Fireborne

" Fireborne is everything I want in fantasy."--Rachel Hartman, New York Times bestselling author of Seraphina Game of Thrones meets Red Rising in a debut young adult fantasy that's full of rivalry, romance . . . and dragons. Annie and Lee were just children when a brutal revolution changed their world, giving everyone--even the lowborn--a chance to test into the governing class of dragonriders. Now they are both rising stars in the new regime, despite backgrounds that couldn't be more different. Annie's lowborn family was executed by dragonfire, while Lee's aristocratic family was murdered by revolutionaries. Growing up in the same orphanage forged their friendship, and seven years of training have made them rivals for the top position in the dragonriding fleet. But everything changes when survivors from the old regime surface, bent on reclaiming the city. With war on the horizon and his relationship with Annie changing fast, Lee must choose to kill the only family he has left or to betray everything he's come to believe in. And Annie must decide whether to protect the boy she loves . . . or step up to be the champion her city needs. From debut author Rosaria Munda comes a gripping adventure that calls into question which matters most: the family you were born into, or the one you've chosen.

Praise for Fireborne:
★ ★ ★ ★ Four Starred Reviews!
A 2019 Cybils Award Winner
An Illinois Reads 2020 Selection
A 2020-2021 Maine Student Book Award Selection
An AudioFile Magazine Earphones Award Winner

★ “Breathless action.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

★ "This series opener thrills with dragon action, from aerial tournaments to wartime battles . . . a near-perfect work of high fantasy with wide appeal." —Booklist, **starred review 

★ "From the beginning, this book pulls readers in . . . full of drama, emotional turmoil, and high stakes." —Kirkus, starred review

★ "Thought-provoking and full of social and political intrigue.” —School Library Journal, starred review

"From action fans to romance fans, political junkies to fantasy lovers, many different audiences will find something rewarding here." —The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

"Fireborne is everything I want in fantasy." —Rachel Hartman, New York Times bestselling author of Seraphina*

“It’s been a long time since a book made me this happy. *Fireborne is my new favorite dragon book.” —Kristen Ciccarelli, internationally bestselling author of The Last Namsara

• *

Auteur

Rosaria Munda

Résumé
"One of fantasy’s best series." —Booklist, starred review

Game of Thrones meets Fourth Wing in a debut young adult fantasy that's full of rivalry, romance . . . and dragons.

Annie and Lee were just children when a brutal revolution changed their world, giving everyone—even the lowborn—a chance to test into the governing class of dragonriders.

Now they are both rising stars in the new regime, despite backgrounds that couldn't be more different. Annie's lowborn family was executed by dragonfire, while Lee's aristocratic family was murdered by revolutionaries. Growing up in the same orphanage forged their friendship, and seven years of training have made them rivals for the top position in the dragonriding fleet.

But everything changes when survivors from the old regime surface, bent on reclaiming the city.

With war on the horizon and his relationship with Annie changing fast, Lee must choose to kill the only family he has left or to betray everything he's come to believe in. And Annie must decide whether to protect the boy she loves . . . or step up to be the champion her city needs.

From debut author Rosaria Munda comes a gripping adventure that calls into question which matters most: the family you were born into, or the one you've chosen.

Échantillon de lecture
Prologue

*Later, he would be known as the First Protector, and under his vision the city would transform. Serfs would be freed, schools would be built, and dragons would, for the first time, be ridden by commoners.

• *Before that, he was the leader of the bloodiest revolution his people had ever seen.
• *He never doubted that he would create a just city. Nor did he doubt that the families of the old regime deserved to die. But he did, sometimes, regret the way it happened, the day the palace was finally overrun.
• *He remembered in particular one of the ruling families, their tormentors still at work when he found them. The dragonlord had been kept alive, to watch; his youngest son was the only child left. A boy of about seven or eight, his expression blank beneath a mask of blood. The remains of their family lay around them.
• *“Stop this foolishness at once,” the First Protector said, when he and his guard found them.
• *The revolutionaries let go of the boy, whom they had been hurting, and began to protest: This man is Leon Stormscourge, don’t you know what he’s done—but they fell silent when the dragonlord spoke from his knees on the bloodstained carpet.
• *“My son,” he said, in the language he and the First Protector shared. “Please, Atreus.”
• *The First Protector took a half glance at the child. He said, “Leo will be looked after.”
• *He gave one of his guard a murmured order. The soldier started, hesitated, and then lifted the dragonlord’s son in his arms. When the boy had been carried, limp and silent, from the room, the leader of the Revolution knelt before the dragonlord.
• *“Those—animals—” the dragonlord rasped.
• *The First Protector did not disagree. Instead, he put a hand to the knife on his belt. When he met the dragonlord’s gaze, it was in an unspoken question. The dragonlord closed his eyes and nodded.
• *Then, to the First Protector’s surprise, he spoke.
• *“Your vision,” he said. “Do you think it will ever be worth this, Atreus?”
• *The First Protector drew his knife.
• *“Yes,” he said.
• *The dragonlord’s question returned to him often in the years that followed. Even as many of the other details of the Revolution began to fade from his memory, he remembered Leon Stormscourge.

• Leon’s son, on the other hand, was a detail he forgot.

   
  Chapter 1
  Messages from the Ministry
  Nine Years Later
  
  Lee
  
  Morning is our favorite time to fly. Today, even with the tournament looming and the empty arena below us a reminder that soon we’ll be watched, for the first time, by thousands, it’s still possible to savor the city sprawled beneath a dragon’s wings. When we pull tight on a turn, I glimpse one of Pallor’s black eyes, depthless, turned on me. The line between us, of shared emotions and thoughts that are usually latent in the saddle, goes taut. Yes. Today it begins. Today we’ll rise.

  But in order to do that, I’ll need a clear head. I gently extricate myself from Pallor’s simmering anticipation and refocus on the arena. Two other dragonriders fly with us, each riding one of the other two breeds: Crissa and her skyfish are in the air above us, while Cor and his stormscourge glide below, bellowing ash over the arena stands. We’re on our last rehearsal, this time with just the squadron leaders.

  I lift my voice over the wind. “You’re taking her too low, Cor.”

  Cor grunts, frustrated, and urges his stormscourge higher. We’ve been over th…