_fallinglight_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This book was not easy to get into and made me question why I even like fantasy or plot-driven books — bc goddamn is this book action-driven, we don't get actual plot until 80% in 😭. Anyway, I came so close to dnfing so many times bc I was not caring about the invasive Omehi or Tau and his journey but I kept reading positive reviews and I didn't want to start another book so I committed and hell yeah it paid off. After 84 years I finished this but what a chaotic treat it eventually was! Tau's journey is frenetic as hell and you really start rooting for him. Narrative-wise the book is one huge fight/training sequence after another with a few tidbits of world building info scattered throughout which can be very off putting and frustrating if you're a more character- and plot-driven reader who wants extensive and intensive world building writing and dialogue, which I've realized I now am, to some extent. Like teenage, early 20s me would've loved every single action-packed packed sequence with little plot and inner monologue and unpolished character development but now I need all that in equal measure and this book doesn't fully deliver in that front. Or maybe I still dig this type of writing as is but in shorter doses, this book would've been great if it were 200 pages fewer. Anyway, this book begs to be adapted to the screen, especially as an anime bc the visuals of the Ingonyama and the Enragers, the Gifted, and the nonstop training and fighting sequences would really shine in that medium. In the end the book is an enthralling fantasy ride and I'm glad to have stuck to it. This book does suffer from the "read the sequel if you MUST know more" style of writing and I'm not sure if I'm rushing to read the follow-up. I have to sit with my feelings for a few days but Tau is so badass (there's a point he channels Ip Man, bruh lmao) that maybe I wanna stick around and see where he goes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death of parent, Violence, Classism, and Death
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Fatphobia
kitausu's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
OH MY GOSH. THIS BOOK GAVE ME ABSOLUTE BRAIN ROT OBSESSION. THIS IS EVERYTHING TO ME.
Read it read it read it!!!!
Read it read it read it!!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Gore, Blood, Classism, Death, Body horror, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
murphysmate's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Lots and lots of fight scenes, but otherwise very good, with a great magic system, and a different universe to most fantasy books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death of parent, Death, War, and Murder
Moderate: Classism, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual content
_forestofpages's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
If you enjoy a frustratingly stupid main character who has no character growth and a book with a lot of training montages, you might like this book.
I however, did not enjoy my time reading this.
The pacing started out slow, revved up and got interesting then slowed down until the last 100 pages or so. The characters, including Tau are fairly one dimensional and none of them are given the time or tlc to make me care about any of them, which really is a shame because a few of them had such interesting introductions, but the author did nothing with them.
The plot is a typical revenge fantasy, but because that's not enough apparently the author added in a colonizer vs colonized war plot that came in at the last second to delay the actual revenge plot. The fact that the people that you are supposed to be rooting for are the colonizing force that started the war is hardly touched on until the last 100 pages.
The world building is interesting, but a lot of it is just set dressing for the training montages and skirmishes. About 85% of the book is just that; battles and training then more battles and more training etc. For a book called Rage of DRAGONS there sure is a lack of dragons.
Now onto the personal issues: the book has a society that is Matriarchal, but the only really important recurring female character is Tau's lover who really just served to move the plot forward and to be an expositional device. The only other important female character is the Queen who is just talked about but doesn't appear until near the conclusion of the book. There are a lot of lines that are said by soldiers or thought by Tau that are casually sexist or just generally disrespectful towards women, this bothered me since the book already is very male centric despite it having a society where women supposedly hold all the power. Historically women are marginalized, but this is a FANTASY book and I really don't understand why fiction authors especially in fantasy, keep mirroring their societies on the real world, when they coul literally do anything they want. Like, for example, not demeen women.
Another issue was the malicious and colonizing nature of the Omehi. They are the aggressors and also built a classist society and are constantly seen as Gifted by their Goddess and are right to be doing the horrible things they do. The classism is such an interesting conversation but everytime the author got close to really diving into that, he'd change the subject by having Tau do something stupid.
Honestly, the absolute stupidity and lack of awareness of Tau was the main reason this rating is so low. Having an unlikable MC is fine, but stupidity I can't tolerate. He never learns from his mistakes, has no regard for people's lives even, and especially the people he supposedly cares for. And he does so many things that, by the laws of the society he lives in, should get him killed on the spot, yet he somehow just gets away with it?
(Side rant: for a book filled with detailed gore and violence and literal child murder, the fake/made up curse words are a strange choice. Like cursing is where the author draws the line but graphic body horror is totally fine?)
This entire story was frusrating and uninteresting. Nothing was explored, all of the characters were forgettable to me, and Tau was so painful the read. I will read book two because I paid money for it, and I hope, given my low expectations, that I will like it.
I however, did not enjoy my time reading this.
The pacing started out slow, revved up and got interesting then slowed down until the last 100 pages or so. The characters, including Tau are fairly one dimensional and none of them are given the time or tlc to make me care about any of them, which really is a shame because a few of them had such interesting introductions, but the author did nothing with them.
The plot is a typical revenge fantasy, but because that's not enough apparently the author added in a colonizer vs colonized war plot that came in at the last second to delay the actual revenge plot. The fact that the people that you are supposed to be rooting for are the colonizing force that started the war is hardly touched on until the last 100 pages.
The world building is interesting, but a lot of it is just set dressing for the training montages and skirmishes. About 85% of the book is just that; battles and training then more battles and more training etc. For a book called Rage of DRAGONS there sure is a lack of dragons.
Now onto the personal issues: the book has a society that is Matriarchal, but the only really important recurring female character is Tau's lover who really just served to move the plot forward and to be an expositional device. The only other important female character is the Queen who is just talked about but doesn't appear until near the conclusion of the book. There are a lot of lines that are said by soldiers or thought by Tau that are casually sexist or just generally disrespectful towards women, this bothered me since the book already is very male centric despite it having a society where women supposedly hold all the power. Historically women are marginalized, but this is a FANTASY book and I really don't understand why fiction authors especially in fantasy, keep mirroring their societies on the real world, when they coul literally do anything they want. Like, for example, not demeen women.
Another issue was the malicious and colonizing nature of the Omehi. They are the aggressors and also built a classist society and are constantly seen as Gifted by their Goddess and are right to be doing the horrible things they do. The classism is such an interesting conversation but everytime the author got close to really diving into that, he'd change the subject by having Tau do something stupid.
Honestly, the absolute stupidity and lack of awareness of Tau was the main reason this rating is so low. Having an unlikable MC is fine, but stupidity I can't tolerate. He never learns from his mistakes, has no regard for people's lives even, and especially the people he supposedly cares for. And he does so many things that, by the laws of the society he lives in, should get him killed on the spot, yet he somehow just gets away with it?
(Side rant: for a book filled with detailed gore and violence and literal child murder, the fake/made up curse words are a strange choice. Like cursing is where the author draws the line but graphic body horror is totally fine?)
This entire story was frusrating and uninteresting. Nothing was explored, all of the characters were forgettable to me, and Tau was so painful the read. I will read book two because I paid money for it, and I hope, given my low expectations, that I will like it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Classism, Racism, and Death
Moderate: Sexual content, Vomit, and Sexism
nerdkitten's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Grief, Murder, Violence, War, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Genocide, Medical content, Vomit, Sexual content, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Child death, Confinement, Deportation, Torture, Excrement, and Misogyny
lochanreads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
A vividly imagined warrior type fantasy about two races of people, Omehi and Hedeni, locked in a never-ending war until one of them is completely exterminated. Tau Solarin is a commoner born into the unfalteringly classist Omehi tribe and wants nothing to do with the war. That is until he witnesses his father being killed in front of his very eyes by haughty Nobles and in his effort to seek revenge, Tau is thrown into the thick of battle as he strives to become a stronger fighter. Rage of Dragons is darkly magical, beastly and unrelenting.
I thought for what was supposed to be a matriarchy, the writing did convey some typically male-dominant narratives such as when Tau refers to a woman character he meets towards the end of the book as a "child" and continues to infantalise her despite acknowledging that they are about the same age and height, as well as other bits of dialogue throughout. A high level of reverence is given to women in this fantasy but their representation didn't always hit the right notes.
I was however, pulled into the story and the ending lends itself nicely to the sequel.
I thought for what was supposed to be a matriarchy, the writing did convey some typically male-dominant narratives such as when Tau refers to a woman character he meets towards the end of the book as a "child" and continues to infantalise her despite acknowledging that they are about the same age and height, as well as other bits of dialogue throughout. A high level of reverence is given to women in this fantasy but their representation didn't always hit the right notes.
I was however, pulled into the story and the ending lends itself nicely to the sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Classism, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and War
Moderate: Colonisation
little_white's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, War, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Vomit, Blood, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Rape, and Torture
charlesrevello's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Classism, Death, Genocide, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, and War
ehmannky's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I've had this book for a year now and for some reason kept putting it off. Which was my loss because this is one of the best books I've read in a long time. It's just fast-paced and interesting and compelling and the characters and their motivations are so well done. It is a book about war, and one that looks at colonization and violence from caste system. If you're not in the mood for a lot of fight scenes, it's not for you. But if you're good with that it's fabulous.
If you liked R.F. Kuang's Poppy War series, you'll probably love this.
If you liked R.F. Kuang's Poppy War series, you'll probably love this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Death of parent, Death, War, Violence, and Classism
Moderate: Vomit, Body horror, and Child death
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
pinkhyxteria's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Classism, Death of parent, Death, Gore, Grief, and Murder
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