The Fires of Vengeance

Wooooooowwwwww. This is one of my new favorite series.

In the second book of The Burning series, we follow Tau and his sword brothers as they try to figure out how to defeat the enemy using their newfound status. I won't go too far into it so as not to spoil the first.

This series is so enthralling. You just don't want to put it down while reading. Winter is a master at weaving together a character and plot that makes the reader feel completely immersed in this bleak world of demons and politics. The characters all experience a lot of growth, and there's enough conflict to leave the reader guessing about where everyone stands at any given moment. The politics are also superbly done. Whenever I read a book that's heavy in politics or in war strategy, I typically feel bogged down and uninterested. But somehow, Evan Winter has made me look forward to this. Since he has created a character, Tau, who isn't smart about those maneuverings, the reader sees these discussions happening without being in the brain of the person making the plans. It allows for a very straight forward presentation of the information, which I'm incredibly grateful for.

The plot is fast paced and interesting, while not being overly-complicated and hard to follow. There is a romance sub-plot that wasn't distracting, and a lot of things were revealed at the end that left me dying for the next book. I think Winter has done a fantastic job of making no characters “good”. Everyone thinks they're doing the right thing, and they are all making mistakes and hard choices. It makes the brutality of the story that much harder, but interesting, to read.

The only reason I am giving it 4 stars is because the beginning took a little bit of time to build up and get going. I was a little bored waiting for the serious action to start in the beginning.

Ultimately, I recommend this series to anyone and I am going to be counting the days until the 3rd book comes out. Read this book if you like dope fantasy!

TW: death, decapitation, gore, mutilation, war