Fireborne (THE AURELIAN CYCLE) (edició 2019)

At the end of this book, I felt as though I'd been on a long, torturous and terribly painful journey, onlt to find myself standing on the edge of a steep cliff overlooking a valley shadowed by even more unknowns. I look forward to exploring them in whatever comes next. ( )

RGG: Not great, but a fun read. Dragons and politics, but diversity unclear. Even though the first book now in a trilogy, but still a satisfying conclusion. Reading Interest: 14-YA.

Fireborne follows the perspectives of Lee and Annie, two orphans turned Guardians fighting to become Firstrider, which is the commander of the entire dragon fleet. Lee, born Leo Stormscourge, son of one of 3 triarchs, has hidden his identity his entire life after the old regime was overthrown. During his time in an orphanage, he meets Annie, a girl whose family was murdered through dragonfire by Leon stormscourge, aka Lee's father.

This book jumps right into a fast-paced rythm of dragon fighting and tournaments. I found it hard to put down because the world, the characters, the atmosphere, all of it was so addicting. I love this book because of how it mixes fantasy and politics and romance. Both Lee and Annie, by the end, are able to grow from one another and from their past.

Most of the time, I identified strongly with Annie. She was born into a subordinate role and struggled with that identity throughout the book, but she was able to push aside the doubts and fears and become someone confident, someone who didn't give up on what she wanted. At times, I was a little annoyed with her character because she was stuck in this back and forth on her opinion of Lee, but all in all, I enjoyed her character building and development. ( )

It was hard to know what to really think or feel about this novel. It was very well and excitingly written, and tackled some enormous, confusing, difficult issues. But it wasn't really clear on what side it came down on on many of those issues—I suppose because it's only just the start of a series. We'll have to wait for sequels for final verdicts. ( )

The beginning of this story left me feeling rather dubious, as it appears so one-dimensional and predictable. Somewhere along the way, I found myself drawn into this post-revolutionary story that just happens to contain dragons. I love the characters and their inner conflicts to do the right thing for the greater good, their compromises along the way, and the strength of character they display. What started slowly ended impressively, and this is another series I am excited to see continue.