After having read Ash Kickers, I couldn't wait to get back into this dragon-filled world. I was surprised though after the cliffhanger ending of Ash Kickers, that we start all over with a brand new character but it didn't take long to get back into the flow. The world has progressed through finding out how to deal with the dragons to more of a post-apocalyptic wasteland. The smoke eaters who were idolized years before have been banned. The New United States Army (NUSA) is not the organization that Guillermo Contreras believed it was. They aren't entrusted with keeping the world safe and are in fact, mercenaries who are bullying the civilians into providing resources for them. Contreras steals a tank intending to return home, but things don't always turn out as expected.

Guilly is a well-crafted character that you can't help but root for from the start. He's listening to his conscience and attempts to flee the NUSA by stealing one of their tanks all while wearing nothing but a bathrobe. You'd think this would be a fantastic idea and that he could escape easily, but the tanks actually only go so fast, making this more of a humorous would-be sluggish getaway. Upon finding out that he is actually a smoke-eater and part of a now underground group that he completely fanboyed over, it only gets better from there.

Once again, Grigsby has continued his portrayal of this unique, but entertaining world. While the setting is much more dystopian than the previous book, it hasn't lost any of its high stakes. There's plenty of action, fire-spewing, and dragon fighting. Plenty of battles to be fought and danger to run towards. There's even the delightful appearance of some of his previous book's characters, tying all the books together. Flame Riders surprised me. Given the time jump and the incongruous new POV, I expected to not enjoy it as much as Ash Kickers but I devoured it in just a few hours.

It's been awhile since the Smoke Eaters were given their walking papers and the New United States Army has taken control of policing the country- or what's left of it. North America has become a dystopian society with great cities, such as Chicago, in complete ruin due to the dragon activity.
Guiellermo Contreras is a private in the New United States Army (NUSA), and as the low man in the company he is assigned to some community relations and doing some show-and-tell with the local children. What Contreras only comes to learn is that NUSA is more of a mercenary organization, intimidating the local communities into supporting them and providing them with resources. NUSA is also looking for Smoke Eaters (those who are able to breathe while in a room full of smoke and tend to be dragon fighters). This has caused the Smoke Eaters to go into hiding.

When the NUSA division that Contreras is with makes an attempt to harm a local child because they suspect the youth of having Smoke Eater abilities, Contreras, who has a hero-worship passion for Smoke Eaters and has studied all he can on them, steps in to protect the child and winds up stealing a NUSA tank and accidentally killing members of his unit. His desire now is to get away, get back to his home town, and try to forget all about the NUSA. But it doesn't quite work out that way and instead, Contreras meets, works with, and becomes one of the historical figures he has studied since childhood. Which is good, because the Smoke Eaters are going to need him since a band of NUSA supporters have learned to control and fly dragons, making them much more dangerous than they already were.

Just as with the first two books in the series, this is a heck of a lot of fun.

Author Sean Grigsby has done a wonderful job of taking this series and growing the characters and the story with each book while retaining what has made it fun - the action and the concept . The first book had some 'issues' with a sense of being a "Marty Stu" book - male fantasy toward women, sex, and heroism. That is gone, so it is quite easy to sit back and enjoy the ride here.

One of the reasons I can't give this a full five stars is because while I like that Grigsby keeps it new, with fresh ideas and characters, this also means we have to spend a fair amount of time re-learning this world and how it has changed since we last visited, and we have to get to learn the new character who is the primary focus throughout the book. I really wanted to dive right in and go, go, go, but I had to wait while I learned who Contreras was and how he would be impactful with dragons (I wasn't sure there were going to be dragons for the longest time, and I was going to be really angry if there weren't).

The Goodreads page for the book notes that this is the third and final installment in the series. I sincerely hope that is not true. There is a lot of new potential here as we end this book and this world is just too darn fun to abandon now. If someone were to make a summer film of these books I suspect there would be more books for years to come.

Looking for a good book? Flame Riders by Sean Grigsby continues the high-octane action of the Smoke Eaters series. If you are looking for an exciting beach read, pick this up.

Firefighters in the future with Dragons. An excellent way to pitch a series. I really enjoyed the two previous books in this series. After reading the third one, I can tell you that this one stands up well with those two.
This book starts out with the world in even worse shape than it was before. Our main character is a new Army recruit who is a big fan of the legend of the Smoke Eaters. He’s a likable enough guy, I just never found him as well rounded as characters from previous books.
This third book upped the stakes with bigger stakes, new gadgets and a couple of fight scenes that I just enjoyed.
I’ve read that the author doesn’t like writing action scenes, but in my opinion, he handles them superbly. All of them seem to have a cinematic flair.
I hope this series isn’t just a trilogy. I would love to see more from this world.

The Smoke Eaters are back again! I wondered if there were going to be any more stories of these dragon fighters, and was so happy to see another book come out. This one is centered more on a new-to-be Smoke Eater, who went AWOL from the New USA Army. While growing up he was a fan of the Smoke Eaters, who have now been disbanded by the NUSA. Gilly is surprised to become one of them, and finds himself on an adventure with his heroes.

Grigsby has done a good job in creating this futuristic apocalyptic US, and a new kind of hero the average American can do nothing but love. I wouldn't recommend reading this as a stand-alone novel, as part of the story line and characters are developed from earlier books. I was happy to see the return of CB, and the new twist that the Smoke Eaters have to face is not unexpected, though was curious how Grigsby was going to put it in story. Definitely recommend to others to read, if they start with the first one!

#FlameRiders #NetGalley

Brilliant battle scenes, dragons, and more dragon hunting firefighters! This one has it all. The third instalment of Sean Grigsby’s smoke eater series packs another punch. Flame Riders kicks off a little while after the events of Ash Kickers with the Army now taking over the fight against the dragons and it ain’t going so well. Like, not at all. The smoke eaters have been forced into hiding because the government wants to experiment on them and discover how they can survive dragon smoke.

One Nusie, and a smoke eater fanboy, Guiellermo Contreras joined NUSA to save people. As the lowest on the totem pole in his unit he is just a Private forced into an errand boy/bootlicker who has to “earn” his place in the squad. When the squad robot officer accuses him of being a smoke eater he has to run – or he’ll be killed – or worse taken captive by the NUSA to be experimented on.

Contreras runs straight into trouble. But finds his idols – the smoke eaters – and maybe they are all he believed them to be. They are certainly going to be the only ones able to keep him alive. But running from danger is one thing, running into danger is something else. He is being hunted by dragons and NUSA alike and he will have to think fast, and move even faster if he is to survive what is coming.

There are surprising twists and turns in this one. And the appearance of several old friends who made me cheer aloud. (One surprising guest star I was very very happy to see!) As always, Sean’s battle scenes are glorious to read. Full of exciting action that will keep you on the edge of your seat. I devoured this in only a few sittings and I am always left wanting more from this talented writer.

If you like Dragons, Dragon Hunters, Firefighters and fabulous action – jump on this series immediately.