The Rage of Dragons (Evan Winter)

The Rage of Dragons
The Burning series, Book 1
Evan Winter
Orbit
Fiction, Fantasy
**** (Good)

DESCRIPTION: Nearly two hundred years ago, the Omehi people fled their old home and came to a new land across the sea. They fought back the local tribes with their own Gifted and the help of their Guardians, wild dragons who could be compelled to assist them (if for a price.) With their coming, a great curse spread among the savages, destroying their heathen shamans - yet still, they raid and harry despite this clear proof that the Goddess favors the Omehi as the Chosen race.
Tau was born to the Lesser caste, learning swordcraft from a father who rose as far as society would permit him. He thought he would become a fighter in the endless wars, serve his time and earn his glory, then come home to marry the beautiful Zuri and teach his own children the way of the sword - but a series of terrible betrayals strips away his future and his father. All he has left is his ancestral sword and an anger that burns bright as dragonfire. With them, he means to hunt down and destroy the Nobles who broke his life, even if it costs him his own life. But while he trains for vengeance, the Omehi stand on the brink of utter annihilation...

REVIEW: The Rage of Dragons is, indeed, about rage: the rage of a broken heart and shattered family, the rage of social injustice in a corrupted society, the rage of prejudice and xenophobia, the rage of secrets and lies and betrayals. (Yes, there are also dragons - and they can be very enraged themselves.) The reader watches as Tau becomes consumed by his own rage, nursing it into an obsession that raises him far beyond what society tells him he can become, but also costs him greatly and sets him on a path that can hardly hope to have a pleasant destination. He is no prodigy and his victories do not come easy, fraught with mistakes and setbacks; it's through sheer bloody-minded determination and resolve that he breaks through barrier after barrier, and even his victories often leave him in a bleaker place than he was before. He makes few friends and many enemies on his long, battle-filled, and gory journey, and his ultimate decision about how far he means to pursue his vengeance literally breaks him. The culture of the Omehi is well-realized and interesting, if brutally oppressive, with a magic system as ruthless as its military obsession. This is a violent, often dark book, but oddly compelling, and it reads relatively fast. I expect I'll look into the next book when it comes out.

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