The Rage of Dragons

"It would probably be a 5 star if i read the book instead of audio book. I thought it was a little hard to follow at times with the amount of names and such. Overall i really enjoyed it, great zero to hero story. Will probably read the next book as well :) "

"4.5/5 The Rage of Dragons is absolutely brutal and totally enthralling. I listened to it on audiobook and each time I paused I thought I would get bored with all the war and fighting, but instead, each time I pushed play, I was absolutely rapt.<br/><br/>It’s a truly masterful writer who gets you to hang on every word of a topic you’d otherwise not be interested in. This is such a physical book full of training, fighting, battle, and gore. But it’s even more a mental and emotional book. I have never before been transported so completely into the minds of people engaging in fights to the death.<br/><br/>I see some negative reviews critiquing how this book is centered around a people who are colonizers waging war against indigenous people, among other terrible acts carried out in the book. The Omehi people refer to the indigenous people as savages, they commit genocide, and they compel dragons in order to steal the land from the indigenous people.<br/><br/>Each of these points are absolutely true.<br/><br/>However, these are part of why this book was so well written and so compelling. I have not read the authors take so I cannot put words in his mouth, however I do not believe the book is meant to glorify colonization or glorify any of the characters in this book—in fact quite the opposite.<br/><br/>From the very first scene, we are introduced to a world full of acts of terror, violence, and cruelty. At one point a man attempts to rape a girl and when her father attacks him, the attempted rapist is able to have their entire family killed simply because he is part of the ruling class. And the main character Tau, while I did love him as a character, was a cruel and horrendously violent man.<br/><br/>Chapter after chapter, we learn more about the Omehi people and how, throughout the generations, they’ve been indoctrinated to believe in a strict caste system, to worship the royals, and to believe in their cause to wage war. And as we learn more, we also learn about all of the lies and hidden flaws and false histories the royals and nobles have spread to keep their people sacrificing their lives to keep the land they once stole from others.<br/><br/>I don’t think for a second this book was glorifying any of these things, but rather depicting them so realistically that we’re given the opportunity as readers to draw our own conclusions and build our own critiques. I love when an author writes humanity as it is in reality—utterly flawed and often terrible.<br/><br/>I love when an author does not tell us how to think or how to feel. Of course, I am a white woman and so that no doubt has an impact on my ability to read these incredibly triggering topics. It’s completely understandable if this sort of book is just absolutely a no for you—it is gruesome.<br/><br/>This book is not for the squeamish. This book is full of terrible and gruesome things. This book is incredible."

"Rage of dragons is a story of revenge, blood, determination and ferocity. It follows our main character Tau who is on the path of vengeance and becomes a strong warrior on the way. The world in the Rage of Dragons has a complex hierarchy between nobles and lessers. Even the two fight in different groups. The nobles fighting under the titles of Indlovu and the lessers fighting under the title Ihashe.<br/><br/>When I initially read this, the different labels and names were hard for me grasp. The audiobook definitely helped bring this complex and amazing world together. So regardless of my initial difficulty, the characters, the storyline, and the descriptions in this story were out of this world.<br/><br/>If you want a path of vengeance, a badass character, a complex fantasy world, and action packed fighting scenes, read this now!"

"Elegantly written and very intriguing plot. My favourite book by far"

"One of the very best fantasy books I have ever read"

"The fastest I’ve ever finished a book. Unlike any other book I’ve read, and absolutely amazing!"

"Prefect read if you are a fan of Tolkien or Robert Jordan! "

"I consistently saw this book on many "best of" lists and finally gave it a shot. I loved it. Very similar feel to Anthony Ryan's "Blood Song" (one of my favorites), the characters were intriguing and the magic system was very cool.<br/><br/>Intrigued to read more about the "natives" in the next book."

"It was a catching read, mostly because you just had to see what happened. On the other hand I couldn’t find a likable character. One that lived that is. As much as I would love to see the end of the journey.. I can not stand the main lead. Rashness is a strong character flaw here."

"This is a great coming-of-age book. Suffering on top of suffering. Risks it all at the end and gains and loses everything. Soo good."