The Sky on Fire

by Jenn Lyons Narrated by Lauren Fortgang

Overview

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.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"Nobody does dragons like Jenn Lyons! All the ingredients here add up to a spectacular and sexy fantasy heist story: sky ships hunting leviathans, revenge plots, secrets, family drama, and an ensemble that sparkles like a hoard full of diamonds."—Freya Marske, international bestselling author of A Marvellous Light

"Jenn Lyons just keeps getting better and better! The Sky on Fire is fantastic!—in multiple senses of that word."—Glen Cook, author of The Black Company

"The Sky on Fire's wily worldbuilding is deeply enjoyable, and its plot races like wildfire atop wit and banter, twists and reverses, and an unflappable delight in the possibilities of fantasy."—Kate Elliott, author of Unconquerable Sun and Servant Mage

"Fans of Dragonriders of Pern, Dragonlance, Naomi Novik’s Temeraire, and D&D will love this dragon-filled fantasy. The love letter you’ve been looking for to all the things you’ve cherished about the fantasy genre."—R.R. Virdi, author of The First Binding

"Charismatic characters, furious battles among dragons, masterful scheming, sexual tension, and crackling dialogue. Strap in for a great ride."—Booklist (starred review)

"This novel grabs a bunch of now-classic fantasy tropes and gives them a good shake.... A soaringly good read."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Addictive and intricately plotted... [a] rip-roaring caper."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"This is a brilliant novel, vividly characterised, tense, and full of surprises. I adore it on a personal level, admire it from a technical perspective, and I do most sincerely hope that Lyons publishes more in this setting. Recommended."—Locus

Praise for Jenn Lyons:

"It's impossible not to be impressed with the ambition of it all, the sheer, effervescent joy Lyons takes in the scope of her project . . . a larger-than-life adventure story about thieves, wizards, assassins and kings to dwell in for a good long while."—The New York Times on The Ruin of Kings

“Epic fantasy fans looking for a virtually un-put-down-able read should look no further."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) on The Ruin of Kings

“Rich, cruel, gorgeous, brilliant, enthralling and deeply, deeply satisfying. I loved it.”—Lev Grossman, author of The Magicians, on The Ruin of Kings

“Lyons proves she is worthy of comparison to other masters of epic fantasy.”—Booklist (starred review) on The Name of All Things

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2024-05-04
A heist threatens to shake an empire in this stand-alone work of epic fantasy.

Seventeen years ago, a gifted dragonrider candidate, Anahrod Amnead, was falsely accused of stealing from a dragon’s hoard. Tossed 50,000 feet to the Deep below, Anahrod managed to survive and carve out a life—only to be kidnapped and convinced to join a plot to actually rob the hoard of that same dragon. Many additional twists, turns, and revelations unfold in this pointed, flaming riposte to the science fantasy series that set the standard for dragonrider novels from the 1980s forward, Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern. (An author’s note acknowledges Lyons’ debt to both McCaffrey and George R. R. Martin.) McCaffrey’s books and the many series they inspired posit an environment in which dragons—despite their vastly superior size, claws and teeth, ability to fly and breathe hazardous substances, and possession of magical or magic-seeming powers—will generally submit to humans’ superior intellectual and mental capabilities as part of a biologically imperative bonding relationship. This book is set in a world where dragons seem to be equally intelligent to and more psychically powerful than humans. They recognize their obvious advantage and don’t submit: They rule over their riders in particular and much of humanity in general. Bonding has some key physical benefits for them but it’s not an imperative; it’s a choice—at least, on the dragons’ part. And the ability to speak to all dragons, which is considered a boon on Pern, is nothing but a profound danger here, because at least one dragon views it as a threat. This novel grabs a bunch of now-classic fantasy tropes and gives them a good shake; meanwhile, the heist story sticks fairly close to its classic tropes—clever ruses, last-minute setbacks, inevitable betrayals, and so on—but injects enjoyable suspense. Finally, there’s a really sweet throuple romance and some lovely familial reconciliation.

A soaringly good read.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940160347059
Publisher:	Macmillan Audio
Publication date:	07/09/2024
Edition description:	Unabridged

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