The Highlands Burn

The Foundling Brigade Saga #1

by Joseph Kassabian

To the crack of rifles and the acrid stench of sorcery, a sudden invasion sweeps through the highlands of the Confederation, and Sayat’s peaceful village life breaks with the dawn.

A sole survivor amid the smoking ruins of all that he held dear, Sayat must make a Is pursuing revenge against the mercenaries that took everything from him worth becoming one himself?

As his escape pushes him into the gruff embrace of the Foundling Brigade, he must learn to tread a path between his need to understand why his people were targeted for destruction and the new responsibilities of his soldier’s life, even as each new encounter with the horrors of battle force him to confront the terrible cost of his oath. Before long, the shifting fog of war casts old certainties into a haze of doubt, while the stuff of legend seems as clear as day, and Sayat finds himself drawn into a much larger conflict than he could possibly imagine.

From Joe Kassabian, author of The Hooligans of Kandahar, comes the first novel of The Foundling Brigade Saga, an epic gunpowder fantasy where magic is in short supply, but there’s a bullet for every man.

Genres: Fantasy

504 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication May 29, 2026

About the author

JOE KASSABIAN was born in Detroit, Michigan and enlisted in the US Army until 2013. Afterwards, he studied European History and Genocide Studies before becoming a teacher.

He is the host and researcher of the award-winning Lions Led By Donkeys Podcast, one of the most popular independent podcasts in the world.

His literary influences include Joe Abercrombie, Daniel Abraham, Django Wexler, and Brian McClennan.

Reviews

[Cassie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book from the author in exchange for a fair review.

My review actually lays at a 3.5, but, unfortunately, Goodreads is a Sith, as it deals in absolutes.

Finally! A war novel done right!!! Battle plans laid out and executed logically and looking for the best advantage!!!! Hallelujah!!!!

I love me some historical military fiction/fantasy. Everyone knows this about me. But the unfortunate truth is that absolutely no one knows how to do it right. When I saw that the host of a military history podcast I love was looking for reviewers to read an ARC of his upcoming gunpowder fantasy novel, I knew I had to shoot my shot and offered my services.

And, man, am I so glad that he decided to offer me a copy.

The Highlands Burn follows Sayat, a young man of the Hayasaci people. The story opens with Sayat on patrol on the eve of his last day amongst his tribe, as he is to be married off the next day and will go to live with his new wife's tribe in the mountains. But this wedding will never come, as Sayat's village is set upon by a mercenary army known as the Free Rifles, slaughtering everyone without a sliver of mercy. Amongst their lot are magic users known as Etheri, who wield the power of the Ether (the spirits of the dead) in various forms (fire, wind, ice, blood, etc).

Sayat's village doesn't stand a chance, and he is left its only survivor. With his dying breath, Sayat's father swore his son to revenge. With no family, no friends, and no home, Sayat turns to another mercenary army—the Foundling Brigade—for food, shelter, and purpose. If he is to fulfill his father's dying wish for revenge, he can't possible do so on his own with little more than a knife and a bulletless gun to his name.

And so Sayat begins his new, bloody life as a soldier amongst the Foundlings, with little more to live for than the dead's demands for vengeance.

I had fun with this one! When I realized that Joe was basing this on the Caucasus and their side of World War I—as well as the Armenian Genocide specifically—I was immediately interested. World War I is rarely a war that is utilized in historical fiction/fantasy these days, so I was excited to see it explored—especially by an Armenian who has a degree in genocide studies.

Joe definitely got the war and soldier parts right. This is not surprising, he was a soldier in the US military and studies military history for a living. And BOY is that a breath of fresh air. Most people who know me know my biggest pet peeves when it comes to any books delving into any kind of warfare simply Don't Do It Right. Everyone writes battles as if they are on a timetable: you battle while the sun is up, and the second the sun goes down, everyone stops and waits patiently for the sun to rise again before kicking things back into gear. It drives me BONKERS.

There is a section in this book where the Foundling Brigade—after being under siege and trapped in a valley for months—decide to execute a night raid on the enemy force's camp. This would have a two-fold purpose: blow up their artillery so they can stop shelling their positions and the town, and also grab as much food and supplies as possible on the way out.

It was glorious. I was on cloud nine. FINALLY some logical and well-thought-out military tactics. I'm over the moon.

The entire section of the book with the siege was definitely my favorite. Between the night raid and the constant artillery bombardment and the snipers set up to keep soldiers from taking up positions to keep an eye on enemy movements—[chef's kiss] it was divine. Though I figured I could trust Joe on the military aspect of things.

I also really liked the magic system that was introduced here. You have the Etheri who can directly manipulate the Ether—and suffer mental anguish from doing so and must drown out the furious howls of the dead for disturbing their rest with drugs. Reminded me very much of Rin and my beloved The Poppy War—and the Voyants, of which Sayat was one. Voyants are considered blessed by the Ether, whereas the Etheri are considered cursed. As a Voyant, Sayat can smell magic and magic users, and it smells like shit (thinking of Sette my beloved main character of Unsounded with this one). He also has a gift in which he can see perfectly clearly in the dark, making him useful when it comes to night maneuvers.

My absolutely favorite of the Etheri—hell, of all the characters we meet—is a man named Genkos. He's apparently a giant cunt of a human being, has a terrible personality and is just generally unpleasant to be around. But he's also a Blood Magus. A blood mage. My favorite.

I could not agree less with the other characters, man. I LOVED Genkos. He was a shit, sure, and he spent most of the time high as a kite or drunk off his ass, but he is a powerful Etheri. And also he's funny. Well, at least I thought he was funny.

Anyway, the best part about him was how he used his magic. As a blood mage, he needs to use his blood to use said magic, yes? Well, in order to draw blood, he wrapped his arms and torso in barbed wire, and would tug on the wires to tighten them and cut into his flesh. His entire body is constantly a mess of blood and cuts and crisscrossing scars, the barbed wire simply the barest twitch away from cutting into his skin.

IS THAT IMAGERY METAL AS FUCK OR WHAT??? I was really a fan of the use of barbed wire in this setting. Whenever World War I is brought up, the first things we all think of is the trenches lined with barbed wire and No Man's Land. What better imagery to evoke in a setting based on World War I than a man purposely wrapping himself in barbed wire to rain hell down on the enemy?

Inspired, Kassabian. Truly.

The reason why this didn't get 4 stars or higher, though, is that the characters and dialogue still needed some work. The entire first chapter was far too much exposition and lore-dumpy. As I read it, I honestly thought that we would have been better served setting the timeline back slightly, starting the book with Sayat amongst his family and his people on his last day with them, not starting with that fateful last watch. I didn't feel much of anything watching the people of his village get gunned down and set aflame by a Flame Etheri's magic, other than the expected "Wow, that's a bad way to go."

I also would have loved to have actually met his family. The only member of Sayat's family we meet for the briefest of moments is his father, the legendary Sparapet. Meanwhile, Sayat had a mother, a brother, and I think a sister? I'm not even sure. We never meet them, and they are barely a footnote in his mourning. I also would have loved to have spent time in the streets with his people—the women apparently dressed in colorful cloth, the men were mostly veterans of past wars, and they were a kind and loving people that took care of each other. I wanted to mourn these people! I really did! But Sayat was not allowed much time to do so, and the reader wasn't given time to care about their deaths. The book starts with Sayat on his last watch, he info dumps a bunch about the Hayasaci, and then the Free Rifles show up and the carnage begins.

The characters in general also did a bit too much infodumping. I imagine it's hard to get across these fantasy concepts in an organic way, but the characters just giving us long paragraphs of dialogue isn't the best way to go about it. I also didn't really care much about any of the characters we met. I cared more when Sayat's horse Midnight was killed in an artillery barrage than I did when most of the main side-characters were blown to bits. But that's because we got to spend time with her, and I felt that loss. Midnight was Sayat's last link to his home, to his family. And with her death, that final link died with her. All he had left after that was his quest for revenge.

I also felt that his father's dying wish for vengeance could have been handled better, too. I personally think that Sayat should have dragged his father from the Etheri's flames, his father howling in pain as they try to flee the village's borders for safety, only for his father to succumb to his wounds just beyond the enemy's reach as he swears Sayat to revenge. Instead, Sayat's father literally went out in a blaze of glory, swallowed up by flames as he screamed out "REVENGE!!!"

I just think that sitting with the death and having it be a more intimate affair would have had more of the gut punch Joe was probably going for.

There were also quite a few spelling and grammatical errors, but I can forgive that seeing as this is an ARC. Those likely won't be there for the official publication.

Anyway, I overall liked this! I will probably pick up any sequels Joe writes, especially since I am starved for any good military fiction. I owe you for that one, man.

If you want some promising military fiction/fantasy that really digs into the unforgiving horrors of war—both the soldier and civilian costs—I definitely recommend picking this one up.

[Jay Whang]

Review of Advance Copy Received from Author

This review is the abridged version of my overall thoughts that I posted on my podcast’s Patreon page. I got the ARC of the book and finished it yesterday. (This is the first time I am using Goodreads and fucky wucky has happened).

The Highlands Burn is set in the mountainous area of the Confederation, where it’s in the midst of an invasion from the Union. Our main character is Sayat. He witnesses the Union-affiliated armed group Free Rifles killing his village chief father, along with slaughtering his fellow Hayqi tribesmen. Sayat escapes, but the group enslaves him. Then the Foundling Brigade, a mercenary group hired by the Confederation, rescues him and joins with them. Sayat is like a cross between Aang the airbender from the Nickelodeon show Avatar: The Last Airbender and Flyora from the movie Come and See (which itself is based on the book that has collected testimonies from survivors of the Nazi-occupation of Belarus). As a reader, we see the progression of him as a young idealist from an agrarian village who later goes on a revenge quest for his own people. Still, his innocence slowly erodes, and he begins to question his morals and religious faith. From there on, he fights alongside his comrades who belittled his culture, experiences a crisis of faith, rises through the ranks, and learns more about the mechanics of this world’s magic and the political landscape where the hegemonic religious institution uses state violence for domination. ​

Because of that, this feels more like a coming-of-age story for older teenagers who were interested in joining the military (I hope not) than an escapist romp. Author Joe Kassabian joined the army at the age of 17, and his time in Afghanistan became a topic of his war memoir “The Hooligans of Kandahar.” I recommend this book to older teenage fans of fantasy novels who want more grit and some unique elements besides whimsies.

Even a fantastical book with political intrigues, Joe Kassabian reflects his experience as a war veteran through this book. The armed combat depicted in this book feels messy and chaotic, which prevents any cheap escapism. Bullets flying everywhere, smoke that blinds characters’ eyes, and getting yourself confused about the allegiance of people across the aisles. However, Sayat experiences a new kind of camaraderie with people in the brigade. As a local, he used his mother tongue to try to establish trust between his army and survivors of the Union’s violence. Moments of human conditions like these balance out the brutality of gunfights in the mountainous warzone. He translated the real-life grit into fantasy, where magic skills are more visceral than whimsical. Kassabian brought familiarity into supernatural battles that still involve firearms.​

Viktor Shklovsky has said that the purpose of art is “to impart the sensation of things as they are perceived and not as they are known” - making familiar things strange and strange things familiar. That’s maybe an obvious common feature in science fiction and fantasy novels. And Kassabian, intentional or not, has brought familiar-sounding but real-life names into his gunpowder fantasy world, as a way of offering a different perspective on real issues and events. The main character Sayat shares the same with the 18th-century Armenian poet Sayat-Nova. And there are places and names in the novel that reference real places and cultures. There is a place in the book called Gyumra, which could be a reference to the Armenian city of Gyumri. The Hayqi tribe could be a portmanteau of an endonym for Armenia and the Iraqis, or a play on the Armenian endonym itself. Like House Atreides from the Dune series and House Stark from the A Song of Ice and Fire series, Sayat’s comrades have a mix of fantasy world names and real-world names.​

There are already military fantasy, gunpowder fantasy, or just fantasy novels dealing with real-world conflicts and war crimes, and The Highlands Burns captured the vengeful feelings and moral compromises real-world soldiers have faced on the frontline. Through the young protagonist Sayat, author Joe Kassabian has successfully placed his readers in the midst of descriptive battles involving rifles, bullets, viscera, dark magic, and imperialist politicking. The Highlands Burns is a book for older teenage boys who want more wartime grit in their library of fantasy novels.

[Victoria Hayward · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC Review

‘The Highlands Burn’ delivers on its promise of epic gunpowder fantasy. The action is gritty and immersive, the stakes, world-changing. There is scorch and blood in your nose before the end of the first chapter, but make no mistake - the story is working at multiple levels, and will have you in its grasp emotionally by the close of the novel. This is a fully realised world, carefully crafted with tantalising glimpses of the ancient, mythical past, but even the most fantastical elements are grounded. No character, however seasoned or magical, is beyond humour and vulnerability and darkness. And no character is without dreams which their present reality has taken from them. Kassabian leads the reader with tender brutality into the horrors of war, the only bulwark against the darkness the grimy and loving camaraderie of the Foundling Brigade.

The author’s background as a combat veteran who enlisted in the military as a teenager then later became a scholar of history and genocide studies provides layered texture here, informed by this unique perspective. The result is that characters do not simply walk away from battle without emotional wounds. Nor are they afraid to weep for what they have seen, and what they have lost. It is a refreshing and profoundly moving aspect of this novel and provides a visceral juxtaposition of the boredom and fear of combat and the grind of death. It is a refreshing contribution to the genre but in our present time, a deeply needed perspective on conflict.

In The Highlands Burn, there is no glory in war nor death, but in compassion. In an affecting passage, a widow tells our protagonist that she does not want her husband remembered through bloodshed.

This is story about magic, and intrigue and battle which delivers on exciting, well-paced combat with the evocative charnel stench of dark sorcery running throughout and providing intrigue and horror. But it is more importantly a story about dehumanisation, about identity and perseverance, about the integration of many cultures into a common cause. It is a deeply grounded, thrilling war-story told from the ground. Without glory, without shame - The Highlands Burn is a story about how war feels.

Through the dirt and smoke and blood of this novel’s military campaign, Kassabian has brought something fresh and emotionally bright into a genre of warriors and wonders, and something which feels vividly current.

[Kirsty Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Highlands Burn is an engaging gunpowder fantasy which had me hooked from start to finish. It tells the story of Sayat, a young peasant whose village is destroyed in a sudden attack. With everything he knows gone, he finds himself among a band of mercenaries hired to protect his country and decides to join them to pursue revenge. He gets his first experiences of battle as a stretcher bearer and then begins his training in earnest. Along the way he begins to learn more about the world outside his village and his country, and about both the generosity and cruelty that humans can have.

The book effectively blends the fantastical and the very, very real. The violence is earned not gratuitous and the worst is not avoided but also not over-done. There are moments of humour among the bleakness which lifts it up and stops it becoming a depressing slog.

The magic in the story is powerful but has a powerful cost. The limits of the magic are well thought out, and allow for great tension building throughout. At times it does seem like some pay more than others, and I’m interested to see what some of the wider costs may be in the sequels.

The author’s expertise in military history shines through, as does his experience of being an enlisted soldier who has no idea what is going on. The story strikes a balance of showing the disorienting realism of battles and slowly revealing the wider details of the war.

The characters react to this in a range of ways, including weeping, as the conflict leaves emotional as well as physical scars. There are times when the story could have sat with the emotion a bit longer, especially when it comes to Sayat losing his family. However, in the context of the war they are in, there also aren’t many opportunities.

There are moments of info-dumping but the world-building is so rich that I enjoyed them. I’m one of those readers who likes to know how a place works.

Overall it’s a great read and I strongly recommend it.

[Ant · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Highlands Burn is a gunpowder fantasy which has a well written, gritty focus on the military aspects and personal costs of war.

We follow Sayat, a young man from a remote village seeking revenge for the annihilation of his home and family, by joining a brigade of soldiers for hire.

There are battles aplenty, and it does seem like we lurch from one to another (with some military-type training and siege work along the way) quite quickly. Battle descriptions feel realistic, with both a brutality and a degree of despairing futility that speaks of experience.

These set pieces essentially sandwich the rest of the story, which is fed in a way that the reader (like Sayat) only gets just enough information that makes it sufficient to continue. That information however, encapsulating the various in-world political manoeuvrings to keep the story moving, comes with a huge amount of names - all of which essentially mean very little. Various (in-world) political entity names on a page don't really carry any weight or investment for me as a reader - it's just info-dumping. To be fair, this is a problem I have with various fantasy authors, Sanderson and Yarros especially.

On reflection, Sayat is interesting in terms of his growth as a main character, but I didn't really feel like I connected or cared about him whilst reading. I'm really not sure why, perhaps it's because the usual big emotional hits are front-ended and over with quite quickly before moving into the story proper.

Regardless, The Highlands Burn is a solid, no-nonsense book that should be satisfying for fans of military fiction.

Many thanks to the author and BookSirens for arranging the early copy on which this review is based.

[Peter Hairston · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent entry into the genre of "gunpowder fantasy", The Highlands Burn is a fantastic mix of The Black Company, Sharpe's Rifles, and a dash of (oddly enough) Outlaw Star. Kassabian masterfully weaves in worldbuilding elements without giving over to blocks of exposition, instead allowing the reader to absorb the world in pieces and new information is layered on in a way that makes sense.

The protagonist is relatable, well written, and compelling, without falling into the common "chosen one" tropes so often found in Fantasy series. Instead, Sayat often feels out of his depth and acts as an excellent proxy for the reader, trying to find his way in a suddenly and violently broadened world.

War is presented as unglamourous, brutal, and dirty. Skirmishes and battles are well written, the action is followable while still presented as confused and sometimes incomprehensible. It is clear that Kassabian knows what he's writing about when he writes about war, and doesn't try to valorize violence, instead presenting it unflinchingly.

The fantasy elements are extremely well done. Magic as it exists is terrifying and otherworldly. Difficult to contextualize for the non-magic user and explosively violent in its application.

All in all, "The Highlands Burn" is a fantastic read and I cannot wait for the next book in the series.

[Ellie Connon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Highlands Burn was an anticapted book for me, being between books, and wanting to sink my teeth into more gunpowder fantasy. I'm happy to say that this book was exactly what I was looking for. Joe is able to deftly introduce me to the world and characters, before very quickly throwing us into the meat of the book, I enjoyed Sayat's journey as he is violently thrown into the world of merccenary solidering. The life and banter of a solider came across as very authentic, and I enjoyed these sections of the book much as I enjoyed the action that our main character is frequently thrown into. I find that some boos of the genre sturggle to get the balance right between the powder and the fantasy, yet I found the pace of more fantastical elements being added perfect for my tastes, and whilst powerful and horrifying, the fantasy elements don't break the mostly grounded story I was enjoying.

Overall I would certaintly recommend this book to anyone that has read and enjoyed "The Thousand Names" or "Powder Mage", the only thing keeping me from giving this 5 starts is that sometimes I struggled to follow how much time was passing between paragraps in a chapter, yet I eagerly await the next installment.

[Bobby Fabian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly gripping - the story starts nearly immediately with a compelling character and world building, and immediately throws you into the deep end. Think along the lines of Brian McClelland's Powder Mage novels as far as general feel, but with a story (initially) much more contained, focused, and gripping. The through-line mirroring the Armenian Genocide shouldn't be taken lightly either, even if this POV is from a particularly small perspective in the grand scheme of things happening around the character.

The character, Sayat, starts (rightly so) as somewhat one-note, our rural boy from the get-go, but by the end of the novel there's enough to point to meaningful character development that I personally can't wait to read about in the next novels. The end of the novel also leaves you in such a way that the next part of our journey with Sayat will be something to look forward to, without feeling like the first book is pulling something cheap to get us in the door.

Overall right up my alley, and a great opening right out the gate.

My copy of the novel was an ARC provided by the author - only nitpicks that I imagine will be fixed for the public release were some minor copy edit issues - a handful of sentences were broken up oddly, or were missing words.

[Lazlo Brandt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review of Advance Copy Received from Author
I went in expecting to like The Highlands Burn as a fan of fantasy and of Joseph Kassabian as an author.
I finished the book captivated by Sayat and the Foundling and the world they inhabit.
A gunpowder fantasy world that encroaches on grimdark setting with its historical inspirations, gives the world a sense of realism, striking a balance of the grim realities of life especially during war without being overly depressive. I found myself running the emotional gauntlet, tearing up at parts and smiling or laughing at others.
I enjoyed how Joseph was able to build the world, learning in lockstep with Sayat gave enough information to give a picture to the story without getting to bogged down in dense explanations. Allowing a sense of intrigue and mystery on the surrounding world that has me hooked on the fate and struggles of Sayat and the rest of the Foundling's.
If you are a fan of fantasy, grimdark, sci-fi, history or just want a good story, I highly recommend The Highlands Burn

[Ani Mejlumyan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review of Advance Copy Received from Author

As someone who has barely read any fantasy and hasn’t previously been very interested in the genre, this book completely changed my perspective. It keeps you on edge throughout, and if you have any knowledge of Armenia or the Ottoman Empire, it adds an extra layer of depth to the experience.

Although it isn’t a history book, it includes chilling historical elements that feel very real (Some of the scenes are clearly inspired by the Armenian Genocide.) The places where events take place are described so vividly that you can almost see, smell, and feel them. As a newcomer to fantasy, that level of detail and the historical references-which also feel very current-are what truly captured my interest. This book explores a culture that is largely unknown and underrepresented in mainstream media, and it feels good that such a book has been written and many will get a chance to learn about it.

[James Tullos · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair review.

It was good, but it needed to be longer. A lot of scenes happen far too quickly, with no room to breathe and no chance for the emotions to set in.

For example, the protagonist, Sayat, is on a quest for revenge. His motivation makes perfect sense, we see what was done to him and his loved ones. But there needed to be some more time spent with him being angry/sad about things so that we could really root for him to take vengeance.

The dialogue needs some work too, there are several points where the characters are speaking normally, and then they go into Exposition Mode. In Exposition Mode, characters lose their old personalities and start rattling off facts like a history textbook.

It's a fun adventure though, and I look forward to the sequels.

[Charlie Moser · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advance reader's copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

The Highlands Burn scratched an itch that I've had since the Powder Mage trilogy for a good gunpowder fantasy novel. Sayat's experience of war is brutal, ugly, and indiscriminate. His comrades are there for the paycheck, but the camaraderie is very real. The dialogue exchanges are at their peak when the Foundlings are bantering and complaining about military life.

I want to shout out the worldbuilding in particular, the Hayqia felt very real and interesting and the wider world always seemed present and important but distant. The Etheri and the Voyant are interesting magic users and the more we learn about them the more I like them.

Overall, a very solid opening for the series and I'm excited to read more!

[Aram · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fast-moving gunpowder fantasy novel with a crumbling empire, an Armenian-inspired setting, and magic that is deeply unsettling.
In the book, gritty mercenaries deal with betrayal and faded imperial glory in a world that breathes with rich, specific detail. The pacing is relentless, battles and action from nearly start to finish. The magic is light but integral to the plot and wielded by practitioners who feel it more like a curse than a salvation. If you like your fantasy smoky, morally complex, and culturally distinctive, this is a recommended read.

[Zahra Hare · Rating 5 out of 5]

I managed to get my hands on an advance copy and I barely set it down after starting.

Joe Kassabian has created a new fantasy world drawn from parts of the world not often given the chance to show their beauty, mired it in conflicts that are so brutal and real that at no point do you have trouble buying in.

Our protagonist of the story, Sayat, thrust into this world by tragedy is engrossing as both a character and the vehicle to introduce us to this fantastic world. I am now trapped under the horrific curse of having to wait for the next book and I am so excited for that

[Francis Horton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joe looks to be stepping back from sci fi to try his hand at Gunpowder fantasy, an underused genera of military fiction. The author pulls from his Armenian roots to create the world, which is then filled with battle mages, mercenaries, and revolvers that shoot sorcery. A great start to a series full of well rounded characters and fully developed world to explore

[Joseph Hamler · Rating 5 out of 5]

For my first experience in fantasy novels i don’t think i could have chosen a better story. I usually stick to historical nonfiction, but this novel could easily be just that taking inspiration from historical events. Very good world building and it doesn’t lean super hard into the fantasy or magic. This left me wanting more!!