Forged in Dragonfire

Flame of Requiem #1

by Daniel Arenson

In a cruel desert, slaves toil in chains. Their masters, angelic seraphim with haloes and swan wings, drive them mercilessly with whips of fire. For centuries, the slaves have languished here, building pyramids, temples, and glorious cities for their overlords. But long ago, these wretched, beaten people were not slaves. Long ago, they could become dragons. They once lived in a land called Requiem, many miles away. Without their chains and collars, they could summon ancient magic, grow wings, and breathe dragonfire. Today Requiem lies in ruin, perhaps only a myth. Today the children of Requiem labor as humans rather than fly as dragons. But there are some who believe that Requiem can rise again. A slave girl, a miner of bitumen. A haunted young man, a brickmaker. A haggard priest, his wife slain. A mysterious princess, holder of a secret power. Together they will rise up. They will cast off their chains. They will tell their seraphim "Requiem is free. We will fly as dragons again."

Genres: Fantasy, Dragons

328 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 12, 2016

About the author

Daniel Arenson is a bookworm, proud geek, and USA Today bestselling author of fantasy and science fiction. His novels have sold over a million copies. The Huffington Post has called his writing "full of soul." He's written over forty novels, most of them in five series:

EARTHRISE — They came from deep space. They came to destroy us. Against the alien onslaught, Earth stands alone. But we will fight. We will rise. We will win. Start reading with Earth Alone, the first novel in this military science fiction series.

REQUIEM — Welcome to Requiem, an ancient kingdom whose people can grow wings and scales, breathe fire, and take flight as dragons. Requiem is explored in six trilogies, which can be read in any order. If you're new to Requiem, you can start reading with Requiem's Song (you can download it for free). For fans of dark, gritty fantasy like A Game of Thrones.

MOTH — Discover Moth, a world torn between day and night—its one half drenched in eternal daylight, the other cloaked in endless darkness. For fans of classic fantasy worlds such as Middle Earth and Narnia. Start reading with Moth, the first novel in this epic fantasy saga.

ALIEN HUNTERS — Got trouble with aliens? Call the Alien Hunters. A group of scruffy mercenaries, they'll remove the pest for you. Low rates. No questions asked. Start reading with Alien Hunters, the first book in this space opera series. For fans of Star Wars, Firefly, and Guardians of the Galaxy.

KINGDOMS OF SAND — Enter a world of sand and splendor, a world where gladiators battle in the arena, where legionaries and barbarians fight for glory, and where empires rise and fall.

Reviews

[Lenora Good · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the cover! Purple dragons grab me every time. The story? Not so much. The characters are shallow and not developed. They are not even believable. Meliora was born and raised to be the mate/wife/broodmare of her brother. But, gosh, someone forgot to tell her that. Oh, my.

And the angst. OMG! Telling me once that the slaves had it rough would have been enough. I have an imagination. I mean, lets get real, I buy books about dragons, I can figure it out, y'know? Violence and sex exist, I get it. But I don't need it to be gratuitous just to jack up the word count.

In short, this book was twice too long. I finished it because I thought it was one I'd received free in exchange for an honest review. It wasn't, I paid for it. I will not read the next two in the series. I don't care enough about any of the characters to slog through any more.

[Arlan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this book. Everything about the premise screamed that I should love it,(polymorphic dragons, fallen angels, etc) but eventually I couldn't get past the fact that this was basically just the old testament story of Moses where the Hebrew slaves are played by humans who can turn into dragons and the Egyptians are instead all evil Nordic/supermodel/sadist fallen angels with no redeeming qualities. It was boring, repetitive, full of plot holes, and I just couldn't bring myself to connect with any of the characters. The book ends in a cliff hanger but I don't care enough about what happens to any of them to force myself to read the next book.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a happy story, far from it. In fact it might not even be a good story.

The repetitiveness is distracting and near endless (seriously, how many times do we have to be reminded of what the Seraph city looks like, what Requiem may or may not look like, how much the Vir Requis suffer from the work, whips and toils, and gods darn it, how many times do we need to see the characters cry??), to the point where it overshadows any possible character traits and development. The sheer brutality, hatred and death that permeates this book almost gives A Song of Ice and Fire a run for its money (almost), no one catches a break, the dialogue often felt clunky and unnatural, and finally, while the world-building was intriguing, it felt like chunks of it were missing. We only get the barest glimpses of how the Seraphim and Vir Requis live their lives outside of battle and turmoil, nothing more. Even Daniel Arenson's Moth saga did a better job with this!

So in that sense, Forged in Dragonfire is a cluttered, bloody, mean-spirited mess. Yet despite this, I was hooked on the story in the worst way, to the point where I nearly read the whole thing in one night.

While there wasn't much to the characters, to the point where many call them shallow, I was engaged by their perspectives and rooted for them. I even got emotional and teary-eyed for them more often than not. The best of them has to be Meliora. Not only does she have the best character development in the story, but she also has one of the most beautiful dragon-designs ever described, and her dynamic with her tyrant, blood-thirsty brother was handled better than I expected.

Speaking of which, I thought Ishtafel worked as a villain. Unlike Dies Irae (what kind of name is that, seriously), who was so over-the-top, horny and evil that he was a cartoon caricature, Ishtafel's villainy made more sense, and his rise to pure insanity and corruption felt more natural, if only a little.

On top of this, the idea of the seraphim, usually described as entities of kindness and love, being the exact opposite in every way is a nice twist, the world-building was fun despite its issues, and finally, there's the Exodus influence.

Others have pointed this out already, that the Flame of Requiem trilogy is an edgy re-telling of the story of Moses, and while many have a problem with this fact, I honestly really like it. Countless other tales have been inspired by the Exodus, so I don't see what the big deal is.

So overall, despite the blatant issues, and the problems I had with Daniel Arenson's previous books (I'm looking at you, Blood of Requiem), I'm giving Forged in Dragonfire a 3.5 out of 5. That's probably WAY too high of a rating for this book, but I'm being nice since I enjoyed the story more than I thought I would.

[Jenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel had such promise. The story was alluring. The contrast between gorgeous beings of white light and the terror they bestow was wonderously fascinating. However, the story ended up being too repetitive. It was almost as if Arenson was repeating the same descriptions of characters and places in a desperate attempt to make the novel longer.

I almost gave up reading the novel a few times. However, because I had already invested much of my sleep time in reading this, I persevered. The repetitiveness seemed to slow down eventually...which made for more interesting reading. However, the end of the novel was less than satisfying.

I get that Arenson wants his readers to buy more books, however, the ending seemed cheap and seemed to be a blatant ploy to generate more income. As much as I want to find out what happens to the Requiem dragons, I really have no desire to read a poorly put-together book that seems to be aimed at getting money and not at gaining a loyal following.

Of course, I could be 150% off-base here. This is just my 2 cents.

Oh....and Mr. Arenson, if you are reading this, at one point in the book, you called Lucem by the name Lumen. And how does he figure in??? Aside from one scene, it seems like he has zero influence other than being the one who escaped. Even during the one scene featuring him, I found myself hating his weakness and childishness. I had to keep telling myself that he left the colony early in life and is childish because he never really learned to grow. Still, I am sorely disappointed in his character.

This book has amazing potential! It just needs to go through re-writes.

[MEG Munro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Arenson did it AGAIN!! Great story and characters.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started reading this book but I was once again amazed at this author's storytelling.
The story takes place during a very vexing time for the dragons. They have all been subjugated by a superior race, yes, I stated superior race. They arrived in this world after being evicted from their own world for treachery.
Through all the toils and tribulations, the people still say their prayers to Requim faithfully.
These are the people who cannot turn into their dragon forms anymore because of the collars they have been burdened with; it prevents their magic from working.
There's a very important twist to this tale. You'll have to read and find out. This is a good story and I await the next part of this story to unfold.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read all the trilogies up to this one. I will agree that the repeative narrative gets a bit tedious, but I like the stories. I really like the last 2 trilogies but I am getting a bit tried of the constant "downfall of Requiem". All this misery and strife. Can't there be a happy trilogy? one of building and discovery and adventure instead of everyone trying to destroy Requiem?

[Donald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story! I'm looking forward to reading all 18 Books.

The concept is great. I can see that it will get better with each book. I love the heroine of this book. The 2 sisters.. Thanks for the great read.

[Chery · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a waste of my time and the authors.
Sorry, too much repetition.
Same dialogue over and over again.
Then a cliff hanger to boot.

[Patsy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't finish this book. It got a bit tedious. I may go back to it eventually, because I do want to know what happens. Just not enough to keep reading right now.

[Libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good continuation of Requium?

[Flewts · Rating 4 out of 5]

First book in the series. A lot of repetition, Oh Requiem, how we miss you, etc. Surely it will get better in the later books.

[Jacqueline Fearon]

have not finished this book finding it hard to get into maybe one day I will finish it.