Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for providing me with this ARC.

The Sky on Fire is a supremely fun book centering around heists, dragons, and magic with fantastic world-building. In a year when books can barely hold my attention, I was immediately hooked on The Sky on Fire and never wanted to put the book down.

For me, the standout of The Sky on Fire was definitely the world-building. The world is divided into high and lows, with the rich and powerful living high up in the mountains, where dragons like to live, and the poor and otherwise undesirable living down on the hellishly hot and lawless jungles of what is called The Deep. The Deep is where people go to disappear and that's no exception for our protagonist, Anahrod, who hides there from a world filled with dragons who want her dead.

Ever since playing Skyrim for the first time, a game where an evil dragon, Alduin, seeks to take over the world, I have always wondered what it would be like to exist in a world ruled entirely by dragons. What kind of decisions would they make? How would they view humans? What would their ruling system or class divisions look like? The Sky on Fire gives an incredibly intriguing version of that world. In this world, humans are considered lesser than dragons, largely in part due to religious reasons, and humans with magic potential are forced to attempt to become a dragonrider in a pact that usually looks a lot like lifelong enslavement for the human.

“To become a dragonrider was to be all but a slave, perpetually locked in obedience to a single master, from whom one could never be parted. Not in the human's lifetime, anyway."

I really enjoyed this more nuanced portrayal of dragons, which I fear are usually depicted as wise and benevolent or malicious and greedy with no in between. The Sky on Fire imagines a world where dragons have different breaths, religions, and attitudes on humans. It was nice to see dragons depicted as actual characters over mythological beings that merely offer human characters something. I especially loved that each dragon has his or her own designated item that they—and they alone—can hoard. That's the kind of unique quirk that I love about Jenn Lyons's works. It also adds another interesting challenge to the already daunting premise of stealing from a dragon's hoard.

Even with all of the layered world-building, The Sky on Fire is definitely a plot driven book. As someone who typically lives and breathes for character development, you'd think I would consider that a negative, but I was so enthralled by the world and the fast paced events that I wasn't bothered by the characters not being the most developed. Characters have one or two defining traits, mostly from much-loved archetypes, and there's just not a whole lot of actual depth to go around. The idea of all of these characters are great, but their execution is not—simply too much of the writing relies on the reader recognizing these familiar types of character and knowing what that trope typically entails to know the idea of the character.

Even though the character building in The Sky on Fire as a whole is not ideal, I really enjoyed seeing multiple female characters at the forefront of a heist novel. So often books featuring heists are always run by men, with maybe one female character involved as a love interest or as a side character who is clearly not a love interest and has a quirky ability, like hacking. This is not at all the case in The Sky on Fire, which features three female characters involved in the planning and carrying out of the heist itself, and the ultimate final say on the plan goes to a female character.

Despite my joy at having all of these female characters wearing the pants of this operation, I felt like I had whiplash from a lot of, "but actually" moments concerning the plot and the heist itself. There were constant surprises, quick changes, and last minute discoveries, which kept things incredibly exciting. However, the characters were always able to pivot in order to meet new challenges with little to no panic, no matter how dire the situation. Their reactions and ability to meet any possible catastrophic situation or knowledge bombs being dropped felt quite unbelievable to me.

I also struggled to get on board with the romance of the novel. Anahrod has insta-lust for the sexy female dragonrider, Ris, but still has a thing for her ex, self-proclaimed king Sicaryon. As someone who really love a slow burn romance and the build up of characters realizing and later acting on their feelings, I was disappointed with how the romance played out. Instead of Anharod picking between the two characters, these three characters are all coincidentally mutually attracted to one another and have no problems sharing one another with each other, without so much as having even one single serious conversation about pesky things like feelings, expectations, or boundaries. While it's nice to not always have to read a love triangle and the jealousy and other complications that come with it, I honestly think this novel could have benefited from some of the tension and conflict that results from a love triangle.

"She groaned and rubbed a finger into her eye. Why make a single bad decision, she supposed, when could make two at the same time. Much more efficient. Ris and Sicaryon both. Why not?"

The romantic relationship between the three characters just felt way too random and easy, even if the author threw in what felt like obviously contrived moments of Anahrod telling herself that she shouldn't get involved with either Sicaryon or Ris. And with all of the characters rather underdeveloped, I was rather indifferent to who ended up with whom and the constant "will-they-won't-they," when it was very obvious that they were all going to act on their urges. It just didn't work as well for me as the throuple relationship between Khirin, Janel and Tareath in Lyon's other series, A Chorus of Dragons. This could be because there just isn't as much time in a standalone novel compared to a series to do the same amount of setup to make this type of relationship feel natural.

Regardless of the parts of the novel that didn’t work as well for me, such as the character building and romance, I really enjoyed The Sky on Fire due to its unique portrayal of dragons, interesting world-building, and fast-paced story with lots of surprises. I would wholeheartedly recommend The Sky on Fire to people who are looking for a more light-hearted and fun fantasy read that doesn't take itself too seriously. I think fans of Rachel Aaron’s The Legend of Eli Monpress and James Logan’s The Silverblood Promise would enjoy this novel as well.

This is a super fast paced book and the world building was wonderful! However - with most fast paced books, something is going to fall short because of the pacing and to me that was the characters! I feel like just a couple of more pages on certain characters or with them, would have really made this a 5 star read! Overall would recommend!

I was given the opportunity to be an ARC reader in exchange for a review.

I was honestly excited to read this, it is about dragons and found family. However, between requesting to be a reader and receiving the book - I had burned myself from reading so much fantasy.

With that said, the book overall was interesting but it did take quite a bit of time to get into. There were also various elements that were confusing and I would try to reread for clarification. Eventually I just pushed through and kept reading. Although there were some good parts of the book, that ebb and flowed. However, the last 20% was very interesting.

If you're looking for a mostly YA, but there is one more obvious adult moment, that is found family, finding yourself, fighting against a big evil, and dragons...you might like this.

Anahrod is a fiercely independent woman who thrives in the jungles of the Deep. Her solitary existence is disrupted when a local warlord captures her. Just as things seem dire, a group rescues her. These rescuers have a plan that involves Anahrod's unique skills and her past. The group intends to take Anahrod to the Skyland, where they need her help to steal from a dragon's hoard. This hoard belongs to Neveranimas, the current dragon regent, who has a vendetta against Anahrod and wants her dead. Anahrod, who initially seeks to return to her life of solitude, is now forced to confront her past and navigate the treacherous politics of the Skylands.

The author does a great job of creating tension and suspense. The story is imaginative and creates an immense world. I enjoyed each character's development. The book is fast-paced, and there is constant action. The dragons are in control, which is different from most fantasy stories. The book is a captivating fantasy adventure that takes readers on a journey through richly imagined landscapes and complex dilemmas.

My issue was that there were so many characters, changes in environment, and POVs that it took a lot of work to follow. I should have taken notes because I did not always know who the players were. I want to make reading a relaxing process. I think fans of epic fantasy and adventure will enjoy this story, which deftly explores the themes of power and redemption.

I received an ARC ebook from Netgalley and Tor Publishing for my honest review.

This book had the potential to be amazing, but it unfortunately fell flat in several areas. A heist where a band of misfits need to break into a dragons lair is IMPECCABLE. However, this book never got to live up to its hype because of the issues with the construction of the story.

This book falls flat in two key areas. First, the character interactions, and two, the transition between different plot points. I found that most of the characters didn’t interact naturally with each other. It felt like AI wrote the dialogue. The flow wasn’t natural at all, which took away from the development of these characters. The prologue was so unnecessary. All it did was give away the books first twist. If I was the editor, I’d cut it from the final version of the book completely. The book jumped from plot to plot so quickly you never had time to acclimate to what the story was telling you before you had to go somewhere else.

This book does a great job of integrating LGBTQA+ characters in a way that feels natural to both the world and the plot. The culture of representing one’s true self through wearing different types of rings was cool and inventive. There were several subplots in this book that would have made a better story than the story that was actually told. I would love a story about Anahrod when she was a teenager, or Neveranimas when she was younger.

Thank you to Tor Publishing Group for the ARC!

Love this book!!!!!

I’d heard great things about Jenn’s other series and I will definitely be getting to that following this one 😍. I loved the world, the magic, the dragons. Eee so good

This was a fun one. I generally liked this one but felt the character arcs were underdeveloped. I could never fully find myself invested. Maybe needed to be more of a series with shorter books so the characters and the story could have been developed better.

Overall thoughts:

I thought this was a fun and engaging story. I loved the main character, she felt strong and independent. Also, I enjoyed that Anahrod was not a 16 year old chosen one. She her fellow characters felt quite real throughout the story, though I did have some hangups further into the story. I loved the plot and the idea of a heist/overthrowing an evil empire but I don't know that I ever felt the severity or how high the stakes were within the story. Oh, I loved the world building and how the dragon society used scales as money, the religion being based upon a goddess creating dragons, humans being kicked out of heaven to serve the dragons etc. OH! And the garden rings to declare preferences, identities, and status. Brilliant.

That all said, I will definitely keep an eye on Jenn Lyons and check out all their other books because I loved the descriptions and how detailed the dragons were here. I want to know more about all the dragon books!

Rating the book:
1..Characters? Nope. Everything just kind of fell together if that makes sense. I didn't really see the main character, Anahrod, has some pretty intense preferences at the beginning but they seem to just fall away instead of her making a conscious choice. 0
2. World-building/setting? Check. Loved the world! The socieity living and serving with the dragons were within the mountains at serious elevation. While those that lived at sea level, were in an inhospitable and quite dangerous jungle. Also, the garden rings that people decide on as they grow was brilliant. I want my own lmao. 1
3. Plot? Loved it. 1
4. Originality? - CHECK - loved this new way to visualize the dragon/dragon-rider bond. And how a society would look if it was beholden to dragons. 1
5. Writing? I thought the writing was good, I had no issues with the words pulling me out of the story. 1
6. Pacing? I finished the book in a couple days, the pacing kept me wanting to know what would happen next. 1
7. Themes? Idk, it felt like there was an attempt to address the serious gulf between the power of dragons and humans, and the humans upholding that gulf. For me it ended up feeling quite surface level. 0
8. DID I CRY/WILL IT STICK - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯? I did not cry and I honestly don't think this one will stick with me, it just felt too surface level. BUT the world building and new take on dragon/dragon riders will. 0
9. Enjoyment? check - This book was fun, and it kept me engaged throughout the story. 1
10. THE end. It felt kinda flat for me? idk. It was an ending but it just felt kinda blah. .5?

6.5/10 = 3.25/5 but I'm the boss so I'm rounding up to 4

(I borrowed Elyse Meyers' breakdown because it's too good)

Also, thank you to Tor and NetGalley for providing me with an early copy of the book and the chance to leave an honest, voluntary review.

The Sky on Fire is great if you are looking for a fast paced fantasy adventure with very complete world building. Lyons continues to impress me with her ability to create complex worlds that absolutely drag you in. Economics? Yeah there’s a unique monetary system and a whole fantasy industry. Political structures? Yep, there and complete. Religious mythology? Check. Nuanced gender and sexuality… I WANT MY OWN GARDEN RINGS.

There is so much going on in this book that I loved, and it’s an action packed book. Dragons/ Dragonriders, revenge plots and a heist! My only teensy issue is that I wanted the time to get to know characters better and maybe the characters could have gotten to know each other more too. I liked the characters, I just didn’t get the time to form an attachment to them in this single book.

Read for:
- A fresh take on dragon/dragon rider relationship
- Standalone fantasy
- High-stakes heist
- Queernormative world

The dragons are in charge in this standalone fantasy that flips the dragon rider relationship on its head. Rich worldbuilding lends itself more towards the higher side of fantasy, but not too complex to dissuade casual fantasy fans. Inclusivity and queer representation is done well, and I loved the genderfluidity of this world. I wanted so badly to connect with the main characters, but I felt as if the book only scratched the surface with much of their development. Unfortunately, this also made portions of the romantic subplot not as strong and convincing as it could have been. I applaud the rare standalone in fantasy, but perhaps in this case a series would have given way to better pacing and more depth for the characters. This one will fall in the middle of the road for me- loved the imaginative world, representation, and unique dragon concepts, but the pacing is inconsistent and the characters underdeveloped.

I somehow still haven’t read Jenn Lyons’ popular “Chorus of Dragons” series. And, as it is with all multi-book series, at a certain point it begins to feel a bit intimidating to start! So I was thrilled to see she was releasing a standalone fantasy book this summer! What better way to get on the bandwagon without having to commit to an entire series right from the start! It was helped by the fact that the book itself has an excellent cover. It’s eye-catching enough on its own, but it gets even better the longer you look at it, when you start noticing the details of the castle and city. So definite props to the artist on this one!

Unfortunately, this wasn’t quite the homerun of a read that I was hoping for. I will say that it’s easy to see how this author could be capable of producing a beloved fantasy series, and, given some of my problems with this book in particular, some of the weaknesses I found here could easily translate into strengths in a longer format. Some of these strengths include excellent world-building.

I loved the idea of flipping the entire “dragon rider” concept on its head. This is a hugely popular trope in SFF fiction, and, while enjoyable, myself and many other fans are often left scratching our heads when reading about some of these partnerships. Why, oh why, are the humans the more powerful members of these societies when so often the dragons are described as having more powerful magic, greater physical abilities (obviously), and often a much higher general IQ than their human compatriots. So I loved the what Lyons did here by flipping this relationship around to show a society where the dragons, not the humans, are the more dominant members of this society.

I also liked the expanse of this world and that we travelled to numerous locations throughout the story. Yes, this could also feel like a bit much at times, especially given that it was all packed into one, stand-alone book, but it was also incredibly interesting and made the world feel lived in and worth exploring to discover what else might be in store.

Where things began to fall apart was with the characters, and the problems were twofold. First, there were simply too many of them. As I read on, there seemed to be more and more characters added to the list well-past the point of reason. This increase in characters also resulted in a love triangle quickly rearing its head. The story took a different tact here, shifting the traditional love triangle into a polycule as the story went on, but as I’m not personally a fan of polycule romances, this sadly wasn’t an improvement. The characters all quickly began to fall flat as well, each seeming to only be defined by one or two overall traits with little other characterization to be found, either in the beginning or as the story progressed. I also felt no chemistry between any members of the romance, which really put the nail in that coffin for me. At times, some of these interactions were downright cringe-y.

That said, there was potential to be found here, even in these fairly stale characters. Again, given a longer book or a series, perhaps the author could have built out these characters better, helping them feel as full and realized as the world itself. So, while I didn’t love this book, I’m still very intrigued to check out the author’s other work. If you’re a fantasy reader who enjoys polycule romances, this might be one to add to the list! But I do think it fell a bit flat, overall.

Rating 7: A lot of potential to be found, but weak character ultimately let this one down.

Link will go live on The Library Ladies blog on June 12

For those who love Throne of Glass and Six of Crows

The Sky on Fire is the story of an outsider thrust into a high-stakes heist. In a realm where dragons reign and humanity serves as their subjects, a few humans become dragon riders, forming unbreakable bonds with these beings. To escape her past and save her new friends, Anahron must pull off an impossible feat—steal from a dragon and redefine her destiny.

This book is for readers looking to escape into a realm of fantasy. With easily understandable world-building and magic systems, readers find themselves rooting for this band of misfits. The Sky on Fire is perfect for anyone craving a fun fantasy to keep you on the edge of your seat.

I very much enjoyed reading this ebook! It was a very good experience. I liked the characters, the Worldbuilding and the plot very much.

🐉The Sky on Fire🐉

Jenn Lyons became an autobuy author after I read and loved the Chorus of Dragons series by her. It’s quirky, it’s complex, it’s so great! It isn’t necessarily a series I recommend to everyone as I feel like people will either love it or hate it, but I definitely loved it! The Sky on Fire is a brand new standalone set in a world ruled by dragons.

I did quite enjoy this one but definitely not as much as the Chorus of Dragons series. The world building was brilliant and by far my favourite part of the book. I did, however, find the characters were a little underdeveloped which made it harder to become invested in them. This surprised me a bit as the strong and well developed characters are one of the many reasons I love the Chorus of Dragons series. I did however really enjoy the dynamics between dragons and their riders and how that played into the story.

The Sky on Fire is quite fast paced so I found myself reading it much faster than I thought I would. The Chorus of Dragons series is quite dense so it would take me about a month to read through them but to my pleasant surprise, I think I finished The Sky on Fire in about 24 hours. The book starts of strong and I was instantly intrigued which kept the pages turning. However, I found there was a lot of build up to events and plot twists but when they came about they were over a bit too quickly.

I did enjoy this one overall but it felt underdeveloped. The dragons are of course the best part of the story and I felt like there was a good amount of them in the story! (My pet peeve is dragon books that aren’t dragon-y enough 😂)

A huge thank you to @netgalley & @torbooks for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. The Sky on Fire is out on July 9th!

⭐3.75/5 stars⭐

The premise of this book was interesting with dragons, a heist, and general intrigue. However I am disappointed overall in the book.The establishing chapters were slow. When I got to chapter 8 I felt there was a better established set of information so I went back to the beginning and read the prologue again.

The book was meandering and needed more edits. The actual heist was a very small portion of the book. You’re 40% into the book before the heist even started. It seemed like the reader missed out on large chunks of information like what happened between Anahrod and Neveranimus.

This is my normal type of book to read and the dragon names and some of the human names were just too much / too long. Terminology is used and then never explained like “late sprouting”, which you can figure out eventually but not always. But what does leaves mean for the rings?

Overall a good premise but not a good execution. More things needed explaining whereas others could have been cut completely. In any case thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

This has so many things I would like, dragons, fun characters, fantasy world building and spice. But it felt very meandering and annoying to get through at times. Disappointed.

This is an enjoyable and entertaining fantasy adventure story with found family, dragons, magic, and high stakes action. This is my first book by Lyons, but I’ve wanted to read Chorus of Dragons for a while.

This book isn’t at all slow paced, but it reads slow if that makes sense. The world building is dense, there are a lot of characters, and a lot of intricacies to the plot and world. It takes some brainpower to process everything (one character speaks only in quoted poetry or plays that another character then has to interpret for example). It also feels like a much longer book because so much happens! There are several quests, several plots, a Mission Impossible style heist, and then there’s still 30% of the book left to address the plot with the First Dragon and wrap everything up! But I was never bored.

There’s a large cast of characters, but I’d say the 4 most important were Anahrod, Ris, Sicaryon, and Gwindinion. I have to say I think Sicaryon was actually my favorite and I would not have minded more time with him. I think there is just so much going on with the plot and the world, that I missed really feeling the emotional connection to everyone, plus it made some of the relationships less believable. Ris holds so much back in information throughout the book that I found it hard to believe how easily Anahrod trusted her. That being said, I definitely enjoyed the steamy relationship between Anah, Ris, and Cary.

Overall, just a little something was missing to make it a new fav, but it was highly enjoyable and I would recommend.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the preview. All opinions are my own.

A thrilling fantasy that hooks you in right from the start, 'The Sky on Fire' is a must read for fans of Anne McCaffrey and Rebecca Yarros.

this is an action and dragon field fantasy book, I had a really fun time with this and loved the development of the heist plot.

We follow a ragtag group of people planning a heist, and it was really fun seeing the development of the group and their character dynamics as the plot developed. Dragons are so cool, there’s a new span on the dragon and dragon rider trope that I really enjoyed. The plot itself is gripping and entertaining, there’s movement throughout the world which helped add to the worldbuilding and our enjoyment of the plot. It’s set in a queer normative world, and there is a subplot of a polyamorous relationship.

The main character is in her 30s, which I think adds a really fresh perspective to the world since she has had to move to a different part of the world.

This is a fantasy book that has everything you want in relation to dragons, the world itself is really cool and there is a really interesting way of showing gender identity and queerness- rings are used to show what you’re interested in and who you’re interested in which I thought was a new fun way to explore this.

if you’re looking for a heist fantasy with dragons and a fun queernormative world, this is what you should read!

The Sky on Fire - Jenn Lyons

Who didn’t grow up wanting to be a dragon rider? Surely a universal experience. While you’re probably not likely to find me reading Fourth Wing, I have read my fair share of dragon related literature. Robin Hobb’s Realm of the Elderlings. Samantha Shannon’s Priory of the Orange Tree. Both all time favourites. I read Dragonkeeper by Caroline Wilkinson sometime in the noughties and that’s an absolute classic.
My point is… as a dragon enthusiast myself I think I can safely say that all dragon enthusiasts will enjoy this book. One thing about Jenn Lyons - she always delivers.

This is world that feels unique and complex, making you want to delve deeper, enticing you with societal structures, lore, and all the lively and intriguing details that make Lyons’ books such a joy to spend time with.
I loved the cast of characters here - this is your typical motley crew type fantasy, with varying personalities having to pull together to make the impossible (well, improbable) happen.
And while I must admit Lyons’ A Chorus of Dragons series was stronger (for me) in terms of characters (I really, really love those guys), this cast is still incredibly enjoyable.
You still get the joys of a queernorm setting, polyamory, talking dragons (!!), lots of banter. Lyons doesn’t let you rest on your laurels, you do have to keep your wits about you to a certain extent to keep up with the worldbuilding. Or maybe my brain was just not working at 100% while I read it. That’s also likely.

In conclusion:
I strongly recommend picking this up if it sounds like your sort of thing. I think it will prove to be a memorable read that I’d want to revisit.
But that’s just a Jenn Lyons book for you… always leaves you eager for more.