I loved this novella! I am happy it’s the start of a series, giving Murderbot vibes. The magic system was exciting, and I really enjoyed the MC. This was sort of like “Fantasy for Beginners,” but not in a bad way. You get all the magic and lore and excitement of a fantasy dragon quest without the huge investment of pages and pages of world building. The story still felt rich, but I could have been more emotionally invested if it were longer. Looking forward to the rest of the series!

If you're looking for an epic quest fantasy but you don't want to put in the work to read a 1000 page book this is for you. It's a 176 page novella but packs the punch of a big book. I was so taken aback by how good this was! The plot twist had my jaw on the floor.
The story follow Maddileh as she searches for the Fireborne Blade to restore her honor with the king. You have magic, dragons, deceit.... all in a novella. It was fantastic.

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

The Fireborne Blade is a simple and straightforward fantasy that is a quick read. Its incorporation of dragons and a quest brought back many fond memories of older fantasy novels. While I listened to this book on audio, I would have found more appreciation for the story if I had read it physically. However, for me, this book lacked world-building. I will admit I struggled to create a bond with the characters. Yet, those searching for a high fantasy book or those who adore older fantasy books will enjoy this short book.

Slaying dragons seems difficult enough without ghosts that give you eternal nightmares and magic that isn’t always so trustworthy. Welcome to the world of The Fireborne Blade by Charlotte Bond, an upcoming fantasy set to be published May 28, 2024

This was such a fascinating book, and the perfect fantasy to give me a break from the mountains of sci-fi I’ve been working through. The Fireborne Blade is what I like to call subtly sapphic, at least in the onset, something pretty common in speculative fiction. In a novel (novella?) this short, that protagonist needs to carry, and carry Maddileh does. I may just be a sucker for a woman in a suit of armor–and who could blame me–but I found Maddileh’s struggles within her world more interesting than I typically find the sort of laden misogyny that often plagues fantasy. The Fireborne Blade is a pointed critique of patriarchal fantasy in the guise of a simple, dragon slaying adventure novel, which ultimately made it all the better for me.

If you’re looking for a new fantasy read (that I believe has a sequel coming soon-ish) then you have to pick up The Fireborne Blade. Action and mystery rolled into one (with an amazing twist) this is the fantasy to pick up if you’re on the go but don’t want to sacrifice depth of narrative or world. Bond reminds me of Tamsyn Muir’s work, giving you just enough and always leaving you wanting more!

This book weaves dragon lore and history through the story as well as a couple of chapters where the reader discovers how Maddileh got to where she is. There is a constant sense that both the reader and Maddileh are on the back front as they go through this story because things aren’t quite adding-up but it is in subtle, little ways that are easy to brush… at least until the truth is no longer avoidable. This sense of not having quite all of the facts worked really well for the story as the narrative twists and turns were not predictable.

Whilst this book is relatively short, it didn’t leave me feeling unsatisfied, in fact it left me with a feeling of excitement for what we might see next in this story. There is a suggestion of a sapphic romance between Saralene and Maddileh which I hope that we see develop further as well as leaving the reader with some questions about the true nature of dragons in this world. I am definitely very intrigued to see where this series will take me and look forward to picking up The Bloodless Princes soon.

I love it when an author can take two timelines and pull them together so seamlessly and given that this was able to happen the short length of a novella was even more impressive. I devoured this story in just under two hours. It is packed full of magic, knights, dragons, and some very fun “down with the patriarchy” moments.

If you love fantasy, but are looking for a quick read, I highly recommend this as it is a story full of character and twist that caught me off guard in the best way possible. I loved the world-building that Charlotte Bond was able to do in so few pages.

I am so excited for the sequel The Bloodless Princes that releases later this year!

A short book, but excellent writing. Maddileh appears to be the only woman knight, or at least it isn’t common in this world. She’s out to slay a dragon to win a magical sword. Dragons used to be intelligent but have devolved. And then there’s a thing that happens which I just can’t think of a way to describe in a review without it being a major spoiler! It’s an excellent novella and you should read it to see the plot twist. I see there’s a a book two listed in Goodreads called The Bloodless Princes. I’ve marked that one to read and marked the author to follow. I’m excited to see what she writes next.

Thanks to Tor Publishing Group and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This fantasy novella took me by surprise in all the best ways. A female knight reminiscent of the beloved Brienne of Tarth, an old lady dragon shrouded in folktales, and hints at a possible sapphic romance to come? Say less.

Maddileh and her mediocre “squire” Petros are on a classic fairytale quest to slay a dragon and retrieve the Fireborne Blade from her lair.

The chapters go back and forth between the current action, three months ago, and excerpts from an in-world text. I’m a sucker for world-building documents and found this to be a delightful way to clue the reader in on the stakes of the adventure and magic system.

The ending felt a little rushed and I wish we could’ve spent more time on the page with one of the characters. However both these things are so hard to fix when you’re writing a novella and I think the author did a great job with the page count she had. While I didn’t completely understand all the magic elements, it did not hinder my enjoyment.

With a twist I wasn’t expecting and an ending that has me eager for more, I recommend A Fireborne Blade to anyone looking for a short but action-packed adventure. Bring on book two!

A short adventurous read!

The Fireborne Blade is told in alternating chapters between texts of dragon slaying and our FMC on a quest to slay the dragon The White Lady and retrieve The Fireborne Blade. This read like a classic medieval tale filled with mages, squires and dragons.

With it being under 200 pages, I felt that I wanted more. More time world building and more time with the characters.

The ending? Absolutely crazy lol and while it started slow for me. The ending had me wanting more.

Thank you NetGalley for this eArc!

Very short! The chapters alternate between records of dragon slaying (or attempts) + present day. The main character is a female knight trying to prove her worth in a man’s world (Brienne??). There’s magic, mages, ghosts, and lots of poisonous sludge. I’m always impressed by what authors can achieve in a short (176 page) story. I had fun, and it even took me on some unexpected twists. The ending wrapped up a bit too fast though, in my opinion! Sapphic romantic subplot hinted fornbook 2? Approved for that ARC which I’m looking forward to. 3.75-4⭐️

I'm not sure what it is lately, but I really have been enjoying novellas lately. This one was action packed and interesting. I did end up wishing we had more time, but that's just my preference for chunky books.

This was a fun, quick fantasy read. It had some great twists and parts that kept me completely hooked, particularly the ending.

I think there is only so much you can do in 200 pages, so I did find the world building almost none existent. Because of this, I found the first half tricky to get into and was often confused about who was who and their role in the story. You are kind of just thrown straight into the story, so it almost felt like I was missing information, which was confusing at times.

Having said that, there was lots I also really enjoyed. It has that classic medieval fantasy feel with knights & squires & the added bonus of DRAGONS! I loved the fact the main character was a knight but also a woman so the roles were reversed.The twists the book took had me hooked, and the way it has been left makes me now want to definitely pick up book 2 when it comes out!

A quick, fun adventure quest story.

A disgraced knight sets out to slay the fearsome dragon the White Lady and reclaim the Fire Born Blade to regain her standing. Along with her squire, a mage named Petros, they set off into the dragons cave. Interspersed with excerpts from a text in dragon slaying with accounts of past knights and they dragons they vanquishes. The ending was a bit crazy and unexpected.

Very interesting short story. I would have liked it to be a tad longer - the case, I find, with all short stories!

I really liked the snippets of stories from past dragon hunts by knights. It really lent a lot to the worldbuilding in such a short space of time.

Enjoyed this a lot and would've loved it to be longer.

The story is easy to follow, the characters interesting.
I really didn't see the twist at the end coming and am still trying to get my thoughts in order. I'm not gonna say more about it, because I don't want to spoiler anyone.

Give this novella a try, it's worth it!

I had a great time reading this fantasy novella. Dragon slayer Maddileh is on a quest to recover the Fireborne Blade, a mythical sword, that she hopes will reestablish her reputation with the king. She finds herself suffering from lapses of memory while she tries to infiltrate a dragon's lair along with her squire ... a squire sho seems suspiciously familiar with magic and whom she doesn't remember hiring...

This is a perfect little novella with great worlbuilding, a truly surprising twist at the end, and just the right hint of romance. The worldbuilding relies on Maddileh's experiences, "reports" from dragon dispatches that recount previous encounters with the beasts, and on campfire tales. The structure jumps through time - not really flashbacks or dual timelines, but insights in to Maddileh's past. I am already looking forward to returning to this world and finding out more about what makes it tick - and on what happens next with Maddileh and her sweetheart.

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novella.

I loved the idea of a fantasy novella with dragons, the characters have unique powers and all of it make it interesting. The writing was amazing but it’s for an adult audience. I thought I was going to read it in one sitting since it’s short, with a lot of actions but I wasn’t completely in it. The plot was nice, with a good base and I wish there was more world building but that’s the point of a novella. Also I don’t really like flashbacks in books.
The highlight : dragons, good plot and amazing writing.

A disgraced knight and her rather odd squire are sent to kill a dragon and find a long-spoken-of sword in order to restore her honour, but something’s not quite right. The Fireborne Blade is a novella that jumps around in timeline a little bit - we sometimes are reading excerpts from historical texts, of past knights journeying to slay dragons, and we are sometimes getting flashbacks to how Maddileh came to find herself hunting down the White Lady and the titular blade. Once I’d clocked that that was going on, I really enjoyed it, and I loved the lore that was built up in this way, and particularly the historical style of those chapters. In particular, although it’s on the surface a fairly standard pseudo-medieval fantasy world, the dragon lore itself is quite different from any that I’ve seen before, and I enjoyed what we see of the magic system.

It did take me a while for me to warm up to the main plot and the main characters, which feels odd in a novella. However! The things that took me a while to warm to were things that were very much intentional, and very much worked for the story. The frustration was by design, so while it was annoying in the moment, I think it’ll be one that really works on reread, with the knowledge of what is to come. It almost makes me want to reread it to appreciate it fully. And I found a similar thing with getting to know the main characters - once I was really in the groove, it was almost over. But there's a sequel coming, and I'm looking forward to it!

Genre: fantasy novella

Maddileh is a knight on a quest. As one of very few women of the order, her fall from favor is sudden and over very little. In order to regain her honor, she plans to retrieve the Fireborne Blade, a legendary sword, from the dragon the White Lady, powerful and legendary in her own right. This quest is a dangerous one, and she’s accompanied by a seemingly unprepared squire as she faces her destiny.

I love the trend of fantasy novellas - we get a hint of worldbuilding to give background and a light touch of a magic system that doesn't have a lot of complexity. Charlotte Bond gives us broad strokes of the world without any extraneous details via a split timeline and interludes of writings and histories of former knights. In one timeline, Maddileh is on her quest looking for the White Lady, and in the other, she is gathering information about magic in the city. She gives us the two settings - a home base and a questing location - so we don’t feel closed in as readers, and just enough sense of a broader world.

A simple plot arc with broken timelines and epigraphs extend the pacing of the book without dragging it. Once you start reading wholly complete fantasy novellas, it’s hard to imagine why they need to be three times this long. It’s a quick and satisfying bite.

If Fourth Wing is the legacy of Dragonriders of Pern, The Fireborne Blade is the legacy of The Hero and the Crown and Robin Hobb.

I like when something as common as Dragons in a fantasy novel can still feel like they are given unique properties/powers, which this book accomplished. I enjoyed the writing, and the snippets of lore between the chapters following the FMC, however this didn't grab me. For a novella, I expect to fly through the pages...but I put this down a lot. I'd definitely be interested in reading something with more world building and substance from this author as I enjoyed their writing.
Also, the cover art for this book is extraordinary.
3.5/5