Fire, Fury, and Vengeance: A Review of The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!
The Omehi people have been fighting an unwinnable fight for almost two hundred years. Their society has been built around war and only war. The lucky ones are born gifted. One in every two thousand women has the power to call down dragons. One in every hundred men is able to magically transform himself into a bigger, stronger, faster killing machine.
Everyone else is fodder, destined to fight and die in the endless war. Young, gift-less Tau knows all this, but he has a plan of escape. He’s going to get himself injured, get out early, and settle down to marriage, children, and land. Only, he doesn’t get the chance. Those closest to him are brutally murdered, and his grief swiftly turns to anger. Fixated on revenge, Tau dedicates himself to an unthinkable path. He’ll become the greatest swordsman to ever live, a man willing to die a hundred thousand times for the chance to kill the three who betrayed him.
★★★★☆
Dark. Action-packed. Brutal.
My Review
After almost two years of not finishing a single book, I’m proud to say I made it through not just one, but two books in The Burning series: The Rage of Dragons and The Fires of Vengeance. I was deep in a reading slump, and starting a new fantasy series from an unfamiliar author felt risky. But Evan Winter’s world didn’t let me go. I found myself up at 3AM, reading by the light of my phone’s flashlight, heart pounding, mind racing. It was exactly the kind of story I needed to fall back in love with reading again.
What I Loved
The worldbuilding is bold, fresh, and grounded in a way that felt unlike anything I’ve read before. Drawing from African inspiration, Winter creates a brutal, beautiful world that hits different. And the fact that The Rage of Dragons is a debut? I repeat: DEBUT still blows my mind. His writing style struck the perfect balance: cinematic, vivid, but not too complex. It honestly felt like watching an action movie unfold in my head. The pacing is relentless in the best way. The action barely lets up, and the fight scenes had me flipping pages like my life depended on it. Tau, our main character, is a force of nature. His obsession with revenge drives him to terrifying lengths, but what I appreciated most is that his growth is earned. No random power-ups. Just raw determination, pain, and work. As someone who watches a lot of anime, I really respected that journey.
Spoilers Ahead Spoilers Ahead Spoilers Ahead Spoilers Ahead Spoilers Ahead Spoilers Ahead
What Didn’t Work as Well
As much as I loved the energy and emotional stakes, I do think some parts of the world were underdeveloped especially the scale system and the role of the Gifted. There’s this whole hierarchy that’s vital to the story, but we don’t get much detail about how it really works other than you’re treated like crap the lower your rank is in the caste. I was constantly wanting more: more context, more structure, more clarity.
Zuri and other Gifted women, while powerful, often felt like they were there more for romance or to support Tau’s arc than to grow independently. And Esi; don’t even get me started. The reveal that she and Abasi were in love and basically formed a new monarchy? That twist came out of nowhere. It wasn’t the fact that Abasi escaped that frustrated me, it was how quickly things escalated (and ended) with Esi. Their relationship didn’t feel organic at all, and honestly, it took me out of the story for a bit.
I also think a lot of side characters had way more potential than they were given. Many felt like they existed just for romantic or battle subplots, when they could’ve added more weight and dimension to the story.
End of Spoilers End of Spoilers End of Spoilers End of Spoilers End of Spoilers End of Spoilers
Final Thoughts
Don’t let my critiques deter you from reading this series because despite them, I genuinely had a great time reading and I can’t wait for the third book (please come into my arms quickly).
I’d give this book a solid 4.6/5. If you like fast-paced, emotionally intense, character-driven fantasy, give it a shot and you’d like it just as much as I did.
