The Sky on Fire

May 1, 2024

In the cloud cities of Seven Crests, dragons rule; in the Deep, one can only hops to survive what lives there. Anahrod has lived in the Deep for years with her titan drake by her side, when a local warlord's attempt to capture her is foiled only by a small team of plucky rescuers. Anahrod can't return to her solitary life, however; instead, she finds her rescuers have turned to kidnappers, because they know who she really is--Anahrod the Wicked, back from the dead, who they think can help them steal a dragon's hoard. But not only does she not have the knowledge they think, but the hoard they want belongs to the dragon queen who wants Anahrod dead. A long on-ramp to the novel's main action builds the world with Lyon's usual flair for setting details, multiple plot threads, and characters with diverse sexualities. VERDICT Lyons's (The Discord of Gods) latest will add to the dragon frenzy while also appealing to readers who enjoy heist stories and action-packed fantasy. Comparisons to Anne McCaffrey's "Dragonriders of Pern" series are spot on.--Kristi Chadwick

Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from May 27, 2024
Lyons’s addictive and intricately plotted quest story (after The Ruin of Kings) intertwines all the elements of a suspenseful heist—danger, high stakes, clever characters, secrets, and betrayal—in a sprawling fantasy world replete with pompous dragons. Teen Anahrod Amnead, who has the magical ability to control animals, is accused of stealing from a dragon, charged with treason, and sentenced to death. But 15 years later, the arrogant and powerful blue dragon Tiendremos suspects that the humans responsible did not carry through on the execution and demands they locate and return Anahrod to face her punishment. The bounty hunters sent to fetch her betray their assignment by making Anahrod an offer she can’t refuse: they won’t turn her in if she helps them steal the hoard of diamonds belonging to Neveranimas, the queen regent of dragons and Tiendremos’s boss, who stole the jewels from the comatose dragon king, Ivarion. Led by sultry dragon rider Ris, with whom Anahrod soon develops a sweet sapphic romance, the quirky group of adventurers includes knife-wielding warrior woman Claw, sorcerer Naeron, and elder poet Kaibren. Together they race against the clock to find the five swords that form the key to Neveranimas’s vault. If Ivarion wakes up before they succeed, the world as they know it could go up in flames. Fast-paced action, a smart and diverse cast, and fascinating dragon lore sustain this rip-roaring caper. Fantasy fans are sure to be sucked in.

Starred review from June 1, 2024
A heist threatens to shake an empire in this stand-alone work of epic fantasy. Seventeen years ago, a gifted dragonrider candidate, Anahrod Amnead, was falsely accused of stealing from a dragon's hoard. Tossed 50,000 feet to the Deep below, Anahrod managed to survive and carve out a life--only to be kidnapped and convinced to join a plot to actually rob the hoard of that same dragon. Many additional twists, turns, and revelations unfold in this pointed, flaming riposte to the science fantasy series that set the standard for dragonrider novels from the 1980s forward, Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern. (An author's note acknowledges Lyons' debt to both McCaffrey and George R. R. Martin.) McCaffrey's books and the many series they inspired posit an environment in which dragons--despite their vastly superior size, claws and teeth, ability to fly and breathe hazardous substances, and possession of magical or magic-seeming powers--will generally submit to humans' superior intellectual and mental capabilities as part of a biologically imperative bonding relationship. This book is set in a world where dragons seem to be equally intelligent to and more psychically powerful than humans. They recognize their obvious advantage and don't submit: They rule over their riders in particular and much of humanity in general. Bonding has some key physical benefits for them but it's not an imperative; it's a choice--at least, on the dragons' part. And the ability to speak to all dragons, which is considered a boon on Pern, is nothing but a profound danger here, because at least one dragon views it as a threat. This novel grabs a bunch of now-classic fantasy tropes and gives them a good shake; meanwhile, the heist story sticks fairly close to its classic tropes--clever ruses, last-minute setbacks, inevitable betrayals, and so on--but injects enjoyable suspense. Finally, there's a really sweet throuple romance and some lovely familial reconciliation. A soaringly good read.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from July 1, 2024
When she was a teen candidate for dragonrider, Anahrod was dropped from 50,000 feet. She is a survivor in the Deep, which is just a polite word for Hell. When confronted by kidnappers from the Deep whom she knows all too well, she is intercepted by a gang of thieves led by a female dragonrider, Riz. Riz, who emits a heat that neither can deny, explains that Anahrod is needed for a heist that involves the diamond hoard of the First Dragon. With more temptations to come, Anahrod is slowly dragged into adventures that include mining the scales of Leviathans at altitudes she'd sworn never to return to and a self-proclaimed king of the Deep whom, yes, she'd sworn never to return to. She also has to return to the dragonrider academy, where her riderless nemesis can teleport as well as use magic. Yet her companions have a plan; some of them have more than one. The hallmarks of a Lyons fantasy (the Chorus of Dragons series, starting with The Ruin of Kings, 2019) are all here: complex genealogies of charismatic characters, furious battles among dragons, masterful scheming, sexual tension, and crackling dialogue. Strap in for a great ride.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.