 Hey guys, it's Leanna and I'm here today to talk about A Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter. So this is a book that has gotten a lot of attention, largely praise here on Booktube, and yeah, pretty much Booktube. I haven't really seen anyone talk about it on Bookstagram or anywhere else. But I have seen this talked a lot, talked about a lot on Booktube. And again, largely I have seen praise. People, I literally, well that's not exactly true. I have seen a couple people with dissenting opinions. There are people who my tastes do not align like very consistently with theirs. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. So anyway, all that to say, having heard all of that hype and praise, I had to know for myself what I would think of this book. And it's a chunky, floppy adult fantasy that I have really, really mixed feelings about. This isn't a rant review. This isn't one of those like, I don't get it. Like one star, everybody loves it, I hate it. It is not that. There's a lot that I kind of hate about this book. But I don't hate the book. I gave it three stars. Because it was like a, to me, even though three is technically like, you can't have a straight down the line review system when it's five stars. Like, it's either going to be anyway. Like, but three was like right down the middle for me. I was like, it's, I don't, I don't love it. I definitely do not love it, but I don't hate it. I have very mixed feelings about it, extremely mixed feelings about it. So this is going to be a non-smother review. And I'm just going to kind of go over my extremely mixed feelings about this. And it's kind of heavy and chunky. So I'm going to put it down. Okay, so the book itself is an African-inspired fantasy. As far as I'm aware to my knowledge, it's not inspired by any particular historical place, event, people, nation, culture, anything like that, but its tone, its aesthetic, its naming conventions are very inspired by various African cultures and African languages. And that's the vibe of it. Again, not being an expert on that part of the world myself, it may be drawing specific references from specific languages in the naming and at specific historical events to my knowledge that is not going on here. And I have not seen anyone else say that that's going on here. So again, as far as I know, that's not happening. It's just kind of vaguely African-ish. I might be wrong about that, but I don't think so. I don't think it's specific to anything. So that is refreshing to see a non-European, non-medieval Europe setting and inspiration for a fantasy, for an adult fantasy in particular is, it's always going to catch my eye. It's always going to spark my interest because it's, you know, I love medieval fantasy, like Abercrombie is my all-time favorite. So like, it's not like I'm not going to read that stuff, but it's refreshing to see not that. So caught my eye. Again, saw nothing to praise. So caught my attention. And the blurb, the sort of like the pitch is Game of Thrones meets Gladiator. And I love Game of Thrones and I love Gladiator. So I was like, great, an African inspired fantasy. This Game of Thrones meets Gladiator signed to me the fuck up. I don't understand either of those comparisons. I kind of get Gladiator, but not really because I feel like the strengths of Gladiator are entirely missing here. Like it's only the vaguest, barest trappings of Gladiator that are present here to make that comparison. Like I get why that comparison was made. But when I think of Gladiator, those are not the parts of Gladiator that I think of that are present here. So the premise of the book is it's kind of hard to put it, give you a concise synopsis blurb, but it is ultimately at its core or revenge story, which again, it's a really compelling kind of a plot to have. It's a really easy way to gain your audience's sympathy and interest. A revenge plot, like you kind of want a crystal. Like most audiences will, even if you're kind of being manipulated into it, like everybody can get on board with like something was taken from you. So let's get revenge. Like, sure. But that's kind of, well, Gladiator is actually a revenge story as well, which again, like I think is kind of why the revenge part of it and the fact that there are like there is like competitive fighting. In an arena, not even an arena, but in like a like people are watching competitive fighting Gladiator. OK, this is getting rambling, but I really, it's a tough one to to explain because like what's going on the plot itself, the plot is so basic, is so simple. It's literally just that our main character is on a mission to get revenge and to get to kill the people he holds responsible for his father's death. That is the entire plot. That's it. And so for that reason, that's one of the main reasons that I don't really like this book that I borderline hate it because it's so boring. Like the fact that once you strip away all the fantasy trappings and all the explanations of the lore and the explanations of the the magic system when you strip all that away, that's it. That's literally it. That's the entire plot. So it's really boring. And since that's the whole plot, you wonder like, how did you fill all these pages? Well, you filled all these pages with one tons of info dumps about the magic system and info dumps about the history and info dumps about the like case system that is like a social structure here. Just so much info dumping about that. So that's a big chunk of it. And then the rest of it is just pages and pages and pages and pages of training montages and fighting and battles, like the amount of battling the amount of of action scenes in this book is kind of absurd. It's nuts. It's every page it feels like. I know it can't be every page, but it feels like every page. It's almost like it's it's kind of like Rise of Skywalker. It's nowhere near as shitty as Rise of Skywalker. But the way that Rise of Skywalker just keeps throwing action at you like constantly, hoping you won't notice that the plot makes no fucking sense. So this isn't the case isn't here that the plot doesn't make sense. It's just there isn't much of a plot and it keeps throwing action at you. Like it's going to it's hoping it's going to trick you into thinking that that is a plot and that's not a plot. That's just a bunch of action, which after a while really, really gets old because the thing that makes an action scene interesting is your investment in how this is moving the plot forward. So if this is like a situation that the main character, like there's really high stakes here, like whether you win or lose this situation right here in terms of what the what you stand to gain or lose based on the outcome, that's what gets you involved, not the cool maneuver. Like the cool maneuver may be cool a little bit and it might and it's definitely way cooler on screen if you're watching someone do it. But in a book, you're like, OK, like that's cool and all. But like, like, OK, I get it. They're fighting a lot. Like I get it. Move on. I get it. Move on. So to me, what I love about Gladiator, well, not I shouldn't say the only thing. I do love the the action set pieces in Gladiator. It's a beautiful film. But Gladiator is more complex, the political machinations and the fact that you see from the villain's point of view, the political side there, the history and the the politics that are involved in Gladiator are a lot more complex. Even Gladiator isn't all of that. Like I don't really think of Gladiator as being an extremely complex story. But compared to Rage of Dragons, it is. Gladiator has a lot more nuance and a lot more layers to the story. And one of the things that I absolutely love and I think that that really gets the audience to that allows Maximus to gain the audience of sympathy is one, it's a revenge story. So yes, most people are going to be on board as soon as like something horrible is done to you or taken from you. In the beginning, we're like, we're with you to see you get your vengeance as an audience. So when Maximus slight spoilers for Gladiator, but at the beginning of the movie when Maximus's family is killed and his title and his lands and his property are taken from him, like, yeah, everybody sees that. And you're like, fuck, you got to get them back. And comedy is played by walking in Phoenix. It's just so disgustingly weasley. And like he plays it so well, but he's so easy to hate. But Maximus isn't. I feel like he would lose the audience of sympathy very quickly if Maximus was just like, I hate you and I'm going to kill you. And every single time he comes across comedy, if every single time like he just like had a complete rage and just like beyond like without logic or reason just went and attacked comedy without thinking about it. Then I don't think we would like Maximus very much. And that is exactly what the main character in Rage of Dragons is like the people he holds responsible for the death of his father. If he he's completely single-mindedly going to get revenge on him. There is no like complexity. There's no long game. Other people try to talk him out of this. Not even talk him out of getting revenge, but talk him out of like an immediate moment. Like he sees an opportunity that's literally just like it's animalistic. Like the person is physically in their presence and he's going to go attack them. Like it doesn't make sense to do it. It might hurt other people. There might be a better move here. You might be able to get a better revenge. Like if you like wait a little bit and like pick your opportune moment. Nope. Our main character is just like sees them. Gonna kill them. Gonna kill them. Gonna kill them. Gonna kill them. And it's like I've seen people complain that people that don't that have complained about this book that the main character is kind of dumb. And going into it having heard that criticism, I expected something a lot of both from the singular chronicle because both make some really dumb decisions, like really, really dumb decisions. But both is an interesting character and Quoth still does have kind of there's a lot of layers to what's going on with Quoth. And yes, his long game is getting revenge and fight on the people who killed his parents. Like it's literally the same thing. Quoth's parents are killed and he wants to go and get revenge on the the creatures that he that are responsible for his family's death. But at the same time, like Quoth is doing other things. There's more to Quoth. There's other goals he has. There's other motivations he has. Like he makes really dumb, dumb decisions. And he's got like such a huge ego that really gets him into trouble. But he's an interesting character to follow for that reason because he's got a lot going on. And it's not literally just this one thing with him. It's a lot that thing. Don't get me wrong, it is. That's his entire reason for going to the university because he wants to find books on the Shandrian, which are responsible for killing his family. But he's also there to learn other things and to he's interested in music and he's interested in Dana and he has his friends. And like there's other stuff going on. In Rage of Dragons, there's tons of like little moments where like I thought we would get more because he's part of this like fighting group that he gets involved with. And they're the ones that are competing together. They're kind of like Maximus and Gladiator is part of this like gladiatorial academy thing. So they fight together. So like there's like a group that he, that our main character in Rage of Dragons trains with. But there's never like considering how many pages are devoted to training montages and fighting. There isn't actually any kind of like a camaraderie built. Like you don't really get to know these characters as like his like fellow brothers in arms. Like, you know, it's literally just our main character being in his head, being like fight, fight, fight, get better, get better, fight, fight, fight, get better, get better, get stronger, get faster, get fit more badass so that I can kill, kill, kill, kill. That's it. He's like boring and not so much that he's dumb. He's just boring, boring as shit because that's all that's going on with him. And there's like a small romance subplot which honestly was nauseating to me because the way that it's written, I feel like Evan Winter doesn't know women because the female who's in love with that, she's a plot device. And I really hated the treatment of her character and even she comes into it occasionally to be like telling our main character that like you need to listen to what I have tell you about the bigger political situation here. Like I know you're all about revenge for your father's death, but like there's some stuff you don't know. There's more to this. Like it wasn't literally just like person killed father, person who killed father must die. Like there's the bigger things here. There's more things that led up to your father's death. There's more people involved. Like it's not that cut and dry. And he has no, he will not listen to it. He does not give a shit. Other people try to tell him this. He does not listen. He doesn't give a shit. And again, when people, I've heard people complain that the main character is dumb. That's not dumb to me. It's boring and narrow-minded, which to me is, it's nitpicking, but there's a subtle difference there. Like if he was on his own to dumb to piece together, there's more at play. That's being dumb. The fact that other people are telling him this stuff, being like, look, I'm literally going to tell you right now, this other stuff at play. La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la. Don't care. Gotta kill him. Gotta kill him. Gotta kill him. Don't care. That's not dumb. That's narrow-minded and stubborn and boring. Cause he's not an interesting character to fall. Yes, there's human beings in history and in real life where that narrow-minded and that stupid and that stubborn. But I don't want to follow those people because people like that are boring and obnoxious and unsympathetic. So I would really prefer it if at the beginning, his entire goal was like, I'm just going to kill the guy. I'm going to get good enough and I'm going to kill the guy that killed my dad. And that if along the way, he starts piecing together that like, there's more to this. There's more layers here. Perhaps like who I consider to be my enemy, it might be bigger or more complicated than that. If we watched him slowly alter his plan and alter his strategy and kind of become more aware of what all is at play, that would be so much more interesting to follow. But instead it's just fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, train, train, train, train, train, get stronger, get faster, get more badass. People are like, there's more going on. It's like, shut up, I'm training. That's like five hundred pages of that. And like the world in the magic system, which I haven't even talked about at all, we're, when I started the book, when I first started the book, it just kind of like dumps you in. And there's like, it actually, the book opens like years and years before the main events of the book. So it's giving you some backstory on like the political pieces at play and the sides, like our main characters, people versus the people they're fighting against to give you some context and to kind of get you introduced into this magic system and how it's applied in a combat setting. And because the book just kind of dumps you in and it's this kind of like chaotic battle and there's like, the magic is being kind of like a little bit explained but mainly just kind of like it's being shown to you. And then there's a dragon and like the beginning I was just like, oh, there's so much here to discover. There's so many different like pieces to the society and the case here and what does all this mean and the way the magic works. Like, oh, I don't quite understand. I know I'm not meant to, but like that seems interesting. And the dragon, like one of the bad asses fuck and like, oh, and the battle was really gritty and violent and bloody and visceral. And I was like, oh, I'm into this. Like, I think I'm kind of like this. And then we skip ahead all these years. And now we were introduced to our main character who was very young. And in the beginning he was, because he's not really doing anything yet, it's not about the revenge yet. It's kind of just getting to know him. And I was like, okay. He's like, you know, your average fantasy protagonist. Like he's kind of got doubts about his future, but you know, he's training and just generally a part of his society kind of has a crush on a girl. Like, you know, your average it's, I don't love it or hate it. Like he was like, he's fine. And I'm slowly learning about the world. And then as soon as it becomes the revenge story, like we get info dumps about the magic system as it becomes relevant to the revenge story and it gets real info dumpy. It's no longer the sort of dumping into the world which I prefer getting dumped into a world and starting to piece it together myself. No, it's just constantly info dumping things at you. And the magic system again is unique and a little bit, it's a little messy in terms of how complicated it is sometimes in explaining it where you're just like that it isn't that neatly done, if that makes sense. There's just like, like it seems cool, but I feel like there's some very obvious flaws to the magic system that I'm not here to like analyze and discuss and debate and pick apart the magic system. I think overall it's a cool magic system. I just think it's a little messy, but overall I think it's unique and cool. It's to do with like a demon other world and about who has access to like manipulating the magic that comes from there and there's demons there. And then this magic is tied to being able to control dragons and like how that is all achieved. Like it's nuanced and complex. And again, like I have a couple of issues with it, but like overall it's a pretty interesting magic system, but because our main character it's just like, can I use it to fight? That's his only like, that's the only thing he's thinking about. And anytime other characters are like every other character that we barely even got introduced to a little bit and not enough, so I would have preferred to spend a little more time with other characters, not just Tao. Did I even tell you his name is Tao? That I, even those other characters seemed more nuanced and layered and complex. And I was like, they seem more interesting. And when they interact with Tao, it drives me nuts when they, when this narrative started doing the thing, once he starts gaining around, once he starts getting badass and people are just like, wow, you're just the most badass ever. So then he starts gaining accolades and followers and people who are like doing things for him and being impressed with him. And it was very wishfulfillmenty. That was getting annoying because he gets to be kind of a Mary Sue. Yes, he was training, but the training is, we didn't really get to see him struggle with training. It was really just every time he was told that he needs to try harder or anytime like he didn't actually win the fight. It was like, well, I got to train harder. I got to train harder, train more, train harder. And then we get to watch him train more and train harder, train harder, train more, train harder, train more, train more, train harder. That's it. That to me is not interesting. Not seeing somebody struggle with like the limits of their own physical body, their mental, like the mental strain, like other characters pay lip service to it. They're like, what are you doing? Like you're crazy. Like you're gonna push yourself too far. And he's just like, nope, gonna keep going. And I really wanted the narrative to punish him for it. I really wanted him to get pushed too far and really see the consequences of it. But it doesn't really happen. He just kind of keeps getting stronger until everyone's just like, wow. Like he's just like the most badass because he just keeps training and training and training and training until he's just like the most badass. And kind of stuff that he's figured out because he's kind of dumb. It seems unbelievable to me that he'd be the first person to figure this out. But I guess, all right, whatever. I just, he was so boring and single-minded that it really got old to read about it. I was like, okay, I get it. He says, you're playing for revenge. Like I get it. Great. Keep training, I guess. Get him. And then towards the end of the book, this isn't really a spoiler, because it's a revenge story. The whole thing is fucking building up to this. So like nearing the end, when he is now confronted with an opportunity to actually like get his, at least a part of his revenge, not his whole revenge. He literally, what is it? It's called Tao Solaran, I think is his last name. It's, I know his first name is Tao. I don't want to mess this up. I'm pretty sure it's, well, let's go with it. Tao Solaran, I'm pretty sure. It's definitely Tao. He literally like goes, it's borderline verbatum, an Inigo Montoya from Princess Bride's situation where he's like, my name is Tao Solaran. You killed my father, prepare to die. Like it's borderline literally that to the point where like I kind of laughed when we got there and I was just like, yup, that's, it's literally what this book is. And in Princess Bride, it's kind of a joke. Like it's sweet and endearing, but kind of a joke. When Inigo Montoya tells the dread pirate, Wesley, his story that like my father was killed and that like ever since then I spent every living, breathing moment of my day and of my, you know, every day and every week and every month and every year, just training and training and training to be the best swordsman ever. So that if I ever meet the guy that killed my father, I'll be able to say, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father, prepare to die. And like Inigo tells Wesley this in about one minute. But imagine taking that and stretching it across 500 pages because that's what this book is. It's taking Inigo's, that guy killed my father, that does it. I'm spending my whole life training to be the baddest motherfucker ever. So that if I, if and when I meet the guy who killed my father, I can be like, you killed my father, prepare to die. Which is kind of ridiculous. Like again, in Princess Bride, it's like, aw, Inigo. Cause then he'll be like, yeah, but you know, there's not much money we made in that. So like I started working for Visini. And like it's just like a throw away. Like when you just like, Wesley's attitude towards Inigo is kind of just like, wow, it's like a little sad that you've spent the last like 20 years or whatever, just training to fight the guy that killed your dad. Like it's kind of sad. But that's what this book is. It's just like training and training and training and fighting and fighting and fighting and training and training and fighting and fighting and fighting to kill the guy that killed your dad. That's it. That's the whole thing. And that's why I feel so mixed about this. Because like the magic system and the world is pretty cool. It's pretty unique. It's pretty refreshing. And initially when it dumped me into the world, I was here for it because I didn't know the whole book would just be constantly visceral fighting. So the beginning when it just throws you into that visceral flight, I was like, oh. But then after a while, like you really get desensitized to it when it just constantly that. And you're like more fighting and more fighting and more fighting and more fighting. There's like a sex scene with the love interest, which it was so cringy because it just, I really feel like I went winter, doesn't know how to write women. It was so hard for me to read that. I was just like, what? Women don't act like that or want that. Or like it was like all from Tao's perspective. So when I was trying to think of like the headspace that the girl would have to be in to do the things she's doing and say the things that she's saying to get them to the point where now they're gonna like get it on. I was just like, have you thought about being in her head? Like it doesn't make sense for her to feel and do these things. It's like what Tao would wish and want her to be doing. If you, it just, it didn't read like a real person to me. It was just like wish fulfillment. It was pretty, I could have done without that for sure. And the main character, he's not like, I don't hate it. It'd be like hating Inigo. It's just, it's boring. It's really boring after a while. But that's all there is to it. I wanted more. I wanted more from the main character and I wanted more of exploring the world and the way that it ends. Like this book, I don't really like Red Rising the first book in the Red Rising saga. It's by far the weakest book. And that being said, despite how much I find the first Red Rising book quite boring, I will say this that Darrow, because he's in a similar situation where he's, it's a revenge story where he's coming to learn more about the world and politics that he's now like thrown into because of this revenge story. And Darrow for all his flaws is a more complex character that is starting to pay attention to more things around him. He, like in the beginning, it's all just about himself and his family and after those are taken from him, then we're getting revenge. But even Darrow doesn't like the minute that he sees the guy that he holds responsible for the deaths of his loved ones, he doesn't instantly go, must kill. Like even Darrow is still thinking about the long game and seeking the better opportunity and knows that there's more at play than just that, that he'll get his moment and this is not that moment. And like it's simply that, like the fact that Tao is literally, literally in this book constantly like, he sees the guy, must kill, it's kind of nuts. And really kind of obnoxious. So I wanted to like it. In the beginning, I really did like it, but it really started to really get on my nerves. That's why I was like, I guess three stars because it started out so strong and there's still so many things about it that I think are strong. Like I think Evan Winter, I think he's really good at writing combat. I really, really do, but he's overdone it. Like you don't use it sparingly. It doesn't, it no longer has an impact. It no longer packs a punch if you're just constantly throwing that in there. Like it needs to be used sparingly into greater effect. We could spend more time getting to the world and learning the politics and maybe refining our revenge plan and less time on the constant battling and training. The battling and training are well-written. There's just way too much. Just way, way, way, way, way, way too much. Didn't need it. Did not need it. It did not add to the story. It took away from it. So yeah, I just, yeah. I think I'll pick up the second one. The way that this one ended, that same time, I'm like, I'm not hopeful. Because part of me was like, well, maybe, you know, Tal will do some growing up and like get more complicated and more interesting in the next book. But the way that this ended, it gave me fresh annoyance for like, for newly annoying things that I don't really want to say because that'd be really spoilery for how it ends. But there was a lot of things about the way that it ended that I did not care for. There were fresh grievances. And then this is something that I actually saw someone else touch on. And I don't know that I would have thought about it so actively if I hadn't seen them mention it. And then as soon as I heard them mention it, I started paying attention to that. And I was like, you're right. But our main character is people. They are sort of like the invaders and colonizers. And they are still actively fighting the sort of tribal people that originally inhabited the land that they invaded and now colonized. That is never addressed. It is never addressed that we are, like our perspective is the side of the colonizer, which is odd in this day and age. Like, if I was reading something that was written way back when from the perspective of like the British, I'd be like completely unsurprised that colonization is not addressed as the problematic thing that it is, but this was written now. So to have that in there so like unambiguously, like the beginning of the book takes you to the moment of colonization to make it very clear that that's what happened here is that these people are colonizers. It's not something that like may or may not have happened in the history of this world, but it's like way back when like, it is like you get shown it happening in the beginning. And then as we go on, like it doesn't, like I don't know if I was expecting it to be so much addressed. Like as the person I saw discussing it, like they were very upset that it wasn't very, very strongly addressed. I don't know that I ever expected it or wanted it necessarily to be completely like taken apart or addressed or anything like that. But a little like something at least, like to begin again, this is where I was missing some nuance in Tao's character for Tao to kind of start realizing things about his own world, to start having those downs, not to come necessarily to any conclusions or to realize that, you know, he's actually on the wrong side and like to completely to switch allegiance. It's like nothing like that. I don't expect that I don't, I don't necessarily think that that would improve the story, but for him to start being more cognizant of the gritter hierarchy at play, the political game at play, the fact that his little piece of it is a very small piece of it and that he needs to understand all of the pieces here if he actually wants to make a change for himself or his people or his case. But at no point does that really ever happen. People around him keep being like, what don't you see there's more here? And he's just like, nope. I'm like, all right, dude. All right, just get your revenge and then get the fuck out, I guess. Like again, there are people like that. It's not unbelievable that he would be that way. It's just really uninteresting to follow. So I would prefer a more nuanced, interesting intellectual character or if not, then I need multiple perspectives because if you're just gonna be this way, again, like in Game of Thrones, there are characters that are really sort of narrow minded or simple in their thinking or stubborn or whatever, but you have a variety to follow so you don't just see everything through their eyes. So if it had been more perspectives, it might have benefited from that. But as it stands, this is a very flawed three stars. Like I would still, based on what I just said, like if that still appeals to you, like there's, maybe read it. Like I wouldn't say like bump it up your TBR if you weren't planning on picking it up anytime soon but like don't take it off your TBR. Like it's got some good stuff in it. It's decently cobbled together. The magic is cool. I don't know. So let me know in the comments down below your thoughts and feelings about the various kinds of issues that I described having with this book overall in general as they are in books in general. If you've read Rage of Dragons, let me know your thoughts specifically about Rage of Dragons. If you haven't read it but wanted to read it and now are having second thoughts. Sorry, but you know, let me know. I post videos on Saturdays and also at other random times, but definitely Saturdays. So like and subscribe and I'll see you when I see you. Bye.