Let’s Read Good Books

My Thoughts:

I’ve had a lot of success with Tor novellas, and when I saw the gorgeous cover for The Fireborne Blade, it was quickly added to my TBR. I didn’t even read the synopsis. To tell the truth, I rarely do. When I’m on the hunt for my next read, I just let my hunches do the choosing.

This was nothing like I thought it would be, and at first I wasn’t sure whether I was enjoying it. The POV flipped from recordkeepers collecting stories of dragon hunts and both dragon deaths and the deaths of the knights attempting to kill them. Through these short vignettes, we learn that dragons were once much more intelligent hundreds of years before, and glory or a gruesome death can be the reward for attempting to kill these ferocious creatures.

This is also the story of Maddileh, a dishonored knight who is trying to redeem herself in the eyes of the king. She thinks she has to perform an act of unquestionable bravery and loyalty, so she sets her sights on the Fireborne Blade. But in order to retrieve the magic sword, she must slay the fearsome White Lady, an unbelievably old and powerful dragon.

Maddileh’s quests take her from one end of the kingdom to the other, in search of clues as to the location of both the blade and the White Lady’s lair. While I admired her sense of honor, Maddileh could be stubborn and shortsighted. She expected complete obedience from her squire, mysterious and taciturn Petros, but rarely received it. He was such an arrogant companion, I started wishing she’s just leave him behind. I knew he had an agenda of his own, and I never trusted him, but dang! He turned out to be the vilest of villains!

There was a part of the story when I was so angry, so despairing, when Maddileh’s quest seems doomed to failure, and I was about to hurl my Kindle against that nearest wall. I had traveled all this way with her, and thinking she was the master of her own actions, and I was so very wrong. But I kept reading, and found the ending so satisfying that I wanted more. And to my delight, there will be another novella releasing in October 2024. I can’t wait!

About the Book:

Title: The Fireborne Blade

Author: Charlotte Bond

Pages: 176

Format: eBook

Source: My Local Library

Rating: 4 stars

From the back of the book:

Kill the dragon. Find the blade. Reclaim her honor.

It’s that, or end up like countless knights before her, as a puddle of gore and molten armor.

Maddileh is a knight. There aren’t many women in her line of work, and it often feels like the sneering and contempt from her peers is harder to stomach than the actual dragon slaying. But she’s a knight, and made of sterner stuff.

A minor infraction forces her to redeem her honor in the most dramatic way possible, she must retrieve the fabled Fireborne Blade from its keeper, legendary dragon the White Lady, or die trying. If history tells us anything, it’s that “die trying” is where to wager your coin.

Maddileh’s tale contains a rich history of dragons, ill-fated knights, scheming squires, and sapphic love, with deceptions and double-crosses that will keep you guessing right up to its dramatic conclusion. Ultimately, The Fireborne Blade is about the roles we refuse to accept, and of the place we make for ourselves in the world.