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A review by theadamholcombe
Burn Red Skies by Kerstin Espinosa Rosero
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