What do you think?
Rate this book
The Winnowing Flame Trilogy #1-3
The Winnowing Flame Trilogy
Join the heroes of the THE WINNOWING FLAME TRILOGY as they battle a terrible and ancient evil, in the complete collection from the two-time British Fantasy Award-winning author Jen Williams. Perfect for fans of Adrian Tchaikovsky, Brandon Sanderson and Scott Lynch.
'Diverse, different and intriguing . . . this is fantasy at its very best' STARBURST
_______________
THE NINTH RAIN
The great city of Ebora once glittered with gold. Now its streets are stalked by wolves.
Tormalin the Oathless has no taste for sitting around waiting to die - and when eccentric explorer, Lady Vincenza 'Vintage' de Grazon, offers him employment, he sees an easy way out.
Joined by a fugitive witch with a tendency to set things on fire, the adventurers are quickly drawn into a tangled conspiracy of magic and war.
For the Jure'lia are coming, and the Ninth Rain must fall...
THE BITTER TWINS
The Ninth Rain has fallen. The Jure'lia are awake.
Tormalin the Oathless and the fell-witch Noon must rally the first war-beasts to be born in Ebora for three centuries - hatched too soon and with no memory of their past incarnations, these winged creature are unprepared to face an ancient enemy who grow stronger each day.
Vintage believes the key to uniting the war-beasts may lie on a distant and mysterious island.
A perilous journey lies ahead, while new monsters lie in wait for those left behind.
THE POISON SONG
The war is far from over.
In Ebora, all is chaos, all is confusion. The connection that Tormalin, Noon and Vintage share with their war-beasts has kept them alive so far, but with Tor's sister Hestillion hell-bent on bringing ruthless order to the next enemy attack - the people of Sarn will need all the help they can get.
Noon knows just where to recruit a new - and powerful - army.
But even she underestimates the epic quest that is to a reckoning that will change Sarn forever.
_______________
⭐ READERS LOVE THE WINNOWING FLAMES TRILOGY ⭐
'One of my FAVOURITE epic fantasies. . . takes all the old favourite conventions and tropes, and changes them, for the better'
'Jen William's takes world building to a different level entirely'
'A fantastic unique world, wonderful characters, plenty of snark and humour, weird and wonderful monsters, and some brutal plot twists'
'One of my favourite fantasy series in years. I could not put my Kindle down'
'One of the best combinations of stunning world-building, epic storytelling and memorable characters I've ever read!'
'The kind of inventive, diverse, and emotional fantasy writing the genre really needs . . . so creative, so vibrant and refreshingly different'
'Quite simply one of the best fantasy novel trilogies I have read in a long time'
'The kind of fantasy that makes you feel really, really good. It gives you hope. It feeds your soul'
'Diverse, different and intriguing . . . this is fantasy at its very best' STARBURST
_______________
THE NINTH RAIN
The great city of Ebora once glittered with gold. Now its streets are stalked by wolves.
Tormalin the Oathless has no taste for sitting around waiting to die - and when eccentric explorer, Lady Vincenza 'Vintage' de Grazon, offers him employment, he sees an easy way out.
Joined by a fugitive witch with a tendency to set things on fire, the adventurers are quickly drawn into a tangled conspiracy of magic and war.
For the Jure'lia are coming, and the Ninth Rain must fall...
THE BITTER TWINS
The Ninth Rain has fallen. The Jure'lia are awake.
Tormalin the Oathless and the fell-witch Noon must rally the first war-beasts to be born in Ebora for three centuries - hatched too soon and with no memory of their past incarnations, these winged creature are unprepared to face an ancient enemy who grow stronger each day.
Vintage believes the key to uniting the war-beasts may lie on a distant and mysterious island.
A perilous journey lies ahead, while new monsters lie in wait for those left behind.
THE POISON SONG
The war is far from over.
In Ebora, all is chaos, all is confusion. The connection that Tormalin, Noon and Vintage share with their war-beasts has kept them alive so far, but with Tor's sister Hestillion hell-bent on bringing ruthless order to the next enemy attack - the people of Sarn will need all the help they can get.
Noon knows just where to recruit a new - and powerful - army.
But even she underestimates the epic quest that is to a reckoning that will change Sarn forever.
_______________
⭐ READERS LOVE THE WINNOWING FLAMES TRILOGY ⭐
'One of my FAVOURITE epic fantasies. . . takes all the old favourite conventions and tropes, and changes them, for the better'
'Jen William's takes world building to a different level entirely'
'A fantastic unique world, wonderful characters, plenty of snark and humour, weird and wonderful monsters, and some brutal plot twists'
'One of my favourite fantasy series in years. I could not put my Kindle down'
'One of the best combinations of stunning world-building, epic storytelling and memorable characters I've ever read!'
'The kind of inventive, diverse, and emotional fantasy writing the genre really needs . . . so creative, so vibrant and refreshingly different'
'Quite simply one of the best fantasy novel trilogies I have read in a long time'
'The kind of fantasy that makes you feel really, really good. It gives you hope. It feeds your soul'
1722 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 1, 2022
108 people are currently reading
324 people want to read
About the author
Jen Williams
38 books1,641 followersJen Williams lives in London with her partner and their small ridiculous cat. Having been a fan of grisly fairy tales from a young age, these days Jen writes dark unsettling thrillers with strong female leads, as well as character-driven fantasy novels with plenty of adventure and magic. Her debut novel, The Copper Promise, kicked off the Copper Cat trilogy in 2014, and since then she has twice won the British Fantasy Award for her second trilogy, the Winnowing Flame. Her first thriller, Dog Rose Dirt, was published with HarperCollins in July 2021. Jen has two upcoming releases in 2023: Games for Dead Girls with Harpercollins, and Talonsister with Titan. When she’s not writing books she enjoys messing about with video games and embroidery, and also works as a part-time bookseller and a freelance copywriter.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 21, 2024
The Ninth Rain: 4*
The Bitter Twins: 3.5*
The Poison Song: 3.5*
Overall Trilogy: 4*
Truthfully, by the time I was halfway through The Ninth Rain I had stopped caring about Tor and Noon but the world of Sarn held plenty of other characters that were fascinating. Overall, an enjoyable trilogy.
Random opinions & thoughts:
--I think JW missed a beat with Agent Lin from Book 1, a fascinating mind that was ripe for exploring further. Maybe I just have a thing for twisted female characters.
--The trilogy's ending, whilst a decent coming together of all the plot points, just left me feeling a bit, I don't know... disappointed. Perhaps my expectations were too high.
--Character-wise, Tor is a bore.
--Character-wise, Vintage is my cup of tea.
--My poor wee warped warbeast Celaphon was mighty indeed. For me, he was the most sympathetic character. Come to think of it, all of my sympathies lay with the warbeasts and Eri. And strangely the Queen. I may be more warped than I think I am.
--I did skim-read large chunks of Book 3. That's more of a wayward attention span on my part. My wee brain struggles when there's too much of the inner thoughts and motivations of the main protagonists, so much of which seemed repetitive. It detracted from the flow of the story.
Jen Williams has a talent for creating interesting, diverse souls and rich, complex worlds. I will definitely read more of her books.
The trilogy would make for an excellent video game. I am not amused that Sarn doesn't exist for me to explore at my leisure. Collecting artifacts for Vintage to study. Finding weaponry from previous Rains. Getting drunk on vintage wines. Training with my moody war beast and strengthening our bond.
Edit: a nice little interview with J.W. that I came across online. I like her, she seems like good people. I like anyone that likes the same games I like.
https://threecrowsmagazine.com/jen-wi...
The Bitter Twins: 3.5*
The Poison Song: 3.5*
Overall Trilogy: 4*
Truthfully, by the time I was halfway through The Ninth Rain I had stopped caring about Tor and Noon but the world of Sarn held plenty of other characters that were fascinating. Overall, an enjoyable trilogy.
Random opinions & thoughts:
--I think JW missed a beat with Agent Lin from Book 1, a fascinating mind that was ripe for exploring further. Maybe I just have a thing for twisted female characters.
--The trilogy's ending, whilst a decent coming together of all the plot points, just left me feeling a bit, I don't know... disappointed. Perhaps my expectations were too high.
--Character-wise, Tor is a bore.
--Character-wise, Vintage is my cup of tea.
--My poor wee warped warbeast Celaphon was mighty indeed. For me, he was the most sympathetic character. Come to think of it, all of my sympathies lay with the warbeasts and Eri. And strangely the Queen. I may be more warped than I think I am.
--I did skim-read large chunks of Book 3. That's more of a wayward attention span on my part. My wee brain struggles when there's too much of the inner thoughts and motivations of the main protagonists, so much of which seemed repetitive. It detracted from the flow of the story.
Jen Williams has a talent for creating interesting, diverse souls and rich, complex worlds. I will definitely read more of her books.
The trilogy would make for an excellent video game. I am not amused that Sarn doesn't exist for me to explore at my leisure. Collecting artifacts for Vintage to study. Finding weaponry from previous Rains. Getting drunk on vintage wines. Training with my moody war beast and strengthening our bond.
Edit: a nice little interview with J.W. that I came across online. I like her, she seems like good people. I like anyone that likes the same games I like.
https://threecrowsmagazine.com/jen-wi...
December 20, 2023
This is an epic of high fantasy, a story of a world in a monumental war, exciting adventure, magic and love. The trilogy is told through the viewpoints of several characters: the explorer, Lady Vincenza 'Vintage' de Grazon, her Eboran servant Tormalin the Oathless, and the Fell-Witch Noon. They come together in a unique family to fight monsters, find answers, and hopefully survive. It took me a bit to become absorbed in the story, but once I was immersed, I found it captivating to the end. I would definitely recommend this series to anyone who enjoys high fantasy with dragons and creatures and unlikely heroes.
July 8, 2024
This is a very original story.
I cannot address any certain aspect of the trilogy that I did not like.
The world, magic, and characters are all well thought out.
This trilogy deserves more recognition than it has received .
I cannot address any certain aspect of the trilogy that I did not like.
The world, magic, and characters are all well thought out.
This trilogy deserves more recognition than it has received .
October 1, 2024
Outstanding
Well written, intense, dramatic, emotional and epic, a strange and unique world fleshed out with vibrant characters, and compelling local histories. An author to pay attention to!
Well written, intense, dramatic, emotional and epic, a strange and unique world fleshed out with vibrant characters, and compelling local histories. An author to pay attention to!
February 9, 2023
An interesting tale turns into gay romance.
March 4, 2024
Great reading and excellent to project the self out of this world. Some vulgarity but not excessive.
Keep up the good work and present more of these jewels Mrs Williams, I will read you.
Keep up the good work and present more of these jewels Mrs Williams, I will read you.
June 14, 2024
Book 1: 4*
Book 2: 2*
Book 3: won't read after the book 2 disappointment. According to other reviews it won't be better than book 2, which is truly sad, as the trilogy was off to a good start.
Book 2: 2*
Book 3: won't read after the book 2 disappointment. According to other reviews it won't be better than book 2, which is truly sad, as the trilogy was off to a good start.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews