Book One of Draconis Memoria (The Draconis Memoria 1)

Despite the overuse of "insistent" and "besmirching" every few paragraphs, this was an enjoyable read. The world and story reeled me in—the strongest elements being the action scenes and battle descriptions. Most of the characters felt simple and predictable. It's full of spies, pirates, drakes, and prophecies coming to fruition. Worth your time.

Talented Mr. Ryan has cast another wonderful story filed with dragons, battles and very interesting characters. The world is detailed and filled with wonder. The details and writing make this story a joy to read. If you are put off from the last story, please leave that one behind and try this book. A very refreshing take on magic and dragons.

Something for everyone - a mashup of maritime, western, fantasy, and steampunk fiction. Cool, novel magic system.

On the other hand, although the writing has some pithy bright spots, overall it is rough - lots of cliches, mixed metaphors, incorrect words. The story is not terribly engaging and the characters are fairly shallow.

If a bit of background had been provided concerning the worldscape of this planet, this review would have garnered all five stars. It was too confusing through the first quarter of the book without some enlightenment. That being said, the story is tight, the action is ongoing and characters are well developed. Highly recommended.

Another really good book by Anthony Ryan. Not as good as blood song - the split views made it hard to invest in the characters to the same extent as the first half of blood song at least through the first third. But it ended up being a great read with well formed characters and a great world. Looking forward to seeing what's next.

Blood Song was great. The following two books were merely good. Unfortunately for me, I felt that Waking Fire follows that declining trajectory: this one was not even good all the way. I had a hard time finishing it and there were several chapters where I skimmed through the pages trying to get through to the remaining few threads in the story that I cared about. By the time the book was over, I was glad that it was done.

If the review reader has not read the previous series, then this may be a reasonable book to pick up. But fans of BS will be sorely disappointed.

Having read and greatly enjoyed Mr. Ryan's Ravens Shadow Trilogy, I was excited to see he had a new book out. So I immediately bought it and read it in a couple of days. It is a great Tale of adventure that I highly recommend to everyone. Keep them coming Sir!

Thoroughly underwhelming. Blood Song was so good, but this is more in line with the sequels than Blood Song in terms of quality. I usually burn through books pretty fast, but this one took forever because I just wasn’t into it.

One annoying aspect of it was the magic system where certain people are gifted so that if they drink different colored dragons’ blood, they have different powers. Every paragraph seemed to start with, “he drank part of his green”, “she injected a little red and black, and all she had left of green”. Then what would follow was more out of a dragon ball z cartoon where they are jumping through the air and blasting each other. I don’t know, I just didn’t care much for the style of writing this go around. His descriptions of the guns and engines was also very forced. They are completely made up, why are you telling me the make, model, and features of each when it isn’t going to be referenced at all later on. It just made the reading tedious to get through. I appreciate trying to build the world, but it just comes across as very elementary. The ending was getting pretty interesting for a few reasons, but then it just sort of fizzled out with a healthy dose of deux ex machina.

This new series holds more promise than any I read in a long time. The combination of brutal realism and a highly developed fantastic theme works extremely well

Character building is top notch and the action grips and won't let go

Having absolutely loved Bloodsong and liked the two sequals, I was excited to see a new series by Ryan. I have to admit that at first, I was s little disappointed, as it took me a bit to understand the world he had created and the characters were introduced very very rapidly, often with similar names. However, by about a third of the way in, I started to thoroughly enjoy The Waking Fire, and by the end I was eagerly awaiting the next installment. All in all, an enjoyable read that leaves you wanting more.

Does not disappoint.
I expected great things from Ryan after Raven's Shadow, and after reading this first book in his next series, he proves himself a super serious dude whose career I will follow! Can't wait for the next!

What can I saw about "The Waking Fire"....rushed. This book shares the same flaws all of Ryan's books have shared since his debut novel in that it has a solid base, plot, and characters. But I feel as if he is forcing every minor thing in order to make his idea for how the story should progress and page after page its more of the same rushed plot, forced plot development that oftentimes leaves the reader just confused or frustrated with whats going on and how a good idea and set-up is being completely ruined. All in all, if your debating reading this book out of loyalty to the author and hoping he bounces back after his last few disasters I would recommend you save your money, if your new to Anthony Ryan and was debating reading this book I would suggest reading blood song and none of his other books and save yourself a large amount of money and frustration.

Some of the things that occur with dragons seem overly cruel. Tapping a dragon involves bleeding a dragon till death, the blood is then used to hunt more dragons. Seems like a really gross cycle. Writing is great, story is great, but it seems a lot of characters lack human qualities causing the reader to be unable to relate. Some characters are cruel, some characters are less cruel, figure it out your self who is good and who is bad, but the main fantasy element to me makes all female characters a bit darker to me. I am not an animal rights activist, and I encourage you to read the book, just know what you are getting into. And remember to cut off their wings so they can't escape!

At the dawn of the Corporate Age, the Mandinorian nobility replaced their properties and privileges for shares in the Iron Trading Syndicate. Their pursuit of profit reigns supreme and the most sought after commodity comes from the "Interior" of the untamed continent of Arradsia. Indigenous to the Interior are several species of drakes, (dragons) whose blood can be distilled into a miraculous mixture called "product". However the blood of drakes is dangerous to all but the small percentage of humans, called Blood-blessed, who can safely consume it. Product is extremely valuable because once used by a Blood-blessed, it temporarily provides enhancements comparable to superpowers.

Overhunting and exploitation of the drakes has seen a drop in the amount of product available and a shortage in product would mean a sharp reduction in profit. Lodima Bondersil, a prominent member of the Iron Trading Syndicate, believes there may be a solution. An artifact has recently been recovered that can be linked to the ill-fated Wittler Expedition. Over thirty years ago, Wittler and his team had been searching a particularly dangerous section of the Interior for the nesting place of the elusive White Drake. Legend has it, that the White Drake is the most powerful of all its brethren. The explorers, along with Ethelynne Drystone, one of Lodima's prized pupils disappeared without a trace, but not before sending a communication to Lodima of a vital discovery.

Setting her secret plans into motion, Lodima plans to succeed where Wittler failed. She hopes that even the remains of a White will boost the projected decline in the economy. But complications arise as the aggressive Corvantine Empire's desire for conquest blossoms and war between the two hegemonic regimes becomes imminent.

The Waking Fire is the first book in author Anthony Ryan's second series; The Draconis Memoria. And by the way; it's awesome. A complete departure from the world he created in his previous Raven's Shadow series, The Waking Fire is set in a complex and beautifully detailed steampunk-esque era. Ryan is a skilled world-builder and his expertise is demonstrated throughout this nearly six hundred page book. I was immediately impressed with the particulars of this world's settings and the fact that his descriptions are as rich in texture as they are to the senses of sight and sound. Ryan effortlessly transports his readers from a hideout concealed in a decaying church in the slums, to life aboard an Ironship war vessel, and easily transitions to the deserts, mountains, and jungles of the danger-fraught Interior.

The Waking Fire is a detailed account, written in the perspective of three characters, each important players in the unfolding events. Efficient and ruthless, Lizanne Lethridge, is this world's version of Agent 007. Being Blood-blessed allows Lizanne the opportunity to perform fantastic feats that are utterly kickass and believable. Clay Torcreek is an orphan and a thief who uses the fact that he is an unregistered Blood-blessed to his every advantage. Clay is one step away from leaving the slums forever when the consequences of his life of crime catch up with him. Motivated by guilt and the promise of freedom, he is coerced into joining his uncle's expedition into the Interior. I really like that Lizanne and Clay start off somewhat unlikeable, but gradually grew in my affections. The third main POV, 2nd Lt. Corrick Hilemore, is an honorable naval officer who is compassionate as well as brave. Although he is involved in some amazing battles at sea, his thread doesn't shine as bright as Lizanne's or Clay's, and his story arc stagnates during the last portion of the book. I am assuming that he is intended for bigger and better things in book two.

This gorgeous new world, fraught with peril at every turn, delivers a breathtaking ride through battles, across oceans, and deep into the heart of the jungle. Its characters are well-written and three-dimensional; dealing with topics such as political intrigue, greed, and impending war. I absolutely love this book and have high hopes for the series. Anthony Ryan weaves an intricate tale that is part Raiders of the Lost Ark, part James Bond, and part Master and Commander, but with dragons.

Ahoy there me mateys! I received this fantasy eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. So here are me honest musings . . .

This is a novel with dragons and pirates and spies oh my! At 592 pages this is an epic fantasy of a book and is the first of Mr. Ryan’s new series, The Draconis Memoria. In the Arradsian Continental Holdings, there are four types of dragons – Red, Green, Black, and Blue. Certain people can use this drake blood to do cool things by ingesting it. The poem of its uses:

"Blue for the mind. Green for the body. Red for the fire. Black for the push."

And yet there is a myth about a White drake. Does it exist? If so, what does its blood do? Well ye can read this book and find out. But some thoughts before ye do.

1. I loved the distinction between the types of dragons. Each color has particular ways of living and fighting. Black dragons of course were me favorite. But be aware that there are not enough fulfilling dragon encounters in this book. Lots of humans and dragons fighting but the dragons seemingly were a side note to their blood. The dragon blood got WAY more conversation then the dragons themselves. Sad.

2. Loved the character development overall. I found the three main perspectives of Clay (adventurer), Lizanne (spy) and Hilemore (sailor) to be both engaging and unique. Hilemore was me favorite and not just because he was a sailor (Arrrrr!). It was nice to get good female characters in this book like Tekala (girl) and Zenida (pirate). I also liked Steelfine (Islander) and Braddon (head adventurer) a whole bunch too. The characters kept me reading even though I had some problems with the plot.

3. The White: The sections dealing with finding out the secret of the myth of the White were some of the weaker parts of the book to me. The mysteries surrounding it were just not fun and way too drawn out. Lots of wandering around with no real objective and then heading in a direction where the adventurers happen to find a random clue that leads them to wandering some more for another random clue. And the thing with the Artisan and damn box made me crazy. With no explanation and only more mystery at the end. Ugh.

4. Clay: I liked the character a whole bunch but his sections of the book had him making mistakes the entire time in terms of decision making and who he trusted. I mean the foreshadowing was so bad that I kept thinking to myself that I had to be wrong because it couldn’t be that simple. Ugh. And the relationship with his uncle Braddon was just plain annoying.

5. The evil ones: the politics and world building of this novel were a little weak. I wasn’t always sure who exactly the bad people were supposed to be. The Emperor and Morradin, for sure; they seemed to have that stereotype of being bad guys for just the sake of money and power with no underlying philosophy or thoughts. The politics seemed weak and included just so there could be a war and some battle scenes.

6. Battle scenes: I actually liked many of them. This book even had a siege which I didn’t completely hate. Many of the fights with the dragons were fun. I did not, however, like a lot of the deus ex machina of the battle scenes. There were multiple sections where character A (good guys) are fighting character B (bad guys) and are outnumbered and doomed when suddenly out of nowhere something happens (usually involving Blues) and suddenly character A is magically saved!

7. Plot twists: There were a couple of truly not fun plot twists. Some dead people that should have stayed dead. Some relationship issues that I would have preferred to not exist. An ending to the book was supposed to be a plot twist but wasn’t.

8. Dragon chomping: To end on a happy note, there was one particular human that got chomped that made me super frickin happy.

So I guess overall I wanted more from this novel. I found it dragging in places and it was extremely hard to get through. I was extremely conflicted writing this review because there was a lot of good in the novel in terms of ideas and characters and yet it just wasn’t a cohesive enough whole for me. I don’t even know if I liked enough of this to read the next book in the series. A shame too because I normally adore all books with dragons in them. But I was grateful for the chance to give this book a shot.

So lastly . . .

Thank you Ace!

If you liked this review see my others at [...]

Eagerly looking forward to the release of this series, I really enjoyed his first book.
This one though, felt to familiar, like I had read parts off of before.
There is the orphan work the terrible back story and certain death in his future , night angel, that turns out all around and is humanities only chance
There are beings that can do wonderful and terrible things and are seen as Demi gods, mistborn & light bringer. Each color/ metal having a different effect and putting strain on the user.
There is the plot behind the war, the unexpected death and the unexpected twist all from his previous series.
Then of course there is the cliffhanger at the end with promise of more Indiana Jones style adventure in the future.

Very will written, just seen it before

Anthony Ryan's "The Waking Fire" is the first book in his "Draconis Memoria" series. Unfortunately, I'm a bit torn on what to rate it. On the one hand, it's an interesting, well-written book with good characterizations and world building. On the other hand, there are some fairly irritating weaknesses in it. Specifically:

- The three main characters are somewhat reasonable hero/protagonist material. Unfortunately, the society they belong to is pretty darn nasty. Of course, compared to the alternative societies, it rises to the top. The dichotomy makes it a bit difficult to root for a winning side. This isn't really a weakness, it just bothers me a bit.
- At one point, one of the main characters pauses (entirely out of character) in removing a not-so-good person. It seems like she does that just so we can listen to the villain describe the evil, master plan. That's a bit hokey.
- There are a lot of essential elements of the story that are left pretty much up in the air. For instance: Why is there a tie-in to an eclipse? Why are there historical clues to the location of what needs to be done? Of what use is the orrery? I assume these have to do with an historic, eccentric, inventor who keeps coming up. But, the linkage is a bit vague. It's also possible these questions get answered in later books. But, some inkling would be nice, here.
- There's some non-human technology driving what's happening. Yet, where it comes from is completely unexplained. There's an implication it's from an old race. But, why they would make this is beyond me.
- There are big logistics problems with enemy movements. We're talking tens of thousands of non-technological enemies travelling across a continent without any supplies at all. That just doesn't work.
- And, finally, the ending is really frustrating. Yes, this is the first book in a series. But, some kind of closure would have been nice.

So, at a broad level, reading the book is pretty pleasurable. But, looking at some of the details causes some upset. I'd like to rate the book at 3-1/2 stars. But, since I can't, I guess I'll go for a Very Good 4 stars out of 5.

*Dramatic flails*

There aren’t many authors that make me question how I dare call myself a writer, but Mr. Ryan does.

His attention to detail, twisty plots, converging character arcs and world-building leave me wondering how I can become better at my own craft. All the while I’m wishing him a long a fruitful life so he can continue to feed the beast of my reading need.

Seriously.

Fantasy is always and has always been, my first love in fiction. I love other genres almost as much, but fantasy is what first grabbed me as a reader (CHRONICLES OF PRYDAIN, in case you’re curious). So when I find a fantasy author I love? I stick to their work like burdock seeds in a dogs fur.

I LOVE Anthony Ryan’s words. I mean, love isn’t even a strong enough word, but nothing else works. Here’s why.

I don’t read a lot of Fantasy these days because, well… frankly, the quality has either plummetted or I’ve gotten picky in my old age. Or the authors take over 5 years or more to get the next book out and I’ve forgotten who the heck the characters are so I don’t want to read the next one. (Coughs, GRRM, coughs.)

Books from Big 5 publishers in my recent experience have been poorly edited, full of flagrant abuse of passive voice and the number of typos and redundancies make me scream. I’ve DNFed more books in the past two years of my professional (vs hobby) writing/publishing/reviewing career than I ever have in my life.

I never thought becoming a half-way decent writer would ruin me for reading less than well-edited/written books.

All that just so you know where I’m coming from when I say the next bit. I’m picky because I work hard at my craft. I’m picky because I read a LOT of submissions for publication.

I’m also a Virgo… so… yeah. Persnickety about covers it.

Mr. Ryan doesn’t do any of the things that make my editorial brain scream bloody murder.

Meaning I could just… read.

I could get lost in the story without my editorial brain screaming at me every three seconds. These days, that’s such a rare gift.

It’s like someone handed me a legendary lost treasure.

Everything about this book, from the epic, detailed world-building, the attention to detail in the battle scenes (I really wish I could write battle this well), the intrigue, the characters, their personal growth, and journey… all of it, it’s all so very well done that even *I* had trouble finding an edit.

Yep. I said it. *I* couldn’t find much of anything to edit, and I regularly find edits everywhere.

The only thing I’d like more of is feeling the character’s experiences via grounding the scenes in the five senses, but that feels like such a trifling thing to be concerned about when the sheer scope of this book is so gorgeous and everything else is so perfect.

As always, the beauty of Mr. Ryan’s prose moved me to tears in several instances. I mean… that takes work people, it really does. Even if you have an innate gift for words (Mr. Ryan obviously does) it still takes tremendous effort to get the cadence, flow, pacing and all the other ‘stuff’ of writing to move so smoothly and seemingly effortlessly.

I could keep waxing on about how much I love these words by this author, but I’m afraid I’m edging onto ‘deranged fan’ status here.

The book is EXCELLENT. Hie thee hence and get it, read it now (in paper if you can because you’ll get lost in the world much easier, plus paper books good!)

In the lands ruled by the Ironship Syndicate, there are certain individuals known as the Blood-blessed. These persons have the ability to ingest the blood of the mighty drakes. By doing so, they are granted inhuman abilities which are useful to the corporate ruled world they live in. Because of these abilities, a drake’s blood is a prized and valuable product and all four drakes - red, blue, black, and green - are hunted and raised in captivity for their blood.
But the drake numbers are dwindling in the wilds and the captive drakes’ blood is weak. Rumors have circulated for many years that another drake - a white drake - may in fact exist, with a greater power than all the others. If the rumors are true, it just might help the Syndicate win the coming war with the Corvantine Empire, but first someone must find it.
A world bursting with dynamic characters, unique atmosphere, and an intriguing plot line, “The Waking Fire” is a must read. I love a good dragon story, since I was a young child, dragons have fascinated me. Unfortunately, I have had little luck finding adult dragon stories that I truly liked.
This novel is one adult dragon story that I can truly say has captured my attention. The writing is well constructed, suited perfectly for the adult readers. I was thrown into this unique world early on, the intrigue and mystery spiking in the very first chapter. The characters have well developed personalities that help them to come alive for the reader.
The plot line is one of great roller coaster of mystery, action, and adventure. From the technology to the animals, especially the drakes. I liked that this novel had three main characters, two primary and one secondary, especially since they all came from different walks of life. At times I found this tiresome since each chapter switched to a new character and each chapter tried, and mostly succeeded, in ending on a cliffhanger.
The one and only thing that I really had a problem with was the use of green product, or green drake’s blood. The blood of a drake is supposed to burn anyone who is not blood-blessed. However, green product can, apparently, be used as a healing agent on any injured human, blood-blessed or not. This seems to be somewhat confusing.
I would recommend this novel to anyone who loves an amazing dragon adventure. This is an amazing dragon fantasy novel and I cannot wait for the next book to come out.
My copy of this novel is an advanced readers copy that I won on Goodreads Firstreads. I have permission from the publishers to use the cover artwork.
stephanietiner.weebly.com

The Waking Fire by Anthony Ryan is the first novel in the series called The Draconis Memoria. Dragons are a central part of this world. Their blood is needed by people who are blood-blessed – these people have the ability to consume dragon blood and use the powers that come from that blood. This blood and power are the financial lifeblood of this world on the brink of war. This novel follows three different characters’ points of views. Claydon Torcreek is a thief from the underworld, who happens to be an unregistered blood-blessed. Lizanne Lethridge is a spy and assassin for a company called the Ironship Trading Syndicate. And finally Corrick Hilemore is a naval officer on an Ironship warrior vessel. These three characters set off on different adventures for the Ironship Trading Syndicate. Hilemore is tied to this officer’s commands while Lizanne works with Clay to obtain the rarest of dragon blood. Each of these characters must deal with the consequences of their actions, especially as they navigate their interactions while on a brink of at least one war.

This is a long book, and unfortunately, it felt like it. While I liked the characters of Clay and Lizanne and their story lines, the novel still definitely dragged for me. Clay and Lizanne’s story lines did however tie in together that made it easy to see how everything fit together. Hilemore’s story was by far the slowest and that could be because there wasn’t an immediately clear tie in with Clay and Lizanne’s story, which made the switch between the different points of view challenging. The connections may become clearer and stronger as the story progresses through the next novels.  The premise of the blood-blessed and the power in the dragon blood was definitely interesting and there was a cool steampunk aspect of the weaponry and developments.  The end of the novel was exciting. It tied together a lot of loose ends while leave a lot of room for the story to continue. Overall, the story was well put together intellectually.

Unfortunately, at least partially, the narration by Steven Brand made this novel go extremely slowly. There was little voice inflection or changes and I had a difficult time distinguishing who was speaking. This is especially critical in a novel like this one where were at lot of characters and a lot of switching between points of view. I would recommend this novel to readers who like long fantasy novels that include dragons and are committed to a long series.

Audiobook was provided for review by the publisher.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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Anthony Ryan returns to page-turning form with this excellent opening to the Draconis Memoria trilogy. His debut, Blood Song, was a (self-published!) triumph of fast-paced, sword-swinging action. While the two follow-ups proved solid, they ultimately struggled with pacing as the world, and narrative scope, expanded. The growth of Ryan as an author is on clear display here, as an expanded scope and narrative focus (with three pov characters) is coupled with a story that burns through a rich plot and exposition with ease.

I will start by saying this will not be everyone's cup of tea - it is not a page-turner in the same sense as Blood Song, Michael J. Sullivan's early Riyria novels, or Scott Lynch's Lies of Locke Lamora. This is a complex novel full of technical details that still manages to compel 'just one more chapter' from its reader. In this sense, it is like Patrick Rothfuss' Name of the Wind or an on-form Neal Stephenson or Brandon Sanderson.

Our three characters are all compelling and complex, although a knock against the book is that one of the three is present (and this becomes evident when they disappear in the final third) not because they fit tightly within the narrative (they manage to be thoroughly enjoyable to read nonetheless), but rather because having them be somewhere and have a backstory is important to the second book. The supporting cast are an entertaining motley crew and while there are certainly a few tropes sprinkled throughout, nothing is over predictable. I also enjoyed that the dialogue at no point felt grating or forced, a sign that, unlike many of its equally thick contemporary novels, there is less bloat here.

The world building is wonderful, and this is coming from someone who is not particularly a fan of Victorian-era fantasy. This eschews the worst of the steampunk genre (where it verges on the silly) and manages to have some fun (and play only a little with the timeline) with the roughly 1830s-1870s era of naval warfare. The naval battles are expertly done (a whiff of David Weber is present) and here's hoping for (and expecting) more in future books.

I will not say much about the plot, except to say that the setup teases at some originality, while the frantic final third spins that in a much more predictable direction. That being said, I am hopeful that future books reclaim the originality and this does not just become a tale of a big bad evil returned to do bad stuff.

TLDR: a dense, but quick read in a fun world filled with good characters and a plot that largely avoids being generic; not for those who dislike Victorian/steampunk or really want Ryan to just write Blood Song 2

I swear, I will read anything Anthony Ryan puts out. I really loved this book. Part steam punk, mixed in with Tomb Raider and Jurassic Park (but with dragons), I found Waking Fire utterly enthralling. Anthony Ryan is such a talented world builder due the intricacies of his descriptions. I respect and author who can create a world filled with fictional technology and science like Ryan did in this book. It speaks to his intelligence and imagination. This is not a fast paced book. The plot and characters develop slowly and with a purpose. The last 1/4 of this book had me hooked. I liked all three POVs, yet Clay was definitely my favorite. I would recommend to anyone who enjoys high the high fantasy of Brandon Sanderson. Brent Weeks, or George RR Martin

The Waking Fire by Anthony Ryan is the first book in his The Draconis Memoria series. This series is an epic fantasy, with an amazing world building, that includes magic, agents, war, ships, thieves and dragons. Though the dragons are a major part of the storyline, it is the blood blessed humans who drink the blood harvested from dead dragons that give them the magic to perform many amazing powerful feats. The story revolves around a war & finding an unproven myth of a White Dragon that is more powerful than any of the other dragons (Black, Red, Green, Blue), and therefore, the white blood will be more powerful.

The Waking Fire centers on the pov of three interesting and different main characters, who are sent on separate missions, which will bring them to the same resolution, finding that dragon and saving the world.

Lizanne: she is a agent and spy for the Ironbound Protectorate. Lizanne had been trained to be a top assassin since she was a young child, and is considered one of the best. We see how good she is when she manages to get herself out of difficult situations. Lizanne starts off as somewhat cold as she is efficient early on; this will change as the story evolves.

Clay: He is also blood blessed, but not as powerful or registered like Lizanne. He is an adventurer and thief, who is forced to help his uncle on a mission to find out the truth of the mythical White Dragon, which Lizanne’s superior, Madame Bondersil has assigned them on. Clay by drinking bue blood, allows him to communicate with Lizanne mentally from far away, keeping her up on what is happening on his assignment.

Hilemore: He is a naval officer, who was just assigned to be on a new warship. In a short time, he will earn the respect of his ship mates, and when faced with war, will take over command. He has little interaction with the others main characters, but we can see at the end, this may change in the next book of this series.

With an epic fantasy type of book, there will be many characters, and The Waking Fire had quite a few memorial ones: Lizanne’s superior, who ruled those with an iron fist; Clay’s uncle and other people on their trek into dangerous and unknown territory; Tekala, a young girl, who will eventually open up Lizanne’s cold heart; Hilemore’s ship mates, including the captured pirate queen; the missing academy member, Ethelynne Drystone, who was presumed dead after leaving years before to look for the mythical White Dragon. Ryan did create some wonderful and complex characters.

The entire book had a lot of action, with many battles against the attacking dragons. Why are they all of sudden coming after the humans in full force? Is the White Dragon real and does this have something to do with the attacks?

The Waking Fire was very well written by Ryan. I did think early on it was a slow, but as normal in the start of an epic fantasy, there is a lot of world building and character introductions. I liked the element of blood blessed drinking Dragon blood to give them more powers, but I would have liked to see more Dragons that were good, or even talked. I loved seeing one that communicated and helped protect Ethelynne. I hope they utilize this more in the next book. The Waking Fire ends with more to come, and the main characters to continue the quest to save the world. If you like fantasy, world building and a big book, I suggest you read The Waking Fire.

This volume begins an epic fantasy series. We follow three main viewpoint characters - Lisanne Lethbridge, Claydon Torcreek, and Corrick Hilemore.

Lisanne is a spy for the the Ironship Syndicate. She is a blood-blessed who is able to use the blood harvested from drakes to enhance her speed and healing, shoot fire, have visions, and stop objects in motion. She is set on a mission by her director to locate a mythical white drake. She spies on the scholar who has been searching for it for a lifetime and befriends his young daughter.

Claydon is an unregistered blood-blessed who is a thief in the poorest part of Carvenport. He is drafted by Lisanne's boss Lodima Bondersil to go with an expedition headed by his uncle to find this mythical white drake.

Corrick begins as a Second Lieutenant on the IPV Viable Opportunity but soon finds himself in command when war breaks out between the Protecorate and the Corvantine Empire. An even bigger problem occurs when the various colors of drakes all seem to be becoming more aggressive and determined to wipe the humans off the continent and perhaps the whole world.

This fantasy has a richly built world. I loved the idea of the drakes of red, green, blue and black who are hunted and harvested for their blood. I also thought the hunt which spanned a good part of the continent where the drakes lived was fascinating. The characters were complex and engaging. The action was truly epic.

I am eager to read the next book in this series because I have a number of unanswered questions.

The book grabs you as soon as you start reading. The action was well paced and I finished it the same day. Not because it was a short book, I check for the review and it's 591 pages. I read quickly, and I talked my wife into cancelling our plans to go take a drive so I could spend the day reading. Totally worth it!

Now can June 27 hurry up and get here all ready!

His other series that starts with Blood Song is also a fantastic read. I was immediately inscribed into those as well, and read through those within a few days. I had checked the first two out of the library, but finished the second one in the evening when the library was closed. I was too impatient to wait until the next day to start the final book, so I went ahead and bought it. Totally worth it.

Ryan is a wonderful, engaging writer. Thankfully unlike another author he reminds me of he finishes his books in a timely manor so we are not left hanging.

This was one of the most entertaining and exciting books I've read all year. There's a lot going on here, a lot of different styles and genres mashed together, but they all work. Epic fantasy? Got ya covered there with bad-ass dragons and blood-fueled magic. Historical fantasy? Yup, got ya covered there too, with a steampunk-driven sort of Victorian society. Spy thriller? A bit surprising, perhaps, but you've got spies and lies, as well as gadgets and guns. Pulp adventure? Consider yourself indulged, complete with lost continents, ruined civilizations, ancient treasures, and even jungle savages. Naval thriller? That too, falling somewhere between pirate skirmishes and WWII warfare, fueled by magic and threatened by dragon fire. Period drama? Yes, there's even a bit of that to be found here, complete with family squabbles, class warfare, and even a bit of social commentary.

I think what impressed me most about this book is that all 3 converging story lines were equally intriguing, and all 3 POV characters equally engaging. You've got a thief, a spy, and a solider, each telling their own story, and at no point was I anxious for any one of them to wrap things up so we could get back to the other story lines. The world building was impressive as well, both in terms of the magical and the mundane. You really get a sense of the various factions at play, the source of their human conflicts, and their motives for engaging in the pursuit of dragon blood and fabled treasure.

The characters were solid, with some significant growth for many of them, and there were a few genuine surprises in their betrayals and shifting allegiances. The pacing was absolutely perfect, almost breakneck in fact, and the action sequences are utterly brilliant. I have to admit, my eyes tend to glaze over at prolonged descriptions of epic battles, but here I was invested in every shot, whether it be dragon fire, blood magic, or bullets and bombs.

The Waking Fire may very well have been carefully calculated to hit as many pockets of geekdom as possible - really, all that it's missing is a vampire or two - but it never feels that way. Ryan weaves all the various elements into a cohesive whole that is entertaining from start-to-finish, and which has me anxious for the next book of The Draconis Memoria.

I really enjoyed this book. REALLY enjoyed it. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that I haven’t been this excited about a new series since I read the first Storm Front by Jim Butcher.

In The Waking Fire we have a new and interesting world, a world where certain people gain abilities if they drink drake blood. There are Black, blue, green and red drakes, and each type of blood imbues the drinker with different types of abilities.

If this reminds you of Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series, there are some definite parallels here, but this does not detract from Sanderson’s series, or from The Waking Fire itself.

A really interesting subtext of this book is the political structure of the nations. One nation is a corporate nation, which is exactly what it sounds like. The “nation” is run by a board, and the social structure is broken into management levels, with all the profit motive you’d expect to be associated with it.

The second nation is a more traditional imperial nation, which is only interesting in its contrast to the corporation, but the secondary subtext is the fact that the corporation has a twofold problem with it’s main revenue source. The “product” as it’s referred to in the book is the drake blood, and the problem is that wild drakes have been over-harvested, while domesticated and farmed drakes yield blood that isn’t nearly as potent in granting abilities as wild drake blood.

Depending on how this is carried out in the future books, we may have an interesting commentary on capitalism and the potential consequences of overconsumption of resources.

It’s against this backdrop that the characters are introduced, and after some nicely done development, the bulk of the book is concerned with what is essentially a quest to find the fabled white drake. Mixed into this quest are political tensions between the two nations, as well as a number of interesting surprises that have me wishing I hadn’t found this series until five or six books in, so I wouldn’t have to wait so long to find out what happens next!

Well, that was a lot better!! Like many other posters, I absolutely loved Bloodsong but became more disenchanted with that trilogy with each successive book. It was almost as though another writer had written them (or somehow the editor got to Mr. Ryan and made him do what he did, though why, I've no idea).

But the Waking Fire IS fun. I'm still not a big fan of the relentless switching of POVs, but this book had only 3 and they were all main characters slowly making their way towards each other. I'm also not a fan of dragon stories (or vampire, ghoul, werewolf, the various modern monsters), but I was caught up enough in the story and its characters to not really care. As others have said, the book has everything - spies, dragons, magic, mysterious archeological artifacts, hints of mysterious history, colonialism and its evils, class warfare, steam engines, one can go on and on. The main characters are distinct, and fairly likeable, especially the rapscallion Clay.

And finally, what I really appreciate, especially in genre literature, Mr. Ryan can WRITE. Even if I haven't always liked how he's handled his material, his writing style is excellent, and kept me going through the other books. This is more rare in fantasy and sci-fi than one might think.

I'm looking forward to the next installment - and am keeping my fingers crossed that I won't suffer the same lunchbag letdown following Bloodsong.