genetic elemental magic, but the way it is handled in this story feels refreshing. I loved the aspects of how the magic one controlled affected their bodies, such has not being able to be in sunlight. There is also one character with the ability to summon an undead dragon which plays into the story in fascinating ways, such as new dynamics and depth added to the world.
Writing: 4/5
Kerstin’s prose was well done, and the pacing of the story worked well beyond the rushed parts mentioned in Plot. The only issue I ended up having was early on when there were times where information was sparse. There were times when I was confused about what was happening in the big picture and wanted to fit pieces together a bit more. However, it was never unclear what was happening within the events, and the bigger picture cleared up as the story went on. This is more a personal preference on my end rather than a real concern, as I know there is a careful balance between infodumping and info dripping. I do not believe this would be a concern to many people reading this book.
Enjoyability: 5/5
This book was such a fun ride, and the sequel was purchased pretty quick after I finished. The Bard and Dancer sections were an absolute blast and I found myself laughing several times at their interactions. Overall, this is a great story with a ton going for it and I am so excited to jump into the sequel!
OVERALL: 5/5 Undead Dragons
Plot: 4/5
The plot mainly follows a brother and a sister who were separated when their village was destroyed. However, even though they want to find each other, they get pulled into conflicts much bigger than themselves and they are not the only POVs brought in to weave this tale.
Overall, I though the story was fantastic, with plenty of action, exploration, and a plot that keeps you invested. The story told is of large conflict and interweaving politics between nations and powerful people, however the plot tends to be rushed at points that I would like to sit back and see more behind the scenes with everything going. The story continued to ramp up with each chapter, and by the end I was glued to the book with everything happening.
Characters: 5/5
There were a wide variety of characters, and all felt deep, complex, and interesting with plenty of growth for the various characters. The main POV is a woman who is unable to speak, and the author does an excellent job in providing interactions with the character without them seeming too one sided. The more you learned of each character, the more it was clear that a lot of care went into this story.
Bonus tidbit, there are a few chapters with characters who go by Bard and Dancer, and I had thought pulling away from the main story would have slowed my reading down as sometimes happens, but these two characters were some of the best characters I’ve read in anything recently. They inspired me in my own writing and I hope I can create characters that thrive off each other as well as Kerstin did here.
Worldbuilding: 5/5
I loved the worldbuilding of this story, elemental magic has been done before, as has specifically genetic elemental magic, but the way it is handled in this story feels refreshing. I loved the aspects of how the magic one controlled affected their bodies, such has not being able to be in sunlight. There is also one character with the ability to summon an undead dragon which plays into the story in fascinating ways, such as new dynamics and depth added to the world.
Writing: 4/5
Kerstin’s prose was well done, and the pacing of the story worked well beyond the rushed parts mentioned in Plot. The only issue I ended up having was early on when there were times where information was sparse. There were times when I was confused about what was happening in the big picture and wanted to fit pieces together a bit more. However, it was never unclear what was happening within the events, and the bigger picture cleared up as the story went on. This is more a personal preference on my end rather than a real concern, as I know there is a careful balance between infodumping and info dripping. I do not believe this would be a concern to many people reading this book.
Enjoyability: 5/5
This book was such a fun ride, and the sequel was purchased pretty quick after I finished. The Bard and Dancer sections were an absolute blast and I found myself laughing several times at their interactions. Overall, this is a great story with a ton going for it and I am so excited to jump into the sequel!
OVERALL: 5/5 Undead Dragons
neethya's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
hindessm's review
4.0
Excellent story. Took a little while for it to draw me in - some of my favourite characters didn't appear until almost half way though - but couldn't put it down by the end. I'll definitely look out for more books from this author.
scareads's review
4.0
This novel's prose is amazing and made up for certain aspects that took me out of the story.
'Burn Red Skies' follows 6 point of views if I'm not mistaken, and each one is quite different from the last. Out of the vast cast of characters, Bard and Dancer were my favorite as their story was clear and concise while also amusing. Unfortunately, they weren't the main characters. While Dove and Gryff are interesting characters due to their circumstances (Dove is mute and Gryff cannot withstand daylight or fire even though he lives in the Fireland's Citadel), I did not find their characters compelling. They were passive, always following the directions of others and rarely taking any initiative that affected their relationships or the plot until the last 20% of the novel.
I have to commend the author on a fantastic job on her writing though because while mute, Dove's point of view chapters were not weighed down by this at all. Very often, dialogue is crucial in moving a novel forward and often used in exposition, and yet here the prose sucked me in and held on without the need for dialogue. It was easy to forget that Dove was 'voiceless'. Actually, I found it strange how no new characters she encountered ever brought it up. Somehow, characters just knew she couldn't speak, and I couldn't understand how. Her inability to talk was only mentioned twice by other characters in the entire novel (by Valerya who had already known her for a while and once by Bard when he first meets her because she winces). How he knew that she was mute from a wince remains unclear.
There was also information missing between chapters of the same point of view that was disorienting. It took a while to get over that missing information at the beginning of chapters which was never really supplied. Normally this would have put me off the story, but again that was how good the prose was. It hooked its talons in me and carried me along until the end of the chapter regardless of the missing information to connect them.
I got a little lost with some of the secondary characters as the plot did drag a little, and Wolff's and Decker's personalities interchanged where Dove was concerned which never made sense nor was explained. But again the writing style was so good that I kept reading until the end and really enjoyed it regardless. Plus, the ending was fantastic.
'Burn Red Skies' follows 6 point of views if I'm not mistaken, and each one is quite different from the last. Out of the vast cast of characters, Bard and Dancer were my favorite as their story was clear and concise while also amusing. Unfortunately, they weren't the main characters. While Dove and Gryff are interesting characters due to their circumstances (Dove is mute and Gryff cannot withstand daylight or fire even though he lives in the Fireland's Citadel), I did not find their characters compelling. They were passive, always following the directions of others and rarely taking any initiative that affected their relationships or the plot until the last 20% of the novel.
I have to commend the author on a fantastic job on her writing though because while mute, Dove's point of view chapters were not weighed down by this at all. Very often, dialogue is crucial in moving a novel forward and often used in exposition, and yet here the prose sucked me in and held on without the need for dialogue. It was easy to forget that Dove was 'voiceless'. Actually, I found it strange how no new characters she encountered ever brought it up. Somehow, characters just knew she couldn't speak, and I couldn't understand how. Her inability to talk was only mentioned twice by other characters in the entire novel (by Valerya who had already known her for a while and once by Bard when he first meets her because she winces). How he knew that she was mute from a wince remains unclear.
There was also information missing between chapters of the same point of view that was disorienting. It took a while to get over that missing information at the beginning of chapters which was never really supplied. Normally this would have put me off the story, but again that was how good the prose was. It hooked its talons in me and carried me along until the end of the chapter regardless of the missing information to connect them.
I got a little lost with some of the secondary characters as the plot did drag a little, and Wolff's and Decker's personalities interchanged where Dove was concerned which never made sense nor was explained. But again the writing style was so good that I kept reading until the end and really enjoyed it regardless. Plus, the ending was fantastic.
llmacrae's review
5.0
My 2022 reads are off to a fabulous start! Not only is this the first book I’ve finished this year, and not only is it also an SPFBO Finalist, but it’s brilliant!
When I realised this book had airships and dragons, it had my full attention. For anyone who knows me (and what I write - looking at you, Linaria), you can see exactly why this book appealed.
I know a lot of people love characters or plot in books. Usually one of those two things are most important for them.
But for me, writing style is by far the most important element when I’m reading a book. It’s what hooks me into the story. It could be the greatest story ever, but if the writing style is bland or mediocre, my attention will wane.
Rosero has a SENSATIONAL writing style. It’s immediately clear from the opening lines that the author’s voice is strong, and brings something unique. And it spills into her characters wonderfully - it just so happens to have a stellar cast, too.
Rarely do I understand who a character is and what they’re about from a handful of sentences, but Rosero masterfully does this. We’re thrown into the middle of a world (which is amazing, I’ll get to that in a moment) through the eyes of an eclectic cast. Each one is different and clearly defined.
The chapters alternate between character POVs, and it’s always abundantly clear if we’re with smugglers/sky pirates Decker, Marc, Wolff and the crew, with the voiceless Dove, with Gryff out of his depth and struggling to hold his head above water, with Bard and Dancer, with Valerya herself.
Epic fantasy, and by extension large casts of characters, can be intimidating. There can be so many names and relations that they all sort of blur together. Not so here. Rosero has a firm grip on her characters, which means the reader does, too. At no point was I unsure who Valk or Dancer or Toma or half a dozen of the side characters were. Even when someone’s appearance on page is brief, they shine.
World building is also hugely important to me. I read for escapism, which is why 99% of my books are fantasy. The world building in Burn Red Skies keeps on giving. I’ve never read elemental magic like this before. It’s so much more than Person A born in country A can do magic A. There are four elements - fire, water, ice, and storm. But this elemental affinity affects more than the magic that people can cast. Those of the water element can’t get drunk, their wounds heal almost instantly - closing up like water poured across their skin. Those of Ice burn in daylight, and so their cities are built deep into mountains, boring underground where they’re shielded. Even speech is different - some cultures don’t waste words, simply walking away at the end of a conversation. The Thunderborne live in a floating city. This is the kind of world building I adore. (Also can I be a Thunderborne please? I mean, I already have the blue hair...)
There are mages. Skin changers. A twisted King (ugh I hated him so much), Swordsuits (Spades, Diamonds etc.), mercenaries, a system of sending messages with peregrine falcons. Languages. Different religions/spiritualities. The depth here is staggering, and you’d expect it all to be shoved into a 1000 page tome. However, at just over 400 pages, the pacing is brilliant. There aren’t wasted words, let alone wasted chapters, and while things move along quickly, it’s never blistering.
This year, I’m trying to start jotting down quotes that I particularly like, and here are a few I enjoyed in Burn Red Skies:
“His body felt stitched together, every movement a blade to his ribs. Soon, he would come apart at the seams.”
“Colours of the ascendant stars swirled about her, so delicately constructed that it seemed a light rain might wash it all away.”
“Nothing ever good came from the words of ghosts.”
“The dragon had torn a hole in the sky, red and fierce like the dawn.”
“A voiceless girl roars in the skies.”
And one of my favourite lines from the Bard/Dancer chapters (where a good chunk of the humour is): “Why is there a dead man on my floor?”
My main gripe is a personal one - I’d like MORE DRAGONS, please. Valerya is the General Summoner, known as the She-Jackal. She summoned the red dragon and all fear her for it. You can always sense the dragon’s presence in her chapters, realise she has her own personal struggles with it. She's a complex character and every chapter spent with her (either in her eyes or the POV of someone with her), I found my opinion changing. Her dragon is a big part of her character and the overall plot, and I would like to have seen more of it - even if in flashbacks.
There are a couple of confusing moments in the plot, perhaps a few conveniences of character locations, or things not fully explained, but it didn’t really deter my enjoyment.
This is a hidden gem of a book, judging by how few ratings there are on Goodreads. If you love epic fantasy, things that are (overall) more light-hearted, and have a great cast of characters (including our main one, Dove, who is voiceless), in a world you can't wait to explore, I highly recommend this!
When I realised this book had airships and dragons, it had my full attention. For anyone who knows me (and what I write - looking at you, Linaria), you can see exactly why this book appealed.
I know a lot of people love characters or plot in books. Usually one of those two things are most important for them.
But for me, writing style is by far the most important element when I’m reading a book. It’s what hooks me into the story. It could be the greatest story ever, but if the writing style is bland or mediocre, my attention will wane.
Rosero has a SENSATIONAL writing style. It’s immediately clear from the opening lines that the author’s voice is strong, and brings something unique. And it spills into her characters wonderfully - it just so happens to have a stellar cast, too.
Rarely do I understand who a character is and what they’re about from a handful of sentences, but Rosero masterfully does this. We’re thrown into the middle of a world (which is amazing, I’ll get to that in a moment) through the eyes of an eclectic cast. Each one is different and clearly defined.
The chapters alternate between character POVs, and it’s always abundantly clear if we’re with smugglers/sky pirates Decker, Marc, Wolff and the crew, with the voiceless Dove, with Gryff out of his depth and struggling to hold his head above water, with Bard and Dancer, with Valerya herself.
Epic fantasy, and by extension large casts of characters, can be intimidating. There can be so many names and relations that they all sort of blur together. Not so here. Rosero has a firm grip on her characters, which means the reader does, too. At no point was I unsure who Valk or Dancer or Toma or half a dozen of the side characters were. Even when someone’s appearance on page is brief, they shine.
World building is also hugely important to me. I read for escapism, which is why 99% of my books are fantasy. The world building in Burn Red Skies keeps on giving. I’ve never read elemental magic like this before. It’s so much more than Person A born in country A can do magic A. There are four elements - fire, water, ice, and storm. But this elemental affinity affects more than the magic that people can cast. Those of the water element can’t get drunk, their wounds heal almost instantly - closing up like water poured across their skin. Those of Ice burn in daylight, and so their cities are built deep into mountains, boring underground where they’re shielded. Even speech is different - some cultures don’t waste words, simply walking away at the end of a conversation. The Thunderborne live in a floating city. This is the kind of world building I adore. (Also can I be a Thunderborne please? I mean, I already have the blue hair...)
There are mages. Skin changers. A twisted King (ugh I hated him so much), Swordsuits (Spades, Diamonds etc.), mercenaries, a system of sending messages with peregrine falcons. Languages. Different religions/spiritualities. The depth here is staggering, and you’d expect it all to be shoved into a 1000 page tome. However, at just over 400 pages, the pacing is brilliant. There aren’t wasted words, let alone wasted chapters, and while things move along quickly, it’s never blistering.
This year, I’m trying to start jotting down quotes that I particularly like, and here are a few I enjoyed in Burn Red Skies:
“His body felt stitched together, every movement a blade to his ribs. Soon, he would come apart at the seams.”
“Colours of the ascendant stars swirled about her, so delicately constructed that it seemed a light rain might wash it all away.”
“Nothing ever good came from the words of ghosts.”
“The dragon had torn a hole in the sky, red and fierce like the dawn.”
“A voiceless girl roars in the skies.”
And one of my favourite lines from the Bard/Dancer chapters (where a good chunk of the humour is): “Why is there a dead man on my floor?”
My main gripe is a personal one - I’d like MORE DRAGONS, please. Valerya is the General Summoner, known as the She-Jackal. She summoned the red dragon and all fear her for it. You can always sense the dragon’s presence in her chapters, realise she has her own personal struggles with it. She's a complex character and every chapter spent with her (either in her eyes or the POV of someone with her), I found my opinion changing. Her dragon is a big part of her character and the overall plot, and I would like to have seen more of it - even if in flashbacks.
There are a couple of confusing moments in the plot, perhaps a few conveniences of character locations, or things not fully explained, but it didn’t really deter my enjoyment.
This is a hidden gem of a book, judging by how few ratings there are on Goodreads. If you love epic fantasy, things that are (overall) more light-hearted, and have a great cast of characters (including our main one, Dove, who is voiceless), in a world you can't wait to explore, I highly recommend this!
tezzarudge's review
4.0
Here we have another spfbo7 finalist! As per all the other finalists so far, this is well worth its place in the final
This book was crazy good in some aspects but a little outside my normal preferences in others , but this is definitely a series I will continue
There are 4 pov in this story, 3 I really enjoyed and, 1 I struggled to connect with, but can definitely see that characters arc developing in future books !
The world building is excellent in places, air ships, battlements, the final battle scene. And a little underwhelming in others. I perhaps didn't need there to be so many different aspects in this first book.
The magic system is a little crazy for me. I normally enjoy strict magic systems which I can follow but this book was a bit full on in that respect. That said, I actually was fully intrigued by it and I can see it becoming more clear and developed as the series continues.
Overall I did really enjoy this story. I particularly enjoyed the introduction of Dancer and Bard , half way through the book which lifted the story with some humour and a different angle.
This book was crazy good in some aspects but a little outside my normal preferences in others , but this is definitely a series I will continue
There are 4 pov in this story, 3 I really enjoyed and, 1 I struggled to connect with, but can definitely see that characters arc developing in future books !
The world building is excellent in places, air ships, battlements, the final battle scene. And a little underwhelming in others. I perhaps didn't need there to be so many different aspects in this first book.
The magic system is a little crazy for me. I normally enjoy strict magic systems which I can follow but this book was a bit full on in that respect. That said, I actually was fully intrigued by it and I can see it becoming more clear and developed as the series continues.
Overall I did really enjoy this story. I particularly enjoyed the introduction of Dancer and Bard , half way through the book which lifted the story with some humour and a different angle.
antigonus's review
4.0
I had an absolute blast reading Burn Red Skies! It features an inter-dimensional dragon, a crew of closely-knit airship smugglers, an expertly-handled mute protagonist, a murderous General resentful of her past choices, a sadistic King with grand delusions of turning back the clock, and a pair of devilishly charming rogues bursting with electrifying chemistry. How can one not fall for such an eclectic cast?
Furthermore, nearly every major character is supplemented with distinct characteristics and motivations, and a unique voice to go along with them. Every glimpse inside the head of a sadistic man, who leverages his power in cruel ways for his own amusement at times, and to keep people within his control in other instances, felt truly repulsive — and yet fascinating. Despite the fact that page count came at a premium, the camaraderie of the smuggling crew, and the jovial banter that forms an essential part of it, left me aching for more. Merc’s gentle ribbing and outlandish ideas, coupled with Decker and Wolff’s terse admonishments, reduced me to a cackling mess in the middle of the night.
But those aren’t even the highlights. I’ve never experienced a story through a mute protagonist, so as soon as I realised Dove was one, I paid extra attention to how the author handled interactions involving her. The end result is one of exceptional quality. Flashbacks, observations, suggestive looks, and questioning glances were so expertly balanced that there were occasions where didn't notice her lack of speech. Conversations involving Dove felt just as rich — or maybe even richer — as any other, which is a credit to the author’s skill.
And just when I thought Burn Red Skies couldn’t possibly get any better, along came the chapters dedicated to Bard and Dancer, my favourite element of the story. From the very first page of Bard’s POV, the high jinks of the two rogues felt disparate from the rest of the plot. Their shared chemistry, numerous flirtations, secretive pasts, and obvious talent for sticking their blades into flesh served as the perfect recipe to feverishly turn the pages long into the night. There is also an outstanding fight scene involving them that I’ll cherish for a long time to come, and which clearly marks the author as an automatic read for me in the future.
There are, however, a few quibbles that stopped this book from being a five-star read for me, which is unsurprising for a debut work. While characters are easily its strongest aspect, as most of this review suggests, the world-building is uneven at best. There were more than a few instances where I was reduced to questioning my own memory, or if the author had provided the required information about a term or a characteristic or some critical aspect of the world. Repetition or elaboration of certain key elements, up to a certain degree, would have certainly helped. Secondly, pacing is a particular strong point overall — until the final 15% of the story comes into view. Events down the home stretch seemingly progressed at 2-3x speed, with all sense of location, character placement, setting descriptions either lost or reduced to a hazy mess. Sure, the author stuck the landing, but the execution underwhelmed.
But don’t let that hold you back from giving Burn Red Skies a try. It is, without a doubt, one of the best works that I’ve come across to feature the ‘found family’ trope, and definitely worth giving a try if you’re a fan of epic fantasy that wears love and friendship on the sleeve, while keeping darkness at bay, on the edge of the page.
Furthermore, nearly every major character is supplemented with distinct characteristics and motivations, and a unique voice to go along with them. Every glimpse inside the head of a sadistic man, who leverages his power in cruel ways for his own amusement at times, and to keep people within his control in other instances, felt truly repulsive — and yet fascinating. Despite the fact that page count came at a premium, the camaraderie of the smuggling crew, and the jovial banter that forms an essential part of it, left me aching for more. Merc’s gentle ribbing and outlandish ideas, coupled with Decker and Wolff’s terse admonishments, reduced me to a cackling mess in the middle of the night.
But those aren’t even the highlights. I’ve never experienced a story through a mute protagonist, so as soon as I realised Dove was one, I paid extra attention to how the author handled interactions involving her. The end result is one of exceptional quality. Flashbacks, observations, suggestive looks, and questioning glances were so expertly balanced that there were occasions where didn't notice her lack of speech. Conversations involving Dove felt just as rich — or maybe even richer — as any other, which is a credit to the author’s skill.
And just when I thought Burn Red Skies couldn’t possibly get any better, along came the chapters dedicated to Bard and Dancer, my favourite element of the story. From the very first page of Bard’s POV, the high jinks of the two rogues felt disparate from the rest of the plot. Their shared chemistry, numerous flirtations, secretive pasts, and obvious talent for sticking their blades into flesh served as the perfect recipe to feverishly turn the pages long into the night. There is also an outstanding fight scene involving them that I’ll cherish for a long time to come, and which clearly marks the author as an automatic read for me in the future.
There are, however, a few quibbles that stopped this book from being a five-star read for me, which is unsurprising for a debut work. While characters are easily its strongest aspect, as most of this review suggests, the world-building is uneven at best. There were more than a few instances where I was reduced to questioning my own memory, or if the author had provided the required information about a term or a characteristic or some critical aspect of the world. Repetition or elaboration of certain key elements, up to a certain degree, would have certainly helped. Secondly, pacing is a particular strong point overall — until the final 15% of the story comes into view. Events down the home stretch seemingly progressed at 2-3x speed, with all sense of location, character placement, setting descriptions either lost or reduced to a hazy mess. Sure, the author stuck the landing, but the execution underwhelmed.
But don’t let that hold you back from giving Burn Red Skies a try. It is, without a doubt, one of the best works that I’ve come across to feature the ‘found family’ trope, and definitely worth giving a try if you’re a fan of epic fantasy that wears love and friendship on the sleeve, while keeping darkness at bay, on the edge of the page.
womanon's review
I love me a dragon in a story, so I was super excited for this book. And I wholly loved it. Because the world was pretty complex, it took me a while before I was fully immersed in the story, but the wait was worth it. This is definitely a book you have to pick up if you like higher fantasy!