So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole Summary, Characters and Themes
So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole is the first book in the Divine Traitors series, a Jamaican-inspired fantasy rich with magic, gods, and dragons.
Set in the aftermath of a brutal war for independence, it follows two sisters, Faron and Elara Vincent, as they navigate the complexities of their homeland’s fragile peace and their strained relationship. While Faron grapples with the burden of her gods-given powers and a horrifying prophecy, Elara is thrust into the world of dragons — creatures long associated with their oppressors. With themes of colonialism, identity, and sisterhood, this story delivers a powerful, emotionally charged narrative.
Summary
Set in the island nation of San Irie, So Let Them Burn explores the aftermath of a brutal war for independence against the dragon-riding Langley Empire.
The story unfolds five years after the war, with San Irie in a state of fragile peace. At the center of this tale are two sisters, Faron and Elara Vincent, who fought as child soldiers during the war and now struggle to find their place in a world attempting to heal from the scars of colonial oppression.
Faron, the younger sister, is San Irie’s Childe Empyrean — a warrior chosen by the gods and blessed with divine magic. Revered as a hero, Faron is restless and burdened by the weight of expectations.
She suffers from survivor’s guilt and PTSD, haunted by the bloodshed she witnessed as a child. Although she helped liberate her homeland, peace feels hollow to her.
Faron’s relationship with the gods takes a dark turn when they reveal a devastating prophecy: to maintain peace, she must kill her sister, Elara.
Elara, on the other hand, longs to step out of her sister’s shadow. Practical, kind, and responsible, she desires a life of her own, free from the legacy of war.
During an international peace summit hosted by Queen Aveline of San Irie, Elara forms a magical bond with a dragon from the Langley Empire.
This bond makes her a dragon rider, a role that has long symbolized oppression in San Irie, causing public outrage.
The dragon, Signey, is more than a beast of war — she becomes Elara’s closest companion and guide in navigating her new reality.
Elara is taken to the Langley Empire for training, accompanied by Signey. There, she uncovers shocking secrets about the dragons’ true nature. Once free creatures, the dragons were enslaved by the gods to be used as weapons of war.
Elara grows increasingly disillusioned with the gods’ influence over their world and begins to see dragons not as symbols of oppression, but as beings deserving of freedom.
Meanwhile, Faron’s loyalty to the gods wavers as she desperately searches for a way to save her sister without fulfilling the gods’ grim command.
Her quest for answers leads her into the forbidden realm of ancient magic, where she uncovers truths about the gods’ manipulations and the oppressive systems they uphold. As political unrest brews in San Irie, Faron also becomes entangled in the nation’s struggles with rebuilding and diplomacy.
The sisters find themselves on opposite sides of a growing conflict. Faron, driven by her duty to her homeland and her gods, feels torn between protecting her people and sparing her sister. Elara, now a dragon rider, believes that true peace can only be achieved by breaking free from the gods’ influence and dismantling the systems they created.
Their once-unbreakable bond as sisters begins to fracture under the weight of their opposing beliefs.
As tensions between San Irie and the Langley Empire escalate, Faron and Elara must make difficult choices that will shape the future of their world.
In the climactic ending, the sisters face each other in a dramatic showdown, with dragons, gods, and political factions colliding in a chaotic battle. Both emerge from the conflict fundamentally changed — their love for each other tested, but not entirely broken.
The book ends on a cliffhanger, with San Irie on the brink of a new war and the sisters standing on opposite sides of a complex, morally ambiguous struggle for freedom and peace.
Characters
Faron Vincent
Faron Vincent is a 17-year-old heroine blessed with the divine power of the gods. Chosen as the Childe Empyrean at the young age of 12, she was thrust into the role of leading her people in the war against the Langley Empire.
Her power is immense, capable of channeling divine magic, which has made her a legend in her homeland of San Irie. Despite her heroic status, Faron struggles with the psychological toll of war, including PTSD and survivor’s guilt, making her character complex and multilayered.
As a person, Faron is fierce, rebellious, and brash, unafraid to challenge authority and question the gods who chose her. Her relationship with the gods is complicated, as they have tasked her with a heart-wrenching choice—kill her sister Elara to ensure peace.
This divine mandate conflicts with her deep love for her sister, creating a significant internal struggle that propels much of her character development.
Elara Vincent
Elara Vincent, the older sister, is an 18-year-old who often feels overshadowed by Faron’s fame and heroic deeds. Unlike her younger sister, Elara is kind, responsible, and loyal, although she struggles with her sense of identity.
Her relationship with Faron is close but complicated, as Elara yearns to carve out her own path, distinct from Faron’s legendary status. Elara’s life takes a dramatic turn during the international peace summit when she inadvertently forms a magical bond with a dragon from the Langley Empire, a bond that makes her a dragon rider.
This bond is unprecedented, as dragons have long been symbols of colonial oppression, leading to conflict and unrest within San Irie. Elara is forced to reconcile her new identity with her love for her homeland, torn between the bond with the dragon and her duty to her people.
Throughout the story, Elara evolves as she uncovers secrets about the Langley Empire and the nature of the gods, deepening her relationship with her dragon, Signey, and ultimately becoming a powerful and autonomous figure in her own right.
Reeve
Reeve is a complex character caught between two worlds. The son of a former commander from the Langley Empire, he defected to San Irie during the war, making him a polarizing figure within his new homeland.
Many in San Irie distrust him, viewing him as a symbol of the former enemy, but Reeve proves himself to be a valuable ally to the sisters, particularly Elara. His loyalty is tested as he navigates the political turmoil in San Irie, and he plays a crucial role in both the political and personal struggles of the Vincent sisters.
Reeve’s character is defined by his desire to forge a path that bridges the divide between the Langley Empire and San Irie, and while his relationship with Faron is tense and marked by mistrust, his friendship with Elara is genuine and supportive.
His role in the narrative highlights the themes of forgiveness, redemption, and the complexity of allegiances in a post-colonial world.
Signey
Signey is a dragon rider from the Langley Empire and Elara’s dragon partner. Initially, Signey’s relationship with Elara is filled with tension and distrust, as dragons are viewed with hatred by the people of San Irie due to their association with colonial oppression.
However, over time, Elara and Signey’s bond deepens, and they come to see each other not as adversaries but as allies. Signey’s character evolves alongside Elara’s, representing a shift from viewing the dragons merely as tools of war to seeing them as sentient beings capable of forming genuine, emotional connections.
As the story unfolds, Signey becomes a key figure in Elara’s journey of self-discovery and identity formation, offering a powerful metaphor for breaking free from the past and creating a new future.
The Queen of San Irie
The Queen of San Irie plays a pivotal political role, as she seeks to navigate the delicate balance between peace and the lingering tensions with the Langley Empire. Her leadership is marked by her efforts to host an international peace summit, hoping to prevent further conflict and foster diplomacy between San Irie and the Langley Empire.
While she is a wise and forward-thinking leader, the Queen faces significant opposition from within her own country. Many of San Irie’s citizens feel betrayed by her attempts at peace, considering them to be a concession to the former colonizers.
This political turmoil sets the stage for the larger conflicts within the story, as Faron, Elara, and other characters must navigate the dangerous waters of political intrigue and betrayal. The Queen’s character reflects the complexities of post-colonial governance and the challenges of building peace after war.
The Gods of San Irie
The gods of San Irie are central to Faron’s journey and the larger conflict in the story. While they bestow immense power on Faron, they are revealed to be fallible and manipulative, driving much of the conflict.
The gods’ command for Faron to kill her sister Elara in order to bring lasting peace places her in a tragic position, as she must choose between loyalty to her divine patrons and her love for her sister. Throughout the story, Faron’s relationship with the gods becomes increasingly strained, as she begins to question their true intentions and their control over her fate.
The gods serve as a powerful symbol of religious and political authority, raising questions about free will, fate, and the cost of obedience. Their role in the story critiques the concept of divine authority and the manipulation of individuals for a supposed greater good.
Themes
Colonialism and the Aftermath of Imperialism
In So Let Them Burn, the theme of colonialism and its lingering impact on the post-colonial world plays a central role. The book explores the psychological and cultural aftermath of the Langley Empire’s colonization of San Irie, drawing strong parallels to Jamaica’s colonial history.
The war between the two nations is framed not just as a fight for independence, but as a struggle against a deeply entrenched system of oppression that saw the indigenous people of San Irie treated as subjugates. The dragons, originally free beings, are repurposed as weapons by the Langley Empire, symbolizing the exploitation and domination of one culture over another.
The very presence of dragons in the story represents the remnants of colonization—tools of oppression turned into relics of war. This enduring conflict manifests itself in the characters’ identities and the difficult choices they must make, as both sisters are forced to confront the ideals of freedom and the price they must pay to break free from their oppressors.
The novel underscores how the wounds of colonization don’t simply vanish after independence; instead, they continue to shape both political dynamics and personal relationships for generations.
The Psychological Toll of Childhood Soldiers and the Lasting Scars of Conflict
War leaves scars far beyond the battlefield, and So Let Them Burn delves deep into the trauma experienced by its protagonists, Faron and Elara, who were both child soldiers. The story highlights the deep psychological scars carried by those who grow up in the shadow of war, dealing with PTSD, survivor’s guilt, and a deep sense of loss.
The sisters’ lives have been marked by their experiences in the war: Faron, although celebrated as a hero, struggles with the haunting memories of violence and the weight of her divine calling. Elara, on the other hand, grapples with feeling overshadowed by her younger sister’s fame while simultaneously dealing with the emotional strain of being thrust into an unwanted role of a dragon rider, symbolizing the burden of war.
The emotional aftermath of war is palpable in the novel, with both sisters reflecting on their identities and finding themselves at a crossroads where the trauma they endured becomes part of their internal conflict. Through them, the novel asks deep questions about the cost of freedom, the trauma carried by survivors, and whether peace can ever truly heal the scars of war.
Questioning Faith and Destiny in a World of Gods
One of the most profound themes in So Let Them Burn is the exploration of divine power and its manipulation over the characters’ fates. The gods of San Irie, who once served as protectors, are now portrayed as fallible and even malevolent, questioning the very nature of faith and free will.
Faron’s journey, in particular, is marked by her struggle against the gods who choose her as the Childe Empyrean, a warrior marked by divine power with a terrible prophecy attached to her fate: to ensure peace, she must kill her own sister, Elara. This command forces Faron into a moral and spiritual crisis as she begins to question the gods’ true intentions.
The novel suggests that the gods, far from being benevolent overseers, may have their own hidden motives and agendas that conflict with the ideals of justice and freedom. The tension between Faron’s divine destiny and her personal desires serves as a powerful critique of how religions or deities can impose control over individuals, stripping them of agency and forcing them to act against their morals.
Faron’s journey is, therefore, not only a fight for her sister’s life but also a rebellion against the idea of divine predestination, giving the novel a philosophical depth that challenges the characters’ understanding of fate and their role in shaping it.
Sisterhood and the Complex Dynamics of Familial Bonds Amidst Impossible Choices
At its core, So Let Them Burn is a story about family, but not the idyllic image of family often portrayed in literature. The relationship between Faron and Elara is complicated by both love and rivalry, with the bonds of sisterhood tested by the monumental choices forced upon them by the gods and their country’s political instability.
While Faron and Elara share a deep affection for one another, their different paths in the aftermath of the war highlight the tensions that exist within familial relationships. Faron, celebrated as a war hero, is burdened with expectations and a sense of duty that she struggles to reconcile with her personal desires and her growing doubts about the gods.
Elara, on the other hand, has long been in her shadow, unable to define her identity outside of her sister’s fame and expectations. The magical bond between Elara and the dragon from the Langley Empire adds further complexity, as it forces the two sisters into opposing positions: Faron is tasked with killing Elara to prevent the prophecy from coming true, while Elara is torn between her love for her sister and her newfound allegiance to the dragon and its world.
This push-pull dynamic forces both characters to confront the limits of their love for one another and what they are willing to sacrifice for the greater good. The novel reflects on the complexity of familial bonds, showing that while love can be a powerful force, it can also create divisions when personal identity, survival, and larger forces are at stake.
Queer Identity and Political Struggle Amidst Love, Desire, and Revolution
Another significant and nuanced theme in So Let Them Burn is the intersection of queer identity and political struggle, particularly as seen through the experiences of Faron and Elara. Both protagonists have queerness woven seamlessly into their narrative, which not only explores their personal journeys of self-discovery but also how their identities intersect with the political landscape of their war-torn world.
For Faron, her journey is not just about saving her sister or her country; it’s also about accepting her identity in a world that forces her to choose between duty and desire. Elara’s relationship with Signey, her dragon rider partner, represents both a personal and political rebellion, as it challenges traditional roles and alliances formed during the war.
Their romance is complicated by external pressures, including the ongoing political tensions and the emotional cost of their identities in a society that struggles to reconcile its history of colonial oppression with the need for future peace. The novel intricately weaves these queer identities into the broader political narrative, showing how love, desire, and identity cannot be separated from the struggle for autonomy and freedom in a fractured world.
This thematic focus enriches the narrative, highlighting the importance of finding personal agency in the face of systemic oppression.