The Rage of Dragons

By: Evan Winter

Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi

Length: 16 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

Game of Thrones meets Gladiator in this debut epic fantasy about a world caught in an eternal war and the young man who will become his people's only hope for survival.

The Omehi people have been fighting an unwinnable fight for almost 200 years. Their society has been built around war and only war. The lucky ones are born gifted. One in every 2,000 women has the power to call down dragons. One in every 100 men is able to magically transform himself into a bigger, stronger, faster killing machine. Everyone else is fodder, destined to fight and die in the endless war.

Young, giftless Tau knows all this, but he has a plan of escape. He's going to get himself injured, get out early, and settle down to marriage, children, and land. Only, he doesn't get the chance.

Those closest to him are brutally murdered, and his grief swiftly turns to anger. Fixated on revenge, Tau dedicates himself to an unthinkable path. He'll become the greatest swordsman to ever live, a man willing to die 100,000 times for the chance to kill the three who betrayed him.

The Rage of Dragons launches a stunning and powerful debut epic-fantasy series.

©2017 Evan Winter (P)2019 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"A refreshingly brutal and imaginative tale of survival and revenge. Evan Winter's battles are visceral, bloody masterpieces, and Tau's climb from exiled Lesser to legendary warrior is earned in a way few writers could hope to match." (David Dalglish, author of the Shadowdance Series)

"Winter's debut will draw strong comparisons to George R.R. Martin and Brandon Sanderson, and the strong African influences and ties create a singular, exciting epic with intriguing characters and culture. Readers will be clamoring for the next installment." (Library Journal, starred review)

"Wow. This book hits the ground with stunning action and danger, and it barely lets up as the pages fly by. I loved the African-influence culture, the unique use of dragons and demons, the complex martial and class hierarchy, and it has a magic system unlike anything I've seen before. What a terrific set up for a series!" (David Anthony Durham, author of The Acacia Trilogy)

Gladiator meets lord of the rings

Great new world, lots of action. Epic Battles. Dragons and underworlds come together for a story and world like no other.

Unfolded in ways I couldn’t predict

Often when you stay in a genre for a long time, you begin to see what is coming. The protagonist and their story is laid out, the obstacles are introduced, and one can guess how it will resolve itself.

This book was not that way. It was constantly evolving in a way that made the tropes I thought would happen fall entirely away from the plot with much greater issues replacing them. I thought it was masterfully done.

outta left field! Great book.

I like . I can't remember how I ran across this book but I'm very glad I did

Battle for survival!

Evan Winter wrote a fantastic piece of work! The main character Tau fights an internal and external battle all the way through this book. The Narrator, Prentice Onayemi brings the story to life! It is interesting and full of action, mystery and enjoyable to listen to while driving or relaxing. Thanks for a great book!

Wow

Incredible beginning to a epic story. This book held me spellbound in same way Tolkien and Madeline Engle Earthsea trilogy and books like Dune and the others .

Best book in years.

Hidden gem. It has been a long time since I enjoyed an audio book this much.

The story I've been craving.

This story had everything I wanted. I will definitely read everything this author has to offer and will recommend this book to all of my friends who love to read.

Read it.

I found this book after researching new black authors. I unwittingly found my favorite (and most heartbreaking) book that I’ve read. The game of thrones comparisons are warranted but this book is beyond powerful. I’d write more but my words wouldn’t do it justice. In the meantime, I’ll be rereading it until the sequel comes out in November. Evan Winter, if you read this, thank you. It’s been years since I’ve been this invested in a new series and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for lesser Tao Solari.

Best Story I've Heard in a While

The author does an excellent job of building up the main character in a natural progression, and while maintaining the focus on the main character's immediate self/progression, provides enough clues to the larger world around him until the main character's problems merge with the larger problems. Excellent story writing. I'm sorry if this sounds a bit vague but I'm doing it on purpose so as to not offer any spoilers. Please read/listen.

solid 10/10

I got this book on a whim as I had finished another series, and could not be more surprised. This book surpassed all imaginations as to how good a book in the genre could be.