Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Dragons

Synopsis:

Seraphina 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.

FIREBORNE is about the friendship between two dragonriders of opposite backgrounds who they rise to the top of the revolutionary regime that orphaned them. 

Lee and Annie are my two main characters, and much like a parent I feel I can’t play favorites. However, I will say that though a lot of people root enthusiastically for Annie, I have a soft spot for Lee. His family was taken from him as a child just like Annie’s was, but for him missing them is complicated by the knowledge that they did some terrible deeds that he feels personally compelled to atone for. In many ways his is a much harder road than Annie’s. 

I found inspiration for this story in all sorts of strange places! The political structure of the island is loosely inspired by Plato’s Republic, which I studied in college. The post-revolutionary setting is inspired by spending time in France and China and thinking about the aftermath of their revolutions. Lee was the sort of character I really enjoyed reading about as a kid—that dashing aristocratic boy who’s effortlessly charismatic and determined to regain his birthright—where Annie is the kind of student I used to be, quiet and self-doubting despite her competence. I liked the idea of putting these two vary different kinds of people into the same story—making them friends—and then having them compete on dragonback. 

I don’t usually listen to lyrics very attentively, but I can say one song I did listen to continuously while writing FIREBORNE, and particularly while writing the dance scene at the ball, is Lindsey Stirling’s cover of “7 Years.” The violin cover makes a beautiful soaring melody with just a hint of bittersweetness to it, and I felt that matched the tone of moment, and of Annie and Lee’s relationship, very well. 

If your book was going to be made into a movie, who would play your characters?

I’m the WORST at this kind of thing, but agree with the casting some friends have suggested: Dafne Keen, who plays Lyra in the HBO adaptation of His Dark Materials, would definitely have the ferocity I picture in Annie. And I’d agree that Ian Nelson, from Teen Wolf, very much looks the part for Lee. 

Fall is here, and we love to find a cosy place to read our favourite books. What drink and place do you think will go with your book to have a perfect book date? 

Hmm I’d have to say a nice gothic courtyard in your nearest medieval university with a crisp glass of sparkling cider! 

Can you recommend your readers any other books in case they are left hungry for more once they finish FIREBORNE? 

If you’re looking for a dragon fix, I’d steer you in the direction of Kristen Ciccarelli’s brilliant THE LAST NAMSARA], a beautiful story about stories, and Rachel Hartman’s SERAPHINA, a meticulously crafted masterpiece that explores human-dragon relations. If you’re looking for some of the books that inspired FIREBORNE, try two classic sci fi: DUNE by Frank Herbert and ENDER’S GAME by Orson Scott Card. 

What’s next for you? 

Rosaria grew up in rural North Carolina, where she climbed trees, read Harry Potter fanfiction, and taught herself Latin. She studied political theory at Princeton and lives in Chicago with her husband and cat.

For book recs and updates, follow her on instagram: @rosariamunda