Title: The Fireborne Blade
Publisher: Tor
Author: Charlotte Bond
Pages: 164pp

Maddileh was a knight. And she will be again, if she can reclaim her honor. And how better for a knight to do so than by slaying a dragon and winning a legendary sword from its treasure? Accompanied by her trusty squire (or is he?) and gifted charms by a friendly mage (or is he?), Maddileh descends into the bowels of the lair of the White Lady, an ancient and cunning dragon said to possess the most magnificent sword of all: the Fireborne Blade ….

Bond’s short novel has been recommended to me many times. I finally gave up and ordered the book. It immediately went to the top of my To Read pile. Once I started, I finished in two days; if not for the interruptions of my actual paying job, I’m sure I would have finished The Fireborne Blade in an afternoon.

The story pulled me right in and did not let go until the last page (at which point I immediately ordered the sequel). Bond has crafted an intricate and compelling narrative told in three alternating time periods and styles. Maddileh’s descent into the dragon’s lair is paired against her adventure months earlier when she met the friendly(?) mage who gave her the information and charms she needed to survive her encounter with the White Lady; and excerpts from The Demise and Demesne of Dragons, a collection of legends, essays, interviews, and more. These excerpts seem at first to just be interesting world-building; but as the story progresses, it becomes clear that they all somehow fit into Maddileh’s own hunt for and battle with the White Lady.

Even if those sections of The Demise and Demesne of Dragons had only been world-building, they still would have made for compelling writing. Bond has a gift for mixing heroism and tragedy, for grounding this magical world in mundane details and human foibles. Mages might possess the ability to record images and sounds with magical spheres, but knights and squires still die senselessly and painfully; dragons might be able to forge fantastical swords meant to slay horrific monsters, but jealous brothers will still turn on one another to possess such a weapon.

And did I mention the dragon dead? Yep. Ghosts trapped in the lairs where they died, some unaware that they are dead. One touch can kill a living person or drive them mad.

Oh, yeah, and Saralene. That friendly mage’s apprentice. She is so much more than she appears to be, and she might be just who and what Maddileh needs to reclaim her lost honor. (Sorry, but that’s the only semi-spoiler you’ll get.)

The Fireborne Blade is a fantastic high fantasy adventure filled with compelling characters, wondrous world-building, and a terrific twist of an ending. I can’t wait to read the next book. Highly recommended to fans of The Witcher series by Sapkowski, the Silk and Steel collection edited by Janine Southard, Rakehell Magazine, the Snakehaven series by James Reasoner, The Tales of Inthya series by Effie Calvin, and the Lace and Blade collections edited by Deborah Ross.