A Smart and Strong Dual-Voiced Fantasy With Dragons!
Fireborne
by Rosaria Munda
Series: The Aurelian Cycle (Book 1)
Publication Date: October 15, 2019
Publisher: GP Putnam’s Sons
Length: 448pp
ISBN-13: 978-0525518211
Related Links:
Rosaria Munda’s Website
Rosaria Munda on Twitter
Rosaria Munda on Instagram
Praise:
★ “A near-perfect work of high fantasy with wide appeal.” —Booklist, Starred Review
★ “Drawing inspiration from The Aeneid and Plato’s Republic, debut author Munda generates a plot that moves quickly, tempering fate-driven elements of classical tragedy with hope.” —Publisher’s Weekly, Starred Review
★ “[Fireborne] pulls readers in with political intrigue and action. What keeps them invested, however, are the complex relationships between many cast members… Full of drama, emotional turmoil, and high stakes.” —Kirkus, Starred Review
★ “Recommended for both teens and adults who enjoy a mentally stimulating novel and for those who wish to lose themselves in a world full of dragons.” —School Library Journal, Starred Review
Publisher Synopsis
Game of Thrones meets Red Rising 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.
My Review
Let’s start with that unbelievably cool cover! At first glance, and for a long while afterward, all I saw was the black outline of an awesome dragon. But, when I later spotted a creative instagram post (by @fromlibrarywithlove), I realized there had always been another layer to the cover art hidden within the cover’s negative space. I was in awe! See for yourself:
Forget what you were taught about not judging a book by its cover! In this case, the layers within the cover art are a hint to the layers of complexity to be found within the novel’s text. Happy surprise! You’ll get what you might expect: a story including dragons with lots of action, a bunch of intrigue, and a dash of romance. But, happily, you’ll also find more: discussions on power, class, and gender politics; a thoughtfully-constructed world inspired by/adapted from Plato’s Republic in which poetry based on Virgil’s Aeneid plays a key part; and even a reference to Homer’s Odyssey. (For more info on Rosaria’s inspirations from Classical Literature, please find this fascinating “Further Reading Guide” provided by Penguin.)
My favorite aspect of the novel is the character of Annie whose given name is Antigone. Though she was born a serf, she’s intelligent and determined. Her world’s new order, born of revolution, allows her a chance to compete, by virtue of a dragonriding tournament, for the honor of being chosen commander of the aerial fleet. Annie could be considered a cross between Hermione Granger and Katniss Everdeen. But even that description sells her short. Though she doesn’t start out that way, Annie becomes a heck of a strong female and it’s a joy to witness her evolution. Fireborne is such a wonderful commentary on gender politics that I was surprised to read that author Munda needed her own journey of sorts in order to make possible Annie’s heroic journey. (See Munda’s SLJ editorial Gender Politics in Fireborne.)
Along with Annie the other central protagonist is a boy named Lee. Though her cast is fairly large, Munda skillfully balances character development, ensuring that her secondary characters are drawn in sufficient detail without sacrificing the necessary page-time for Annie’s and Lee’s stories. Fireborne is told through alternating first person narratives from Annie and Lee, as well as a third-person narration used for flashbacks. In whole, readers get a good sense of these teens’ beginnings (they have an interesting relationship that begins in their backstory), their identities, and what drives their actions and decisions. As events unfold, you’ll enjoy watching Annie and Lee mature into people who are not just impacted by their world but actively shaping it.
— Dawn Teresa
Verdict
5 of 5 Hearts. A Smart and Strong Dual-Voiced Fantasy With Dragons!
Buy the Book
*Disclosure of Material Connection: I would like to thank GP Putnam’s Sons and Edelweiss+ for allowing me access to a digital arc of Fireborne in the hope that I would write an honest review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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