The Burning
#344.33 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 2 books Status Ongoing 2017–present Reading commitment Low Evan Winter Last reviewed 2026-08-11
Overview
An African-inspired epic fantasy trilogy centered on the caste-bound Omehi people, their dragon-mounted warfare, and a young man's fight to rise through a rigidly stratified society. Evan Winter's The Burning opens with The Rage of Dragons (2017), initially self-published before being acquired by Orbit for wider release, following Tau Solarin as he trains obsessively to overturn a caste system that condemns his family to servitude, set against the Omehi's centuries-long war against the indigenous Xiddeen who oppose their occupation of the continent. The second volume, The Fires of Vengeance (2020), widens the political stakes as Tau's rise threatens the empire's ruling structure from within. Drawing explicitly on southern African history and culture rather than the medieval European settings common to the genre, the series was praised for combining brisk, brutal combat sequences with a sustained critique of caste and colonization.
Epic fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (2 works) counts toward ranking
The Burning Evan Winter
| Work | Year | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Rage of Dragons | 2017 | core | 4.30 (51,216 ratings) |
 | The Fires of Vengeance | 2020 | core | 4.38 (23,987 ratings) |
New author record. An African-inspired epic fantasy trilogy (the Omehi people's caste-bound, dragon-mounted warfare); no Hugo/Nebula/World Fantasy/Locus/British Fantasy recognition was found for either published book, but TIME named The Rage of Dragons one of its '100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time' (2020) and it was longlisted for CBC's Canada Reads (2020) -- both noted here in prose as critical-reception signals, not registered as AWD rows (neither is a genre-fiction literary award). Core = the 2 published books only; the trilogy's concluding volume, The Lord of Demons, is announced for October 6, 2026 but not yet published as of the latest update -- isn't counted here yet. In progress.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Burning? The Burning's Core Canon is 2 books.
- What is the reading order for The Burning? Publication order, starting with The Rage of Dragons. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is The Burning finished? Ongoing (2017–present).
- How much reading does The Burning take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 2 Core Canon books).
- How is The Burning ranked? #34 in this site's official ranking, based on 75,203 reader ratings across 2 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #34?
Ranked #34 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.33 across 2 core books.
- A smaller readership (75,203 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Remarkably consistent across the whole series: all 2 rated core books rate within 0.08 of each other.
- Less than 0.01 behind #33, The Bloodsworn Saga (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Top-tier rated · 2 books · Ongoing · 75k ratings · Ranks #34 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment epic fantasy universe that's still ongoing, with new books still coming.
Reading order
Publication order (2 Core Canon books)
- The Rage of Dragons (2017)
- The Fires of Vengeance (2020)
Awards (verified)
- No Hugo/Nebula/World Fantasy/Locus/British Fantasy award found. TIME's 2020 '100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time' listing for The Rage of Dragons is a critical-reception signal, not a genre fiction award, and is therefore not registered as an AWD row -- see Research notes.
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.33 across 75,203 ratings on 2 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Run 6: 3 admissions -- The Well at the World's End, The Dandelion Dynasty, The Burning accepted 2026-08-11
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia: Evan Winter Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-08-11
Rule: Core = the 2 published books (2017, 2020); in progress. The Lord of Demons (book 3) is announced for October 6, 2026 but not yet published as of this admission -- not registered per Article 2.