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Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame
A new Queer, Asian-inspired fantasy novella about a renowned dragon slayer who never takes her armor off in public, Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame reads like She Who Became the Sun meets The Mandalorian, with dragons!
The fiercely independent nation of Quanbao is isolated, reclusive, and something of a mystery to the rest of the world. It is rumored that there, dragons are not feared as is right and proper but instead loved and worshiped.
Yeva is perhaps a strange emissary to these people. Not only because their face has never been seen in public, but because they are a hero born to a birthright that makes them suited for their task—hunting dragons.
And so the dragon hunter must woo Quanbao's queen—the Lady Sookhee—to understand what secrets she is hiding. A woman reasonably suspicious of Yeva's intentions, and the imperial might of the throne she represents, Sookhee bears the burden of the safety of her entire people. How can she trust this stranger newly arrived to her court, a weapon forged in blood and fire, to understand what her people need and how best to safeguard their future?
The fiercely independent nation of Quanbao is isolated, reclusive, and something of a mystery to the rest of the world. It is rumored that there, dragons are not feared as is right and proper but instead loved and worshiped.
Yeva is perhaps a strange emissary to these people. Not only because their face has never been seen in public, but because they are a hero born to a birthright that makes them suited for their task—hunting dragons.
And so the dragon hunter must woo Quanbao's queen—the Lady Sookhee—to understand what secrets she is hiding. A woman reasonably suspicious of Yeva's intentions, and the imperial might of the throne she represents, Sookhee bears the burden of the safety of her entire people. How can she trust this stranger newly arrived to her court, a weapon forged in blood and fire, to understand what her people need and how best to safeguard their future?
176 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 6, 2025
211 people are currently reading
27463 people want to read
About the author
Neon Yang
18 books681 followersNeon Yang, formerly J.Y. Yang, is a Singaporean writer of English-language speculative fiction. Yang is non-binary and queer, and uses they/them pronouns.
Yang has written a series of "silkpunk" novellas, and has published short fiction since 2012. Their novella The Black Tides of Heaven was nominated for the 2017 Nebula Award for Best Novella, the 2018 Kitschies Golden Tentacle and the 2018 Hugo Award for Best Novella.
Yang's work revolves around "the human body as a vessel for storytelling", and is based on their background as a molecular biologist, journalist and science communicator.
Yang has written a series of "silkpunk" novellas, and has published short fiction since 2012. Their novella The Black Tides of Heaven was nominated for the 2017 Nebula Award for Best Novella, the 2018 Kitschies Golden Tentacle and the 2018 Hugo Award for Best Novella.
Yang's work revolves around "the human body as a vessel for storytelling", and is based on their background as a molecular biologist, journalist and science communicator.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,344 reviews
April 21, 2025
4.0 Stars
This was an enjoyable fantasy novella with a strong female protagonist. I enjoyed worldbuilding, which was easily my favourite aspect of this one. I wish I felt better connected to the characters but I still spending time in the world.
I would recommend this one to fantasy reading looking for a new familiar yet enjoyable story
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
This was an enjoyable fantasy novella with a strong female protagonist. I enjoyed worldbuilding, which was easily my favourite aspect of this one. I wish I felt better connected to the characters but I still spending time in the world.
I would recommend this one to fantasy reading looking for a new familiar yet enjoyable story
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
November 20, 2024
This bad boy is a novella about a legendary dragon slayer sent to covertly investigate for evidence of dragons in a foreign country. Torn between her duty as the emperor’s weapon and her growing allegiance to the culture of her youth - and the Queen who is a part of it - Yeva struggles to maintain her identity as a faceless knight. In terms of AESTHETICS and VIBES and THINGS I LIKE IN BOOKS (dragons, lady knights, lesbians, descriptions of tea, politics) this was a win. Yeva’s story is short but emotional and satisfying. But not a perfect read, as I’m not sure Neon Yang’s take on a folkloric prose style bookending the story reads as smoothly as the sections simply following Yeva’s narration. Could do with less telling/more showing, but with the caveat that this is an early version of the book still in the editing process. A delicious appetizer of a book.
Please note that I work for Macmillan, but opinions are my own. I'm not involved in the production of this book (or any book!)
Please note that I work for Macmillan, but opinions are my own. I'm not involved in the production of this book (or any book!)
July 20, 2025
ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley
after a tragedy hit yeva’s home, they were sent away to their uncle’s guild, to fulfill their destiny to become a legendary dragon slayer, who will never be able to show their face! but our story really starts when yeva is on a mission to investigate queen sookhee and find out secrets about dragons at any and all costs! but obviously the mission does not go as planned, romance ensues, and yeva starts questioning the expectations of their father’s people, while also having questions about where their mother came from.
i love the conversations around the fluidity of gender, i love the discussions on biracial identity and colonization that you can very much be born into, and i loved the themes of masks and how we all wear them at times. and i just really loved seeing a queer disabled mandalorian doing cool things and falling in love, and i really hope that we get more stories to follow.
lastly, i really do believe that your culture's rice porridge does in fact have magical healing properties! (arroz caldo, i love you)
trigger + content warnings: death, dragon death, talk of colonization, blood, parental abuse (off page), talk of a blood disease, loss of parents in past, grief
blog | instagram | youtube | wishlist | spotify | amazon
after a tragedy hit yeva’s home, they were sent away to their uncle’s guild, to fulfill their destiny to become a legendary dragon slayer, who will never be able to show their face! but our story really starts when yeva is on a mission to investigate queen sookhee and find out secrets about dragons at any and all costs! but obviously the mission does not go as planned, romance ensues, and yeva starts questioning the expectations of their father’s people, while also having questions about where their mother came from.
i love the conversations around the fluidity of gender, i love the discussions on biracial identity and colonization that you can very much be born into, and i loved the themes of masks and how we all wear them at times. and i just really loved seeing a queer disabled mandalorian doing cool things and falling in love, and i really hope that we get more stories to follow.
lastly, i really do believe that your culture's rice porridge does in fact have magical healing properties! (arroz caldo, i love you)
trigger + content warnings: death, dragon death, talk of colonization, blood, parental abuse (off page), talk of a blood disease, loss of parents in past, grief
blog | instagram | youtube | wishlist | spotify | amazon
May 6, 2025
The masked guildknight never shows any weakness. They are never hurt and they are always victorious. As they should be.
rating: 3.75★
a sapphic Asian-inspired fantasy novella with a dragon slayer who never removes her helmet (hello, mandalorian vibes), this was a short but somewhat cozy read about colonization and identity.
“Are you shy, guildknight?”
i enjoyed the world it was set in and its fairy tale-esque presentation. i also liked the development between slayer Yeva as she sheds her helm and defenses for the mysterious but charming girl-king, Sookhee.
“There was no reason to think I wouldn’t see you as an abomination... No more of an abomination than I.”
on the downside, bc it’s short there’s only so much we get to explore in this world and the ending wraps up pretty quickly. the twist is also pretty clear from the start, but i still enjoyed it.
for me, it was v much about Yeva reconnecting with her mother’s culture that she had become disconnected from, and i thought it was touching. plus for disability rep!
It feels like part of her has cracked, but in the way frost cracks in the spring.
“Thank you,” she says softly, in the language of home.
an honest arc review ♡
rating: 3.75★
a sapphic Asian-inspired fantasy novella with a dragon slayer who never removes her helmet (hello, mandalorian vibes), this was a short but somewhat cozy read about colonization and identity.
“Are you shy, guildknight?”
i enjoyed the world it was set in and its fairy tale-esque presentation. i also liked the development between slayer Yeva as she sheds her helm and defenses for the mysterious but charming girl-king, Sookhee.
“There was no reason to think I wouldn’t see you as an abomination... No more of an abomination than I.”
on the downside, bc it’s short there’s only so much we get to explore in this world and the ending wraps up pretty quickly. the twist is also pretty clear from the start, but i still enjoyed it.
for me, it was v much about Yeva reconnecting with her mother’s culture that she had become disconnected from, and i thought it was touching. plus for disability rep!
It feels like part of her has cracked, but in the way frost cracks in the spring.
“Thank you,” she says softly, in the language of home.
an honest arc review ♡
July 4, 2025
˙₊➴ ꒰ 4-stars★ ꒱ ꒷⊹࣪˖
⊹ ࣪ ˖ੈ Character
⟡ Kunlin Yeva - is the greatest Guildknight of Mithradon. The legendary masked warrior of the Sun Empire, famed for slaying dragons as tall as mountains, as massive as castles, and as vast as entire villages. She is both revered and enigmatic, never seen in public without her armor. While many applaud and admire her, countless questions linger about the person behind the mask and the secrets hidden beneath her armor.
⊹ ࣪ ˖ੈ Thoughts
The cover is as stunning as the story itself! Neon Yang’s storytelling brings the fantasy and beauty of East Asia to life with vivid and immersive detail. Their writing paints breathtaking imagery, captures tender human emotions, and builds a world that feels both mythic and real. 🪄
I love me a good third-person narrative, but this felt like pure storytelling magic. It may have been a short and familiar tale, but it felt like the perfect bedtime story, the kind that leaves you smiling, staring at the ceiling, still wide awake because you're replaying every moment, even though you finished it just minutes ago.
Another was Yeva! I loved how her character was developed from her rise to becoming the greatest Guildknight, to the symbolism of her armor, and her journey through Quanbao, a country she was never truly given the chance to know. It was deeply moving to see the vulnerability she hid beneath her hardened exterior, and even more powerful to watch her slowly grow beyond it. Emory and Sookhee were also great additions. They were already interesting in just a few chapters that I couldn’t help but want more of them. They added something special to the story, and I just wanted more time with them.
The only reason I’m giving this 4 stars is because I truly wish it had been a full-length novel. I wanted to dive deeper into Yeva and Sookhee’s story, explore the history of the dragons, and witness Yeva’s slow but heartfelt growth. Idk if this review fully does the novella justice, but if I yap too much, I might just start spilling/spoiling it. So honestly, you just need to read it yourself to understand what I mean!🫣❤️🔥
˚₊ ⟢┊pre-read 🖇️┊⊹࣪⋆
Another female knight read with gryphons, dragons, set in East Asian fantasy + it’s sapphic! Squeezing in one last power read before the month ends. Happy Pride!🌈💫
❝ Listen now to this tale, written the way it was told to us by our foremothers, who in turn learned it from their own foremothers. Hear now the tale of Kunlin Yeva. Hear now the truth of the guildknight of Mithrandon. ❞
⊹ ࣪ ˖ੈ Character
⟡ Kunlin Yeva - is the greatest Guildknight of Mithradon. The legendary masked warrior of the Sun Empire, famed for slaying dragons as tall as mountains, as massive as castles, and as vast as entire villages. She is both revered and enigmatic, never seen in public without her armor. While many applaud and admire her, countless questions linger about the person behind the mask and the secrets hidden beneath her armor.
❝ You have the strength of the earth in you. The rains can come and the ploughs can carve through you and still you will remain. ❞
⊹ ࣪ ˖ੈ Thoughts
❝ Despite everything, over the years she has managed to carve out a place where she belonged within the guild, in Mithrandon. A hard-won belonging she is now expected to abandon for a strange land, under strange circumstances. To be alone and nobody again. ❞
The cover is as stunning as the story itself! Neon Yang’s storytelling brings the fantasy and beauty of East Asia to life with vivid and immersive detail. Their writing paints breathtaking imagery, captures tender human emotions, and builds a world that feels both mythic and real. 🪄
I love me a good third-person narrative, but this felt like pure storytelling magic. It may have been a short and familiar tale, but it felt like the perfect bedtime story, the kind that leaves you smiling, staring at the ceiling, still wide awake because you're replaying every moment, even though you finished it just minutes ago.
Another was Yeva! I loved how her character was developed from her rise to becoming the greatest Guildknight, to the symbolism of her armor, and her journey through Quanbao, a country she was never truly given the chance to know. It was deeply moving to see the vulnerability she hid beneath her hardened exterior, and even more powerful to watch her slowly grow beyond it. Emory and Sookhee were also great additions. They were already interesting in just a few chapters that I couldn’t help but want more of them. They added something special to the story, and I just wanted more time with them.
❝ She’s spent half her life cutting herself into pieces and burying the shards that others considered unsightly. She’s walked around as a hollow husk of herself. She’s tired of it. ❞
The only reason I’m giving this 4 stars is because I truly wish it had been a full-length novel. I wanted to dive deeper into Yeva and Sookhee’s story, explore the history of the dragons, and witness Yeva’s slow but heartfelt growth. Idk if this review fully does the novella justice, but if I yap too much, I might just start spilling/spoiling it. So honestly, you just need to read it yourself to understand what I mean!🫣❤️🔥
˚₊ ⟢┊pre-read 🖇️┊⊹࣪⋆
Another female knight read with gryphons, dragons, set in East Asian fantasy + it’s sapphic! Squeezing in one last power read before the month ends. Happy Pride!🌈💫
March 31, 2025
Loved this novella!! What if the Mandalorian was a queer, disabled female dragon slayer in an Aisian-inspired fantasy world? One with a mysterious and troubled backstory who always wears her armor and helmet, but is slowly drawn out of her shell by a beautiful girl-king who she's supposed to be monitoring? Such a great premise and the execution was excellent.
I think this does some really cool things with exploring the masks we wear, colonization, biracial identity, disability, and a return to familial and cultural roots. It's beautifully written with a satisfying story and character arc. Definitely recommend it! I received a copy of this book for review via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.
I think this does some really cool things with exploring the masks we wear, colonization, biracial identity, disability, and a return to familial and cultural roots. It's beautifully written with a satisfying story and character arc. Definitely recommend it! I received a copy of this book for review via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.
May 16, 2025
Thank you to netgalley and tor for the ebook/audiobook.
Unfortunately this book was exactly what I expected out of it. It was honestly pretty boring and surface level. Very predictable and generic. I can't even say that I would want more of this because I don't even know that there's enough substance here to even make a full fledged story. it's fine if you just want something quick to read but honestly there wasn't much to it.
Unfortunately this book was exactly what I expected out of it. It was honestly pretty boring and surface level. Very predictable and generic. I can't even say that I would want more of this because I don't even know that there's enough substance here to even make a full fledged story. it's fine if you just want something quick to read but honestly there wasn't much to it.
June 13, 2025
wow babe it took you too long to figure it all out as the skilled knight you are
July 2, 2025
An attempt was made...unfortunately, it didn't work for me. I was kinda bored, there was a lot more telling than showing and I felt zero connection to the characters. The plot twist was obvious from the get go, the romance went from 0-100 with no development in between (or after), the whole thing felt so shallow. The world wasn't bad, and the writing was okay, but that's the extent of it.
I'm sure someone will love this, but that someone isn't me. I'll still give the author's scifi book a chance though.
2.5
I'm sure someone will love this, but that someone isn't me. I'll still give the author's scifi book a chance though.
2.5
September 5, 2025
firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc and an alc!
wow! this is my first book by neon yang and what a powerful punch this novellea packed.
brighter than scale, swifter than flame is the perfect example that an incredibly descriptive, interesting world/magical system, and immersive story can accomplish so much in just under 200 pages.
as for the narrator, nancy wu is a favorite of mine and she always does a fantastic job!
i’ll be sure to check out neon yang’s backlist.
wow! this is my first book by neon yang and what a powerful punch this novellea packed.
brighter than scale, swifter than flame is the perfect example that an incredibly descriptive, interesting world/magical system, and immersive story can accomplish so much in just under 200 pages.
as for the narrator, nancy wu is a favorite of mine and she always does a fantastic job!
i’ll be sure to check out neon yang’s backlist.
May 21, 2025
این کتاب دویست صفحه هم نیست ولی کشش همین تعداد صفحه رو هم نداشت!
داستان خسته کنندس و الکی کش میاد، شخصیت پردازی اصلا وجود نداره و کاملا قابل پیش بینیه!! توییست اصلی داستان رو از همون چپتر سوم (حتی از روی جلد کتاب!!) میشه حدس زد. دوازده تا چپتر طول میکشه تا شخصیت اصلی این راز مگو رو کشف کنه در حالی که خواننده تو بیست صفحه اول همه چی رو فهمیده!!
خلاصه که شیر برنجه.
داستان خسته کنندس و الکی کش میاد، شخصیت پردازی اصلا وجود نداره و کاملا قابل پیش بینیه!! توییست اصلی داستان رو از همون چپتر سوم (حتی از روی جلد کتاب!!) میشه حدس زد. دوازده تا چپتر طول میکشه تا شخصیت اصلی این راز مگو رو کشف کنه در حالی که خواننده تو بیست صفحه اول همه چی رو فهمیده!!
خلاصه که شیر برنجه.
May 19, 2025
Audiobook (5 hours) narrated by Nancy Wu
Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
The narration and audio is great. The book is not.
Coming of of the awesome Pet Sematary is a hard novel to follow.
Some of my biggest issues include that Neon Yang did not write a world and characters, she told a story as if she was telling a campfire story. While I love when characters within a novel tell stories like this, to have an entire novella written in this way is a bit much. Even with an award winning narrator, there is only so much expression that can be made when it is a told story rather than having an actual talking character to narrate.
Stories told like this for 10 to 20 minutes, even a half hour can be engrossing, but 5 hours?
The result is a flat 2 dimensional reality with paper doll characters that have nothing to grab a hold of to like or dislike or have many emotions about at all.
If you enjoy this type of story telling, you may really get into this one, but for me, it's going to be a pass on this author going forward. I do, however, have an anthology that includes the author on hold, The Book of Dragons, and I am curious if her short stories hold up better in her writing style. Time will tell.
Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
The narration and audio is great. The book is not.
Coming of of the awesome Pet Sematary is a hard novel to follow.
Some of my biggest issues include that Neon Yang did not write a world and characters, she told a story as if she was telling a campfire story. While I love when characters within a novel tell stories like this, to have an entire novella written in this way is a bit much. Even with an award winning narrator, there is only so much expression that can be made when it is a told story rather than having an actual talking character to narrate.
Stories told like this for 10 to 20 minutes, even a half hour can be engrossing, but 5 hours?
The result is a flat 2 dimensional reality with paper doll characters that have nothing to grab a hold of to like or dislike or have many emotions about at all.
If you enjoy this type of story telling, you may really get into this one, but for me, it's going to be a pass on this author going forward. I do, however, have an anthology that includes the author on hold, The Book of Dragons, and I am curious if her short stories hold up better in her writing style. Time will tell.
June 14, 2025
so i admit, it was not an auspicious start once i realised this novella had the kind of writing that i found inexplicably annoying. things did not improve once it became clear that this is half-written in that fairytale-esque style, which actually translated to a helluva lot of telling and not a whole lot of showing, mostly culminating in quick summaries of Where We're At. that, by the way, includes a whole lot of yeva's feelings, which we're repeatedly told are very complex and confusing. off the top of my head, we're also told such things as that yeva has killed hundreds of dragons (when!), that she's cruel and cold (where!), that she's been trained into a dragon-killing machine with no feelings (which is fucking weird when every third paragraph seems to be about her feelings): this is the second book recently i've read where it feels like what we're being told about a character is in direct opposition to what we're being shown. is it so hard to make it make sense! also i'm not 100% sure i ever got the reason for her always wearing armour (i may have skimmed past it?), but it's supposed to be a huge deal when she takes it off and shows her face. it's just not.
this is also a novella that should have been a full-length novel, if only to develop a few things rather than summarise them. namely, yeva's entire character, which seemed to have gone missing, and the romance. like, what i wouldn't give here for just the slightest bit more development to a romance that is apparently central to the plot. instead, we get a few weeks' time skip and, lo and behold, they're together and apparently enough in love to do for one another whatever that deus ex machina of an ending was aiming for. also i would have been much more interested in the breakdown of her parents' marriage following her joining the guildknights, but that gets a single throwaway line. all of this makes it so hard to be even invested in any of the characters. there's hints of a good story here! alas, they go nowhere.
i know a good few reviews have pointed out the obviousness of the plot twist. that didn't bother me so much, but i think it could have had more impact. yeva is so indoctrinated as to believe all dragons need killing, but she takes this news so easily? she also writes a "panicked" letter (again, in complete opposition to what we're being told about her) when she first suspects a dragon's existence. is this a woman who's killed hundreds of dragons or not? she's meant to be the best guildknight there is!
lastly, i think the simile that a character slipped back into a line of women in court "like a tooth" (????????) is gonna stick with me for a while. and not in a good way.
this is also a novella that should have been a full-length novel, if only to develop a few things rather than summarise them. namely, yeva's entire character, which seemed to have gone missing, and the romance. like, what i wouldn't give here for just the slightest bit more development to a romance that is apparently central to the plot. instead, we get a few weeks' time skip and, lo and behold, they're together and apparently enough in love to do for one another whatever that deus ex machina of an ending was aiming for. also i would have been much more interested in the breakdown of her parents' marriage following her joining the guildknights, but that gets a single throwaway line. all of this makes it so hard to be even invested in any of the characters. there's hints of a good story here! alas, they go nowhere.
i know a good few reviews have pointed out the obviousness of the plot twist. that didn't bother me so much, but i think it could have had more impact. yeva is so indoctrinated as to believe all dragons need killing, but she takes this news so easily? she also writes a "panicked" letter (again, in complete opposition to what we're being told about her) when she first suspects a dragon's existence. is this a woman who's killed hundreds of dragons or not? she's meant to be the best guildknight there is!
lastly, i think the simile that a character slipped back into a line of women in court "like a tooth" (????????) is gonna stick with me for a while. and not in a good way.
March 19, 2025
I had fun with this one! It was a lot more romance than actual dragon slaying, but despite that, I still enjoyed it. And I'm saying this as a romance hater.
The worldbuilding and characterization for the FMC, Yeva, was absolutely beautiful. So many delicious little details for a novella that I wanted so much more. It was like going to a pastry shop in a city you've never been to and picking out all the little treats that you want. Good stuff. I was mesmerized.
Since it's a novella, you really have to suspend your disbelief and maybe throw logic aside to fully enjoy this story. I had several questions of this nature. Like why didn't they teach Yeva the language before they sent her to Quanbao? Since they're elite warriors, they should have that in their budget. Or why was the girl-king spending her time teaching Yeva the language? Didn't she have a kingdom to rule?
Anyway.
While the author did lose me at the romance portion, the climax and plot twist were really satisfying. And action filled! We finally got the promise of the premise and I was here for it.
I would absolutely love to read more from this world. There's so much potential to unlock here.
Thank you to Tordotcom and NetGalley for this arc.
The worldbuilding and characterization for the FMC, Yeva, was absolutely beautiful. So many delicious little details for a novella that I wanted so much more. It was like going to a pastry shop in a city you've never been to and picking out all the little treats that you want. Good stuff. I was mesmerized.
Since it's a novella, you really have to suspend your disbelief and maybe throw logic aside to fully enjoy this story. I had several questions of this nature. Like why didn't they teach Yeva the language before they sent her to Quanbao? Since they're elite warriors, they should have that in their budget. Or why was the girl-king spending her time teaching Yeva the language? Didn't she have a kingdom to rule?
Anyway.
While the author did lose me at the romance portion, the climax and plot twist were really satisfying. And action filled! We finally got the promise of the premise and I was here for it.
I would absolutely love to read more from this world. There's so much potential to unlock here.
Thank you to Tordotcom and NetGalley for this arc.
March 23, 2025
Thanks to Tor and Netgalley for the eARC of this book.
Unfortunately this one did not work for me at all. It is told like a story. I didn’t feel like I was actually IN the book, but instead that some storyteller somewhere was telling me this tale. And thus I didn’t feel connected at all to the story nor the characters.
And ultimately, this story was boring. A girl leaves her home to become a dragon slayer. She grows up, then leaves her kingdom to meet a girl-king from the neighboring kingdom. She falls in love there and discovers an incredibly obvious secret of the girl-king that I guessed before I even STARTED the book because of the cover. 😂
That’s it. That’s the whole novella. I saved you reading 176 pages! :)
Unfortunately this one did not work for me at all. It is told like a story. I didn’t feel like I was actually IN the book, but instead that some storyteller somewhere was telling me this tale. And thus I didn’t feel connected at all to the story nor the characters.
And ultimately, this story was boring. A girl leaves her home to become a dragon slayer. She grows up, then leaves her kingdom to meet a girl-king from the neighboring kingdom. She falls in love there and discovers an incredibly obvious secret of the girl-king that I guessed before I even STARTED the book because of the cover. 😂
That’s it. That’s the whole novella. I saved you reading 176 pages! :)
April 30, 2025
Quanbao is a dragon slayer and thankfully, the book doesn't dwell too much on her slayer backstory. She is on a mission to find out Lady Sookhee's secret, and on this road, faces her own past and her mother's secret
A short and somewhat flat dragon romantasy stand-alone with a good twist and ending. I have no complaints!
Thank you, RBmedia via NetGalley for ARC. I liked the narrator and have given my honest review.
A short and somewhat flat dragon romantasy stand-alone with a good twist and ending. I have no complaints!
Thank you, RBmedia via NetGalley for ARC. I liked the narrator and have given my honest review.
June 8, 2025
“it feels like part of her has cracked, but in the way frost cracks in the spring.”
2025 year of the lady knight!
aaaand review 4 of 4 for today:
what i liked
• a predictable yet satisfying mystery centered around a dragon slayer sent to a foreign country to investigate its girl-king, only for them to fall for each other.
• the exploration of yeva’s identity as she finally confronts the self she has kept hidden behind her armor in order to conform, and learns who she is beyond the mask she wears and her legacy as a dragon slayer.
• a compelling story in under 200 pages, complete with engaging world-building and an intriguing MC, and told in a style reminiscent of a fable or folktale.
what i disliked
• too much telling, not enough showing. i know this goes hand-in-hand with the writing style neon yang uses here, but the romance in particular was a little lacking.
• the conclusion felt rushed and at odds with the rather sedate pace of the rest of the novella.
arc provided by netgalley and tor publishing group in exchange for an honest review.
rating: 3.5/5.0 stars
May 2, 2025
Thank you Netgalley for the ALC!
I really enjoyed this novella! In this book, Yeva is a dragon hunter who has been sent to a reclusive kingdom to find out if they are hiding a dragon. As she spends her time in this kingdom searching for this dragon, she finds herself getting close to the Sookhee, the monarch and maybe finding bits of herself along the way.
I loved the atmosphere in this book. The writing was clean and made it really easy to envision each scene. I really enjoyed the main character. Yeva lost a lot of herself when she was taken from her home to become a Knight, and I liked the way she rediscovered herself along the way.
I do feel that this novella was a bit predictable, and I wish it were a little bit longer, but overall a solid 4 star read!
I really enjoyed this novella! In this book, Yeva is a dragon hunter who has been sent to a reclusive kingdom to find out if they are hiding a dragon. As she spends her time in this kingdom searching for this dragon, she finds herself getting close to the Sookhee, the monarch and maybe finding bits of herself along the way.
I loved the atmosphere in this book. The writing was clean and made it really easy to envision each scene. I really enjoyed the main character. Yeva lost a lot of herself when she was taken from her home to become a Knight, and I liked the way she rediscovered herself along the way.
I do feel that this novella was a bit predictable, and I wish it were a little bit longer, but overall a solid 4 star read!
May 3, 2025
*I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.*
I read Brighter Than Scale a day after rereading The Black Tides of Heaven – which made it pretty clear that the former just doesn’t compare.
Everything about Brighter Than Scale should work – the characters, the dragons, the worldbuilding, Yeva’s character arc. It’s a recipe that seems guaranteed to blow us away, especially from this author!
And the beginning is very strong. Yeva slays a (small!) dragon as a child, and is sent away to a soul-crushing order of knights to be trained. They forge her into a weapon, a machine; by the time the story really gets going, she’s barely a person. It’s heartbreaking and enraging and I wanted the father who sent her to them dropped off a cliff.
But once Yeva gets to Quanbao, all the promise the story had dissolves into dust. The pacing is a mess; simultaneously too slow – in that nothing seems to happen, pages after pages just dragging – and too fast – the gradual undoing of Yeva’s depersonalisation, for example, isn’t shown to us, but told to us. Worse, it’s summarised to us. And the entire book hinges on this! Yeva realising how close Quanbao’s culture and language are to that of her home; her complicated feelings about engaging with them; her first baby-steps in exploring and engaging with these things, trying to find her own through them. Relearning how to be a person. More than anything else, Yeva’s character-arc is the story – and it’s so frustrating, and puzzling, to not see it, to have it skimmed over and kind of handwaved rather than explored.
We don’t see the relationship develop between Yeva and Sookhee, either. Days after finishing the book, I still have no idea what drew them to each other. I can’t even call it instalust; there’s just nothing between them. These are two people who have every reason in the world not to trust each other, to despise each other, even! You’re going to have to be extremely convincing to sell me on their loving each other enough to overcome all the things in their way. And Yang doesn’t do that at all.
I mean, there isn’t much of Yeva to draw anyone. She’s a very one-note character – and that makes perfect sense! For the first chunk of the book, it’s very effective, even: she’s been brutalised into thinking of herself as a tool, an object, so of course there’s not a whole lot of personality there. But I was expecting her to develop a personality, to see her finding local foods she especially liked, learning the names of native flora, stumbling her way through books. It would have been so easy to give her an interest, or pleasure in, clothing, given that it’s a whole Thing that she has pretty much lived in her armour all her adult life, and Sookhee is the one who gets her out of it. (…Not in a sex way! Although that as well, I guess!) Give her some kind of likes and dislikes, interests, thoughts!
As-is…I don’t know what Sookhee saw in Yeva, because there didn’t seem to be anything to see.
I did like that Yang subverted expectations during the climax; Yeva doesn’t do what I think most of us would expect her to do, and Sookhee puts the practical over sentiment at the end of the finale, something I always like to see characters doing in such moments. The final pages were…predictable, but in a satisfying way, so I’m not critiquing them.
Brighter Than Scale, Swifter Than Flame by Neon Yang falls very flat. The premise is incredible; the execution is shallow. Maybe part of that was the length constraint; maybe this one would have done better as a novel instead of a novella. It’s lacking something, for all that it’s clearly supposed to be very deep and poignant. Alas.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to reread the rest of the Tensorate books.
I read Brighter Than Scale a day after rereading The Black Tides of Heaven – which made it pretty clear that the former just doesn’t compare.
Everything about Brighter Than Scale should work – the characters, the dragons, the worldbuilding, Yeva’s character arc. It’s a recipe that seems guaranteed to blow us away, especially from this author!
And the beginning is very strong. Yeva slays a (small!) dragon as a child, and is sent away to a soul-crushing order of knights to be trained. They forge her into a weapon, a machine; by the time the story really gets going, she’s barely a person. It’s heartbreaking and enraging and I wanted the father who sent her to them dropped off a cliff.
But once Yeva gets to Quanbao, all the promise the story had dissolves into dust. The pacing is a mess; simultaneously too slow – in that nothing seems to happen, pages after pages just dragging – and too fast – the gradual undoing of Yeva’s depersonalisation, for example, isn’t shown to us, but told to us. Worse, it’s summarised to us. And the entire book hinges on this! Yeva realising how close Quanbao’s culture and language are to that of her home; her complicated feelings about engaging with them; her first baby-steps in exploring and engaging with these things, trying to find her own through them. Relearning how to be a person. More than anything else, Yeva’s character-arc is the story – and it’s so frustrating, and puzzling, to not see it, to have it skimmed over and kind of handwaved rather than explored.
We don’t see the relationship develop between Yeva and Sookhee, either. Days after finishing the book, I still have no idea what drew them to each other. I can’t even call it instalust; there’s just nothing between them. These are two people who have every reason in the world not to trust each other, to despise each other, even! You’re going to have to be extremely convincing to sell me on their loving each other enough to overcome all the things in their way. And Yang doesn’t do that at all.
I mean, there isn’t much of Yeva to draw anyone. She’s a very one-note character – and that makes perfect sense! For the first chunk of the book, it’s very effective, even: she’s been brutalised into thinking of herself as a tool, an object, so of course there’s not a whole lot of personality there. But I was expecting her to develop a personality, to see her finding local foods she especially liked, learning the names of native flora, stumbling her way through books. It would have been so easy to give her an interest, or pleasure in, clothing, given that it’s a whole Thing that she has pretty much lived in her armour all her adult life, and Sookhee is the one who gets her out of it. (…Not in a sex way! Although that as well, I guess!) Give her some kind of likes and dislikes, interests, thoughts!
As-is…I don’t know what Sookhee saw in Yeva, because there didn’t seem to be anything to see.
I did like that Yang subverted expectations during the climax; Yeva doesn’t do what I think most of us would expect her to do, and Sookhee puts the practical over sentiment at the end of the finale, something I always like to see characters doing in such moments. The final pages were…predictable, but in a satisfying way, so I’m not critiquing them.
Brighter Than Scale, Swifter Than Flame by Neon Yang falls very flat. The premise is incredible; the execution is shallow. Maybe part of that was the length constraint; maybe this one would have done better as a novel instead of a novella. It’s lacking something, for all that it’s clearly supposed to be very deep and poignant. Alas.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to reread the rest of the Tensorate books.
June 28, 2025
For a dragon book, I expected more... um... stuff to happen?
March 11, 2025
3.75⭐️
I started this novella with sky-high expectations, mainly because the cover is absolutely STUNNING.
SO HERE IS YOUR WARNING NOW. This is a little cozy dragon fantasy with a HEA. DO NOT LET THE EPIC COVER FOOL YOU.
It gives off a retro fantasy vibe, reminiscent of classic tales featuring knights in shining armor and dragon-slaying adventures. But here’a how Neon Yang made it different, we have an Asian female lead and a sapphic romance, adding a fresh and captivating layer to the story. I was so happy to read a fantasy with a FMC that looks like me.
The writing is incredibly easy to digest, making it a smooth and enjoyable read. The opening hooked me immediately, starting off with a strong and engaging narrative. However, as the story progressed, it became quite predictable—though this might be partly due to the super high expectations I had going in.
Overall, I still found it enjoyable. The vibes were immaculate and at its core, the story carries a meaningful message about stepping out of your comfort zone, embracing self-discovery, and learning to feel comfortable in your own skin. It’s about finding people who accept you for who you truly are, not just for what you can do. A heartfelt and uplifting read, despite its predictability.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
I started this novella with sky-high expectations, mainly because the cover is absolutely STUNNING.
SO HERE IS YOUR WARNING NOW. This is a little cozy dragon fantasy with a HEA. DO NOT LET THE EPIC COVER FOOL YOU.
It gives off a retro fantasy vibe, reminiscent of classic tales featuring knights in shining armor and dragon-slaying adventures. But here’a how Neon Yang made it different, we have an Asian female lead and a sapphic romance, adding a fresh and captivating layer to the story. I was so happy to read a fantasy with a FMC that looks like me.
The writing is incredibly easy to digest, making it a smooth and enjoyable read. The opening hooked me immediately, starting off with a strong and engaging narrative. However, as the story progressed, it became quite predictable—though this might be partly due to the super high expectations I had going in.
Overall, I still found it enjoyable. The vibes were immaculate and at its core, the story carries a meaningful message about stepping out of your comfort zone, embracing self-discovery, and learning to feel comfortable in your own skin. It’s about finding people who accept you for who you truly are, not just for what you can do. A heartfelt and uplifting read, despite its predictability.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 12, 2025
I love shorter novels but it it sometimes hard for a book to say everything they want to say with so little pages. In this books case I think it did a really great job delivering what it wanted to deliver. There were a lot of layers to this story. The characters are all very well developed and interesting to read about and there's loads of character development through the story. I really enjoyed the 'reveal' at the end though it was a bit obvious where that plot line was going. I would love to have another book with these characters cause I did really grow to care for them.
Loved the romance and the dragons overall it's a really solid novella that any fantasy fan will enjoy!
Thank You Netgalley as well as RB media for the audio copy!
*all opinions are my own and in no way influenced!*
Loved the romance and the dragons overall it's a really solid novella that any fantasy fan will enjoy!
Thank You Netgalley as well as RB media for the audio copy!
*all opinions are my own and in no way influenced!*
June 26, 2025
nice short dragon novella!
June 30, 2025
4.25/5 stars
spectacular give me 14 of them right now!
spectacular give me 14 of them right now!
April 30, 2025
moment for the cover, cus it's the most beautiful standard cover I've seen so far
this novella was very nice, quick read, perfect for one cozy evening, sapphic fantasy with dragons, wish it was longer tho, cus I was really invested in everything and would like to read more about them😩
Thank you Netgalley for providing digital advanced copy in exchange for honest review.
this novella was very nice, quick read, perfect for one cozy evening, sapphic fantasy with dragons, wish it was longer tho, cus I was really invested in everything and would like to read more about them😩
Thank you Netgalley for providing digital advanced copy in exchange for honest review.
December 16, 2024
Sapphic romance and dragons, SIGN ME UP PLEASE!!! This novella follows Yeva, a renowned dragon slayer, as she faces the unfamiliar court life of Quanbao and their queen, the Lady Sookhee. One of my favorite aspects of this story was Yeva's struggle with her identity, particularly her struggle with her armor. It was such a powerful line of tension. As for the pacing, the plot moves fairly quickly, and I often found myself wanting to slow down, to really settle into the politics and the romance. That said, I absolutely adored reading this. It has a unique lens of viewing, reading, at times, like a true legend. And though the reveal isn't difficult to guess, it also doesn't take away from the story. All in all, I think I would have enjoyed this even more if it had been novel-length. The story was beautifully assembled, and I simply wanted more. What a wonderful novella. Thank you to the NetGalley team at Tor/Forge for this ARC!! 4.0 / 5.0 ⭐️
May 22, 2025
3.5⭐
I've been wanting to read a book by this author for a while now, so I was so excited to receive an ARC of their newest release!
In this novella, Yeva (a renowned dragon slayer who never removes her armor), is sent to a foreign country where dragons are revered, rather than reviled. We follow along as she reconnects with her roots, finds belonging, and grows closer to the kingdom's sickly girl-king.
I had a really good time with this novella. The author could have easily lengthened this considerably, but I'm actually really happy that they chose to make it a novella instead. It kept my attention all the way throughout, and I really liked the main character's arc. The romantic element of this book was important, but I would say that Yeva's journey of self-discovery was the driving force.
I'd definitely read more from this author, and I honestly think that there is potential for more books to be set in this world.
Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing me wit an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!
I've been wanting to read a book by this author for a while now, so I was so excited to receive an ARC of their newest release!
In this novella, Yeva (a renowned dragon slayer who never removes her armor), is sent to a foreign country where dragons are revered, rather than reviled. We follow along as she reconnects with her roots, finds belonging, and grows closer to the kingdom's sickly girl-king.
I had a really good time with this novella. The author could have easily lengthened this considerably, but I'm actually really happy that they chose to make it a novella instead. It kept my attention all the way throughout, and I really liked the main character's arc. The romantic element of this book was important, but I would say that Yeva's journey of self-discovery was the driving force.
I'd definitely read more from this author, and I honestly think that there is potential for more books to be set in this world.
Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing me wit an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!
July 22, 2025
This book could have done with significantly more development. It’s all telling. And it’s very difficult to feel connected to the relationship because so much time skip is used and basically it’s never developed between them. It’s like, she’s learning a language and eating food and then boom! They’re together. I don’t mean to be super mean about this, but I’m not quite sure how this got published. It seems like a self published novella, not at all fleshed out. The twist is also super predictable and very obvious from the first chapter taking place in the palace. It really was a disappointment because it could have been excellent!
June 26, 2025
Usually I find novellas are jsut too short. Not the case here. This one is for the first-generation immigrants. Yeva embodies the struggle between two identities. Her feelings are complex and familiar. Her journey through these 170 pages made me ache and smile.
The sapphic romance was a nice bonus. ❤️
The sapphic romance was a nice bonus. ❤️
June 25, 2025
Predictable but a fun short read!
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