Sapphic Mandalorian-esque dragon slayer, need I say more?!

The pacing was a bit slow, but overall I really loved this.

Sapphic dragonslayer fantasy?! Sign me tf up!

I loved this in concept - a legendary masked dragonslayer sent into another kingdom to deal with the dragon rumors there, nevermind that dragons play a very different parts there culturally.

I have struggled with Neon Yang's narration style before - I remember trying and failing to read The Red Threads of Fortune multiple times before I found an audiobook version and finally read it that way. I got a digital ARC copy of Bright than Scale, Swifter than Flame, so I had to read it this way, though, and unfortunately I once again found that the author's style of narration just isn't for me. To me it feels like big chunks of the story are being told by an omnipresent, allknowing narrator (particularly the beginning and time jumps), which, for me, builds an emotional distance to the characters and causes me to not be as engaged.

For a novella about a dragonslayer, the plot was pretty slow at parts, and it took me much longer than it should have to read the first half of the story. It picked up in the second half, but when the plot really gets rolling, I wasn't a big fan of the character development/decisions. It just felt a bit overly convenient of the drama of the plot or to drive the drama overall, and was then amended/resolved in a way that also felt too aprubt/convenient. Of course, being a novella, this simply doesn't have the room for drawn out developments, but especially with how slow the beginning was, the ending felt a bit too rushed.
I didn't mind that the main mystery was predictable, but I also wanted a bit more for some plot points, and felt like some opportunities for nice connections and reveals were missed.

I also wanted a bit more from the romance subplot - this is not marketed as romantasy, so I get that there isn't a super big focus on it, but a few more active acknowledgements of the characters' romantic intentions and feelings could have been nice. This was another way in which I felt the narration was very emotionally disconnected and didn't do much to engage me.

My favourite part of the novella was how Yeva slowly warms up to and grows to appreciate the people and culture of the country she is sent to, to the point it feels like home. Also, the cover is amazing.

Brighter Than Scale, Swifter Than Flame is a lyrical and introspective novella about confronting the stories we’ve been taught to believe. Yeva, a dragon slayer from a land where dragons are feared, is sent to a kingdom where they’re revered—and must come to terms with a very different truth.

The writing has a mythic, folktale quality that suits the story’s tone, though it sometimes keeps the reader at a distance. I wasn’t especially invested in the romance, but Yeva’s personal journey was compelling. Her years of training as a dragon slayer are only briefly mentioned—while I don’t think the novella needed to explore them in detail, that part of her past could easily be grounds for a deeper story or companion piece.

The plot is a bit predictable and follows familiar beats, but the themes of cultural clash and personal reckoning are well-executed. A quiet, thoughtful read that will appeal to fans of poetic, character-driven fantasy.

The cover??? Spectacular.

This was actually so much more cozy journey of self discovery and romance than Mandalorian getting up to adventures and slaying dragons that I was expecting. I enjoyed it overall!

I actually wasn't looking forward to dragon slaying, I really appreciated how they were shown respect by some people, and teaching others to understand the same. It is both on the nose and metaphorical for labels and treatment that often get placed on certain groups of people. Watching Yeva's character grow from what they had been forced to harden themself into was really satisfying. Imagining what Yeva's life could have been "if only" tugged at my heartstrings, but we got there in the end. It was pretty predictable, but I didn't mind.

Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame is a lyrical novella that reads like a fairytale. We follow Yeva, a knight whose reputation is legendary. A dragon slayer who never takes off her armor, Yeva's reputation is the stuff of legend, the ever-present armor masking the girl she once was. When Yeva is tasked to go to a neighboring kingdom, one that is thought to be harboring a dragon, Yeva becomes entangled with the girl-King of the land. What was once a mission to kill a dragon becomes more complicated as Yeva grows closer to the monarch Lady Sookhee, and Yeva starts to wonder if the land's worship of dragons isn't as heretical as she was taught to believe.

This very much feels like a folktale, or a faiy tale in its presentation and story set up. Readers familiar with such tales may recognize the "twists" in this tale before Yeva, but the story isn't built to twist and turn, but to present a gorgeous story equal parts sapphic love story, of dragons and knights, and of reckoning with one's complex heritages and legacy. This was an enjoyable read!

I think i'm maybe just not the biggest fan of Neon Yang's writing, but I enjoyed the Mandalorian-core and the transness of it all.

2.5/5 stars.

this is a fantasy novella about yeva, a dragon slayer, assigned to another kingdom to discover the truth behind the rumors of dragons living in that area. we are told yeva's story from childhood to present day, how her past weaves with the events in the present, and are also given a sweet romance with the monarch of that kingdom.

overall, i really enjoyed the adventurous story however the author spent way too much time telling instead of showing. this resulted in 70% of the book being an info dump while the rest was bare minimum dialogue between characters. i never really felt the chemistry between yeva and sookhee as we're simply told exactly how they fall in love. the "twist" was predictable and the way it all worked out in the end way too easily felt like a complete waste since up until the last 20%, the book was gearing up towards something epic. a bit of a let down!

I enjoyed experiencing this story through a folktale lens rather than pure fantasy -- it allowed for more focus on the characters rather than worldbuilding and explanations. However, it was pretty difficult to suspend disbelief regarding how long it took Yeva to realize the big reveal, considering how directly and almost explicitly it was told to her throughout the story. Overall, a fun and light queer folktale with some really beautiful descriptions of dragons.

As I will be publishing my full review with The Game of Nerds, which I will be linking once it's up on the site, this is only a portion of my review.

Yang doesn’t hide anything from the reader, doesn’t make them guess at their character's intentions, or even work too hard to figure out the plot-twist. Yang gives us all the information we need to know right in the first few chapters. So, when Lady Sookhee, the girl-king of a country that worships dragons, who are rumored to be able to take the form of humans, falls mysteriously ill once every month, it is easy to jump to conclusions.

Although the big reveal was easy to guess, this did not hurt the plot at all. In fact, it only added to the dramatic irony of it. The dragon slayer and the girl-dragon, falling in love. And we know Yeva is inevitably going to have to make a choice, between Sookhee and her life in Mithrandon.

“At this moment, at this twilight, she is allowed to take a new form--not just the valiant guildknight of the Sun Empire, not the faithful servant whose only purpose is to wield a blade, not the faceless, nameless creature who exists only as a terror and whispered legend. She lets herself be so exposed, yet does not feel vulnerable.”

But Yeva has shed the armor of the Guildknight and grown comfortable in her own skin, in the woman that she is. She has just started accepting herself for who she is and healing from the trauma of her childhood. To stuff herself back into the armor would be to kill herself all over again. So she doesn’t. She kills the Guildknight instead.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for a copy of an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Kunlin Yeva lives in a small village on the border of the Thrandic Empire and its neighbor, Quanbao, with her father, mother, and little sister. One day while her father and mother are out of the house, a dragon breaks in and attacks Yeva's little sister. Without thinking, Yeva grabs the dragon, which mauls her right hand, but Yeva doesn't let go. Instead, contact with the dragon awakens a power hidden in her blood. She becomes swathed in blue flames, kills the dragon, and passes out.

It is at this point, though Yeva doesn't know it, that fate steps in. Her father is the first to return home that day. Upon discovering what Yeva has done, he swiftly packs her off to the Thrandic Empire's capital, Mithrandon. The power in her blood marks her as a candidate to become one of the famed guildknights - the dragon killers sworn to the Sun Emperor. Yeva excels at her training, and 12 years later she is known as the famed masked guildknight of Mithrandon who has slain over one hundred dragons.

Yeva believes her life is all figured out. She never removes her armor in the presence of others. She follows her orders to hunt and kill dragons for the Emperor. She drills herself daily, trains her gryphons, and she doesn't make friends. Until one day, her captain and cousin, Emory, sends her on a mission into the neighboring kingdom of Quanbao to hunt a storm dragon. It is here that everything Yeva has been raised and trained to know about dragons is shattered like so much glass. It is here that Yeva meets the girl-king of Quanbao, Lady Sookhee, and it is here that Yeva must choose the life she wishes to lead for herself.

For the last 12 years, Yeva has shunned all unnecessary contact with others. During her guildknight training, she was the only girl, and her wounded hand healed wrong, taking the shape of a claw. She was also the only trainee to actually have the power of blue fire in her blood that allowed her to use special everstone weapons to slay dragons. She was, in short, an outsider. Rather than fight it overtly, Yeva chose to retreat into herself. She even began wearing her armor every day creating a physical barrier between herself and the world to represent the mental barrier she had already erected.

This made Lady Sookhee's acceptance of Yeva all the more powerful during the course of the story. The slow budding of their relationship was what kept me reading. This along with the mystery of the storm dragon and Lady Sookhee's blood illness were very gripping plot lines. I kept wanting to see if Yeva would allow herself to become friends with others. I really enjoyed how as Yeva and Sookhee's relationship grew, Yeva shed more and more of her armor. As a metaphor, it's a bit on the nose, but it worked really well in this story.

I also really enjoyed the story structure itself. The entire thing is told like a bed time story or a myth being relayed by a storyteller in a dark tavern somewhere. It is a legend of hardship, friendship, love, and found family. It is a parable of loyalties and how love can change them. I would love if Neon Yang decided to do a novella series in this same vein about other parts of the world and other legends in it.

I gave Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame by Neon Yang 4.5 out of 5 stars. The only reason it lost half a star was because about three quarters of the way through the book I wanted to strangle Yeva. I needed her to make up her mind about what she wanted instead of just doing as she was told and acting helpless. It was very good character development, but I still wanted her to take charge of her life (which she does by the end). Other than that, this was such a great, short read. Anyone looking for a slow-burn sapphic story with dragons, gryphons, and knights should give this a quick read!

**Thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for this ARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.**
Posted to: NetGalley and The StoryGraph
Posted on: 21 April 2025

3.7 (rounded up to 4) out of 5 stars.

Only I could manage to somehow make a short novella span the length of near a month… The perks of being a mood reader I guess, but anyways, we aren’t here to nag on my reading habits (or lack of, rather), but to talk reviews! Not quite a doozy this time, I think I’ve sat with my thoughts long enough to know what I want to say.
Let’s get into it-

Brighter Than Scale, Swifter Than Flame by Neon Yang was certainly a trip in that it has a full story and world which has been condensed to fit within a hundred and some pages (178 according to StoryGraph). Even despite the time it took to get around to it, I enjoyed every single bit of it, faults and all. I can acknowledge that the pacing was off, as a few other readers have mentioned, and it goes from slow bits to sudden action moments and back to slow scenes. I agree that it was mildly off-putting and perhaps the only reason why I didn’t devour this in one sitting like the gods intended it to be done.
On the flip side, I think these slower moments allowed for the characters to shine and grow. I did really like Yeva and the girl-king Lady Sookhee. I think the novel was too short to fully feel how the romance between them unfolded, but I still enjoyed it. That’s a big key-word for this review, really. I enjoyed this book. I wouldn’t quite say I loved it since the pacing wasn’t one of my favorites, but I didn’t absolutely hate it either. I’m a sucker for a nice and soft sapphic romance. I love the magic system here, the lore of Quanbao and it’s dragons, the idea of the guild, and the unraveling of what Yeva was taught all her life going against what she’s thinking for herself for once. I liked it all, and I think that’s why this rates higher on my scale. I definitely would recommend this to others who want a sword-wielding lesbian type of story (not to assume that Yeva is a lesbian just because her only on-page romance was with a woman, but to just name the trope for it’s most popular portrayal) with it’s fair share of dragons and fighting. I wasn’t disappointed in this at all except that maybe I wish it were longer because I absolutely loved the world. I say that for a lot of novels though, so by no means does that affect ratings either. I just need it to be known that I loved the setup here and desperately need to see more like it. I will definitely be looking over and reading some of Neon Yang’s backlist too! <3

CONTENT WARNINGS:
Racism, violence, blood, injury, chronic illness, animal death, magic animal death, mild on-page sexual content, death of parent

Recently, my reads have been very fantasy heavy, which has allowed me to fully appreciate the vast breadth of differences available within this one specific genre. Perhaps it is because of that that I enjoyed the utter uniqueness of this particular novella all the more?
Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame feels absolutely steeped in that classic ambience of high fantasy and fairy tales; pulling from the oldest of oral sagas of great knights defeating classic monsters to save beautiful princesses, but also embracing an Asian-inspired sapphic lens in which to shine its narrative through. In that regard, what comes out the other side feels far fresher and more empathetic than the sum of its parts. This isn’t just a story about killing dragons, or one kingdom attempting to control another, nor is it about romance or sexual identity. Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame takes all of these themes and weaves them around one another to build a template of autonomy—using fantasy to acknowledge the struggles of finding morality and identity for oneself.
Overall, while I enjoyed this book and certainly do commend it, I will say that the language and style in which it is written will be difficult for some readers. It is so far removed from contemporary it feels more akin to a ballad or ode spoken on a stage. As such, the pacing feels a little strange and almost like it is focussing on tableaus instead of a linear timeline. Think like an opera or a stage play, where large time skips and chunks of emotional development happen off-page. Perhaps for this reason the climax and conclusion of the story did feel a little predictable.
Personally speaking, if you are a fan of high fantasy and are seeking something a little different style-wise, I would still certainly recommend it.

Hear now the tale of Kunlin Yeva. Hear now the truth of the guildknight of Mithrandon. Thirteen when she slayed her first dragon, twenty five when returns to kill her last in her motherland, Quanbao, that has worshipped the deities since time immemorial. Yet when memories of her childhood begin to flood back and she meets the revered monarch, Lady Sookhee, Yeva will find herself torn between duty and devotion.

To be frank, I've been in quite the reading slump after The Raven Scholar. Between uni and just living life, I haven't made much time for myself to read and relax. I'm happy to report that this novella was just what I needed! Short and impactful, I breezed through this read like nobody's business! I think I'm beginning to see a trend form with my sapphic dragon novels though lol. The blooming romance and heartache for the life Yeva could've lived absolutely broke me. With queer and disabled rep, I'm so glad that I picked this up for the trans rights readathon, even though I've only now just gotten around to finishing it. I think that there's a lot left to be said about the world building and history that Yang has crafted here, but that could probably only be captured in a full-length novel. This story is beautiful as is, and while I'm left wanting so much more, I understand that's not what a novella is for. I'll certainly be picking up Yang's other works when I get the chance!

This was a really interesting book. I really enjoyed the setting and the characters. I just kind of wish this was a full novel or even a series of novellas I would like it better. Neon Yang writes some amazing stores and has amazing world building and I felt this lacked that in places because it was a novella. It definitely felt like they could have written more or done a bit more with this. That being said I definitely still enjoyed this and will be recommending it I just wish we had more.

Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame was a novella that might have benefited from the focus and dedication that a full novel usually receives. There were brilliant ideas and concepts that felt underdeveloped within this short story that could've been more impactful if given the time to properly develop and evolve into a roundhouse kick to the face kind of story.
Novellas are a hard beast to crack and I'm not sure that Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame did enough for me to call it a success.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

3.75, rounded to 4

Thank you Tor/Forge for sending me this ARC via NetGalley.
I loved this sapphic fantasy novella by Neon Yang

I will first say that I feel a little gaslighted by the cover. This gorgeous cover had me anticipating an action packed, dragon slaying, love story. It was everything but.

This quick read, follows the faceless dragon slayer, Yeva. We’re told that she is the prized warrior and hunts down dragons. We never see it however.

Instead, we read Yeva, finding her place in this world. Finding safety and comfort in a place she least expected. She finds yourself.

I wish we saw more time between Yeva & Lady Sookhee 💕

While the ending was predictable, I did enjoy Yeva story and enjoyed reading how to find strength inside yourself.

Neon did a great job with writing this story as a folklore narration.

I thought "Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame" felt like a long (but brilliant) title for a novella. The contrasts continued for me. There's a quick hero origin story, flashes forward to the full-on knight era, and then just when I thought the story slowed down during Yeva's time in Quanbao, I finished the whole thing. I had my suspicions on how this story would end, and I did enjoy reading as my suspicions were proven right. I would not have minded reading a longer version of this tale, and the end left me wishing there was more, all clear indicators that I did enjoy this book. I enjoyed the line near the end about "burying the shards" so much that I ended up writing it over and over with different fountain pens. This story was quite a ride. Thank you, Neon Yang.

There’s something really special about how this novella unfolds. The prose is clean and deliberate, with a softness that feels simple on the surface but reveals a lot once you sit with it. It gave me very Hemingway vibes—quiet, unhurried, and completely willing to let the reader connect the dots.

The emotional weight is there, but it’s never spelled out. The world and characters are handled with a light touch, and that restraint makes it hit deeper than you’d expect. It’s the kind of story that feels both small and immense at the same time.

I did find myself wanting more—not from the characters or their feelings, but from the world. The universe is rich, and I would’ve loved just a little more space to live in it.

Still, I’m really glad I read this. It’s beautifully done.

4 stars, but I'd give it a 4.5 if Netgalley allowed half stars.

Brighter Than Scale, Swifter Than Flame by Neon Yang

I met Neon Yang at New York Comic Con a few years ago - they were very cool, and helped change the name on the book cover of my copy of The Black Tides of Heaven that I brought to get signed, since it had been published under their former name. I enjoyed that book, and I also believe that I enjoyed The Genesis of Misery (although, to be frank, I cannot remember much about it).

I very much enjoyed their new novella, Brighter Than Scale, Swifter Than Flame, which Tor and NetGalley gave me an eARC of in exchange for an honest review.

To be fair, the first time I tried to read it, I bounced off the first page and couldn’t get into it. However, I realize that I was clearly in more of a science fiction than fantasy mood at the time, because a few weeks later, I restarted it, and did not want to put it down. It tells the story of an imperial dragon hunter who is sent as an emissary to another country where she meets the monarch and uncovers her secret (which I will not spoil here). Even though I saw the reveal coming a mile away, I still really enjoyed this book! (Also, I think I was supposed to figure out what was going on before the protagonist did). This was a delightful book that I highly recommend.

A whimsical, fairytale-like novella about a sapphic dragon slayer and a bit of magic. 🐉✨

I had a good time with this story, the prose was beautiful, almost like someone sitting down by a fire to read you a tale passed down through generations. It has that cozy, once-upon-a-time feel that really worked for the tone and premise.

That said, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing. The worldbuilding and character development just didn’t feel fully fleshed out. There were glimpses of something richer, deeper, but they weren’t explored. I think this is one of the pitfalls of a fantasy novella: the genre almost demands more room to breathe, and in this case, the limited page count left me wanting more depth.

There were also moments where the author repeated certain details or sentiments, which stood out in such a short format. In a novella, every word counts, so that kind of repetition made the story feel less tight than it could’ve been.

Overall, this was a fun, quick read with a unique concept and lovely prose, but it lacked the substance I crave in fantasy. Still, I appreciated what it set out to do and think it’ll work for readers looking for a brief, dreamy escape with a sapphic twist.

Thank you to NetGalley and TOR Publishing for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!