The Fires of Vengeance by Evan Winter | Book Review

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

The Fires of Vengeance by Evan Winter
Series: The Burning #2
Published by Orbit on November 10, 2020
Genres: Epic Fantasy, BIPOC
Pages: 529
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased

Content Warnings: Colonization, Genocide, Death, War, Blood, Gore, Sexual Assault, Misogyny, Classism, Racism

Rating:

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.

I am not going to lie, when I picked up the first book in this series, I thought it was a duology and everything would be tied up nice and neat by the end of The Fires of Vengeance. About half way through, however, I realized my mistake. There was no way Winter could wrap everything up in 2 books. That's when I started doing some digging and realized how wrong I was. Not only is this not a duology, it's intended to be a 4 book series...Great...The third and fourth installment are not out yet, but the third book in the series is set to release this summer. There is no confirmed date for the final book, so heaven knows how long I will have to hold onto these characters in my mind.

Regardless, I was just an enthralled with The Fires of Vengeance as I was with The Rage of Dragons. The story continues with Tau and Tisora as they navigate vengeance, rebellion, and other endless threats and upheavals. I felt much more connected with Tau in this book compared to the one prior. Tau does a lot of growing up, but he still acts impulsively, which is very annoying at times, especially when it results in his friends or family being put into harms way. I have to keep reminding myself that Tau is still a child, and therefore not fully capable of understanding the consequences of his actions. He is definitely an impulsive teenage boy with a chip on his shoulder, but his transformation into a skilled, discipline fighter is something to be admired.

We are also given a much better look into Tisora, the new young queen of the Omehi. She truly shines, even when making mistakes. I loved her character development as well as her insights into the history of the Omehi people. It is Tisora that finally provides us with the information we, the reader, need to understand why the Omehi fled from their ancestral home and why the caste systems are designed the way they are. I love her rebellious streak and her desire to save her people while systemically dismantling systems that have oppressed others for far too long. Of course nothing comes easy for our young queen and her champion, but that's the whole point right?

Winter continues to expand upon his universe with gritty details, history lessons, and beautiful descriptions. Just like before, I felt like I was watching a movie as I read, the characters and landscape blooming across the pages of my mind. The fight scenes, especially those with dragons and demons, were even better than the first book and I can't wait to see where this story takes our main characters.

We also start to get a hint of a couple of different love stories in The Fires of Vengeance. The Rage of Dragons touches on Tau's relationship with Zuri, a childhood friend and Gifted who risks everything to keep Tau and their queen safe during an insurrection. The Fires of Vengeance continues Tau's love story, but at a much slower pace. We are leaning into slow burn romance here, which I look forward to seeing more of in the next book. We also get hints of a relationship between two men in Tau's unit, which was nice to see. I had a feeling there was a bit of this happening, but it was nice to see it confirmed.

If you haven't picked up The Burning series yet, I recommend you do. This one is certain to please and leave you wanting more!