The Fires of Vengeance by Evan Winter

Evan Winter follows up last year's wildly entertaining opening book in a new fantasy series with The Fires of Vengeance which keeps the action going from the first page to the last. At the end of the first book, The Rage of Dragons, Tau finds the Omehi people split and facing civil war. Tau is still seeking vengeance for those he holds responsible for the murder of his loved ones.

Tau is now the champion for Queen Tsiora and they must find a way to stop the general who has installed Tsiora’s sister as a rival queen and divided the nobles. If the Omehi are divided they will certainly be conquered by the Xideen, whose land they invaded but have never fully conquered.

It is up to Tau and the Queen to devise a strategy and raise an army to take back the capital city. The Queen's appointment of Tau as her champion has upset the rigid caste system that elevates the nobles and views people like Tau as lesser. They must walk a tight rope of changing an inherently unfair caste system while maintaining the support of the nobles who they need to fight with them to retake the city.

Every page in this book rings with intensity. You can practically feel the vibrations of each blow in the sword fights. Against the backdrop of an unjust society facing threats both from within and without, Evan Winter has created some truly epic battle scenes and a hero who is driven by rage and revenge. Tau can see no further than a future in which his quest ends with the death by his hand of the man who killed his father. He is distracted by a budding romance with the young queen whose strength is as quiet as Tau’s is loud.

There's a moral complexity to the decisions made by Tau and Queen Tsoira. Along with a fascinating political and social structure and action scenes that jump off the page Evan Winter has delivered another winner and a fantasy series that is a must-read. I can't wait to read the next book. The series is essential for all epic fantasy lovers and is sure to delight both new and old readers. 

Highly recommended. 

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher.