Brighter Than Scale, Swifter Than Flame

Yeva killed her first dragon at thirteen. That kill revealed a gift, and the empire sent her to its capital to train as a dragon-slayer, one of very few. Since then she has never felt at home anywhere, and she has never taken off her armor where another person could see.

Her latest assignment takes her to Quanbao, a reclusive kingdom that keeps itself apart from the empire. Its people are said to love and worship dragons rather than fear them. Yeva's task is to earn the trust of the kingdom's ruler, Lady Sookhee, and find out what Quanbao is guarding.

The book is a short fantasy with a dreamlike quality. It sits in the tradition of transformation tales, the kind The Crane Wife belongs to, so the mood leans toward the fable and the strange rather than the battlefield.

At its center is a woman who was shaped for killing and now has to consider what it could mean to be loved. Expect a quiet, intimate read where the tension lies in secrets, trust and the armor Yeva keeps on.