A review by nclcaitlin
The Waking Fire by Anthony Ryan
3.75
If you like the big battle scenes of How to Train your Dragon, Pirates of the Caribbean, and steampunk, flintlock, capitalist corporate worlds, read this!
Claydon is an unregistered Blood-blessed, able to channel the powers contained in the blood of wild drakes. As his life as a thief unravels, he is forced to join a venture to find the legendary fabled White Drake.
Lizanne is a trained spy and assassin sent into enemy territory to retrieve information essential to the Ironsmith’s growth and survival.
Hilemore is a naval officer, suddenly thrust into a war that seems impossible to win alongside rouges and pirates.
The Blood-blessed gain superhuman powers for short periods when imbibing refined drake’s blood with each species giving its own unique power:
Blue for the mind. Green for the body. Red for the fire. Black for the push.
Ryan Pitt’s capitalism against monarchy and the idea of freedom and slavery in this epic world of drakes, ships, pirates, and flintlock steampunk fantasy.
“Besides, the pursuit of profit can be quite liberating, whilst ideologues often find themselves enslaved by their dogma.”
This is extremely different to his other books I’ve read to far and makes me reminiscent of Brian Stavely’s books!
Whilst there is philosophical and political gandering like his other books (Blood Song, The Pariah), the focus primarily stays on the action and the fate of each faction.
However, this may change as the series progresses as normally all his first books are more fast-paced but then take a turn in the subsequent books.
I do question why Hilemore had a point of view as he didn’t seem to move the plot along or add anything to the main story. Rather, he just added another dimension and outlook.
Whilst the ending completely ramped up on the action and fighting sequences (think How to Train your Dragon final battle against the big bad dragon), this was probably my least favourite part as huge chunks were dedicated to things blowing up and being shot. That’s just a personal preference though.