From the publisher:Enter a world ruled by dragons…

The Sky on Fire is a daring new fantasy heist adventure that will thrill fans of Temeraire, Fourth Wing, and Dragonriders of Pern

Anahrod lives only for survival, forging her own way through the harsh jungles of the Deep with her titan drake by her side. Even when an adventuring party saves her from capture by a local warlord, she is eager to return to her solitary life.

But this is no ordinary rescue. It’s Anahrod’s past catching up with her. These cunning misfits—and their frustratingly appealing dragonrider ringleader—intend to spirit her away to the dragon-ruled sky cities, where they need her help to steal from a dragon’s hoard.

There’s only one problem: the hoard in question belongs to the current regent, Neveranimas—and she wants Anahrod dead.

From Jenn Lyons, the acclaimed author of the Chorus of Dragons series, this soaring standalone fantasy combines conniving dragons, lightning banter, high-stakes intrigue, and a little bit of heat.

I've had my eye on reading a book by Jenn Lyons for awhile now, and when the opportunity to get a preview of the new standalone The Sky on Fire came along, I jumped at the chance. Unfortunately, it just didn't work for me.

The story is summarized pretty capably in the publisher's blurb. Anahrod lives on the very dangerous surface of her world. She has an mysterious background that is hinted at in the book's opening, but at this point neither she nor anyone else knows who or what she really is. She is wanted by a kind of warlord (I think) and goes on the run with her pet (friend) titan drake. She also has some power where she can communicate or assume control over animals. When she is attacked by the warlord's men, she is rescued by some people from the sky "world", or those who live on the very tall mountains (I'm a little unclear about this). This starts a tentative partnership, with potential romance (same-sex for those who care), and an attempt to take Anahrod to the sky.

I pushed through the first 50 or so pages but really had to force myself to read. I didn't find myself caring about what was happening at all and the characters weren't really very intriguing to me. I can't comment on how the story resolves because I just couldn't keep at it. There are too many other books I want to read to continue pushing through one I'm not enjoying.

The writing style was okay and I'll still probably try Lyons's Ruin of Kings series, hoping to be sucked into the story sooner.

I had the opportunity to preview the audiobook, as well. While the story is the same (obviously), I thought the performance was fine. Lauren Fortgang was the narrator and she did a nice job. It did not really stand out as poor or excellent, either way.

Overall, I can't really recommend The Sky on Fire by Jenn Lyons. It just didn't work for me.

I received preview copies of both the print and audiobook of The Sky on Fire by Jenn Lyons from Netgalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review.

The Sky on Fire by Jenn Lyons the best of epic fantasy. It has such a huge, complex world that captures you. It is so rich and detailed. With brilliant characters.
Lyons storytelling prowess that she can deliver such a well-crafted narrative that's both fulfilling and leaves you craving more adventures in the same world.
Full of misfits, heist, dragons and romance!

Thank You NetGalley and Tor Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

This was a fun book to escape with. I liked the world building, quirky characters, dragons and a heist. The characters had great banter but the pacing was a little slow at times. Overall it was a good escape.

Good heist story! It’s doorstop length but this could actually be a stand alone book! It’s possible she’ll write more stories in this world and I’d happily read it but it doesn’t need a second book. I did think it was a little slow towards the start as the heist was set up and the myriad of characters are introduced but once the action starts the pages fly by. The ring system for folks’ preferences did seem a bit extraneous to the story. They’d have been interesting in a romance centered book. But if you could easily be eaten or burned to ash tomorrow because of your planned schemes then the preferences of random new acquaintances probably isn’t going to be the most prominent thought in your head. It could work really well in a romance though. 4 stars because I like a good doorstop fantasy, enjoy a heist story and liked the intricate world building.

Pacing is a major part of what makes or breaks a book for me. Unfortunately, I could not connect to this book due to poor pacing issues. I thought the world was great and really interesting, but at times it felt like we were skipping key scenes while dragging on through scenes that could have been a throwaway sentence; Overall, it was a very odd reading experience for me and it kept bringing me out of the novel.

I loved the concept but I think the execution of plot points, pacing, and explanations was difficult to sift through. Part of this is also because I found I couldn't connect to the writing style—it made things feel so much more dragged out than they should have been. I think that writing a standalone is difficult because so much of the worldbuilding and characterization needs to be parsed down, especially with such a large concept, I think that in this case, they could have parsed it down into something much more cohesive. I understand that people really enjoyed the author's previous trilogy, so perhaps I'll give that one a shot!

Despite having a longstanding obsession with dragons and anything dragon-related, I've somehow managed to not read any of Jenn Lyons' previous books. As I was immediately intrigued by the promise of dragons, a heist, and a group of interesting misfits (What a trio!) I requested a copy of this book to review pretty quickly. I had planned on waiting a few days after receiving my copy to start reading but the excitement of diving into a world of dragons and magic was too much to resist and I started it pretty much right away. From the very first page, the story of The Sky On Fire captured my attention so completely that I lost track of time and read through breakfast and lunch and was almost late for work! It was a fun and delightful immersion into a vivid and imaginative world that I just couldn't seem to tear myself away from.

While there was a lot I enjoyed about this book one of the things that stood out the most to me was how realistic and believable I found all the characters to be. Each character no matter how minor seemed to have their distinct personalities or backstories that really helped them come alive. Anahrod, in particular, is a compelling character whose survival instincts and complex past create a character that seems to just leap off the page. I also found The Sky On Fire's magic system to be really interesting as I love any book that contains not just people who can use magic, but the existence of magical artifacts as well. I thought Jenn Lyons did a fantastic job integrating such an interesting magic system so well into the world she created.

And I don't think it would be even remotely possible to praise Jenn Lyons' worldbuilding enough. The detailed descriptions of the characters, the jungles of the Deep, and the cloud cities themselves helped paint a vivid picture of a realm ruled by dragons and magic. Jenn Lyons' attention to detail and imaginative creativity make the world of The Sky On Fire feel immersive and authentic.

I would have to say that overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found it to be a captivating story from beginning to end. The way Jenn Lyons manages to blend adventure, magic, and a richly detailed world has left time eager to explore her other books. I'm not a little too excited to dive into her epic fantasy series a Chrous of Drgons to experience more of her fantastic storytelling. However I'm tempted to check out the audiobook of The Sky on Fire before I do so so that I can relive this adventure in a new format.


I received a free copy of this book in return or an honest review.

3.5 stars

Thank you Tor and Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was such an interesting, unique book but I will admit to struggling with it at times. The pacing felt all over the place for me. There were parts where I was hooked and parts where I was so bored I nearly gave up.

I’m glad I stuck with it through the parts I didn’t enjoy, though, because the story overall was such an interesting one.

I really loved the characters, but especially Gwyndinion. He was just so easy to love and I really enjoyed the way he approached everything in life. The few bits from his POV towards the end were some of my favourites.

I looooved the poly relationship in this book and honestly wish there’s been more of it. It’s so rare that I wish for my fantasy to have more romance but I do wish this had leant more into the romantasy genre. Something about Ris, Sycarion and Anahrod together and their one-on-one relationships had me so invested.

I really liked the relationship between the good dragons and their riders, which are unfortunately few and far between. But those relationships were so much fun to explore, especially with Anahrod being able to talk to all of them. This is something I would have liked to see more of, too, but I understand why that wasn’t really possible given the overall plot.

The heist felt like a huge let down, in all honesty. I was so excited for a heist with dragons but it was such a blip in the overall plot.

Despite my confused feelings on this book, I do recommend it to any lovers of high fantasy.

This book was very good from start to finish. I actually loved the descriptions and really felt like I was living in the book. Anarhod was a great character. The dragons were a very cool element.

Corruption, heists, dragons, magic, RAG TAG TEAMS!! Sign me UP! Lyons created such a fun and intriguing world with fleshed out characters that kept me flipping page and page and couldn't put down! I've read a lot of praise for lovers of Fourth Wing and Six of Crows and that checks out. Loved this book from start to finish! Definitely looking forward to reading more by Lyons.

The story was fun and I enjoyed the characters. I would have like a bit more world building and fleshing out of the magical connections- dragons vs. sorcerers, etc. but overall it was an enjoyable read that kept my interest.

Enter a world ruled by dragons and join a ragtag team of misfits who are hellbent on revenge. (4.5 stars)

17 years ago, Anahrod the Wicked was publicly executed, and the secret of how to successfully steal from a dragon’s hoard died with her…or did it?

If you ever thought Fourth Wing featured too much angst and not enough dragons, or if you loved Six of Crows but thought “imagine this WITH DRAGONS?!”, buckle in for a full length standalone fantasy feature with conniving overlord dragons, a daring heist, and a whirlwind worldwide adventure (also featuring lgbtqia+ and poly rep with a dash of spice).

*🐉 “Never trust a dragonrider.” 🐉*

I will note that I have recently seen some lower star reviews mentioning pacing and world-building, and I have some thoughts on that. I think we have become very used to consuming trilogies and larger series. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but as a standalone, this story delivers A LOT of story, all in one go. I think we’re getting less and less used to this experience. We’re more familiar with stories being given to us in pieces over years of book releases. I 100% can see the spots where this book could have been drawn out to create a trilogy, but I for one, really appreciate that Tor and Jenn Lyons didn’t choose to do that to us with The Sky on Fire. I think it is a brilliant ride and just perfect the way it is.

Thank you to Tor Books, NetGalley and Jenn Lyons, for an advanced electronic copy in exchange for an honest review. The Sky On Fire comes out July 9th.

Dragons always get my attention. Dragons and a heist? I'm definitely intrigued. This novel has an interesting cast of characters with a web of interactions that are slowly revealed as the book goes on, but action starts quickly. Although it takes some time to understand the rules of the world and its magic, the explanations are happening as the characters are attempting to solve the various problems that come up along the way. Anahrod is easy to root for, but all of the characters seem to have both good and bad characteristics. The world is huge, almost too much for a single novel, but I enjoyed it anyway.

Dragons, magic, corrupted dragon leaders, secrets and a dangerous heist bringing an eclectic crew together - what more could you ask for?! Oh, and not to forget the delightfully queer romance subplot, which is always a bonus for me! I mostly requested this book from Netgalley because I loved the dragon on its cover, and am now really happy I had the chance to read it.

In The Sky on Fire, Anahrod lives only for survival... until she gets kidnapped. Twice. Or three times? There's a theme there. Everyone in this book wants something from her - be it her help, or her death. Anahrod has a complicated past that she's tried to escape by hiding in the Deep, but it has finally caught up with her. The unlikely crew that drags her away from her hiding place needs her help to steal from a dragon hoard, and specifically from the hoard of the dragon regent, who would especially love to see Anahrod dead. What could possibly go wrong?!

The main strength of The Sky on Fire is the world-building, in my opinion. Jenn Lyons created a detailed, vibrant world filled with dragons and humans, living in a complex society that takes time to be understood but is then really interesting. Dragons live on mountain peaks alongside the "high society" of humans, while the less fortunate live in the Deep and are considered easily expendable. The bond between dragons and humans is quite different from how it is often described in other dragon-centred fantasy (much less friendly/trusting) and some of the dragons take on a bigger role as characters of their own, not necessarily attached to their rider (whether they have one or not). I also thoroughly enjoyed reading the parts about the Deep and their different customs - I wish there was of more chance to explore their society, although I guess it really wasn't a focus of this story! The magic system across the different parts of this world was interesting, too, with a mix of spells and inscriptions that could be learnt also by non-naturally-magical beings.

The plot took a while to develop. I felt the start was quite slow and only really geared up after about 25%. Once it did, though, it got really interesting and kept me hooked for the majority of the remaining pages! There was a lot of planning involved, with a big chunk of the book spent figuring out how to carry out this dangerous, daring heist. Perhaps not enough time is spent on the actual heist, but I did really enjoy all that happened after! The consequences of the crew's actions set so much in motion, including some rather unexpected revelations. Some of the obstacles were perhaps solved too smoothly, with pieces falling oh-so-conveniently into place (or people acquiring awfully quickly some very convenient skills)... but others were faced with really interesting ideas.

This book had a lot of characters and for a while I got a bit lost on who to focus on, but eventually the main ones were fleshed out more and more. The dynamic between Anahrod, Ris and Sycarion was excellent and I couldn't get enough of their scenes together (in pairs or all three at the same time!). I wish there was more of them, as their romantic interactions didn't feel quite explored enough, but a bit rushed, so I didn't quite get to feel the depth of the connection between them! Among the dragons, Pelaron and Neveranimas were obvious standouts - one as an incredibly trusting and reliable ally, the other as a powerful and highly intelligent enemy.

I also really liked the fact that characters wore "garden rings", used to identify one's gender, sexuality and relationship status. The Sky on Fire included a diverse cast of people, with great LGBTQ+ representation, ranging from trans, to bisexual and homosexual characters.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me the ARC in exchange for an honest review. I'd recommend this to anyone who loves dragons and epic heists in a high fantasy world!

I really wanted to love The Sky on Fire, The Chorus of Dragons series is one of my favourites but this book was just missing that one ingredient in all aspects to make it successful. The scope of this book is very ambitious and it struggled to get everything across in only 450 pages. Either this needed to be longer (or even a series), or the scope needed to be toned down to make the book shorter.

Starting with the characters, I really liked each of them individually but because there is so many people involved in the story we don’t get enough character development or even enough time to know some of the side characters. The issue then becomes when the book tries to make it so we care about them where the story itself did nothing for me to be attached to them. Similarly I didn’t care for the relationships between the characters, be it romantic, familial or platonic. The main romantic relationships came out of nowhere, the characters were unable to resist each other and falling in love even before I realized they were supposed to be attracted to each other. Since there is so much focus on how strongly these romantic feelings are affecting decisions the fact that I didn’t believe the romance took me out of the book and made me read this much slower than anything else.

The world itself and the dragons was my favourite part of the book. Jenn Lyons knows how to build a unique and complete world. I wanted to spend more time getting to know all the different settings and the intricacies of how these societies work. But with the plot and characters fighting for page time we didn’t get much of the detail I wanted.

The main plot itself is quite solid, a pretty basic heist story with a big battle at the end. I loved the way it was built all the preparation for the heist, the things that always go wrong in them and our characters trying to figure out how to get out the situation safe. But there was a lot of side plots that made the book needlessly complex. We kept moving from one location to another and meeting so many new characters at each location only to leave them behind I couldn’t catch my breath and find something to hold onto to make me invested in the story.

Overall this was a very average book for me that unfortunately didn’t meet my expectations. The Chorus of Dragons series is a very complex and well built series that is 5 books long and Lyons tries to do similar levels of complexity in a 450 page standalone that falls flat.

This book was solid fun! I have read 4/5 books in Lyons' Chorus of Dragons series and thoroughly enjoy my time with them. If you've tried that series out and aren't a huge fan of the footnotes or the puzzle-box nature of the narrative structure, you may well enjoy this standalone better. It's a romp through and through, it doesn't let up, and there is nary a footnote to be found.

Doesn't mean it's a straightforward read, though. The Sky on Fire holds back key information in what I'm understanding is characteristic of Lyons' storytelling style. What would be considered a huge plot beat, perhaps deserving of a flashback chapter, in other novels is slipped into dialogue here in blink-and-you'll-miss-it fashion. I find this way of unravelling things refreshing and fun, but I've heard others call it frustrating. You have to be willing to bob along with the tides here.

The pace was so breakneck here that I don't feel I got as invested in the characters as I could've done given more time (yes, I'm aware of the page count). Some potentially heavy-hitting stuff just didn't get me like I wanted it to, and while the relationships were objectively great, they weren't subjectively affecting. Could just be a me thing.

Another 'me thing' is hating when pacy books move things along by knocking the characters out and having them wake up in another location next chapter. The characters being aware of this in-text does not negate my irritation. I think it's a fairly lazy choice.

Overall a fun read! Not a hard-hitter, but one for lovers of twists, heists, and – you won't be disappointed here – dragons.

3.5 rounded up to 4.

First of all - the world-building in this book is incredible, with a unique blend of fantasy and adventure that had me hooked from the start. Lyons’s vivid descriptions of the jungle and the sky cities were absolutely gorgeous.

I also appreciated the LGBT themes woven throughout the story, which added a welcome layer of depth to the narrative. Anahrod’s sexuality is very nuanced. It’s not essential to the plot, but is still an important aspect of her character. This is something I usually champion in fiction - the normalization!

The primary characters are all complex and multidimensional, with Anahrod being a particular standout. Her tough-as-nails exterior hides a deep vulnerability that makes her all the more relatable.

The constant action and adventure were a major draw for me, and Lyons delivers on that front. There’s never a dull moment in this story, with battles, chases, and daring heists keeping me on the edge of my seat. The stakes are high and the tension is palpable, making for a thrilling read.

However, I did find some aspects of the story to be a bit hit-or-miss. At times, the pacing felt a bit uneven, with some sections feeling rushed or disjointed. Additionally, some of the supporting characters felt a bit one-dimensional, which made it hard for me to become fully invested in their stories.

Overall, I’d recommend “The Sky On Fire” to fans of fantasy and adventure who enjoy complex characters and high-stakes action. If you enjoyed Six of Crows or Fourth Wing this may be a good choice for you.

A dragon sweeps into the city of Crystalspire and demands Anahrod Amnead, a girl who was supposed to have died seventeen years ago, after being cast to her death for crimes against dragons. The dragon claims she is still alive. And Gwydinion, the fifteen year old son of the mayor decides to go find Anahrod. This begins A Sky on Fire - a dramatic opening which turns into a heist, questioning of the social order, and a series of events which shaped their history.

This was fun but the pacing was all over the place. The last third of the book was most riveting, but there were huge chunks throughout that were painfully dull and needed to be tightened up. The twists were pretty good, the world building was interesting and well-fleshed out, but the pacing made this harder than it needed to be.

This is a high stakes fantasy heist. With dragons, magic, and secrets!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! This was my first Jenn Lyons book, I have seen her other series and was intimidated, I saw this and figured a stand alone would give me a taste of her writing style.

The plot was really fun! She created a rich and interesting world. The dragon and human politics are intriguing. It has a unique magic system that was fun to learn about.

I really loved the LGBTQ inclusion and the characters that were created in this book. Everyone was unique.

I do wish that this story would have been spread across two books. I feel that there was a lot more that could have been flushed out and explored.

The heist was fun and the banter was awesome!

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc copy!

4.75 stars
Temeraire series meets Six of Crows

I picked up this book for the dragons, but kept reading for the rag tag group of characters. However, I pronounce most of name as Asfhjiyfgdd in my head, and will definitely need the audiobook for help before I attempt any of them out loud.
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Jenn Lyons once again proves why she is a top tier world building queen, although not as heavy as A Chorus of Dragons, The Sky on Fire delivers. Although, rather a slow start for a new series the dragonlore, the two distinct worlds (Skylands and the Deep), the characters, and the heist kept my attention.
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Not wanting to give anything away, I will only say that the reveals were veeeeeeerrrrry satisfying. And! I was a big fan of the complete third act to finish this book, with a promise for more only teased.
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Thanks to Netgalley and Tor Publishing Group for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Just not for me. I felt out of touch with the world - it was too large and not explained well enough. Made me feel like there was a whole trilogy before this, that I had missed. And the characters didn't draw me in either. So there wasn't much to capture my attention.