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The Legion of Flame

(The Draconis Memoria #2)

Anthony Ryan (Goodreads Author)

4.15 · Rating details · 6,669 ratings · 383 reviews

Empires clash and a fell power stakes its claim in the second in a new series from the New York Times bestselling author of the Raven's Shadow Trilogy.

For centuries, the vast Ironship Trading Syndicate relied on drake blood—and the extraordinary powers it confers to those known as the Blood-blessed—to fuel and protect its empire. But now, a fearsome power has arisen—a drak ...more

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Kindle Edition, 592 pages

Published June 27th 2017 by Ace

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May 05, 2018 Petrik rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A strong middle book in the Draconis Memoria trilogy.

The Legion of Flame is the second book in Anthony Ryan’s Draconis Memoria trilogy and in my opinion, it’s a much better book in comparison to its predecessor. The story picked up immediately after the end of the first book and almost everything about this book was much more compelling to read; probably because it felt more like it’s an epic or military fantasy in comparison to the previous book, where it was a mix of Indiana Jones, James Bond, A strong middle book in the Draconis Memoria trilogy.

The Legion of Flame is the second book in Anthony Ryan’s Draconis Memoria trilogy and in my opinion, it’s a much better book in comparison to its predecessor. The story picked up immediately after the end of the first book and almost everything about this book was much more compelling to read; probably because it felt more like it’s an epic or military fantasy in comparison to the previous book, where it was a mix of Indiana Jones, James Bond, and Pirates of the Caribbean.

I think the reason why I liked this one more is that I’m already used to the settings and characters of the world. The first book took me more than 200 pages to finally made me interested, for this one, I was interested almost completely. Lizanne continues to be the badass female character of the series and there are some important events and incredible action scenes happening in her POV. However, the last half of her POV was quite unnecessary in my opinion, it didn’t seem to have any major importance in the main story and it’s more like Ryan is trying to lengthen the pages of the book.

“Only amidst war and horror did I discover what it feels like to love. A life without it is a barren, wasted thing, Miss Lethridge.”

Clay’s POV received a major improvement and became my favorite POV in the book. It’s in his story that we get to see tons of new information on the world-building but most importantly, revelations on the drake’s origins and where the Blood-Blessed originally came from.

I had a lot of trouble with Hilemore’s POV in the first book and although his POV isn’t boring to read anymore—due to his story converging with other important characters—I still think that he didn’t really need a POV. For two books, his presence seems way overshadowed by all the other characters and if he didn’t exist, it won’t matter to the story at all. Maybe Ryan is preparing his character for the big conclusion in the third book but for now, I stand by my words that Hilemore is an unnecessary character.

Lastly, there’s a new POV here. I can’t mention the name because it will be spoilers but I found that his POV a super nice addition to the series as it brings more depth and complexity The Spoiled and some of the dragon’s personality and behaviors.

Overall, The Legion of Flame is a great sequel that builds upon the foundation The Waking Fire laid. Anthony Ryan can also certainly write, his prose even seems like literature’s kind of prose to me sometimes. By the end of this book, everything seems to have been prepared for the final book and I sincerely hope that Anthony Ryan will be able to nail a satisfying ending for the trilogy.

You can find this and the rest of my Adult Epic/High Fantasy & Sci-Fi reviews at BookNest ...more

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Jan 06, 2017 Niki Hawkes - The Obsessive Bookseller rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: arcs, my-library-catalogue

If you start only one new fantasy series this year, make it Draconis Memoria by Anthony Ryan! I thought The Waking Fire was one of the best books I’d ever read, but Legion of Flame was even better!

Legion of Flame was the ultimate armchair adventure! Each chapter was so good, I had a difficult time finding decent stopping points (and as such, stayed up way too late on too many occasions to finish it). Ryan ended each of his chapters with an aggravatingly brilliant hook that just begged you to kee If you start only one new fantasy series this year, make it Draconis Memoria by Anthony Ryan! I thought The Waking Fire was one of the best books I’d ever read, but Legion of Flame was even better!

Legion of Flame was the ultimate armchair adventure! Each chapter was so good, I had a difficult time finding decent stopping points (and as such, stayed up way too late on too many occasions to finish it). Ryan ended each of his chapters with an aggravatingly brilliant hook that just begged you to keep reading (so I did). There was always an abundance of action, adventure, exploration, steampunk, and, of course, dragons. Every element came together brilliantly for, I’ll say it again, one of the best books I’ve ever read.

In both of these books, Ryan takes you on an exploration of this world and allows you to discover its breathtaking histories/mysteries alongside some very memorable characters. This depth of discovery, combined with a very Indiana Jones adventure feel, is truly the magic of these novels and one of my favorite elements. There’s such a sense of wonder with his world-building – stuff that will truly dazzle you. I can’t even begin to guess what he has in store next!

Both books incorporate multiple POVs and they were all equally exciting to read about. Each character was perfectly placed to give us a grand picture of what’s transpiring, and I triple-dog-dare you to pick a favorite – they’re all deserving of the title. If forced, I’d say Lizanne struck a chord with me the most because her personality has a lot of duality, making her very interesting to read about.

Let’s talk about dragons for a minute. The dragons are incredibly well-conceived in this series. So far, their role has been much stronger than I’d dared hope – it truly is a dragon book. I love the varieties, their importance to the human populations, their significance in the story, and, most predominantly, how well they’re being represented. Ryan manages to keep all the things that I think comprise great dragons while simultaneously amping them up with his own twists. They’re brilliant! And if this wasn’t already one of my favorite books for story, characters, and world-building alone, it would be for the dragons.

So because of the amazing characters, seamless blend of fantasy and steampunk, exciting adventures, page-turning plot, and killer use of dragons, Legion of Flame is perfection. I plan to recommend it as often as I can!

->I’d like to think Berkley Publishing Group, Anthony Ryan, and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review an early copy of The Legion of Flame!

Via The Obsessive Bookseller at www.nikihawkes.com

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The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #1) by Patrick Rothfuss

The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard, #1) by Scott Lynch

...more

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Nov 18, 2016 Petros Triantafyllou rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Anthony Ryan is, without a doubt, one of the greatest fantasy writers of our time.

Despite the immense efforts of the mercenary band Longrifles, the White Drake, bringer of doom and once slaver of mankind, is now released back in the world. The Ironship Trading Syndicate has no other option than sending their best agent, Lizzanne Lethridge, to a suicide mission, in the hope of finding a single man who, by all accounts, should have died some hundred years ago. Claydon Torcreek, on the other side Anthony Ryan is, without a doubt, one of the greatest fantasy writers of our time.

Despite the immense efforts of the mercenary band Longrifles, the White Drake, bringer of doom and once slaver of mankind, is now released back in the world. The Ironship Trading Syndicate has no other option than sending their best agent, Lizzanne Lethridge, to a suicide mission, in the hope of finding a single man who, by all accounts, should have died some hundred years ago. Claydon Torcreek, on the other side of the world, found the mysterious man from his vision, Captain Corrick Hilmore, and together with the crew of the Longrifles and the Viable Opportunity, embark on a journey to a land that no man has ever set foot on. Will they find what they're seeking for in order to destroy this new threat, or will their questions remain unanswered?

"He trailed off as he saw the expression on her face, wide-eyed and pale, staring fixedly at something that had banished her drunkenness in an instant. Fighting a sudden paralyzing dread, Sirus pulled the knife from his belt and followed her gaze."

The drake sat atop a near by goods cart, head cocked at an angle as it regarded them with a curious gaze, its tail coiling idly like a somnolent snake. Two very salient observations immediately sprang to Sirus's mind. Firstly, the drake's size. It was far smaller than any he had seen before, little bigger in fact than an average-sized dog, forcing him to conclude it must be an infant. Second was its colour. Not Black, not Green, not Red. This drake was entirely White.

Anthony Ryan's Blood Song was, undoubtedly, one of the strongest fantasy debuts in the last couple of decades, earning him hundreds of thousands of fans. Most of those fans were then disappointed that books #2 & #3 weren't nearly as good as the first. Some of them were even skeptical of starting The Draconis Memoria in the fear of the same kind of disappointment with the later installments. I'm here today to excitedly declare that this ISN'T. THE. CASE. If anything, The Legion of Flame was far better than the already amazing The Waking Fire.

Both Michael J. Sullivan and Mark Lawrence called Ryan a "master storyteller", and in The Legion of Flame Anthony proves them right. From his graceful and solid prose to his exciting and engaging narration, from his complex and intricate world-building to his skilfully intertwined plot points, and from his mesmerizing and multi-leveled characters to his well-thought-out and balanced magic system, The Legion of Flame is a complete, fascinating, unparalleled, and perfect in any possible way, PIECE OF ART.

You can find all of my reviews over at http://BookNest.eu/ ...more

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Jul 18, 2017 Gavin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

I enjoyed The Legion of Flame. It had a good mix of action, intrigue, adventure, and cool magic. It also had good world building and benefits from the fact that Ryan is a good writer who knows how to write an engaging story.

The Draconis Memoria series ticks most of the boxes a fantasy fan could desire:

It has a fascinating world. Two political superpowers jostle for dominance in the form of the Corvantine Empire and The IronShip Trading Syndicate. The Corvantine Empire is an Imperial Empure and ...more

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Feb 17, 2018 Emma rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

I enjoyed the first one but this was better! The first book now seems like a stage setter for the world and characters which took me a while to get my head round in the first book. So, I was far more able to kick back and enjoy the story in this one.

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Jan 04, 2019 Jody rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fire-breathing-reptiles

"This is the kind of legion never seen before. A legion of flame, with which our monster-god will burn the world to cinders."

The Legion of Flame was a very respectable sequel in Anthony Ryan's The Draconis Memoria trilogy. After pondering my initial view when finishing the book, I do believe this was a solid 4 star read for me. Yes, there were a couple of sections that did seem to drag a little, but overall it was well done for a middle book. I've really grown fond of these character ...more

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Jul 13, 2017 Solseit rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I genuinely loved it.

The world building is just impressive - and this book even adds additional layers that were missing in the first one.
I found the book a bit slower than book #1 though - yet, this is an incredible story and I cannot wait to read book #3.

I will go into greater detail later but, as fantasy-story lover, this is a must in your TBR!

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Sep 12, 2017 Ceki rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: those who like evil dragons

Shelves: epic-fantasy, dragons, steampunk, amazing-heroines

If you're looking for an exceptionally beautiful prose then this book should be on your list.

What can I say, Mr Ryan did it again. His writing is really good, rich with descriptions and complex enough to provide the substance that is needed in this genre. There are also many scenes filled with action and drama to keep you on the edge of your seat.

And just like in Waking Fire, Lizanne is the outstanding character. She is a true badass, both capable and amusing with a touch of vulnerability.

Clay ...more

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Jun 21, 2017 Tammie rated it really liked it

Shelves: series-completed, owned-kindle, fantasy, adult, adult-fantasy, netgalley, trilogy, steampunk-related-fantasy, flintlock-related-fantasy

For centuries, the vast Ironship Trading Syndicate relied on drake blood--and the extraordinary powers it confers to those known as the Blood-blessed--to fuel and protect its empire. But now, a fearsome power has arisen--a drake so mighty that the world will tremble before it.

What? No!!! No no no! That ending is killing me! To say that I didn't see that coming would be an understatement. And the way we leave Clay at the end of the previous chapter...Ugh! Anthony Ryan has definitely mastered th ...more

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Aug 08, 2017 Bram rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook-english, books-that-should-be-movies, strong-female-protagonist, strong-male-protagonist, ebook-english, oh-the-epicness, love-that-cover, 2017, steampunk

Wow. What a rush.

As good as Waking Fire was, this is even better, which isn't a guarantee in the world of fantasy series. The narrative finally comes to full fruition and the epic scale of this tale becomes clear. It takes a while to get going, but once it does, it's a rollercoaster ride all the way to the end. Bring on the next one!

5 stars, easy. ...more

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Oct 07, 2017 Derpa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: series, my-jam, sidechars-of-awesome, protag-love, dragons, a-novel

More of this on kinda stuff on Tome Raider .
Second books have a tendency of being a bit of fillers and just generally the least interesting part of a series. Mr. Ryan was like "fuck that, Imma do this". Maybe he didn't say that, maybe he doesn't swear, but after a book this badass I imagine him being like that. If I'm totally wrong, contact me or whatever.

We go on with the story. The White dragon and Co. is still insistent on taking over the world with Spoiled and all. The human are less enthu More of this on kinda stuff on Tome Raider .
Second books have a tendency of being a bit of fillers and just generally the least interesting part of a series. Mr. Ryan was like "fuck that, Imma do this". Maybe he didn't say that, maybe he doesn't swear, but after a book this badass I imagine him being like that. If I'm totally wrong, contact me or whatever.

We go on with the story. The White dragon and Co. is still insistent on taking over the world with Spoiled and all. The human are less enthusiastic about the project, but at this point they are kinda powerless against all that crazy. And they are also idiots, who have a hard time allying against something that will potentially kill em all.
Lizanne needs to find a mythical inventor. Clay needs to find a place he had seen in his future that leads him to the salvation of the word. Hilemore needs to find his cool. No, he needs to do the captaining in a way that allows Clay to do his thing, but that sounded kinda fun. Also, they go to some arctic place. So cool. Ha.
Aaaand there is a new POV character, who would be a spoiler, even though this person has the first chapter, but still. There is a new one, with a whoooole new point of view that I personally never expected to see and it was REALLY interesting and a whole new facet of the story. Ingenious. (view spoiler)

I've loved pretty much everything about this. When it comes to fantasy with serious topics and not much humour, like here... I need me some exploration. I find that if the story is dark and serious in tone I need two things to make it palatable; either some hilarious dark funny moments (hello Mr. Dresden, I love you so much) or adventures and the wonder of exploration. Here the latter is what's happening more and I am 100% fine with that, because the world building is on point.
We got to see for example the Corvantine Empire in this one, which is extremely interesting and different from the Ironship Syndicate, but just as dangerous. We got a different kind of human race! It's all fascinating stuff and the whole thing was much easier to grasp than in the first book. There some moments were a bit hard to follow with the names and different powers and all, but it did pay off 100%.
(One thing from the first book they didn't care much about here was the way Product was weakening, though. I really liked that idea, so I hope Mr. Ryan deals with it later, but it was totally understandable why they didn't care too much while everyone was trying to survive crazy stuff. The implications are just... really interesting.)

The characters were still great. At this point in time I can't help cheering on the author for writing a young female character who is a person, not a Straaaawn Female Character cliche. Lizanne doesn't go on tangents about how she needs to beat men. She is not morally superior. She does need her male allies just as much as the female ones. For how much we keep hearing about female characters, we do have a lot of shittily written, "all that matters is that it's flattering to think about her for women who typically can't even land a punch", and Lizanne is NOT anything like that. Do enjoy.

With fantasy novels romance is always something that can make or break my relationship with them. I don't need it. If it never happens... I'm kinda content with that. But if we do it, then at least make it feel okay. Here that happens. Romances start, they are understated, Mr. Ryan realises that the focal point of the story is not soap opera, but dragons and wars and all that. None of that gets overshadowed by needless romantic drama. People can even drift apart without ridiculous meddling, magical or otherwise and good ol' "I could explain, because I am not going to, which means you will misunderstand and hate my guts".

Never read anything before this series by Anthony Ryan, so I have no idea if he is generally this freaking brilliant and magical and perfect, or he just got lucky. I doubt it's luck, this is pure talent for intricate stories in well-built worlds with enjoyable characters, with tight action, with constant excitement, everything. Seriously, I can only rave about this.
I'm gonna say, though, I don't think this series is a good first time getting into fantasy as a genre. It's just really complicated and being unfamiliar with the genre as well as trying to understand a specific world like this can potentially put people off of fantasy for a long time. Otherwise it's A+.

At this point I'm interested in everything the author produces. I need to read his previous books, get the sequel of this as soon as it comes out and I'm looking forward to whatever he does next. Again, I can't say for sure if this is his norm or not, but I am optimistic and really pumped about not only this, but reading in general and you need a certain kind of book to achieve that effect. So there is that, I freaking loved this. All the stars in the sky for this book.

Have a nice day and definitely get this burning hot piece of work! ...more

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Jun 10, 2017 Dyrk Ashton rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

ARC Review

An incredibly immersive world I didn't want to leave.

First, a confession - I have not read The Waking Fire, the first in The Draconis Memoria series. Crazy, I know. Second, and this surprised me, it didn't matter. That's how deftly Ryan weaves in the story of the first book.

This is an enormous tome, but the story moves, and I mean moves, even during the very few sections when there's nothing actually "happening." An incredible feat of imagination, with land battles, sea battles, sky ba ...more

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Apr 09, 2018 Silvana rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: z-sff-2018-reading-challenge, fyeahfantasy, z-sl-sword-challenge-2018, kindle-google, mine-mine-mine

Second read: Still four stars. Great prison city arc.

First read: An enjoyable yet flawed sequel that is better than its predecessor.

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Dec 19, 2021 S A M | The Book in Hand rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: high-fantasy, read-again, five-star-reads, audiobooks, animal-companions

Good Evening Bookish Folk!

Fuck! It has been a while…I don’t really have an excuse other than LIFE! Lets just say I needed a break, I have had a break and now I’M BACK!

And what a return review…The Legion of Flame by Anthony Ryan. This is the second book in the Draconis Memoria series and I think it is easily one of my favourite seconds in a series. Lets be honest many can fall flat. Not all, don’t shoot me.

Anywho, onto the book..

A few facts about this book:

Title: The Legion of Flame
Author: Anthon ...more

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Jul 28, 2017 GrilledCheeseSamurai (Scott) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, series, steampunk

Well shit. That was fun. Like, if chocolate pudding was a river and I got to ride it on a raft of whipping cream with oars made of pretzel sticks...this book was that level of fun.

My main takeaway, after finishing, was thinking about how the story just never let up. It was one thing after another, after another, and the pacing just bulldogged you through the pages until you got to the end and it felt like you just didn't really want to stop reading.

It was a high octane adventure and the perfect ...more

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Aug 03, 2017 Marius rated it liked it · review of another edition

Avoid the audiobook. While he has a pleasant voice, the narrator is too mellow, his reading too even, which takes away any sense of rush and excitement the book has to offer, and there is plenty of it.

The writing is excellent, the story engaging, and there are thousands of dragons of different colours in it.

However, it ends in a HUGE cliffhanger. To say I do not appreciate that is an understatement, I hate it, and it is reflected in my rating. For the same reason I will not bother to write an ac ...more

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Dec 11, 2020 Terry rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, 2020-book-challenge

Man, I sure do like books with dragons in them! My review of book one of this trilogy, The Waking Fire may have hinted at that a little... 😁. So, this was a good follow up to the first and one that I enjoyed very much. I really like our three main characters, each for their own reasons - Lizanne being my favorite badass of the group! The storylines are very good, the excitement is engrossing, and the steampunk world is vivid and real. So far, the two books in this series have a real unique feel ...more

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Nov 21, 2017 RG rated it liked it · review of another edition

I really enjoyed book and nearly gave it 5 stars. I felt a little confused with this book 2. The author added a 4th POV which wasnt a bif problem, Im just not sure it really was necessary. Action was ok but the political scheming is where Ryan is at his best. Although I felt a large level of confusion from Book 1 ( having been away from the world for a while now) and alot of waffle that didnt feel like it contributed to the story. Clay is by far my favourite character. I feel like he is worth in ...more

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Jan 21, 2022 Eric rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

Didn’t quite hit the heights of the first book but still an interesting and enjoyable read.

All of the fun from the first book was back. We still have the 3 separate storylines with separate tones, though my least favorite from the first book, the naval adventures of Captain Hilemore, seemed to take more of a backseat.

The scale of the story exploded. The events of the first book were pretty momentous, but things were ratcheted up even more. Nations fell as the world was reshaped.

I think what kep ...more

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Jun 19, 2018 Jarek "the Mistborn" Dąbrowski rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2018, draconis-memoria-read

Really good second book in this crazy world:) I was glad to see a lot more dragon stuff. The plot moves on and I cant wait to see how all this plays out in the end. The characters grow more in this one and we get to see them in different situations. Really interesting to see how the act and react.
solid 4 stars:)

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Jul 15, 2017 Tim Martin rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, reviewed, dragons

This was a very well written, fast-reading sequel to _The Waking Fire_, one that kept me up late night after night as I plowed through it. The action scenes were well done, the world building continued at an astonishing rate (some of the best world building of any fantasy series I have ever read), and the main characters continued to get further developed with a great deal of nuance. The scale of the conflict widened considerably, with surprisingly the fight against the White Drake not the only This was a very well written, fast-reading sequel to _The Waking Fire_, one that kept me up late night after night as I plowed through it. The action scenes were well done, the world building continued at an astonishing rate (some of the best world building of any fantasy series I have ever read), and the main characters continued to get further developed with a great deal of nuance. The scale of the conflict widened considerably, with surprisingly the fight against the White Drake not the only fighting in the book.

Just as with _The Waking Fire_, the reader is treated to multiple points of view, each illuminating an entirely different aspect of what becomes in the novel a world conflict. We continue to follow Lizanne Lethridge, that while very much a covert agent, isn’t quite part of the Exceptional Initiatives Division of the Ironship Trading Syndicate anymore. Still on the trail of the Mad Artisan (and in a developing romance with Arberus, who accompanies her), her quest takes her into not only byzantine intrigue in the capital of the Corvantine Empire but to its gulag-like mining-centric prison city of Scorazin, where Lizanne becomes embroiled in gang politics, murder, still more intrigue, and political revolution. Corrick Hilemore’s and Claydon Torcreek’s separate plotlines more or less merge as the two characters are together on the same ship and remain together for a decent-sized portion of the book (though eventually separate again). Their conjoined fates take them deep to the south, to basically their world’s version of Antarctica, having to contend with icebergs, polar weather, food shortages, the massive blue drake called Last Look Jack, and more mysterious ruins similar to those seen in Arradsia, the latter of which was glimpsed in the prophetic vision Clay had when he ingested White drake blood.

As with any world sprawling epic fantasy series, the reader gains some characters and loses some others. Braddon Torcreek and Tekela Akiv Artonin, while present, are nowhere near as prominent in _The Legion of Flame_. I do think the character Clay grew because Braddon wasn’t present, as Clay wasn’t able to rely on Braddon’s experience and confidence (or be restricted by his commands) owing to long periods of separation in the book. New characters include a Corvantine marine by the name of Myratis Lek Sigoral (just called Sigoral through most of the book) who becomes a vital part of Clay’s storyline, and not a new character but a newly important one, Sirus, the curator of the Morsvale Imperial Museum of Antiquities, in love with Tekela, and now, sorry if this is a spoiler, but let’s just say gives the reader a fascinating and valuable villain point of view series of chapters, something much needed as for the most part the White Drake’s activities are nowhere near the other characters, from the fall of Morsvale to the development of its forces to their first conquests.

A great many aspects of this world are further developed and in such a way that they are vital to the plotline. The reader finds a great deal more about the Spoiled and their relationship with the drakes as a whole and the White Drake in particular, vital to develop the coming conflict. The Corvantine Empire, glimpsed at Morsvale and in the context of the fleet they sent to Arradsia, is richly developed, vital again to the coming conflict with the armies (and navies!) of the White Drake. The Islanders and their culture also get further developed, important as the first real test for the White Drake’s forces are the Islanders.

Few real complaints. I think some of the pacing of Clay’s adventures in the deep, deep frozen south could have been a little faster paced, though definitely at the end they were fast paced. Some of the gang intrigue in Scorazin was a bit much to absorb at first but later become clearer with increased exposure. I think Hilemore’s character was a well utilized in the first third of the book and then for much of the rest comparatively underutilized but given the nature of the story I am not sure there was much to be done about that. Some reviewers have complained about the cliffhanger ending but I loved it, it made me want to read the third book right now. I hope the wait isn’t too long!
...more

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Jun 30, 2017 Liviu rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: genre-fantasy, read_2017, 2017_release_read, top_25_2017_books

while a clear middle book Legion of flame is another page turner that mostly keeps the structure of waking fire though it adds one more pov to cover the all important white drake slave army of the title

fast moving, with some interesting twists, the novel moves the action quite well along and it definitely met my very high expectations

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Apr 08, 2018 Mark rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Fantastic read, a really enjoyable storyline. Mr Ryan really is at the top of his game, can’t wait for the third book in this series.

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Mar 10, 2019 Hailee rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-buddy-reads-2019

4.5 stars.

This book definitely doesn't suffer from second book syndrome. It got to the meat of the action quicker than book one and there was no unnecessary filler content at all. I'm just relieved that book 3 is already out so that I don't have to wait to find out how everything concludes. ...more

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Apr 17, 2017 Trevor Sherman rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: recommendations-at-a-glance

Well I got this on Friday or Saturday and finished it early (like 4:00am) Monday. So that kind of speaks for how much I liked it. Not perfect but pretty darn good. I need sleep now. I will write a real review on the blog and here soon.

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Mar 23, 2019 Flying Monkey rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audible, 2019

4 Stars!

Solid middle book of Anthony Ryan's 'The Draconis Memoria Trilogy'. There are 4 character POV's in this novel. My favorite are Claydon Torcreek and Lizanne Lethridge. I also loved the perspective of Sirus. Looking forward to starting the final book this week. ...more

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Jul 10, 2017 Niell rated it liked it · review of another edition

To tell you the truth, I am a bit disappointed here. Maybe I read it a bit too quickly, but I don't think this is the Author's best work.

The Legion of Flame starts fairly soon after the ending of The Waking Fire. As in the first book, we get point of views from Clay, Lizanne and Hilemore, with the addition of a new point of view.Lizanne takes the majority of the novel with Clay and Hilemore splitting the rest.

Clay and Hilemore's story wasn't as developed as it could be and quite frankly, I was ...more

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Aug 25, 2019 Sabrina rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

The second book in The Draconis Memoria Series comes very close to its predecessor in regards to my enjoyment. The author took the story to a different level and added some unexpected elements that I mostly liked, though I also mourned the constructs in my head that did not turn out as I expected. I guess the most interesting turn was the Legion of Flame giving this book a slight (view spoiler) flavour and a very apt title!
(view spoiler) ...more

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Feb 20, 2022 Veronica rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

"They might feel they've scored a great victory, but all they've won is the right to stand against the White's onslaught, and it is coming. Make sure they know that."

The second book in the Draconis Memoria trilogy improves upon its predecessor in almost every way. We had familiar POV characters that allowed for a quick and seamless immersion into the story but this is not to say that there were no surprises among our guides into the story. There is the addition of an unexpected POV character ...more

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Oct 29, 2018 Nadine rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Entertaining sequel with fresh settings that suffered slightly from being the middle book

This and other reviews can be found on my blog

Lizanne and her fellow survivors have made it out alive of Arradsia after the White and his army overran Carvenport. But in her former hometown Feros, she is confronted with a new contract that will bring her to the Corvantine Empire to find allies among enemies. Clay and Hilemore sail to the southern pole hoping to find answers to win the war against the White Entertaining sequel with fresh settings that suffered slightly from being the middle book

This and other reviews can be found on my blog

Lizanne and her fellow survivors have made it out alive of Arradsia after the White and his army overran Carvenport. But in her former hometown Feros, she is confronted with a new contract that will bring her to the Corvantine Empire to find allies among enemies. Clay and Hilemore sail to the southern pole hoping to find answers to win the war against the White's army and are confronted with more than they could anticipate. And meanwhile, we follow Sirus who is recruited into the White's army and reveals how it grows his army of Spoiled for the final confrontation.

I already had my difficulties keeping up with the different factions and affiliations in The Waking Fire, so after waiting half a year before starting the second book it was very hard to get back into the world. Ryan doesn't recapitulate a lot of what has happened in Arradsia in his narrative and I found myself lacking memories of the plot, especially everything concerning Clay and the ressurection of the White. Therefore buddy-reading The Legion of Flame and talking about the first book's plot helped me greatly. I would highly recommend reading these books back to back, especially since the concluding novel is already out.

I really love it when authors decide to change either their characters or the world how we got to know it fundamentally. With the drakes rebelling, there's as good as no way to get any more product to be used by the Blood-blessed. But don't think there's going to be no appearance of this awesome magic system! Of course, Lizanne, Clay and their comrades still have product stored away and get inventive to access some more.

Another big plus for me was the change of setting. Our main characters venture far away from the drake island Arradsia into previously unknown territory: The capital of the Corvantine Empire, the treacherous southern region made up of ice and a prison city reserved only for the nastiest criminals. For me, this was equally gripping and exciting as the Torcreek expedition in The Waking Fire, which was by far the best part in my opinion. Therefore I enjoyed the first half of the book immensely.

Unfortunately, there were some aspects that made me rate this book lower than the first instalment. The story rested a little too much on the new settings and the plot itself began to loose its grip around the middle part. For me, the book could have been a bit condensed with the plot at hand or Ryan could have added a few more plotpoints to not make it feel like a typical bridge-book with fillers. Additionally, there were some scenes and events that were just a bit too convenient for the characters to happen and were used to help the plot move along.

Ryan introduces a lot of new characters in The Legion of Flame of which I found some even more interesting than our main characters. As already stated in my review of The Waking Fire, the characters weren't the main reason I loved the book. And this continues to be true for the second book except for a few new characters and Clay. He starts to implement some of the knowledge passed on by Ethelynne Drystone about bonding to drakes that was very intriguing and could play a big role in the outcome of the war.

Overall, I'm continuing to love Ryan's writing style, story telling and world-building. I will definitely read the final instalment in the Draconis Memoria series. However, it had some of the elements a middle book often suffers from and didn't grip me as the first book did. ...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
Fantasy Buddy Reads: The Legion of Flame - Ryan [Feb 12, 2022]	115	31	Mar 23, 2022 04:45PM
Fantasy Book Club...: Draconis Memoria #2: The Legion of Flame—Finished Reading Spoilers OK	3	10	Dec 20, 2020 07:57AM
Fantasy Book Club...: Draconis Memoria #2: The Legion of Flame—Roll Call & First Impressions NO Spoilers	1	6	Dec 01, 2020 07:43AM
Fantasy Buddy Reads: The Legion of Flame [Jun 25, 2020]	4	15	Aug 07, 2020 06:13AM
Fantasy Buddy Reads: The Legion of Flame [February 2019]	32	26	Mar 10, 2019 07:51AM
Fantasy Buddy Reads: The Legion of Flame [Oct 1, 2018]	61	30	Oct 26, 2018 12:42PM
Fantasy Buddy Reads: Legion of Flame [November 2017]	52	65	Feb 20, 2018 02:01PM

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About Anthony Ryan

Anthony Ryan

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Anthony Ryan was born in Scotland in 1970 but spent much of his adult life living and working in London. After a long career in the British Civil Service he took up writing full time after the success of his first novel Blood Song, Book One of the Raven’s Shadow trilogy. He has a degree in history, and his interests include art, science and the unending quest for the perfect pint of real ale.

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The Draconis Memoria (3 books)

Books by Anthony Ryan

The Waking Fire (The Draconis Memoria, #1)

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Quotes from The Legion of Flame

“This humble correspondent has heard her described as both “a soul of celestial grace and boundless generosity” and “a venomous, razor-taloned harpy whose back never met a mattress it didn’t like.” — 0 likes

“There is no other credible explanation. Failure to accept a conclusion supported by evidence is a fundamentally irrational position and indicative of mental instability.” — 0 likes

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