Audiobook Review – The Fires of Vengeance (The Burning, Book 2) by Evan Winter, Narrated by Prentice Onayemi (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 15 hours and 32 minutes
Publisher:‎ Orbit
Release Date: December 12, 2020
ASIN: ‎ B08PMCKQFD
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in The Burning series
Source: Audiobook from Audible.com
Rating: 5/5 stars

“Tau and his Queen, desperate to delay the impending attack on the capital by the indigenous people of Xidda, craft a dangerous plan. If Tau succeeds, the Queen will have the time she needs to assemble her forces and launch an all out assault on her own capital city, where her sister is being propped up as the “true” Queen of the Omehi.

If the city can be taken, if Tsiora can reclaim her throne, and if she can reunite her people then the Omehi have a chance to survive the onslaught.”

Series Info/Source: This is the second book in The Burning series. I got this as an audiobook from Audible.

Thoughts: This was an amazing continuation of this epic fantasy series. I liked this book just as much as the first book in the series.

Tsiora, the Queen of the Omehi, is being attacked from multiple sides. Her sister has been set up as a puppet queen by some Noble traitors and the indigenous Xidda people are still plaguing her as well. Her main asset is Tau, as her champion, and his warrior brothers.

This has a lot of politics and intrigue, as well as a lot of action. I am constantly impressed with how real Winter makes the characters; you are constantly pulling for them and hurting for them. Even the side characters are very well done. There are quite a few characters but Winters juggles them effortlessly and it’s never hard to keep track of the extensive cast.

I love where this story is going and can’t wait to see what happens in the next book. The world-building and characters here are both absolutely amazing. This does end on a bit of a cliffhanger but it was well done; the main plot points of this book are resolved while letting us look forward to some new and interesting elements in the next book.

My Summary (5/5): Overall, I really enjoyed this. The characters development, story, and world-building are fantastic. I would highly recommend this series if you are a fan of epic and/or military fantasy. This is one of the best epic fantasies I have read in some time; Winters is truly a talented fantasy writer!