Following the events of Silver, Sand, and Silken Wings, something stirs in the Great Desert.
“Beware the Stone Queen’s hoard beneath the sand.”
Awaking after several decades of petrification, Asteria faces immediate betrayal at the claws of her sister Beryll, and a strange pathwalker. They have one goal in Conquer the desert and crown her sister as its new queen. The key to their success lies buried beneath the sands, a deadly army of statues. Barely escaping the ambush alive, the young dragoness finds herself lost in a future that no longer cares about great houses and her royal status. All allies of the past have forsaken her and the only help comes in the shape of a guild mandated guardian; A scarred, wingless Aer wielding dreadful manners and worse humor. In the wake of a great storm and through the thicket of wild islands, Asteria’s path leads deep into her past as her disorganized retinue struggles to keep ahead of their pursuers.
Little does she know about her true enemies plotting against her in the dark corners of the sands.
Sylph grew on me so much in the first book (what kind of innuendo would she blurt on that ?... one that's better left untold probably), I had genuine fears about a shift to another protagonist in this sequel. Would I like the new one, and would I not miss the old one. It's a bold move to do that in a character driven story. And it worked perfectly.
It was an unexpected pleasure to see a character I liked so much through the eyes of another one, especially one as Asteria, with such a gaping rift between each other's education and temperament, leading to quick judgments and all. Asteria and Sylph make a fascinating pair all along, albeit in a changing way. Initially defiant they come to know and appreciate each other, this happens naturally in the story. While they eventually adapt to each other, they do without discarding their own characters.
Another nice thing is the siblings backstory. Beryll, Asteria's sister, first appears like a violent bully but as the story goes, hints and foreshadowing start to paint another picture. Mistakes of the past make trust hard to find, and lead to new ones while trying to mend the former.
When Asteria and her two siblings wake from a long sleep, a threat surfaces with them that can wreak havoc on the world. Their motives and drives remain fuzzy, part affected memories, part them maybe playing their own agendas, and it is not clear which of them would want to counter this threat, or ride it as a tool of domination. And in the middle of them, Sylph whose distaste for world dominating villains is clearly known from the first book. This makes for nice twists, especially as Sylph and Asteria grow to appreciate each other while that shady past lurks at the edge.
Of course, Sylph's tongue is not put to rest, quite the contrary (Sylph, no !...). Asteria's character and background gives her a gods sent practice target for her imaged cues, yet she knows to show tact and restrain herself on the grounds of their growing respect. Still, the dialogue is peppered with just the right amount of Sylph patented humor (often helped by Syan who has a similarly oriented mind) thrown with varying but clearly chosen levels of subtlety. Enough to flavor, not too much that it would blot out the actual narrative and character interactions. Quite a lot of quotable material here.
I also liked a lot the spiritual and magic dimension of the world building, already present in the first book. The Veil is a strange realm, and even the protagonist's grasp of it is very scattered, like apes prodding an unknown thing with sticks. Like the way they experience it is subjective and rooted in each one's experiences, the depictions are likely going to be interpreted differently with each reader, an apt comparison. At the same time those passages still deliver what is relevant to the story while keeping that part of mystery.
Great work, putting all of this together. What else to say ? If you liked the first book, which seems likely if you're looking at the second book's review, you'll like this one even more. Read it.
After being frozen in sand for decades, Asteria and her siblings wake up and find themselves in the middle of a wasteland that used to be their home, with only a few selected memories of who they are and what their purpose is. Her sister Beryll immediately blames her for what happened to them and challenges her for their mother's throne. After barely escaping with her life, Asteria finds a city in the desert and there meets Sylph, who gets assigned as her bodyguard for the time being.
I really loved the first book. Of all the stories written from a dragon's perspective, "Silver, Sand, and Silken Wings" was one of the better ones I've read, if not among my favorites. It had a main character you couldn't help feel sorry for (a vulgar one for sure, but still) and a narrative that kept you engaged until the last page.
The 2nd book is even better! "Sapphire Stars and Sandstone Hearts" is written from the perspective of a dragon who is the very opposite of Sylph. Asteria has the personality you would expect of a royal heir. She believes in her superiority over others and used to be a very studious dragon before the events of the series took place. Pair that with someone like Sylph, who knows how to fight and who always speaks her mind, and there is bound to be some friction.
Sylph is still as amazing as ever and surprisingly even more hilarious from an outside perspective, but maybe it's just because her and Asteria having a complete opposite personality is a recipe for entertaining banters. Despite no longer being the protagonist, Sylph is still a present figure throughout the whole book, and she somehow manages to still grow as a character.
As the story progresses, both Asteria and Sylph learn much from each other, along with the other companions who travel with them. You can feel how the interactions and relationships evolve over time between all of them. It's even more satisfying if you've read the first book beforehand and realize how far Sylph has come with her personal struggles. Asteria is the best dragon she needed and vice versa.
There are other new characters who join the party as well. Kyrian is a bulky dragon and a big softie. Syan is very funny, sometimes disturbingly so. No human this time. The first book featured Brandon, Sylph's human friend, tagging along during her adventure, and for the most part it was just the two of them having each other's back. This book features mostly four dragons and that's it. As much as I enjoyed Brandon and his friendship with Sylph, having four dragons now is...let's face it...just better. Totally not biased here.
As for drawbacks, I have no concrete critisisms, just a few small nitpicks here and there. One thing I need to come to terms with however is the
This might just be my new favorite dragon book now. Hands down the best one I have read this year. I thought the first one was amazing, and it is, but this one has an even more engaging story and more interesting characters. I cannot recommend it enough.
Disclosure: this is an early review of a copy provided by the author. Sapphire Stars and Sandstone Hearts is the perfect sequel to an already good story. It improves upon its predecessor by adopting a new narrative direction, while retaining the strongest elements of the previous book.
The biggest shift comes in the form of a redefined narrative focal point; Unlike Silver, Sand, and Silken Wings, which in many ways was all about its protagonist – Sylph, Sapphire Stars and Sandstone Hearts shifts the focus towards character interactions. This is helped by the fact that the story effectively has two protagonists, and one of them, Astaria, has a fractured recollection of her past, which makes it more difficult for her to dwell on it and drives her towards focusing on more pressing matters in the present, like, you guessed it, interacting with other characters.
I’m completely on board with this shift as it plays into the story’s two biggest strengths: its characters and their interactions. The best example is the relationship between the two protagonists of the story and the way it progresses from open disdain to grudging acceptance, companionship, and eventually something more. The character dynamics between Astaria and Sylph are absolutely excellent. Whether it’s a heartfelt scene or Astaria blundering into yet another Sylph’s innuendo, their interactions are always a joy to read. This is in part because said interactions are well-written, and in part because Astaria and Sylph are both very cool characters, who are nonetheless quite different from each other, which gives their relationship a lot of depth.
I also can’t help but praise the story for committing to the idea of every kind of dragon having a different perception of the world. Usually, most xenofiction stories treat it as a mere gimmick, mentioning it a couple of times to justify its existence. Sapphire Stars and Sandstone Hearts, however, fully commits to it. Since the story is told from the perspective of a Sol dragon, known for their acute sense of smell, every scene not only contains a description of what it looks like, but also what it smells like. Emotions of other characters are often told or expressed through smell as well, which is neatly woven into the social customs of Sol dragons. This kind of attention to detail makes the book stand out, and it’s something I wish more authors included in their stories.
Storywise, Sapphire Stars and Sandstone Hearts feels mostly centered on Astaria and her relationship with Sylph, which I don’t mind one bit, since both of those elements are flawlessly executed. Still, it does result in the big existential threat feeling kinda tacked on to the rest of the story. It is vital for shaping the actions of the characters, adding some urgency to the situation, and ultimately bringing them together, but otherwise seems to be resigned to a secondary role.
Another thing that I want to note is that the prose in the story is well-written and well-edited. The flow of the writing is very smooth, making for a pleasant reading experience. In a marked improvement over the previous book, which was a little rough around the edges, the prose of Sapphire Stars and Sandstone Hearts has a natural flow to it; I’ve personally encountered no more than 7 typos or errors while reading it, which is a very respectable result for a 568-page-long self-published story.
All in all, Sapphire Stars and Sandstone Hearts is an noticeable improvement over its predecessor, and since Silver, Sand, and Silken Wings was quite good already, this makes its sequel undeniably great. If you like dragons and enjoy a good character driven narrative, your only excuse for not reading it would be a severe allergic reaction to innuendo, and even then, I would still judge you.
I had fun reading it. The main character Asteria starts out as a (partial) amnesiac and as she uncovers more of her past, she doesn't entirely like what she finds. You learn about her history at the same time she does, which makes for a cool dynamic. All the main characters have distinctive and interesting personalities, and watching them play off one another and deal with the situations they find themselves in is probably the best part of the story. The prose is engaging. There is a pretty cute romance between two characters who don't seem to have a lot in common at first. All good stuff.
One thing I particularly appreciate about this story is the worldbuilding. Most characters in the book, including all the protagonists, are quadrupedal dragons. You can tell the author has put some thought into what a world like that would actually be like. There are several different dragon species in the setting who all have different abilites, and that too is something that affects the story in more than superficial ways. It's nice to read something that pays attention to those details, since in a lot of fantasy fiction the worldbuilding can end up feeling like an unimportant backdrop or even an impediment to what the story is actually about.
On the negative side, I would say that the main plot can sometimes feel a bit disjointed. Pretty close to the climax, . It makes sense in context, but it comes a but out of left field and probably should have been woven in a bit earlier. It's probably my biggest gripe with this story, but it really didn't hinder my enjoyment that much.
Overall I recommend it if you want to read about dragon protagonists, queer romance, or fantasy adventures. Also I recommend it to anyone who read and liked the first book. Actually I guess if you haven't read the first book and are intrigued by this one, you should read the original first. I do think this one is generally an improvement, though.
Full disclosure: the author sent me a free review copy of the story.
This sequel is in just about all ways a considerable improvement over the first. Characters live up to their full potential and have satisfying arcs this time around, without compromising on the Strange Stuff that we've come to love.
We're forcefully ripped from the POV of Sylph for this book, and instead follow a new character, who was a statue for the past century or so, just waking up to a new world. This dragon, Asteria, is an absolute breath of fresh air compared to poor Sylph. She's her foil, powerful out of the gate and always planning ahead. That is, she is until after the initial chapters with her, where she starts . This is about one thousand more times more satisfying than Sylph's rather weak arc in the last book.
Oh, Sylph is also there, by the way. This book also has a lot of romance, and yes, lesbiab dragons. Sylph, out of the POV, slowly recovers from her Girlfailure Curse, and indeed receives a solid arc of her own. . The ending was less of . So much more satisfying.
And finally, there was SPECTACLE. The magic system in this world always had a high ceiling, but this time our characters realize this. The magic being flung around, especially in the ending, is just so much more fun this time around. I really hope the next book keeps it up.
Anyways, as for critique? Some characters are deep and have wonderful personality, but others are flat and mostly unnecessary to the plot. Clove is boring , and Kyrian... Exists. Syan and Arid are woefully underdeveloped for how strong of characters they are, and why is Lyre even there for more than a chapter?
There's also a looming problem, that I like to call the Saiyan Problem. Moving on, to help with the big overarching villain established this book, any relevant character basically has to be a Pathwalker, a special magic type of dragon. Our "normie" dragons we've introduced this book will soon become irrelevant. I hope the book continues to escalate the Pathwalker Bullshit, I really love that sort of thing, but I forsee Problems.
And, uh, the little slavery subplot these books have been going through can be interpreted in an unkind fashion if you try hard enough.
Okay, despite all those paragraphs of critique, I loved the book a lot. it was absolutely quality, and I'm very excited for any future titles in this series. One of my favorites this year. I'll be thinking about this one for a while. Can't wait to see what the dragon gang gets up to next!
I read the book as an ARC reader, and I mean TL:DR it's good, lots of fun. If you liked SSSW then you'll definitely like this sequel.
It's a character focused story, it's got hot new magic shenanigans, it follows up a few plot points from the first book, it's got some very setting-specific dragon jokes, and perhaps most of all.
It has the gaysTM but I guess you already knew that from the first book but I had to mention it.
Silver, Sand, and Silken Wings was an unexpected gem, one that thrived mainly on its characters—especially its messed-up and life-mauled dragoness, Sylph. So I was really looking forward to meeting her again, now that there were hints her problems with touch might be resolved.
I was surprised to find that the point-of-view character was no longer Sylph, but the intriguing and sympathetic Princess Asteria, who awakens from her long, magic-induced slumber. However, Sylph very much remains a main character as well. It was fascinating to see her from another character’s perspective. Oh, and if you enjoyed her crude humor in book one—you won’t be disappointed here.
I won’t go into detail about the plot. There is an overarching story that’s solid, but within it lies a subplot that I found the most enjoyable to read. You’ll recognize it when you get there.
Overall, I had a great time reading this book. If you enjoyed book one, I’m confident there’s zero chance you’ll be disappointed. I’d even say it’s better than the first.