The Phoenix King: 1 (The Ravence Trilogy)

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Yassen Knight was the Arohassin’s most notorious assassin until a horrible accident. Now, he’s hunted by the authorities and his former employer, both of whom want him dead. But when he seeks refuge with an old friend, he’s offered an irresistible deal: defend the heir of Ravence from the Arohassin, and earn his freedom once and for all. The start was amazing. I loved the introduction into the worldbuilding and I was really interested in where this could go.

For Leo Malhari Ravence, fire is control. He is not ready to give up his crown-there's still too much work to be done to ensure his legacy remains untarnished, his family protected. But power comes with a price, and he'll wage war with the heavens themselves to keep from paying it. I still loved the fire-bending, the politics, and Leo's perspective and villain origin story. Every time Leo's chapters came up, I was on the edge of my seat ready to watch his character development. However, Elena and Yassen seemed a little vanilla to me this time. We don't really know Yassen's past, Elena is the typical naive princess, and they both don't do much during the first half of the book. I also wanted to see a little more romantic development to believe in their relationship by the end. One thing that appalled me from the start was how the story was a mix of mythology and technology (hey, that rhymes). Badass people who wield fire and pulse guns and hoverpads? It boggles my mind all throughout at how Verma made these two work together at this devastatingly beautiful tale. The author seamlessly blends the ancient kingdom and its customs along with futuristic technology such as cameras, holopods, pulseguns, hovercars and trains etc. Even such, it doesn't feel different from any other fantasy set in an imagined kingdom. If there was one thing he could claim, it was this: that even in the darkness of death, he would know her.”

However, the last quarter was when things really took off, and now I’m intrigued to see where the rest of the trilogy goes. Badass female characters. Enemies to Lovers. Brilliant writing... need I say more? I don't need to but I will. 🔥

As he stared at the heap of bodies, Leo felt something integral leave him... but as he slowly rose to his feet, he knew it wasn't his fear or his remorse, but his humanity." the romance was also pretty stale for me - elena and yassen's entire relationship was dependent on them having these deep personal conversations but without any natural build up to them, so the whole thing just came off as really forced. also they had zero chemistry.As a person of Indian descent, this South Asian-inspired fantasy/sci-fi is something I wish I'd read when I was younger. This is the representation that would have changed my life as an impressionable young reader. For Yassen Knight, fire is redemption. He dreams of shedding his past as one of Sayon’s most deadly assassins, of laying to rest the ghosts of those he has lost. If joining the court of flame and serving the royal Ravence family-the very people he once swore to eliminate-will earn him that, he’ll do it no matter what they ask of him. Personally, I would say that the biggest weaknesses of The Boy With Fire came with its characterisation. The characters were distinctly archetypal; other than Samson at the very end, they did not feel as though they evolved past those archetypes. It’s easy to forgive a novel’s flaws if the characters are compelling enough. Unfortunately, since I was not invested in the characters of The Boy With Fire, I found it difficult to enjoy the rest of the story. But enough of me rambling about morals, lets talk about the characters. Firstly we meet Yassen, an assassin turned royal bodyguard who wants freedom from his past. Despite all that he has done in the past, he is a very easy character to sympathise with, his decisions fit his charater, and he is just generally a very well written character. The second of the main three characters that we meet is Elena, future queen of Ravence, who is a strong-willed princess with plans to peacefully unite her nation and deal with the war with the neighbouring country Jantar. In my opinion, she changes the most throughout the book, and it was fascinating to watch how her attitudes developed. Third is Leo, king of Ravence, and Elena's father. Leo has such a good arc, and his loyalty to his country and Elena is admirable, even if his actions are questionable.

Thank you to Netgalley and New Degree Press for an e-ARC of The Boy With Fire in exchange for a sincere review. For Elena Aadya Ravence, fire is yearning. She longs to feel worthy of her Phoenix god, of her ancestors who transformed the barren dunes of Sayon into a thriving kingdom. But though she knows the ways and wiles of the desert better than she knows her own skin, the secrets of the Eternal Flame elude her. And without them, she'll never be accepted as queen. Plus, the desi representation is just🥹🤌🏼 I was just smiling constantly reading about the things in my life being a part of the book. The jalebis and makhane, the kurtas and lehengas, classical music and dance, everything gave me so much happiness! basically, the characters didn't engage me enough and the relationships all felt strangely devoid of emotion. leo and elena had the potential for an interesting parent/child dynamic but we simply didn't get enough of it.To be fair, the story stumbles a bit in the final third, when political intrigue is traded for more overt action that isn’t always as compelling as it should be and Elena and Yassan’s relationship drifts into more familiarly predictable territory. (You’ve seen many of the beats of their story before.) But, Varma’s dedication to keeping Elena a heroine who exists very firmly in shades of gray helps a few of the book’s final twists feel stronger than they might otherwise, and it’s fun to contemplate where she might go from here. This does not come through clearly in the novel. The bare bones are very much there, and it is absolutely possible for it to be fleshed out further in future novels. I don’t think that the novel spent the time to weave this tapestry effectively, making it hard to adequately feel the political strain that the country is under. The undercurrents were there, but at the end of the day there was simply too much going on. The kind of book you sit down with to read one chapter and end up spending the whole day on. Come for the science fantasy worldbuilding and stay for the characters you just can’t get out of your head’