When Germania revolts against the dragons that rule Europe, Lt. Johann Fischer joins the attack on the Citadel in his Fokker. The fierce war begins on that day, but the dragons and their allied Papal States wield an overwhelming power. Johann battles for his life, his secret lover, Emil, and the freedom of his people. Kendensei, a Scale Guard of the Citadel, is sent to Germania as a spy, where she infiltrates Johann's family as Gretchen, their live-in maid and cook. As the inept Pope pressures the Kaiser of Germania to abandon his vainglorious war, Cardinal Lanzo Cellucci seeks the throne of Saint Peter for himself, by whatever means at his disposal. Skies of Fire and Smoke is an alternate historical fantasy of brutal warfare and savage aerial battles, which criticizes predatory and hypocritical religious power, threading broad emotional arcs of its characters consumed in war and resistance. "An exciting debut and one of the most original takes on dragons that I've read in a long time." Rebecca Roanhorse, New York Times Bestseller