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  • The Rage of Dragons

  • Written by: Evan Winter
  • Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi
  • Length: 16 hrs and 15 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (404 ratings)

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The Rage of Dragons

Written by: Evan Winter
Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi
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Publisher's Summary

Game of Thrones meets Gladiator in this debut epic fantasy about a world caught in an eternal war and the young man who will become his people's only hope for survival.

The Omehi people have been fighting an unwinnable fight for almost 200 years. Their society has been built around war and only war. The lucky ones are born gifted. One in every 2,000 women has the power to call down dragons. One in every 100 men is able to magically transform himself into a bigger, stronger, faster killing machine. Everyone else is fodder, destined to fight and die in the endless war.

Young, giftless Tau knows all this, but he has a plan of escape. He's going to get himself injured, get out early, and settle down to marriage, children, and land. Only, he doesn't get the chance. 

Those closest to him are brutally murdered, and his grief swiftly turns to anger. Fixated on revenge, Tau dedicates himself to an unthinkable path. He'll become the greatest swordsman to ever live, a man willing to die 100,000 times for the chance to kill the three who betrayed him.

The Rage of Dragons launches a stunning and powerful debut epic-fantasy series.

©2017 Evan Winter (P)2019 Hachette Audio

What the critics say

"A refreshingly brutal and imaginative tale of survival and revenge. Evan Winter's battles are visceral, bloody masterpieces, and Tau's climb from exiled Lesser to legendary warrior is earned in a way few writers could hope to match." (David Dalglish, author of the Shadowdance Series)

"Winter's debut will draw strong comparisons to George R.R. Martin and Brandon Sanderson, and the strong African influences and ties create a singular, exciting epic with intriguing characters and culture. Readers will be clamoring for the next installment." (Library Journal, starred review) 

"Wow. This book hits the ground with stunning action and danger, and it barely lets up as the pages fly by. I loved the African-influence culture, the unique use of dragons and demons, the complex martial and class hierarchy, and it has a magic system unlike anything I've seen before. What a terrific set up for a series!" (David Anthony Durham, author of The Acacia Trilogy)

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What listeners say about The Rage of Dragons

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Rage of meh

The novel is good if you like a lot of fight scenes. like 2/3rds of this novel is fight scenes that I didn't really care about. There was next to no tension beyond 2 fights that are army brawls.

There are almost no surprises as every event is broadcast LONG before it happens.

It has virtually no feel like game of thrones as it claims. It feels a bit like gladiator but more like Sparticus Blood and sand.

This feels like a novel written by a white guy that wanted to appeal to the own voice and made every character have dark skin and an African name. but the setting culture and attitudes all feel European. Even the food mentioned feels very European unlike The Book of Pheonix.

I finished the book and won't continue the series. There is too much wasted time with unimportant fights. The actual story is very cliche and would have been better told from someone else's POV.

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6 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Worth sticking with

From the very beginning I knew I was in for a treat. There is not nearly enough fantasy that doesn't focus on Magic Europe but this book stays well away from the tropes you've grown bored with. the characters are lovely, the fight scenes are swift and brutal and the world being built already feels like it has a depth I can't wait to explore.

To the title of my review, some of the names and a few terms caused me to stumble a bit, which can happen with a Non-European inspired fantasy but I urge everyone to read, pay attention and know that you will not be disappointed.

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6 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A must read, no do the Audible!

This was as good as Joe Abercrombie’s or Bernard Cromwell best. The characters were interesting, the story captivating, the narration engaging and the dialogue was thoughtful.
Actually, the narration was amazing. Best fit I have ever heard

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Gripping!

A very gripping world. Quite refreshing to have fantasy written from a different cultural context. This has quickly jumped up my list of favorite fantasy books and I can hardly wait for book 2. The narrator does an amazing job and brings life to the characters making the images jump off the page and come to life.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Fast paced and addictive

This book was amazing and the voice acting was perfect for the characters. I found myself getting addicted to finding out what would happen next . Although the story is straightforward and not totally something I haven’t read before , the author makes the world , characters and action scenes overshadow this downside and make it a very good book overall

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Amazing Narration

A fresh take on the usual revenge narrative, had a Spartacus feel to it.
Prentice Onayemi is the perfect narrator for this story and provides an amazing performance.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Wonderfully descriptive

This isn't my usual read, but, I've now read this and the second book in the series twice (since late spring). Prentice Onayemi's narration is smooth and enthralling. I get lost in these books fr

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Sam
  • 2023-08-08

Great action packed story with a great reader

Phenomenal performance by the reader and Winter creates a great atmosphere with his writing that uses a far too unexplored source of inspiration to build his world. If you like John Gwynne or Joe Abercrombie I’d say this is your cup of tea.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

it's dope, legendary.😁👌🏿

i don't usually like books with dragons because i feel like that's such a traveled path it might as well have made trenches digging straight through the earth. but this book is different, fun and entertaining.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great book

great story. I found it a little slow to start but once it got going I could not stop!!

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  • Chris
  • 2020-01-25

It's... almost really good.

The originality of the setting goes a long way towards distracting you from the fact that this is essentially just another coming-of-age / revenge / youth-discovers-great-power story that would not stand out at all of it were set in a medieval European analog culture like most sword and sorcery books. That wasn't my main issue with the book though, longtime readers of fantasy tend to see the same tropes over and over so if you notice the base story sounds a lot like Red Rising except set in tribal Africa with some magic and dragons, that's ok, it doesn't ruin the book, you'll stick around to see how good the reinterpretation is. For me that depends a lot on how well I like and/or identify with the characters and that's where this book is sadly lacking. The main character is just an angry asshole, there is very little depth to him and his "special power" is just being so mad he is supernaturally determined. Its boring. An MC with only one emotion is boring. Where this book shines in the first half is the swordplay and action that distract from the confusion of unfamiliar African words. By the second half I was bored by the overload, its almost nonstop sword duels, no exaggeration. Great potential but the pieces didn't quite come together, its just not a fun read, so overall, like I said: Almost good.

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221 people found this helpful

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  • Judith Muerer- Herrera
  • 2020-01-26

Just couldn’t fall in love here

I’ve been reading science fiction and fantasy since I was 12 or 13. I’ve read thousands of different books and authors. I purchased this book because I saw all these great reviews here. I was disappointed that I was not drawn into to the story and couldn’t not fall in love with the characters. There’s a lack of depth everywhere. The book begins in mid-step and them proceeds to run through everything. Never giving the reader a full understanding of how magic works here or how they even ended up where they now are. Nothing is fully developed. At least not for me.

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109 people found this helpful

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  • Joshua
  • 2019-07-18

I don't write reviews.

I have listened to 100s of audio books over the years. I like things I know I can't experience in reality. This writer has it, I couldn't stop listening. Keep up the great work.

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  • molech6
  • 2020-01-31

Superb!

This is something special. I've been reading fantasy for nearly 40 years, and I've never come across anything like this.

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39 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • J. Kane
  • 2019-07-26

Best Debut Novel Ever

I post most of my reviews on goodreads since that will get the widest distribution considering it covers books as well as audiobooks, but I was so impressed with this book that I thought I better write a review here.

If you read the description and you are at all interested, then you will love this book. It is THAT good. I can't begin to express how moved I was at multiple points in the book. A very rare, five star book for me. I read over 100 books a year, from popular fiction authors like Lee Child, David Baldacci, John Sandford, and Bernard Cornwell, to not as popular sci-fi and fantasy authors like Joe Abercrombie, Jack Campbell, Dennis E. Taylor, Olan Thorensen, and Kevin Hearne, and of course, unknown authors like this one. As a novel it is quite a feat. As a debut novel, it is truly astonishing.

Tau lives in a caste system, where he will always be less than a nobel. He is called a lesser, like his father. But when he and those he loves are wronged in the worst way, Tau has it in his mind to become a warrior never seen before; Tau will become a swordsman so great no one had even thought it possible of a nobel, let alone a lesser. Like much of life, Tau will face injustice and unfairness on his journey, but he will not lose heart, and he will fight back even stronger.

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39 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Amazon Customer
  • 2020-01-17

On par with Brandon Sanderson and Joe Abercrombie.

I absolutely loved this book. If you are a fan of anything by Brandon Sanderson or Joe Abercrombie, this will quickly become one of your favorites.

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38 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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  • Tucker
  • 2019-09-20

Sixteen Hour Training Montage

Do you like training montages? When watching the Rocky films, do you wish Rocky just punched frozen meat, trudged through snow, and ran the Philly steps for sixteen hours? You are in luck! This is the book for you.

Other than being an interminable description of training, the book also has the advantage of one dimensional characters that never quite break through. Generally, the begining of an epic gives you a ray of hope or a satisfying kernel to latch on to and cary you on to the next book. This book does not have that. It has a truly impressive quantity of disappointment and sadness.

The writing itself is not as bad as the plot might have you believe and the performance by Prentice is terrific. It would be unfair to say it is a bad book. It's not bad. It just doesn't feel worth the time and emotional investment.

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38 people found this helpful

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  • Evan
  • 2020-02-04

wow.

This was a great book. It started a little slow, but it's to be expected in developing the story. Really excited for more.

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27 people found this helpful

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  • Amazon Customer
  • 2020-01-23

WOW!! JUST WOW!!

This book is easily in my top 5 fantasy novels. Took me a minute to get use to the names but once I did the rest fell in place. All I can say is this is a must read for the fantasy enthusiast out there.

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26 people found this helpful

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  • Will-O
  • 2020-01-31

So good

This is simply spectacular. Truly epic fantasy. This book is sorta like Blood Song meets red rising and is equal in quality, and oh man that closing sentence is just so good

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23 people found this helpful