The Burning Sky - Sherry Thomas

The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the kind of Fantasy that I can just devour in a day. It's light, adventurous, romantic, and hard to put down. Soooo not epic. It's not that I don't enjoy Epic Fantasy, too. It's just such an investment, and you have to have patience, and often the characters are just a little too remote. Usually I have to take breaks from the Epics, both during and between installments.

Sometimes I just want to jump in and enjoy. I want a couple of characters that I can like, with problems that are a bit smaller so I can just enjoy hanging out in the world and getting to know them. It doesn't have to be impeccably detailed. It can have elements of what some people might call tropes, because - let's be honest - the tropes are the core of what I love about Fantasy in the first place. So although I do appreciate the grand, epic tales, I have to admit that I like this kind of Fantasy better. This is the kind I save up for days when I have plenty of time to read because the hours are going to fly by.

So, I really enjoyed reading The Burning Sky. It has fun magic (and plenty of it), romance (but not overwhelming), 19th Century London set alongside mage realms, British boarding school experience, a girl disguised as a boy, and magical training in a virtual reality type world. Oh yes, there are also wyverns! And just to keep it from being boring, there's overarching danger and a suitably detestable villain or two. But it's the development and interaction of the two main characters that really carries the story. Pure fun. I can't wait to see what comes next.