First off, the cover art is beautiful. The artist did a really good job with it - it was definitely one of the reasons I wanted to read this book.

I was already mourning how short this book was when I finished the first page. I loved the world-building of this eternal conflict between men and dragons, and an order of dragon slayers that became integral to society to surmount the threat. I also really enjoyed the main character's struggles with her identity. She forged a place for herself in the order, but felt like she needed to hide because of the way others perceived her due to her differences. She struggles to find meaning and balance to her life when she is left without constant duties to perform. The majority of the plot of the book focuses on how livelihoods can affect the core of our being, changing us forever, and how sometimes we get lost in upholding our sense of purpose. I also really liked reading this story because most "monster slaying" focused stories obviously have men as their main characters, so it was really enjoyable having a woman be a legendary warrior.

Really loved this book and finished it within a few hours of being accepted to read it - couldn't put it down. Thank you to Netgalley and to Tor for letting me read this beautiful story!

I feel so conflicted about this book. because on one hand I love sapphic books immensely. I also love books with dragons. The world and plot were super fun to read too. But the writing at times felt like I was being told things and spoon fed information. It felt a tad distant at the end. I wish I knew how to put it better into words. But overall, I liked it. I would def recommend it. I might give the final copy another go to see if anything changes

I loved this new novella from Neon Yang! I'm a huge fan of their Tensorate series - they're a great writer of short stories which can be hard to do with limited pages. I was extremely pleased with how this book turned out - it has some traditional fantasy tropes like the farmboy (girl, in this case) manifests powers and is whisked away to the kingdom to train. Still, it quickly diverges into themes of colonialism, power, self-confidence, and that good good sapphic love. And of course, DRAGONS! I definitely recommend checking this one out when it's published in May 2025.

🌈Queer rep: FF main couple, lesbian love interest. Secondary lesbian characters.

( smacks the novella ) this bad boy can hold so many treasures… alright so if you’re looking for lesbians, this is THEE novella. it’s a novella & novellas are always going to be tight & perhaps leave you wanting a little more, but there was also a lot of good stuff here both in worldbuilding as well as in delicious characterization (yall know i love when CHARACTERS are CHARACTER-ING). our mc yeva was a delight. more lesbians, pls, neon yang, i will read all of them

Thank you so much to NetGalley for an ARC of this novella!

I’ve never encountered this authors work before, and if you are in the same boat I highly suggest picking this up first before moving on to Yang’s full novels. This is a fast paced. dramatic and interesting sapphic fantasy, with dragonslayers and knights. Yang spun the classic dragonslayer fantasy into something fresh and new, and I really enjoyed it. I just wish this was longer; I feel as if the characters could be even more fleshed out with more pages to work with. I thought Yeva as a character was very interesting, and we could clearly see her motivations in her magic and abilities, but I just wanted a little bit more from our MC. The novella was full of women, sapphic romance, political intrigue, and magic — this was something new that is needed in the fantasy genre to freshen things up. It was believable, and magical; I will be sure to pick up Yang’s longer works in the future.

(3.5 rounded)

this will be a novella that a lot of people will love. it is about understanding, connection and creating your identity. there’s a lot more that this is about as well like loyalty, etc. but there’s something that pricks at the heart while reading this. i won’t lie, it was a short novella and i still skim read some parts that were a bit boring but that’s not all of it. i found joy in the relationship of Yeva and Sookhee but also wanted to dive deeper into her relationship with Emory. Because it’s a novella and you only get a snippet in time, i think the plot and the arc worked well for this novel.

Firstly, the people have spoken!! This is a stunning cover!! Secondly, it’s also a gorgeous novel!! There’s so much to like in this book! like there's lesbians and dragons… It literally contains a very interesting sword that activates with magical blood? like that’s so cool! I actually liked it so much I started to be sad that it was only a novella, which just means I need a spinoff book in this world, and I need to read more from Neon Yang. I also really liked how beautifully this was written. Ahh many compliments to this book! special thanks to Tor and netgalley for letting me read this as an e-arc! I really liked this fantasy lesbian novella<3 please support this book on its publication in May!!

3.5 stars rounded up.

If you are a fan of classic dragon slaying fantasy, but you want it wrapped in beautiful prose and metaphors...look no further. I will say some of the metaphors felt like they were there just to be there, but in such a short story it didn't pull me out of the story. If you are a fan of a story with the narrative framing device of someone telling you the truth behind a legendary figure...this is also for you. I really appreciated going on the emotional journey of self-discovery with the protagonist of this story. Taken from her home at a young age due to her ability to channel dragon-slaying magic she is weaponized by a foreign empire on their quest to slay all dragons in the world. She is sent on a diplomatic mission to a kingdom near her hometown and her training clashes with the worldview she grew up with, and it is such a poignant journey. I don't want to say more than that as it is a short standalone novella, if that at all sounds intriguing I would highly recommend you pick it up.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me a copy to review via NetGalley.

My first time reading Neon Yang and certainly not the last! This is a novella about a dragon-slaying knight who is sent to a neighboring nation to, of course, slay another dragon—but what she discovers during her stay there will change her life forever.

This is a very solid, short read. Yeva's character arc is emotionally satisfying, the prose flows smoothly, and there is a very sweet (if a bit surface-level) romance between her and the neighboring country's girl-king, Lady Sookhee.

I do think this book's page count falls at an awkward length; a touch too long to justify the telling-not-showing narration that crops up more than once, but too short to be able to properly expand on the worldbuilding, side characters, and romance. The twist at the end is wntirely predictable, but that didn't necessarily detract from my overall enjoyment. Overall, I think this is a short and sweet 3.5/5 stars, and I am curious to try Yang's other novellas in the future.

Brighter than Scale, Swifter than flame is a queer novella about a famed guild knight of Mithrandon, the dragon hunter Yeva, who is sent away from home at just thirteen after she’s discovered to have a magical gift. The story follows her as an adult as she is sent on a mission to a kingdom close to her childhood home. There, she soon finds herself drawn to the girl king and a culture similar to the one she was forced to leave behind.

There is a lot to like about this novella, but don’t go into it expecting a lot of action or dragon hunting. Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame is a very introspective little book that is primarily considered with Yeva’s internal conflict as a knight struggling to decide where her loyalties lie and a woman uprooted, now trying to reconnect with her culture.

Yang accomplishes a lot of worldbuilding in a very little space, but what ultimately hindered my enjoyment was the pacing and predictability of the plot. There aren’t really any surprises, and I was hoping for a little more out of the ending. I also struggled to connect with Lady Sookhee, whose character has a lot of potential but feels flat.

Oddly, this felt a lot like a gothic romance. It has all the right elements — secret tunnels, a powerful and mysterious lover who seems to be hiding something… If you want a high fantasy Crimson Peak with dragons, I’d give this one a try.

Neon Yang wrote this perfectly and enjoyed the world that was created. It had that element that I wanted from an Asian fantasy element. It was everything that I was looking for and enjoyed the characters and the way it worked with the plot. I was engaged with the dragon hunter element to this.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor/Forge for sending me an ARC!

I had such a great time with this story. It’s a short novella, but it packs a punch.

A queer, legendary dragonslayer falls in love with a girl-King, while a dragon-filled mystery unfolds. It’s a beautiful story about embracing your identity and questioning your beliefs.

I’m not a particularly huge fan of dragon books, but this changed that for me. I would do anything to have more books set in this world. I loved everything from the writing, to the dragon lore, to the pace of the novella.

I don’t really stop to read novellas, but I want to get to more in the new year. I find the pacing works better for me and my short attention span. It’s a game changer. But it also made me realize I avoided novellas/short stories because I thought they couldn’t possibly hold up against a full novel. Oh how wrong I was.

Highly recommend and I’m excited to check out more of Neon Yang’s writing.

Neon Yang is an author I finally got to reading recently, and I’m so glad they’re finally on my radar cuz their storytelling is so good! I love the world built in Brighter Than Flame and Yeva is such an interesting character. I love her journey and the way she smashes down who she was growing up when she’s sent to the Imperial city, and how going to Quanbao opened her back up to softness and her past. The romance between Yeva and Sookhee is almost quiet in its development, but I liked the way their care for one another came through. I guessed very early on what the situation was with the dragon Yeva was sent to hunt, but the execution was still satisfying, and the end was such a good conclusion. Loved this book, and looking forward to more stories from Neon Yang.

What a beautiful ride this was, short, sweet, and thought provoking.

This is a story we have seen time and again in the real world reimagined in a story rich in culture, fantasy, and dragons. Our main character Yeva is removed from her home as a child because of a power she possesses that is used to hunt and kill dragons. After an encounter where she kills a baby dragon leaves her handicapped she is transported to a world she doesn't know do become a killer for a kingdom she doesn't love.

Her life becomes a hollow series of duties where she pushes herself to the max to be more, better, legendary, to fill the void in her that was left after leaving her home and becoming disabled. In this new land her internal and external value is calibrated by what she can provide and not who she is. She truly identified as this powerful knight to the point where she can not take off her armour. She must hide her true self in order to fit into the mold she's made herself.

A fateful series of events has her traveling back to her homeland to investigate the potential of dragons there and she is met with the uncomfortable truth that her life isn't at all what she thought it was and the skin of her warrior self starts to feel too tight. Without ruining the story this part of the story truly is beautiful and a little heart breaking.

This is a story of self discovery, love, and about reclaiming lost/stolen identity. It is short and very powerful. I thoroughly enjoyed this magical journey, it will have me thinking long after I set down this book.

4.5⭐️ Thank you Tor Publishing Group & NetGalley for the opportunity to read the ARC for an honest review!

This lovely little sapphic novella read like an epic and I could not have been more obsessed. AND THAT COVER I MEAN COME ON. When you market a book as Lady Mandalorian x dragon slayer, you’ve hit me in a weak spot. Yang’s writing is truly some of the most beautifully descriptive prose I’ve ever encountered. From her depictions of the cold barracks of Mithrandon to the idyllic mountain town of Quenbao, I was enchanted from the start. Then we witness Yeva’s rise as a guildknight where she becomes a sterile, yet savage, extension of the emperor. But this all slowly dissipates as she interacts with the townspeople and the court of Lady Sookhee. The lore of the Quenbao region and its reverence for dragons slowly changes Yeva’s perspective of the beasts she’s hunted her whole career, but it’s not until a local secret is revealed that her heart is truly changed.

My only wish is that we could get more of Yeva, Lady Sookhee, and this magical world Yang has created.

wowwww!! this was a great novella!

this is a sapphic fantasy novella following yeva who’s a legendary dragon slayer sent to an unfamiliar kingdom in search of a hidden dragon. but then yeva meets lady sookhee, where yeva finds herself slowly opening up to the beautiful queen. despite their growing relationship, yeva must fulfill her duty, but what happens when she stars to question what she’s been taught?

i adored the exploration of identity, the symbolism of the armour yeva wears and how the closer she grows to lady sookhee, the more she lets her see. i also loved the vivid and beautiful storytelling, and the attention to even the smallest details. this has everything i love in books: dragons, lady knights, lesbians, & political intrigue.

thank you to netgalley & tor for the e-arc <3

Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame follows Yeva, a dragon hunter, and Sookhee, the girl-king. Yeva comes to Quanbao looking to slay a dragon rumored to be hiding among Sookhee’s people. I enjoyed this story, but I felt it leaned more on "telling" than "showing," which kept me a bit distanced from the emotional depth of the characters and events. The relationship between the characters was promising, but lacked the development I was hoping for—there were tender moments, but the connection felt underexplored. The ending was predictable, but still very satisfying. The novella is short enough to finish in one sitting, and has an interesting storyline.

Between the lesbians, dragons, absolutely gorgeous cover art, and storytelling prose, I recommend this book to anyone looking for a short sapphic fantasy read!

Thank you to Tor Publishing Group and NetGalley for the review copy, this review is my honest opinion :)

This was a very fast and short read about how a bite from a baby dragon can lead to the discovery of powers and how those powers dictate how Yevas life will turn out. Duty and love clash in here and the main conflict wrapped up kind of quick but how it ended up I was satisfied with. If you like dragons and lesbians this one is for you.

Sapphic romance and dragons, SIGN ME UP PLEASE!!! This novella follows Yeva, a renowned dragon slayer, as she faces the unfamiliar court life of Quanbao and their queen, the Lady Sookhee. One of my favorite aspects of this story was Yeva's struggle with her identity, particularly her struggle with her armor. It was such a powerful line of tension. As for the pacing, the plot moves fairly quickly, and I often found myself wanting to slow down, to really settle into the politics and the romance. That said, I absolutely adored reading this. It has a unique lens of viewing, reading, at times, like a true legend. And though the reveal isn't difficult to guess, it also doesn't take away from the story. All in all, I think I would have enjoyed this even more if it had been novel-length. The story was beautifully assembled, and I simply wanted more. What a wonderful novella. Thank you to the NetGalley team at Tor/Forge for this ARC!! 4.0 / 5.0 ⭐️

Neon Yang’s *Brighter Than Scale, Swifter Than Flame* is a captivating short fantasy that deftly explores identity, belonging, and transformation. In just a few pages, Yang crafts a rich, immersive world where dragons and magic become powerful metaphors for self-discovery.

At its heart, the story is a tender exploration of queer identity, seamlessly integrated into the narrative. Yang celebrates queerness as a natural and empowering part of the protagonist’s journey, making the themes of self-acceptance and growth resonate deeply.