The Fireborne Blade (The Firebone Blade #1), by Charlotte Bond
11 Jun 2024The Book
Synopsis:
Kill the dragon. Find the blade. Reclaim her honor.It's that, or end up like countless knights before her, as a puddle of gore and molten armor.
Maddileh is a knight. There aren't many women in her line of work, and it often feels like the sneering and contempt from her peers is harder to stomach than the actual dragon slaying. But she's a knight, and made of sterner stuff.
A minor infraction forces her to redeem her honor in the most dramatic way possible, she must retrieve the fabled Fireborne Blade from its keeper, legendary dragon the White Lady, or die trying. If history tells us anything, it's that "die trying" is where to wager your coin.
Maddileh's tale contains a rich history of dragons, ill-fated knights, scheming squires, and sapphic love, with deceptions and double-crosses that will keep you guessing right up to its dramatic conclusion. Ultimately,The Fireborne Blade is about the roles we refuse to accept, and of the place we make for ourselves in the world.
My Review
The Fireborne Blade is the first novella in the eponymous series written by the talented Charlotte Bond, and which was recently published by Charlotte Bond. Under the guise of a classic fantasy story, Bond masterfully weaves a compelling and powerful story that encloses a great message about fighting against the roles established by the system.
Maddileh is a knight; a work usually done by men, a circumstance that brings much contempt and bad-mouthing towards her. Something more difficult to deal than killing dragons; but Maddileh has developed a thick skin toward those.
When a minor infraction puts a stain on her honour, there's no other way to redeem it than retrieving the Fireborne Blade from the White Lady, a legendary dragon that no man has ever defeated; she might die trying, but it is how you get your coin. Together with a peculiar squire, she will delve into the Lady's demesne, hoping to not end like the ones that preceded her.
In the relatively short length of this novella, Bond mixes together Maddileh's own story together with fragments of The Demise and Demesne of Dragons, a book accounting the reality behind this dragon-slaying role played by the knights, the struggles and the trickeries that many times happened on the process. Not only that, but with Maddileh, Bond firstly creates a character that is fighting against the rigidity of genre roles of her world, but also has some twists that elevate the story even more.
Bond's prose accompanies perfectly the story, gorgeously describing not only the glamorous parts but also portraying the beauty on the fearful details. Pacing is absolutely on the spot, accompanying the story and alternating between the story and the more lore related chapters, which fell as short stories inside the novella.
The Fireborne Blade is an excellent novella, and a great example of how to insufflate new life onto classic stories twisting tropes and introducing elements that were not explored previously. I loved this book, and I'll absolutely read The Bloodless Prince, because I can't wait to see how Bond ties this novella with the next one.
The Author/s
Charlotte Bond
Charlotte is an author, freelance editor, and podcaster. Under her own name she has written within the genres of horror and dark fantasy, but she’s also worked as a ghostwriter. She edits books for individuals and publishers, and has also contributed numerous non-fiction articles to various websites. She is a co-host of the award-winning podcast, “Breaking the Glass Slipper”. Her micro collection The Watcher in the Woods won the British Fantasy Award for Best Collection in 2021. She is represented by Alex Cochran.