Fireborne: 1 (Aurelian Cycle)
£14.70£42.80 (-66%)
Game of Thrones meets Fourth Wing in a debut young adult fantasy that’s full of rivalry, romance . . . and dragons.
Annie and Lee were just children when a brutal revolution changed their world, giving everyone–even the lowborn–a chance to test into the governing class of dragonriders.
Now they are both rising stars in the new regime, despite backgrounds that couldn’t be more different. Annie’s lowborn family was executed by dragonfire, while Lee’s aristocratic family was murdered by revolutionaries. Growing up in the same orphanage forged their friendship, and seven years of training have made them rivals for the top position in the dragonriding fleet.
But everything changes when survivors from the old regime surface, bent on reclaiming the city.
With war on the horizon and his relationship with Annie changing fast, Lee must choose to kill the only family he has left or to betray everything he’s come to believe in. And Annie must decide whether to protect the boy she loves . . . or step up to be the champion her city needs.
From debut author Rosaria Munda comes a gripping adventure that calls into question which matters most: the family you were born into, or the one you’ve chosen.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Penguin Young Readers Group (1 Jan. 1900) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 464 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 0525518231 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0525518235 |
| Reading age | 12 – 17 years |
| Dimensions | 13.97 x 3.18 x 20.96 cm |
by Laura Ribaudo
It’s been a while since I read a YA fantasy I liked so much, and the sequel is even better. Highly recommended!
by Marta Cox
Inspired by a combination of classics such as Plato and also by dog fights above England during world war 2 the author imagines what it would be like if dragons fought in the air. It’s a crazy combination that works as the story she tells is about the aftermath of a revolution that leaves the victors and indeed the dispossessed struggling in their new utopia but have they truly created a paradise with freedom and prosperity for all or is it an illusion that can come crashing down ?
Our hero is Lee who hides the fact that he is the son of a much reviled and now dead Dragon Lord. He’s fought his way up through the ranks and now his goal of becoming First rider is within sight but first there’s the little matter of actually winning the trials. One of his rivals is Annie who is probably the person he is closest to but even she doesn’t know his secrets.
This story takes these characters and indeed the reader on a moral journey where it’s difficult to categorically state what is black and what is white. The political machinations are muddied with the author showing shockingly that even the heroes of this world have feet of clay . Do not expect a straight forward romance either because even then these characters make decisions that feel uncomfortable. If like me you want to read this because it’s about Dragons then I have to say that sadly even though these riders can communicate with their Dragons there isn’t as much of that here as perhaps I’d hoped. Instead we get the story told in turns from the point of view of both Lee and Annie as history starts to repeat itself and war is coming.
This is incredibly hard to rate because as much as I applauded the ending at times it did feel a little slow. Plus I know that we are all influenced by something and it’s almost impossible to have a completely new idea but the set up for these characters reminded me of another famous series.
Lee the young hero who is orphaned.
Annie the best friend who is undoubtedly brilliant but looked down upon by elitist snobs .
School/ academy setting.
Vile fellow student who is frequently rude and nasty to Annie.
The old guard determined to bring back dark times.
Yes I know it’s a completely different story but sadly all of the above plus a couple of other things did take me out of the story at times. I think overall given that it’s a book about squadrons of Dragons taking to the skies and fighting what really let this down was a distinct lack of action as even at the end when a much anticipated showdown occurs it just seemed to happen so very quickly. This isn’t a bad book because I did enjoy this story and I hope the sequel allows the Dragons and their riders to really show what they can do !
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair
by Annette J
An exciting young adult fantasy featuring rivalry, romance, revenge and a dragon or two for good measure, FIreborne by Rosaria Munda is a gripping read. The book tells the story of two young dragon riders, Lee and Annie , who befriended each other as children in an orphanage, and are now on the verge of becoming leader and second in command of the nation’s dragon army. Though good friends , the pair are very different and come from vastly different beginnings, Lee was the youngest son of the aristocratic ruling family, and the only member of the family who survived the rebellion which overthrew them. Abandoned in the orphanage, he has hidden is heritage, and worked his way to the top on his own merit, Annie is also the only surviving member of her family, though their humble rural home life was hugely different to Lee’s ,and her family was killed as a punishment for supposedly hiding food during a famine, instead of using it to pay their taxes. Both are scarred by being forced to watch their families die, and both are determined to show the world that they belong, and that they have the courage and skill to lead the army, but only one of them can end up on top. To further complicate matters, Lee comes to realise that some members of his extended family may have survived, and they intend to take back the crown. Torn between his past and his possible futures he faces an impossible choice.
This book had so much great world building, I loved the idea of a magical society that had been torn down and replaced, at least in theory, by a meritocracy, it is not something that I have seen done before , and it is done really well here. The author has clearly put a lot of thought into the whole political system, and I found it fascinating.
The characters of Lee and Annie are wonderful, complex, nuanced and fully rounded. I loved the fact that I could not decide which way Lee would go when faced with his biggest choice, and felt like this was a testament to the author’s skill, I also really liked the dynamic between the two, and especially it’s complexity, given the history of their families.and the professional rivalry between them. The secondary characters were also well handled, and better realised than the main characters in some books I have read, The pacing is phenomenal, I was completely hooked, and genuinely surprised at several points, The complexity and character development put this book at the top of my YA fantasy list for this year, and it is a book I know I am going to recommend a lot, and read again as I eagerly await the next in the series.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.
by tthepageturner
Easily one of my all time favourite books.
You should read Fireborne if you enjoy:
– Childhood friends to lovers romances with yearning.
– Complex, morally grey characters.
– Book with dragons.
– Political intrigue.
I really hope this trilogy gets picked up by a UK publisher, because it is so, so good.