Book Review: The Sky on Fire by Jenn Lyons

I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

The Sky on Fire by Jenn Lyons

Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Genre: Fantasy

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: Tor Books (July 9, 2024)

Length: 435 pages

Author Information: Website

Dragons and heists seemed to have been the recurring themes in my reading this past summer. This is the premise of The Sky on Fire where the author Jennifer Lyons has created a world divided between the mountain cities ruled by dragons and the lawless jungles of the Deep inhabited by the poor and less fortunate.  In this setting, a motley crew of adventurers carry out a high-stakes plot to steal a dragon’s treasure with the help of a reluctant exile who simply wants to be left alone.

Anahrod is a woman who has been laying low in the Deep, when suddenly she is thrust back into the world she had been so desperately trying to escape. After she is saved from a bout of trouble by a group of rebels and outcasts, her enterprising rescuers all but kidnap her and demand that she helps them with a job—to break into the stronghold of a powerful dragon of the cloud cities and steal his hoard. The problem? The dragon in question happens to be Neveranimas, and he and Anahrod have a history of bad blood.

The world-building is where The Sky on Fire truly shines. Despite some of its more simplistic concepts, the setting is nonetheless rich with intrigue, such as its divided society which adds nuance to the story’s central conflict and shapes the characters’ motivations depending on their origins. Furthermore, there are the dragons, arguably one of the biggest draws of this book, who are gifted with their own personality quirks, unique abilities, and even loyal followers. There’s even the nifty idea that each dragon only hoards a very specific thing, and the items can be as random as weathervanes.

Story-wise, the novel also leans heavily on plot-driven elements. It reads very much like a quest narrative in this sense, whisking our adventuring group across several locations while working through the different phases of their main mission, occasionally sending them off on side quests. However, due to this, pacing was a bit of a mixed bag. We have bursts of fast-paced chapters, but also just as many sections that lack a clear focus and don’t build up enough momentum. Still, to be fair, often whenever I felt things slow down, the plot would pick up again before it turned into a slog. The number of subplots kept the interest up, and these typically involved character relationships including a bit of romance. Given that this is a heist story, action and chaos are also at the heart of the book and they fuel the entertainment by throwing in all kinds of clever surprises.

There were a couple other areas that I felt could have been better, including meatier side character development as well as streamlining the plot to cut down on unnecessary tangents. But at the end of the day, that still leaves The Sky on Fire a pretty solid entry into the epic fantasy genre, and an entertaining one at that. I never say no to more dragons and heists.