Review Detail

Fireborne is a fantasy novel set nine years after a bloody uprising against a brutal regime in which the poor were treated abominably by their "Dragonlords". The main characters are Lee, the son of a Dragonlord killed in the uprising, and Annie, whose family was slaughtered by Lee's father. They are training to ride dragons to be able to defend their country.
I read an ARC of Fireborne and loved it. It was plot and character driven, fast paced and had great world building. The characters inspire empathy and the reader very quickly cares what is going to happen to them. The Dragons add an exciting dimension to the story. Attitudes and values from the old and new regimes cause tension between the characters. Lee is faced with a difficult choice when his loyalty to the new regime is questioned by the appearance of a family member from the old one. Inspired by the Aenid and the Republic, Fireborne is thought provoking and raises a lot of ethical questions about how to structure a society.