ASAS DE FOGO 03: O REINO ESCONDIDO

Wings of Fire #3

by Tui T. Sutherland

The WINGS OF FIRE saga continues!

Deep in the rain forest, danger awaits...

Glory knows the dragon world is wrong about her tribe. After all, she isn't "as lazy as a RainWing" -- she isn't lazy at all! Maybe she wasn't meant to be one of the dragonets of destiny, as the older dragons constantly remind her, but Glory is sharp and her venom is deadly... except, of course, no one knows it.

When the dragonets seek shelter in the rain forest, Glory is devastated to find that the treetops are full of RainWings that no dragon could ever call dangerous. They nap all day and know nothing of the rest of Pyrrhia. Worst of all, they don't realize -- or care -- that RainWings are going missing from their beautiful forest. But Glory and the dragonets are determined to find the missing dragons, even if it drags the peaceful RainWing kingdom where they never wanted to be -- in the middle of the war.

Genres: Fantasy, Dragons, Middle Grade, Fiction, Young Adult, Childrens, Adventure

Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Okay, I know what you’re thinking. Tui? What kind of name is that? Is it short for something?

Nope. Among the many great things to come out of New Zealand (the Lord of the Rings movies, cats that paint, my mom) is a bird called the tui—not as well known as the kiwi, but a heck of a lot noisier!

I was born July 31 (same birthday as Harry Potter!) in Caracas, Venezuela, and lived in Asuncion, Paraguay; Miami, Florida; and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, before moving to New Jersey in high school, where I started doing theatre—mostly backstage work, because (a) it was fun, and (b) you got to hang out in the dark with cute boys. (Er, I mean . . . because it was artistically fulfilling, yes.)

I graduated from Williams College in ’98 and I currently live in Boston with my husband, my perfect new baby, and my adorable yoodle Sunshine (what’s a yoodle? A puppy that’s three-quarters poodle and one-quarter Yorkshire terrier, of course!).

Much to my parents’ relief, I abandoned my theatrical aspirations after college for the far more stable and lucrative career of fiction writing.

My first two official books were beginning readers, part of Grosset & Dunlap’s “First Friends” series for kids learning to read. MEET MO AND ELLA is tough to find now, but FUN WITH MO AND ELLA should still be out there somewhere.

My first novel for teenagers was THIS MUST BE LOVE, which retells Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream in a modern-day high school, from the POV of the two heroines, Hermia and Helena.

And now I'm writing in a new project called SEEKERS! It's a children's book series that I'm writing with Erin Hunter. Check out my blog to find out more!

Reviews

[Lindsey Daniels · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is quickly becoming one of my favorite series of all time! Sooooo good!

[S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though the book started off slow, by the end I was enthralled. Considering I didn't even like Glory in the first two books, I'm so happy I grew to care about her in this one.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

And yet another gem of an addition to this awesome series! Can I just say wow! I love how every dragon has it's own unique personality. To me the characters seem well developed. Yes, I realize this is a middle grade book but let me say if me, a teenager, can really enjoy this book (and for that matter all the books in this series) then the series is definitely worth reading! I say it doesn't matter all that much if a book is in the YA section or the juvenile section in the library as long as it's a good book! And therefore, I have no qualms with reading books that are considered "middle grade" fiction. Imagination knows no bounds :) . Okay so now that we've go that out of the way let's get on to the review!

I love the excitement, the surprises, and the adventure! So far with each book I've read in the series I sympathize most with the character that's telling the story; probably because I'm inside that characters head! So far I've been "inside" Clay, Tsunami, and Glory's head. The next book is going to be told from Starflight's point of view. Now let me just say he's the dragonet of destiny that I least like. Ever since Morowseer took him to the Nightwing kingdom, he's been acting weird. I mean, weirder than normal. Really, I think that deep down, he's a good lil' dragon but he still seems might suspicious to me! So we'll just have to see how that goes. Oh, and can I just mention how much I LOVE all this horrible betrayal thing that's going on?! The whole struggle of ending the war and the question of "Who's gonna be queen of the Sandwings?" just really sparks my interest! And the fact that none of the Sandwing queens seem to be deserving of the thrown is quite a problem. I'm really excited to see how that turns out! And HM. I really am just going on and on about this aren't I! I promise, no matter what age you are you'll absolutely love this series! I'd recommend this series to anyone! Well.....except for really little kids. Okay then, little kids. And ADULTS. Hey, they can totally stick to their philosophical books. And there health books. And their weird/violent mystery books. And really any other kind of books that adults read. Unless of course, they happen to have an awesome imagination. Then they'll find that they love the books just as much as us "kids" do!

[Allison Tebo · Rating 4 out of 5]

RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU GREW UP WATCHING THE LAND BEFORE TIME.



I know what you’re thinking: “Hey, these are dragons – not dinosaurs.”

*bonks you on the head* Don’t be silly! Where do you think dragon stories come from? Dragons are basically like dinosaurs so – shush! Pay attention!

Even the group dynamic reminds me of The Land Before Time team, with certain dragons bearing a marked resemblance to my beloved Littlefoot, Cera, Spike, and Ducky.

Anything that reminds me of The Land before Time is something that I’m going to be positively disposed to. It also helps that this series is fun in its own right. This series is so intriguing, so fun, so unique – it’s impossible not to enjoy it.

All of the books are well-written but also surprisingly on the grim and violent side, considering they are middle grade. This book was the least intense or violent installment of the series, which I personally preferred.

The author does a good job in switching narrators for each book, but I thought she especially shone in this tale about Glory, previously one of the least likable dragonets in the fivesome, as she dives into the girl’s motivations and feelings with great success.

Beautifully written and with appealing characters and mesmerizing world building, there’s something truly irresistible about this book. Dragons, drama, and danger – what’s not to love?

[Pulek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jaka to jest dobra seria ♥️ Uwielbiam ją czytać , ciepełko się rozlewa, oczy się czasem zaszklą, uśmiecham się do Kindla , czego chcieć więcej ? :)

[maybepsychology · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jestem fanką Glorii i leniwca

[RM(Alwaysdaddygirl) · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars.

🇺🇸🐉

[Brett Salter · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, I finished the third book, and I am happy, but also a little concerned. Although book 2 did NOT suffer from second-book-syndrome, I feel like this one may have. I will explain this later, but I just felt like the mystery and wonder from the first two books might have missed in this one. Trust me, I still enjoyed it thoroughly, I just noticed some of the cracks starting to show is all.

I'm giving it 4 stars. Definitely earning the 4 instead of closer to 5 like the rest. Nothing particularly wrong with it, I just found Glory to be the least effective and my least favorite narrator so far in the series. I am certainly hoping Starflight has a better showing, but I cannot lie. I have my doubts about the reserved and introspective Nightwing.

After finishing "The Hidden Kingdom", I think I now have a full understanding of how each character is going to pan out in the first 5 books. Now this is not necessarily a bad thing. For instance, I love how we can see Clay’s eating habits and dedication to friendship will be his most applicable character traits. I like how we now know that Tsunami is the muscle and the bossiest to the point of pigeonholing her as not much else. Unfortunately, all the dragons are falling into their place and struggling to expand much more beyond. Even Glory, who discovered many things about her tribe, and had a chance to really show us her character growth felt stagnant and stale for her future. And the way she figured out that certain habits she had and things the Talons of Peace said about Rainwings were actually characteristic of all her tribe was something I found interesting. I only wish it was spotlighted more because the rest of the time I thought the focus of the book was on situations that felt forced with contrived results. Like, the end challenge between the Rainwing Queens and Glory's team really stands out in this way.

Besides the small bits I’ve already mentioned, I definitely enjoyed meeting plenty of new dragons and seeing behind the Rainforest Kingdom curtain. I LOVE naming things in my books, and this book gave us a ton of more character names and places which I find to be an entertaining and sometimes funny part of the series. The way the Rainwings utilize sun time and rotate their Queens filled in a bunch of holes for me, and I am cool with that. The last thing I enjoyed is the way this one set up future events in the series like an impending battle between the Nightwings and the Rainwings, which until now had both managed to stay completely out of the war ravaging the dragon tribes of Pyrrhia.

[Cohen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Hidden Kingdom is the third book of the book series called Wings of Fire it is about the five dragonets Sunny, Tsunami, Starflight, Glory, and Clay. These dragons are trying to fulfill their prophecy. The protagonist is Queen Glory, the replacement RainWing Dragonet of Destiny. The conflict of this story is that the dragonets go to Glory's tribe seeking help for their guardian webs, but are trying to be killed by another dragon named Deathbringer, and have found that dragons have been disappearing into thin air. The dragonets visit most of the kingdom's including the Mud kingdom, Rainforest knigdom, Ice kingdom, Kingdom of sand, and Nightwing island. What i liked about this book is when the dragonets are traveling from kingdom to kingdom. I would reccomend this book to people who like adventerous books, and action books.

[Bethany (Beautifully Bookish Bethany) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

This was really good! Glory is such an interesting character and this book introduced a lot of new and intriguing elements. I can see why these books are such a hit. There is a lot about finding where you belong, and what you're willing to do to fight for change and stand up for people who need protection.

[Endira77 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glory has grown on me. I didn't see her compassion until we caught a glimpse of her inner thoughts. Although she's judgmental and lacks trust in others, she also allows herself to give them a chance and focus on the positive traits of her new friends and family. I love how she becomes a queen parallel to Tsunami and they gain respect for one another.

Sunny is starting to show signs of her independence, too. The lemurs sound adorable. Glory's ability is camouflage like Ice Wings is a gift of stealth, and the secret tunnel is definitely an advantage for the enemy. I'm still wishing to know if the sun is like a drug that makes Rainwings carefree or forgetful, and how they can manage that part of their lifestyle. I especially enjoyed imagining the fruits and flowers of the forest.

[Cassandra Hamm · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series keeps getting better and better. Also THERE ARE SLOTHS IN THIS ONE!!!! <3

Glory is one of my favorite WoF characters. RainWings are constantly looked down upon and seen as lazy and slow and unintelligent, usually used in negative analogies, but Glory proves those stereotypes wrong! She is driven and strong while also dealing with the emotional wounds of all those terrible things other dragons have said about her because she’s a RainWing. And when things need to get done, she tries to make changes instead of just saying that things need to change.

Also, Deathbringer and Glory are my fav WoF couple. Enemies to lovers, anyone? ;) the assassin and his queen. <3 (P. S. Murderbasket… if anyone else has read Dragonslayer. XD)

Kinkajou is also too precious for this world. I would die for her. Also for Silver the sloth.

[max theodore · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE ENTIRE THIRD ACT OF THIS BOOK??? THE CONTEST??? THE GRANDEUR PLOT TWIST??? who is DOING it like this. monarchy is okay when it's glory. all hail

[Dakota★Magic in Every Book · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ll try to keep this review short since I’ve already praised the previous two books to the high heavens and back. The third installment of this series is just as fabulous as the previous two and I loved it best thus far because of Glory’s sassy personality and growth as the story progresses. These books are continually amazing because each dragonet has such a unique and distinctive voice that each book, while having a similar writing style, seems completely different based on which dragon is the narrator. Each book provides a different approach and each character grows and develops in a way that leaves you satisfied at the end of each book.

Just… go read them.

[Melvin Rodríguez-Rodríguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though it stumbles near the end, this novel delivers on the fast-paced fun, action and wonder that characterizes the series.

The dragonets are heading to find Glory's home, the rainforest, and she's sure there's more to her tribe than being lazy, as they are often labeled. When they get there, the find the RainWings are a peaceful and good tribe, so good they're being careless and lazy, while a mysterious monster is dissappearing RainWing dragons.

Though many readers didn't like Glory that much, I always liked her from the beginning, she was the underdog, often mistreated and despised by the guardians, but she's also very resilient and the troupe's queen of snark. Her ever-changing scales also made her very and beautiful to imagine, like a mood changing chameleon and what's cooler than that? Plus, her deadly venom made her a force to be reckoned with. Here, her POV novel, she shines and rises to the ocassion, demonstrating she can be a worthy fighter and spy, but also a compassionate character under her frosty exterior.

The rainforest was a great scenario and, just like last time, it was pure joy imagining how this fantasy world is. It was also refreshing to not see the dragonets held in prison and dragons that aren't crazy psychotic killing machines. The mystery this time was much more cryptic and magical, and the quest sends the dragonets to the SandWing and IceWing kingdoms. Last time, I could guess how the mystery was going to develop, even though I didn't knew the culprit, this time however, it was difficult to imagine and outcome with all the twist and turns introduced.

While the first novel was all about the overarching plot and the second was more self contained, this one tries to bridge those two extremes, but in the process it plummets hard on its final quarter. After the mystery is resolved and everything is set up for an action packed finale, we are instead given visions that harken back to book one, and add little, and an overextended and predictable contest that could've been resolved in a chapter or two. Thus, the novel feels incomplete, as its resolution is left as a big cliffhanger.

I am, however, still intrigued by what's going to happen and how Glory's role within story is going to be played out.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was much more exciting and fleshed-out than the second in the series--nearly back to the excellence of the first. I'm still disappointed that some of the dragonets aren't as featured (I LOVE CLAY!), but they had bigger parts in this one (in other words, they weren't just held prisoner nearly the whole book like the last one). I enjoyed getting to know Glory and watching her become a happier dragon, even when her tribe wasn't quite what she was expecting. I'm interested to read Starflight's story next--especially since I haven't particularly liked his character all that much. Hopefully there's some hidden depth to discover.

[Kayla Charisse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wings of Fire is turning out to be one of my favorite middle grade series, right up there with Percy Jackson and Gregor the Overlander. This third installment expanded the world in surprising directions, and I absolutely LOVED Glory's character development in this book. With two books to go, I really have no clue how this series will end and I love that so much. Highly recommend this series if you love middle grade and fantasy and DRAGONS!



Side note: I really have a strong urge to play Spyro right now.

[Allie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 11 year old son loves these books. We listen to a book on our daily school runs, but he was so keen to know what was going to happen in this one that he borrowed a copy from the library to read during his lunch breaks. That definitely warrants 5 stars!

[Devon Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Hidden Kingdom is the third book in the Wings of Fire series. The book follows Glory who with her friends; Tsunami, Sunny, Clay, and Starflight, are trying to find the Rainforest Kingdom that is hidden deep within the Rainforests of Pyrrhia. They are trying to help their former guardian, Webs, who has been badly poisoned by enemy dragons. On their journey in the rainforest they soon discover that bad things are happening when they over hear patrolling Mudwing solders talking about dead bodies they have found and that it is being caused by a monster. Once they finally get to the Rainforest Kingdom they are told that Rainwings have been going missing without any reason. They figure that it must be the monster that the Mudwings were talking about, so in order to keep the Rainwings safe they try to locate the monster. What will happen when they find the monster? Read the Hidden Kingdom to find out. This books genre is fantasy and it was a really good, but not as good the first book in the series but it was better than the second book. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy books.

[Lynn La Bar · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG! Part 3 was like insane. I never saw Glory with all that emotion! she is my all time fav. so may twist but in a good way!!!!

[Bookishrealm · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was sooooooo good! I really enjoyed Glory’s perspective and I have so much more respect for her as a character. She definitely handled situations better than I expected and I was so proud of her for learning to rely more on her friends than attempting to do everything by herself (this definitely reminds me of myself). I was also surprised by a lot of the plot twists especially learning more about the Nightwings and their possible roll in the wars that are occurring. There were also more interesting characters going into this book. The ending threw me off and I’m so excited to read the next book in the series.

[David W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, better than the first two. The rain wings are really fascinating and have such a unique characterization that it’s hard not be enthralled. Tons of action and unique twists but that gets unfortunately taken too far with the final twist and ruins the ending in a pretty annoying way. It very clearly cuts Glory’s character arc, which is otherwise the best of the series so far, in half and makes for an unsatisfying end. Still a great book, but so close to being fantastic.

[Kitten Senpai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Her view was awesome, and *spoiler alert* her relationship with Deathbringer was adorable.

[Kerry W · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is so great I can't wait to start the next one.

[book.x.Lena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aaa nie mogę doczekać się 4 tomu

[midnightfaerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book we get to learn more about how Glory thinks and her transition from young dragonette with no family, to a life with purpose. She's more of a fighter than I realized and was surprised at the twist at the end. I'm curious to see how it will all pan out overall and I'm hoping, no matter what she decides, she will still be a part of the prophecy. The little dragonettes seem to be growing up as well, since we see a possible love interest for both Glory and Starflight. The first two books seemed to have a solution to the immediate plot whereas this book seemed to end at a pivotal moment in the plot. Normally the length of these books would take me a few days to a week to finish, but since I'm so enthralled, I can't seem to put them down. My daily chores are being left behind in lieu of reading, and so I'm able to get through one of these in a day lately. The suspense hasn't lessoned although I felt this book was a little different, going at the story like it was in it for the long haul instead of just until the end of the book. I don't want to give to much away, but I kind of felt like the tunnel to other kingdom was a bit of a cheat. It felt like Sutherland just didn't want to figure out how to get to the next point in the plot, so convienently used magic to throw in an easy solution to the problem. It worked out, and although Glory is one of my favorite characters, I felt this book was missing something. Maybe it's because I don't like the Rainwings much. I almost wish there was a reason for their personality, like they were under a spell or something. I'm hoping that some of that changes, however, I understand that each dragonette is meant to have some growth development when finding the "family" they weren't able to grow up with. It does help along the plotline. I really enjoyed the new character "Deathbringer" in this installment of the series and look forward to his interaction with Glory in the future. We're not sure if he's good or bad yet, and he's got a little bit of this full-of-himself-snarkiness-charmingness that I really enjoy. We also meet the third queen, Blaze, in the this book and I have to say I'm not impressed. I'm hoping for a huge change in one of the other queens or a whole flip side to the prophecy that makes sense that would satisfy the plot and also allow a good ruler. I can honestly say I have no idea which direction this series is heading and I absolutely love that. Being an avid reader like myself can sometimes be a disadvantage when it gets easy to discern plot lines and endings. I am tickled when I get surprised or something unexpected happens that I didn't see coming. I'm also really enjoying sharing this with my 10 yr old who is two books ahead and I have to practically strangle him to not give away endings! Overall, a delightful series and highly recommended.

[Mora · Rating 5 out of 5]

--7 Dec 2023
deathbringer my favorite <3 he's ridiculous. anyway i loveee being in glory's head. she's got such an interesting pov on everything because she's the only one who is very clearly not in the prophecy-as-stated, and i'd argue she's also the most traumatized (which manifests in interesting ways and is most clear from her pov even when she herself doesn't frame it like that). i especially like her dynamic with tsunami and how they snipe at each other constantly but really they love each other and know exactly how far to push the other without taking it personally and are, of course, always on the same side.

also re: nightwings having vaguely british accents, the narrator made kinkajou affect a bad british accent when she was pretending to be a nightwing which is a GREAT voice acting decision


--24 June 2021
the audiobook narrator gives all the nightwings british accents which is funny in itself but it also makes deathbringer, who is funny anyway, absolutely hilarious i love it

[Elwen · Rating 5 out of 5]

So interessant die Meeresflügler auch waren, im Herzen bin ich vermutlich ein Regenflügler ;-) Einfach herrlich wie entspannt und friedlich diese so wunderbar beschriebenen Drachen sind. Und die Haustiere erst - einfach nur zum verlieben! Die Hauptgeschichte ging diesmal zwar nur wenig voran, das hat der farbenfrohe Zwischenstopp aber locker wettgemacht und mir etliche Male ein breites Grinsen ins Gesicht gezaubert. Und weiter geht's in düstere Gefilde mit Band 4 ins Nachtflüglergebiet..

[Ashlea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Omg I love this series but I still can't believe tsunamis mom completely dumped her
That's just cold.

[Flewts · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is for young readers, but it will appeal to boys and girls alike.