Amel Leafbrought is a 16 year old girl with a crippled leg and who comes from a poor family, but all her life she's dreamed of becoming something more -
someone important
. No longer wanting to be a finacial burden to her family, and being fed up as only being seen as nothing more than a girl with a disability, Amel makes a life changing decision.
The grim thought of never even trying brings her to dragon school. What is there to lose when she already has no one and no money? Sure,
she could lose her life
, but it'd be better to lose her life trying to become something than to waste it by playing safe and always wondering "what if...?".
She had always imagined what becoming a dragon rider and living her days with purpose might be like, but never thought the day could ever come. But here she is now, in dragon school, along side her wave of new dragon rider trainees. Each one eager to pass every task and become a member of the Dominion Dragon Riders; to live their lives according to their chosen dragon color.
Dragon school is not for the weak. The work is grueling, and the tests could very well kill you if, of course, the untamed dragons don't do it first. Besides that, the teachers and students are all reluctant to become attached to any of the new trainees for fear of losing them to a brutal death before any of them can even reach the next stage. Though all the students struggle with their lessons, Amel struggles most of all because of her disability, and everyone around her believes she'll be dead before they take their first flight. However, she does make one friend, though, who seems to believe in her, and she refuses to give up and let her disadvantages stop her from doing what she set out to do.
When an urgent letter arrives to the school from the Dominion Capital, the teachers have to cut their students training time short. Though they were supposed to have weeks more to prepare themselves for their first flight, trainees only have until the next morning to either pass or... not.
What reason does the capital have to rush the dragon school to test their students so prematurely? Will Amel pass her test in time and move on to be an initiate or will she be one of the unfortunate failures who die trying?
First Flight by Sarah K. L. Wilson is a YA fantasy story about a girl with a crippled leg who wants to become a dragon rider and find her place in this world. This is the first novella in a series of twenty.
From start to finish this novella is packed full of action and suspense! The characters all have their own voice and unique personalities. I love Amel - she's strong willed, thick skinned and kind hearted. She has a disability and the author treats it realistically and makes it believable. Roalcan is another favorite of mine, I love his friendship with Amel and his attitude in general. I do wish that we could've gone a little deeper in these characters' backgrounds, as they're only really just touched on, but I found myself getting attached to certain ones despite that, anyway.
The world building was good. I would have liked a little more detail on the surroundings and much more detail on how the wild dragons live, the deal between the dragon queen and the Dominion people, the magic used in keeping the dragons/ bonding them and what the symbols represent/ etc, and the laws of the world they live in. However, this is the first novella of many, so I'm sure more of that information will come soon enough (I hope). I really enjoyed learning the differences between the dragon types, and what their colors represent. Purple is my most favorite color, and the fact that the main dragon of this story is purple makes me enjoy it even more.
Overall, this is a YA fantasy, fast paced short story / novella that's full of danger, suspense and overcoming nearly impossible challenges despite being at a disadvantage. If you have a love for dragons, strong female leads and fantasy worlds then this is for you! This doesn't end on a cliffhanger, but it will leave you reaching for the next book as soon as you finish! Sarah K. L. Wilson's Dragon School serial is on KU - so read it for free, if you can!