Throughout the vast lands controlled by the Ironship Trading Syndicate, nothing is more prized than the blood of drakes. Harvested from captive or hunted Reds, Greens, Blues and Blacks, it can be distilled into elixirs that bestow fearsome powers on the rare men and women known as the Blood-blessed.
But not many know the truth: that the lines of drakes are weakening. If they fail, war with the neighboring Corvantine Empire will follow swiftly. The Syndicate’s last hope resides in whispers of the existence of another breed of drake, far more powerful than the rest, and the few who have been chosen by fate to seek it.
Claydon Torcreek is a petty thief and an unregistered Blood-blessed who finds himself pressed into service by the Protectorate and sent to wild, uncharted lands in search of a creature he believes is little more than legend. Lizanne Lethridge is a formidable spy and assassin facing gravest danger on an espionage mission deep into the heart of enemy territory. And Corrick Hilemore is the second lieutenant of an Ironship cruiser whose pursuit of ruthless brigands leads him to a far greater threat at the edge of the world.
As lives and empires clash and intertwine, as the unknown and the known collide, all three must fight to turn the tide of a coming war, or drown in its wake.
I’ve been pretty loud about my goals as regards finishing different duologies/trilogies/series lately. One thing I’ve kept mostly to myself is a desire to read some backlist trilogies a bit quicker than I would typically read a trilogy. Like maybe an entire trilogy in a calendar year (this is obviously extremely possible, it just doesn’t seem to be something I actually ever do).
Some things just pass you by, even if it’s by an author you greatly enjoy. That’s been the case for me with Anthony Ryan’s trilogy, THE DRACONIS MEMORIA. I’ve had these books for quite a few years & have often thought of reading them. THE COVERS! They are all so beautiful & I’ve heard such incredible things about these books, too. Like a flintlock fantasy/dragon vibe…how cool does that sound?
I had a notion to start this trilogy in earnest recently though, when Ryan’s next book, A TIDE OF BLACK STEEL was announced. I just thought it would be kind of cool to have “caught up” with (most of) his backlist before his next book is released (for clarity’s sake, there is no connection between THE DRACONIS MEMORIA and A TIDE OF BLACK STEEL, but there IS a connection between A TIDE OF BLACK STEEL & Ryan’s recently-completed/badass trilogy, THE COVENANT OF STEEL).
So here we are. A TIDE OF BLACK STEEL comes out in late September, which gives me plenty of time to finish the last two books in THE DRACONIS MEMORIA. Will I actually do it?
Who could say. But it might be fun to try! Because I fucking loved THE WAKING FIRE & I’m extremely excited to carry on with this epic series!
This is a huge story in terms of scope. There’s a ton of history to take in here, both in the actual text and sort of baked into the subtext of the story. The book has an industrial age feel to it…there’s gadgetry & firearms, and great steam-powered ships (more on those soon) patrolling the oceans.
The blood of dragons (referred to as drakes in the books) is a prized commodity in this world, typically called “product.” A small percentage of people in this world are known as blood-blessed, and by consuming the blood of drakes, they can gain certain abilities. Different types or colors (red, green, black, blue) of drakes produce different results.
But there is a legend of another drake. The mythological white drake, whose blood is believed to be more powerful than all the rest.
There are three main POV characters:
-Lizanne Lethridge, a spy and assassin educated at the Ironship Academy of Female Education. I don’t have a ton of experience reading spy novels or espionage novels or anything. But it’s clear that Anthony Ryan does. Lizanne is an incredible character, and it was cool to see this kind of spy/espionage element at play in a fantasy novel. Lizanne’s whole life gets flipped upside down while she is undercover & some big things are set in motion. There’s also a slight bit of “lone wolf and cub” to Lizanne’s story, as she winds up looking after a young girl named Tekela. Just loved the vibes of these two characters, thrown together in the most dire of circumstances.
-Claydon Torcreek, better known as Clay. He’s an unregistered blood-blessed and a thief. Clay goes on a seriously wild adventure with his uncle, following clues from a previous expedition that will hopefully lead them to the white drake. The action/adventure scenes here are incredible, and occasionally had me feeling some Jurassic Park vibes. The drakes in this world are lethal & there are some truly harrowing scenes in this book!
-Corrick Hilemore, a Second Lieutenant in the Maritime Protectorate. Newly assigned to the ironship Viable Opportunity. Through Hilemore, we get some killer nautical fantasy, and epic ship-to-ship battles. The waters are home to threats both human & otherwise, and there’s some seriously frenetic and bloody action scenes on the water, which I LOVE!
This is a huge book & accordingly, not everything happens at breakneck speed. Anthony Ryan is, I think, one of the best there is at developing his characters into real people with real flaws, and that kind of attention to the characters is on full display in THE WAKING FIRE. Same goes for the world around you as you read…it just feels like a lived-in, very real place. You can smell the smoke of the ironships, hear the creaking of ropes, and feel the sway of the ocean underneath you. Elsewhere, there’s the cloying heat of the jungle closing in all around you, while the lines between being the hunter or the hunted continue to blur.
This book fucking ruled. I’m so happy to have finally pulled this one off the shelf and gotten lost in its massive & unique world. Anthony Ryan has been one of my favorite storytellers for a while now, and I’m honestly so excited (and motivated!) to carry on with this trilogy!
Grimdark Dad 