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Wings of Fire #10
Darkness of Dragons
An ancient evil, a terrible prophecy -- and five dragonets who could save the world...Don't miss the most thrilling adventure yet in the New York Times bestselling Wings of Fire series! Qibli knows Darkstalker must be stopped. And he knows he could stop him -- if he had magic. With even a sliver of the ancient dragon's all-powerful scroll, Qibli could rewrite history the right end war forever; make every dragon happy; perhaps even cast a very small spell so that everyone would like him...Instead, as Darkstalker's dangerous influence spreads across Pyrrhia, entrancing or killing every dragon in the seven tribes, Qibli can only grasp the small animus objects he's borrowed from Turtle. With some clever thinking, Qibli's talons finally hold the power to make a difference. But prophecies are not easy to rewrite. Can Qibli be the magical force Pyrrhia needs, or will he be the one to bring Jade Mountain -- and his family, his friends, his whole world -- crashing down?
336 pages, Hardcover
First published July 25, 2017
2048 people are currently reading
9780 people want to read
About the author
Tui T. Sutherland
202 books6,300 followersOkay, 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!
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!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,075 reviews
August 20, 2017
After some careful thought, I'm lowering the rating
I'll probably explain later
--------
I...
I can't believe it's actually over.
I mean, I don't know if I hoped for Tui to pull another fast one on us like she did in TBD. I, like, lowkey couldn't breathe when I read the words "The adventure continues..." But rip, it just turned out to be an announcementish for a graphic novel. Which, like, let's be real; I'm still going to buy every single WoF book that exists. And also it would be really cool to read TDP again, but like with visuals.
I don't know if I wished for another 5 books because a good portion of the WoF fandom are also part of the Warriors fandom, and many of them voiced concerns about another Warriors situation arising with WoF. And like, I don't know. How many times can you use the same story of "There was a prophecy" "five more dragons" "BAM EVIL" over and over again before it gets old?
I suppose it's better to stop sooner rather than later, and before the quality of the series deteriorates.
SPEAKING OF WHICH; I 100% take back that anonymous tumblr confession I sent about the quality of the WoF series declining after Escaping Peril. Because while yes, I do believe something about the second set of books doesn't feel the same as the first set, there absolutely no way that I could properly criticize this series when the final book was wrapped up so beautifully with so many wonderful lessons.
Yes, there were issues in the last three books. But then again, what kind of book doesn't have issues? It feels like the story kind of lost its way for a little while (at least in my humble opinion), but it found itself again in the last book, along with its heart and just everything that makes this series wonderful.
(I really can't believe it's over. Like, actually this time. Or is it...? Huehuehue)
I can't even begin to describe how amazing this series is. The characters are so complex, like, genuinely complex with real flaws that they need to overcome in the end and they all have such distinct personalities. And the lessons are so important and the world is amazing and there's just SO MUCH depth in these books that are only ever 300-400 pages and it's astonishing. Like, there's so much more to these books than in some 600+ YA books I've read before.
Honestly, I want to keep gushing but can't without talking about some very specific things.
And the entire series itself is just so FUNNY. Like, so unexpectedly. It's like, you're just casually reading and then a witty line just jumps out all of a sudden and it's just HILARIOUS. The hilarity is kind of like the style of crack fics on ao3 tagged "crack taken seriously," except WoF doesn't read like fanfiction. The humorous parts are so ridiculous (but not like bad ridiculous) but you just roll with it, and then it only gets better.
Some issues I had was that some of the characterizations felt a little off, like with Winter at the beginning. Like I get that he was under a spell and all, but I'm talking about some of his mannerisms and stuff. Like the whole "Your earring would clash with my scales" or whatever. That doesn't seem very Winter-y to me. And also, Ostrich lowkey sounded like Kinkajou, but you know, esta bien because Ostrich is still adorable.
Also, the book didn't give me the sense of an overarching plot like TBN did. There wasn't the feel of a slowly building tension and a goal that the protagonist had to work towards. Qibli was kind of just jumping around everywhere trying to figure stuff out, and it felt like he just had so many things to do at once but no real direction. Like, "I guess I'll go find this missing dragon and oops, I found out about another conspiracy." It didn't really feel tied together.
And also, we didn't get as much closure on some dragons as I would have liked. There was just a lot of things that didn't feel resolved or there wasn't enough closure, and I believe it was due to having so many other elements on the side that eventually just didn't tie into the main plot and so they got brushed aside.
And finally: the greatest issue of all....
THE FREAKING QIBLI-WINTER-MOON LOVE TRIANGLE UGHH THREE MOONS MY EYEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS.
One thing I loved about the first arc was that the romance wasn't so like "I love you, I need you, etc etc," it was all just like, "you're a good-looking dragon who's somewhat helpful to me and we keep spending time together and would eventually like to see in the future again." Like, the romance wasn't a big deal which I appreciate, but like it was still there and I could happily ship it. You know, like a realistic relationship that starts small and grows and not like "I LOVE YOU BECAUSE YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHO UNDERSTANDS MEEEEEEEEEE." (
Aka, Qibliwatcher/Winterwatcher)
I'm not sure if I'm happy about Moon's choice in the end. Even though I like both Qibli and Winter, I didn't really get the sense that she really liked either of them that much anyway. Like, I just didn't get it. I loved her relationship with Qibli in MR because they were, like, best buds. And also, I liked the thing she had going on with Winter, too. But When Winter and Qibli's POVs happened, it was just like UGHHHH STOPPPPPP
Because both of them were so moony-eyed and like "does she like me or him?' "she's the missing piece of me" "I need to know if she's safe" "he looked at Moon the same way I do, with love" and it's just BLEH DISGUSTING WHY
It's just SO cheesy and lame and I just wish that Moon didn't choose at all. I just wish that it was kind of left open ended, not all like "WE MUST COUPLE." The first arc did it well, the second arc was a little too intense for me.
(Also, let's be real. Qinter's the only real ship. I was a fool all along.)
(Like WOW there was a LOT of Qinter moments. I just love their friendship so much and it seems like they genuinely care about each other, although I do wish there was just a little more because even though they're wonderful, I feel like their relationship could have used just a little more development. But I still love them.)
(QINTER, omg)
But in all honesty, I didn't hate it as much as I could have. Because in the end, it didn't take away from the overall plot. And all the characters involved in the love triangle are actually decent dragons and I like them. Plus, it was fun to just roll my eyes at everything.
All in all, I'm going to miss this series. I remember originally not wanting to read this because it sounded cheesy, but then my friend told me to read it and I honestly don't know where I would be if I wasn't obsessing over fictional dragons.
I really...
I really don't want to say good-bye.
UPDATE: Turns out there IS going to be a third arc!!! Guess I can't get rid of WoF that easily :)))
I'll probably explain later
--------
I...
I can't believe it's actually over.
I mean, I don't know if I hoped for Tui to pull another fast one on us like she did in TBD. I, like, lowkey couldn't breathe when I read the words "The adventure continues..." But rip, it just turned out to be an announcementish for a graphic novel. Which, like, let's be real; I'm still going to buy every single WoF book that exists. And also it would be really cool to read TDP again, but like with visuals.
I don't know if I wished for another 5 books because a good portion of the WoF fandom are also part of the Warriors fandom, and many of them voiced concerns about another Warriors situation arising with WoF. And like, I don't know. How many times can you use the same story of "There was a prophecy" "five more dragons" "BAM EVIL" over and over again before it gets old?
I suppose it's better to stop sooner rather than later, and before the quality of the series deteriorates.
SPEAKING OF WHICH; I 100% take back that anonymous tumblr confession I sent about the quality of the WoF series declining after Escaping Peril. Because while yes, I do believe something about the second set of books doesn't feel the same as the first set, there absolutely no way that I could properly criticize this series when the final book was wrapped up so beautifully with so many wonderful lessons.
Yes, there were issues in the last three books. But then again, what kind of book doesn't have issues? It feels like the story kind of lost its way for a little while (at least in my humble opinion), but it found itself again in the last book, along with its heart and just everything that makes this series wonderful.
(I really can't believe it's over. Like, actually this time. Or is it...? Huehuehue)
I can't even begin to describe how amazing this series is. The characters are so complex, like, genuinely complex with real flaws that they need to overcome in the end and they all have such distinct personalities. And the lessons are so important and the world is amazing and there's just SO MUCH depth in these books that are only ever 300-400 pages and it's astonishing. Like, there's so much more to these books than in some 600+ YA books I've read before.
Honestly, I want to keep gushing but can't without talking about some very specific things.
And the entire series itself is just so FUNNY. Like, so unexpectedly. It's like, you're just casually reading and then a witty line just jumps out all of a sudden and it's just HILARIOUS. The hilarity is kind of like the style of crack fics on ao3 tagged "crack taken seriously," except WoF doesn't read like fanfiction. The humorous parts are so ridiculous (but not like bad ridiculous) but you just roll with it, and then it only gets better.
Some issues I had was that some of the characterizations felt a little off, like with Winter at the beginning. Like I get that he was under a spell and all, but I'm talking about some of his mannerisms and stuff. Like the whole "Your earring would clash with my scales" or whatever. That doesn't seem very Winter-y to me. And also, Ostrich lowkey sounded like Kinkajou, but you know, esta bien because Ostrich is still adorable.
Also, the book didn't give me the sense of an overarching plot like TBN did. There wasn't the feel of a slowly building tension and a goal that the protagonist had to work towards. Qibli was kind of just jumping around everywhere trying to figure stuff out, and it felt like he just had so many things to do at once but no real direction. Like, "I guess I'll go find this missing dragon and oops, I found out about another conspiracy." It didn't really feel tied together.
And also, we didn't get as much closure on some dragons as I would have liked. There was just a lot of things that didn't feel resolved or there wasn't enough closure, and I believe it was due to having so many other elements on the side that eventually just didn't tie into the main plot and so they got brushed aside.
And finally: the greatest issue of all....
THE FREAKING QIBLI-WINTER-MOON LOVE TRIANGLE UGHH THREE MOONS MY EYEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS.
One thing I loved about the first arc was that the romance wasn't so like "I love you, I need you, etc etc," it was all just like, "you're a good-looking dragon who's somewhat helpful to me and we keep spending time together and would eventually like to see in the future again." Like, the romance wasn't a big deal which I appreciate, but like it was still there and I could happily ship it. You know, like a realistic relationship that starts small and grows and not like "I LOVE YOU BECAUSE YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHO UNDERSTANDS MEEEEEEEEEE." (
Aka, Qibliwatcher/Winterwatcher)
I'm not sure if I'm happy about Moon's choice in the end. Even though I like both Qibli and Winter, I didn't really get the sense that she really liked either of them that much anyway. Like, I just didn't get it. I loved her relationship with Qibli in MR because they were, like, best buds. And also, I liked the thing she had going on with Winter, too. But When Winter and Qibli's POVs happened, it was just like UGHHHH STOPPPPPP
Because both of them were so moony-eyed and like "does she like me or him?' "she's the missing piece of me" "I need to know if she's safe" "he looked at Moon the same way I do, with love" and it's just BLEH DISGUSTING WHY
It's just SO cheesy and lame and I just wish that Moon didn't choose at all. I just wish that it was kind of left open ended, not all like "WE MUST COUPLE." The first arc did it well, the second arc was a little too intense for me.
(Also, let's be real. Qinter's the only real ship. I was a fool all along.)
(Like WOW there was a LOT of Qinter moments. I just love their friendship so much and it seems like they genuinely care about each other, although I do wish there was just a little more because even though they're wonderful, I feel like their relationship could have used just a little more development. But I still love them.)
(QINTER, omg)
But in all honesty, I didn't hate it as much as I could have. Because in the end, it didn't take away from the overall plot. And all the characters involved in the love triangle are actually decent dragons and I like them. Plus, it was fun to just roll my eyes at everything.
All in all, I'm going to miss this series. I remember originally not wanting to read this because it sounded cheesy, but then my friend told me to read it and I honestly don't know where I would be if I wasn't obsessing over fictional dragons.
I really...
I really don't want to say good-bye.
UPDATE: Turns out there IS going to be a third arc!!! Guess I can't get rid of WoF that easily :)))
July 20, 2020
This ending was TERRIBLE. It felt SO WRONG. I think most of the book was okay until 3/4ths in, and then everything was just plain wrong...and just descended into more wrongness. I have a very awful feeling of it, coming away. Some parts of it made me feel kind of sick to my stomach actually.
First off let me say this was my favourite book series ever. But I've noticed Tui's writing is getting sloppier, more ridiculous. More outlandish. She's taken it to a whole new level. So I mentioned in my review of Darkstalker that it felt to me like dragons got more uncivilized as the future progressed. Last I checked, Seawings didn't eat fruit in the first series. They didn't own things like COUCHES. They acted more like dragons, true to their nature, treasure-loving, meat-eating beasts with a very savage hierarchy where they killed each other to be queen. Then fruit entered the picture in Darkstalker, which I thought was unique to Rainwings only. As Tui continues writing, with every book, I notice her both her characters and tribes get less unique and start becoming exactly like each other almost. Tell me, why are there no mention of civilized things like plates and couches in the first dragonet series, but suddenly all these things exist thousands upon thousands of years ago when Darkstalker lived? It feels less like ancient history and looks more like something from the future, to be honest. In my opinion, in Darkstalker, that's when Tui really started going off course. And this book is basically a wild goose chase off of that one, going down paths it never should have gone. It's totally unrecognizable from the first series.
Flaw 1.
The characters slowly sound more and more like each other. Did you notice in this book, Qibli, Turtle, and Kinkajou all kind of sound the same? Just the way they talk. So many "totally's" thrown in and "awesomes" and "epic." And just weird outlandish things that really don't sound like the character. I kind of just feel like the author turned every single character into a mini Kinkajou. Or rather, what a kinkajou would act like if she were a sandwing, or a nightwing, or a seawing. Do they literally all have to sound like the same voice? I see more the author talking through her characters, than the characters themselves. It felt weird and cheesy to me and made me cringe, how many times I thought "Is it Qibli talking, or Kinkajou? I can't tell cause they literally sound the same and I'd never know the difference unless the author told me."
Flaw 2. Writing style is getting sloppy. I feel like the author is trying way too hard to be funny and too goofy with her readers and has lost the ability to write beautiful stories with poignant storytelling. I thought she was an amazing writer when I first read the first stories. Why? She was able to describe so much with so little, and I could imagine the story so vividly. Starting in Darkstalker and ending in Darkness of Dragons however, I feel as if she kind of just threw her writing ability out the window in an effort to run a little comedy show here. It really bothers me.
Flaw 3. Her theme/morals. What is this about good vs evil? What would Tui define as good? It kind of sounds like her version of "good" is helping other dragons. And she so grandly built up this theme to teach us that free will is something good, something that every dragon deserves, no matter how evil they are. We see that Qibli comes to this realization after considering making his mother like him if he were an animus. We see it when Darkstalker made Vulture turn into a dragon that had the mind of a dragonet. We saw how wrong that made Qibli felt. And yet, ironically, they do the exact same they were so against to Darkstalker. Against his will, they turn him into someone completely different. So unrecognizable he isn't even him anymore. Perhaps this is what disturbed me the most about this story. And you know, maybe I would have accepted that in the end eventually, if they had at least gave him a "start over" future. Like maybe he could "start over" as a dragonet with zero powers, but he would still be fully himself otherwise. He may not have his memories, but at least he would still have his icewing heritage? I'm sorry but how cruel can you be. How did it make Hailstorm feel, to be a completely different dragon he couldn't even relate to when he became himself again? And you know, Tui spends all this time showing us that doing this to dragons is EVIL. It's WRONG AND TWISTED AND DISTURBING. And then what does Tui do? Her characters are heroes DOING THE EXACT SAME THING TUI SAID WAS EVIL THROUGHOUT THE SERIES JUST because they do it to an evil villain like Darkstalker. Everyone agreed that Darkstalker was evil. Why? Not because he didn't have good intentions, but because he kept forcing dragons to go against their will to get the future he wanted. And in the end, that is EXACTLY what Moonwatcher, Kinkajou, and Foeslayer did. They turned Darkstalker into a completely different dragon against his will to get the future THEY wanted. In the end all I can think is that the heroes are literally just like Darkstalker and I've lost pretty much all my respect for them. I would have rathered Darkstalker died. Or that he went to sleep forever. Or better yet-went back in time to start over with his family without his powers. Maybe him and Clearsight could have had a future. That never felt finished to me. Really? You can't just fix everything by erasing someone's memories. I s that what the author thinks? That if you erase someone's memories, everything is solved and magically fixed? It's disturbing. It's DISGUSTING. The worst thing you can do to someone is take away their memories. You're better off killing them in my opinion. Personally I'd rather die than have someone remove all my memories from me. You know why? Because you mark someone's life an absolute waste. Every single moment of it. Worthless. A total waste. Whether or not that person values it, you decide since you're god you have the ability to take away their memories. I am very disturbed with the author for thinking this is the greatest solution she could have taken for dealing with Darkstalker. Here's what I was HOPING would happen: Foeslayer comes back. Since Foeslayer disappearing, that's when Darkstalker's rage and vengeance really took a turn for the worst in the book Darkstalker. Therefore I was hoping when his mother came back, his rage and longing would be quelled. That he'd take one glance at his mother, and his heart would be LIKE a dragonet again. That he'd be willing to give up anything for her because once she disappeared from his life, that's when he REALLY lost it. It's like this I imagine: Humans go around destroying things and in pain and longing in their hearts that make us lose our minds and do terrible things to each other. I imagine Jesus's coming, where Jesus's very presence is enough to stop the insanity. That because He is what we're all longing for secretly, that everyone would just stop and their heart would be quieted as they looked in awe and with tears in their eyes at him. That's kind of what I was hoping for, for Foeslayer to show up and Darkstalker to instantly freeze. All thoughts of conquer gone. All thoughts of everything that went wrong...this is a gift from the past. He should have cherished it. I was appalled he went right back to scheming not even five minutes after his mother showed up. Is that how YOU would react if one of the people you loved most in your life you thought died suddenly appeared to come back to life? Seriously? I wanted his inner anger to quiet until it was almost nonexistent, so entranced with his mother, she was his world. I wanted her to reach out a talon and touch his face, still loving him, despite everything he's done. Why would you ever want to completely change your son, even to half rainwing? Disgusting! I thought she would love him more than that, value him more than that! If she really wanted a completely new dragon, she could have just gone and gotten married with someone else and made a new baby dragonet. It's disturbing that she was willing to erase every aspect of Arctic from her son. Take away his icewing heritage and give him a random rainwing one instead. That's just wrong. This ending made me give this 1 star, and I probably otherwise would have given it 4, or at the very least, 3. But that ending? It was so awful and so wrong and SO DISTURBING that right now I kind of just never want to pick up another one of Tui's future books ever again. This story is not what it used to be. I can't even recognize this crazy world she's building anymore.
Flaw 4. The "perfect" ending. NOTHING IS PERFECT. You CANNOT JUST FIX AN ENDING BY TYING UP ALL THESE LOOPHOLES AND LOOSE ENDS TO MAKE THAT HAPPILY EVER AFTER FEELING. I say a good story always has some mystery left over. I HATE stories that try to tie up all the loose ends, when there are way too many loose ends to tie up! That epilogue was WAY longer than it should have been and WAY too perfect. It was so perfect it was unbelievable. I wrote a book once and tried to do that in my epilogue. My editor completely cut it out, saying it was a terrible way to write. After further reflection I realized he was right. Nobody likes a story that is tied up with a little bow so that it's no longer relatable. Life isn't like that. It's not perfect. It's not a happy ending for EVERYONE.
Flaw 5. I felt like the author was inconsistent and kept forgetting things. I also felt like that when you basically make someone play god, and throw out any limitations or rules for animus's, you kind of just screw yourself and your story over forever. I don't think the Wings of Fire series will ever recover from that. You cannot make a story or any possible way to bring down a "God" unless that "God" decides that he doesn't want to be God anymore. But as you can see...he still very much wanted to be God, even experiencing how lonely and disturbing and awful it was.
Flaw 6. Winter. Winter got thrown out the window like he's less valuable and less of a dragon than everyone else just because he doesn't see the world like everyone else does. You know what? I liked Winter's book. I liked being in Winter's mind. I liked feeling his feelings. He felt relatable. He felt like a person. And Qibli is maybe the only dragon in the story who still thinks of Winter as a valuable dragon. But I feel like the author decided she had zero respect for her character anymore and threw him under the bus. Not only did Winter give up his entire tribe to be with his friends, he came to some pretty groundbreaking realizations in his book about the meaning and value of friendship and how much affection he had for his friends after all. And you know what? None of them except Qibli can return the favour. I mean they can't even trust him to tell him what happened to Darkstalker!! Doesn't he deserve to know that much?! Oh but NO he doesn't get to know the truth JUST BECAUSE he might not agree with it? Well geez Tui, he's not the only one! Tui, are you honestly telling me that just because someone disagrees with you on something, they don't have any right to know about something they were completely involved in earlier? That's cold. That's really cold. And that little thing Kinkajou said to Winter about Moon. "It might be too late." And him agreeing with her as if it was just some little thing he could get over. What a nice way to conveniently stick Moon and Qibli together while blaming the result on Winter. So what if Winter gets angry sometimes? Don't we all? No offense but when Winter was screaming at Moon for loving Darkstalker, I totally sympathized with him. Excuse me moon, but Darkstalker put a spell on ME, YOUR FRIEND. And YOU STILL TRUST HIM?! That's kind of like backstabbing someone. Think of it this way: one of your friends that you've been friends far longer but lately you're crushing on this new kid. And this new kid is bullying your best friend behind your back, and he comes up and tells you that and instead of siding with your best friend you kind of just shrug him off and say things like "Well I still like him. And I still trust him." What a way to completely disregard your friends feelings and worth. I'd be yelling at Moon too if the same thing had happened to me! Moon is kind of a piece of....nevermind.
Flaw 7. What is WITH all the shipping in this book?! My goodness! How about ONE ship? One love circle is fine I guess. It's typical. But how many do we have in here? We've got Turtle and Kinkajou, which seems so random. I'm sorry but that came out of nowhere in the last book. I'd never seen any chemistry between them in the previous book until we were in Turtle's mind. In fact, Turtle and Peril had more chemistry between them than those two ever did, even though those two would never work. Even those two should have been more likely to end up with each other! Kinkajou and Turtle? Sorry but I can't see it, it's just too random and weird. Qibli and Moon is fine I guess. I have nothing against it, at LEAST we knew from the beginning that Qibli already liked her so it wasn't sprung on us or anything like that. And I feel like Moon should have had better reasons for choosing Qibli over Winter just because, as Kinkajou said "it's too late. You yelled at her." It's nice to know someone chooses you over someone else because the other person tends to express their feelings and frustrations pretty well. Isn't there more to Winter than that Moon? Come on. I admit I like Qibli better too, but for entirely different reasons. Okay and then Anemone and Tamarin? *Throws book down* I'm done. DONE. Author can't stop shipping. It's like I'm reading a fanfic and not the real thing! Why Anemone and Tamarin? Just cause it's gay? ZERO chemistry between those two throughout any other book but suddenly, SUDDENLY. And then there's also Peril and Clay. Look...it still hurts Clay to touch her. Is he actually in love with her? I know he never says he is but I wonder if the author is going in that direction. Peril should have kept the spell that made her normal. Now she gets to touch Clay and know she's always causing him pain.
Flaw 8. Contradictions. Oh yeah and that part where they turned Anemone "good" by putting spells on her. I'm sorry but I'm losing respect for the author's ideals and messages. You lost me. What the crap do you want me to believe? Personally I think a person's choices should be able to show something of their character, but the author thinks they can fix all this crap with magic, a quick fix. I'm starting to think Peril was the only one who realized there's no such thing as a magical "quick fix" and that it all has consequences, but apparently everyone else thinks you can make each other GOOD by putting spells on each other, despite what Qibli said earlier to Darkstalker that his CHOICES are what made him bad, NOT his magic. And yet we're still to believe animus's lose their soul because they use too much magic? Sorry I thought we discovered that it was their CHOICES that make them bad, not their magic. Whatever Tui, I don't even know what I'm supposed to take away from this anymore.
Flaw 9. The name change. THE NAME CHANGE. Does anything else even need to be said? Foeslayer to Hope? Darkstalker to Peacemaker? Insert cheesy much. Despite your cute, liberal names, sunshine and rainbows Tui, I'm not falling for it. Your characters are now completely unrelatable and unrecognizable to me.
Flaw 10. The Lost Continent/Jerboa. So random. Kind of just slapped in there in the ending with nothing leading up to it. The Lost Continent is a great idea but the way it was introduced/executed was too sloppy and rushed.
Yeah I don't know if I'll continue reading these books after that.
First off let me say this was my favourite book series ever. But I've noticed Tui's writing is getting sloppier, more ridiculous. More outlandish. She's taken it to a whole new level. So I mentioned in my review of Darkstalker that it felt to me like dragons got more uncivilized as the future progressed. Last I checked, Seawings didn't eat fruit in the first series. They didn't own things like COUCHES. They acted more like dragons, true to their nature, treasure-loving, meat-eating beasts with a very savage hierarchy where they killed each other to be queen. Then fruit entered the picture in Darkstalker, which I thought was unique to Rainwings only. As Tui continues writing, with every book, I notice her both her characters and tribes get less unique and start becoming exactly like each other almost. Tell me, why are there no mention of civilized things like plates and couches in the first dragonet series, but suddenly all these things exist thousands upon thousands of years ago when Darkstalker lived? It feels less like ancient history and looks more like something from the future, to be honest. In my opinion, in Darkstalker, that's when Tui really started going off course. And this book is basically a wild goose chase off of that one, going down paths it never should have gone. It's totally unrecognizable from the first series.
Flaw 1.
The characters slowly sound more and more like each other. Did you notice in this book, Qibli, Turtle, and Kinkajou all kind of sound the same? Just the way they talk. So many "totally's" thrown in and "awesomes" and "epic." And just weird outlandish things that really don't sound like the character. I kind of just feel like the author turned every single character into a mini Kinkajou. Or rather, what a kinkajou would act like if she were a sandwing, or a nightwing, or a seawing. Do they literally all have to sound like the same voice? I see more the author talking through her characters, than the characters themselves. It felt weird and cheesy to me and made me cringe, how many times I thought "Is it Qibli talking, or Kinkajou? I can't tell cause they literally sound the same and I'd never know the difference unless the author told me."
Flaw 2. Writing style is getting sloppy. I feel like the author is trying way too hard to be funny and too goofy with her readers and has lost the ability to write beautiful stories with poignant storytelling. I thought she was an amazing writer when I first read the first stories. Why? She was able to describe so much with so little, and I could imagine the story so vividly. Starting in Darkstalker and ending in Darkness of Dragons however, I feel as if she kind of just threw her writing ability out the window in an effort to run a little comedy show here. It really bothers me.
Flaw 3. Her theme/morals. What is this about good vs evil? What would Tui define as good? It kind of sounds like her version of "good" is helping other dragons. And she so grandly built up this theme to teach us that free will is something good, something that every dragon deserves, no matter how evil they are. We see that Qibli comes to this realization after considering making his mother like him if he were an animus. We see it when Darkstalker made Vulture turn into a dragon that had the mind of a dragonet. We saw how wrong that made Qibli felt. And yet, ironically, they do the exact same they were so against to Darkstalker. Against his will, they turn him into someone completely different. So unrecognizable he isn't even him anymore. Perhaps this is what disturbed me the most about this story. And you know, maybe I would have accepted that in the end eventually, if they had at least gave him a "start over" future. Like maybe he could "start over" as a dragonet with zero powers, but he would still be fully himself otherwise. He may not have his memories, but at least he would still have his icewing heritage? I'm sorry but how cruel can you be. How did it make Hailstorm feel, to be a completely different dragon he couldn't even relate to when he became himself again? And you know, Tui spends all this time showing us that doing this to dragons is EVIL. It's WRONG AND TWISTED AND DISTURBING. And then what does Tui do? Her characters are heroes DOING THE EXACT SAME THING TUI SAID WAS EVIL THROUGHOUT THE SERIES JUST because they do it to an evil villain like Darkstalker. Everyone agreed that Darkstalker was evil. Why? Not because he didn't have good intentions, but because he kept forcing dragons to go against their will to get the future he wanted. And in the end, that is EXACTLY what Moonwatcher, Kinkajou, and Foeslayer did. They turned Darkstalker into a completely different dragon against his will to get the future THEY wanted. In the end all I can think is that the heroes are literally just like Darkstalker and I've lost pretty much all my respect for them. I would have rathered Darkstalker died. Or that he went to sleep forever. Or better yet-went back in time to start over with his family without his powers. Maybe him and Clearsight could have had a future. That never felt finished to me. Really? You can't just fix everything by erasing someone's memories. I s that what the author thinks? That if you erase someone's memories, everything is solved and magically fixed? It's disturbing. It's DISGUSTING. The worst thing you can do to someone is take away their memories. You're better off killing them in my opinion. Personally I'd rather die than have someone remove all my memories from me. You know why? Because you mark someone's life an absolute waste. Every single moment of it. Worthless. A total waste. Whether or not that person values it, you decide since you're god you have the ability to take away their memories. I am very disturbed with the author for thinking this is the greatest solution she could have taken for dealing with Darkstalker. Here's what I was HOPING would happen: Foeslayer comes back. Since Foeslayer disappearing, that's when Darkstalker's rage and vengeance really took a turn for the worst in the book Darkstalker. Therefore I was hoping when his mother came back, his rage and longing would be quelled. That he'd take one glance at his mother, and his heart would be LIKE a dragonet again. That he'd be willing to give up anything for her because once she disappeared from his life, that's when he REALLY lost it. It's like this I imagine: Humans go around destroying things and in pain and longing in their hearts that make us lose our minds and do terrible things to each other. I imagine Jesus's coming, where Jesus's very presence is enough to stop the insanity. That because He is what we're all longing for secretly, that everyone would just stop and their heart would be quieted as they looked in awe and with tears in their eyes at him. That's kind of what I was hoping for, for Foeslayer to show up and Darkstalker to instantly freeze. All thoughts of conquer gone. All thoughts of everything that went wrong...this is a gift from the past. He should have cherished it. I was appalled he went right back to scheming not even five minutes after his mother showed up. Is that how YOU would react if one of the people you loved most in your life you thought died suddenly appeared to come back to life? Seriously? I wanted his inner anger to quiet until it was almost nonexistent, so entranced with his mother, she was his world. I wanted her to reach out a talon and touch his face, still loving him, despite everything he's done. Why would you ever want to completely change your son, even to half rainwing? Disgusting! I thought she would love him more than that, value him more than that! If she really wanted a completely new dragon, she could have just gone and gotten married with someone else and made a new baby dragonet. It's disturbing that she was willing to erase every aspect of Arctic from her son. Take away his icewing heritage and give him a random rainwing one instead. That's just wrong. This ending made me give this 1 star, and I probably otherwise would have given it 4, or at the very least, 3. But that ending? It was so awful and so wrong and SO DISTURBING that right now I kind of just never want to pick up another one of Tui's future books ever again. This story is not what it used to be. I can't even recognize this crazy world she's building anymore.
Flaw 4. The "perfect" ending. NOTHING IS PERFECT. You CANNOT JUST FIX AN ENDING BY TYING UP ALL THESE LOOPHOLES AND LOOSE ENDS TO MAKE THAT HAPPILY EVER AFTER FEELING. I say a good story always has some mystery left over. I HATE stories that try to tie up all the loose ends, when there are way too many loose ends to tie up! That epilogue was WAY longer than it should have been and WAY too perfect. It was so perfect it was unbelievable. I wrote a book once and tried to do that in my epilogue. My editor completely cut it out, saying it was a terrible way to write. After further reflection I realized he was right. Nobody likes a story that is tied up with a little bow so that it's no longer relatable. Life isn't like that. It's not perfect. It's not a happy ending for EVERYONE.
Flaw 5. I felt like the author was inconsistent and kept forgetting things. I also felt like that when you basically make someone play god, and throw out any limitations or rules for animus's, you kind of just screw yourself and your story over forever. I don't think the Wings of Fire series will ever recover from that. You cannot make a story or any possible way to bring down a "God" unless that "God" decides that he doesn't want to be God anymore. But as you can see...he still very much wanted to be God, even experiencing how lonely and disturbing and awful it was.
Flaw 6. Winter. Winter got thrown out the window like he's less valuable and less of a dragon than everyone else just because he doesn't see the world like everyone else does. You know what? I liked Winter's book. I liked being in Winter's mind. I liked feeling his feelings. He felt relatable. He felt like a person. And Qibli is maybe the only dragon in the story who still thinks of Winter as a valuable dragon. But I feel like the author decided she had zero respect for her character anymore and threw him under the bus. Not only did Winter give up his entire tribe to be with his friends, he came to some pretty groundbreaking realizations in his book about the meaning and value of friendship and how much affection he had for his friends after all. And you know what? None of them except Qibli can return the favour. I mean they can't even trust him to tell him what happened to Darkstalker!! Doesn't he deserve to know that much?! Oh but NO he doesn't get to know the truth JUST BECAUSE he might not agree with it? Well geez Tui, he's not the only one! Tui, are you honestly telling me that just because someone disagrees with you on something, they don't have any right to know about something they were completely involved in earlier? That's cold. That's really cold. And that little thing Kinkajou said to Winter about Moon. "It might be too late." And him agreeing with her as if it was just some little thing he could get over. What a nice way to conveniently stick Moon and Qibli together while blaming the result on Winter. So what if Winter gets angry sometimes? Don't we all? No offense but when Winter was screaming at Moon for loving Darkstalker, I totally sympathized with him. Excuse me moon, but Darkstalker put a spell on ME, YOUR FRIEND. And YOU STILL TRUST HIM?! That's kind of like backstabbing someone. Think of it this way: one of your friends that you've been friends far longer but lately you're crushing on this new kid. And this new kid is bullying your best friend behind your back, and he comes up and tells you that and instead of siding with your best friend you kind of just shrug him off and say things like "Well I still like him. And I still trust him." What a way to completely disregard your friends feelings and worth. I'd be yelling at Moon too if the same thing had happened to me! Moon is kind of a piece of....nevermind.
Flaw 7. What is WITH all the shipping in this book?! My goodness! How about ONE ship? One love circle is fine I guess. It's typical. But how many do we have in here? We've got Turtle and Kinkajou, which seems so random. I'm sorry but that came out of nowhere in the last book. I'd never seen any chemistry between them in the previous book until we were in Turtle's mind. In fact, Turtle and Peril had more chemistry between them than those two ever did, even though those two would never work. Even those two should have been more likely to end up with each other! Kinkajou and Turtle? Sorry but I can't see it, it's just too random and weird. Qibli and Moon is fine I guess. I have nothing against it, at LEAST we knew from the beginning that Qibli already liked her so it wasn't sprung on us or anything like that. And I feel like Moon should have had better reasons for choosing Qibli over Winter just because, as Kinkajou said "it's too late. You yelled at her." It's nice to know someone chooses you over someone else because the other person tends to express their feelings and frustrations pretty well. Isn't there more to Winter than that Moon? Come on. I admit I like Qibli better too, but for entirely different reasons. Okay and then Anemone and Tamarin? *Throws book down* I'm done. DONE. Author can't stop shipping. It's like I'm reading a fanfic and not the real thing! Why Anemone and Tamarin? Just cause it's gay? ZERO chemistry between those two throughout any other book but suddenly, SUDDENLY. And then there's also Peril and Clay. Look...it still hurts Clay to touch her. Is he actually in love with her? I know he never says he is but I wonder if the author is going in that direction. Peril should have kept the spell that made her normal. Now she gets to touch Clay and know she's always causing him pain.
Flaw 8. Contradictions. Oh yeah and that part where they turned Anemone "good" by putting spells on her. I'm sorry but I'm losing respect for the author's ideals and messages. You lost me. What the crap do you want me to believe? Personally I think a person's choices should be able to show something of their character, but the author thinks they can fix all this crap with magic, a quick fix. I'm starting to think Peril was the only one who realized there's no such thing as a magical "quick fix" and that it all has consequences, but apparently everyone else thinks you can make each other GOOD by putting spells on each other, despite what Qibli said earlier to Darkstalker that his CHOICES are what made him bad, NOT his magic. And yet we're still to believe animus's lose their soul because they use too much magic? Sorry I thought we discovered that it was their CHOICES that make them bad, not their magic. Whatever Tui, I don't even know what I'm supposed to take away from this anymore.
Flaw 9. The name change. THE NAME CHANGE. Does anything else even need to be said? Foeslayer to Hope? Darkstalker to Peacemaker? Insert cheesy much. Despite your cute, liberal names, sunshine and rainbows Tui, I'm not falling for it. Your characters are now completely unrelatable and unrecognizable to me.
Flaw 10. The Lost Continent/Jerboa. So random. Kind of just slapped in there in the ending with nothing leading up to it. The Lost Continent is a great idea but the way it was introduced/executed was too sloppy and rushed.
Yeah I don't know if I'll continue reading these books after that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 26, 2018
I hate the fact that Moon broke Winter's heart, and just said "oH hE'S StRonG QiBli noW Let'S fLy inTo the SunSeT FoRgEtTiNg AbOuT OuR bRokeN hEaRTeD eX FrIeNd!1!!!11". Moon is a goody tw shoes Mary Sue, and I honestly despise her. I also hate how Darkstalker was transformed into a pathetic dragnet that freaking eats strawberries. If I was Tui, I'd just finally let him rest with Clearsight, and let Foeslayer rest with Arctic. Not Tui's best work.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 18, 2018
A terribly displeasing ending to one of my favorite series ever.
I understand that Tui T. Sutherland had backed herself into a corner with the major plot holes in Talons of Power, but she only digs herself deeper. At this point, I don’t think it was an accident or a poorly thought plan, just simply a bad idea executed pretty well.
All things considered, I am extremely disappointed with this book, I was so connected to it, I had dreams of it, wrote fanfictions of it, was inspired by it, and its characters were always in my head…I’m not sure I will ever get over how upset I am with this.
**SPOILER WARNING** If you have not read the book yet, please stop here.
Firstly, it was bad enough that readers had to follow Turtle in Talons of Power, with his sadly pathetic demeanor and slow dopey train of thought, despite his obvious capabilities. But then we get a book with Qibli, whose cleverness and cunning I for one have been greatly looking forward to, only to find someone who thinks along the same lines. “Oh, woe is me, I’m useless and the world hates me…”
Secondly, Tui has been showing signs of failing in the exact same place as many other authors, something as an author I cannot stress enough-- character consistency. First shown in the fleeting glimpses of our beloved characters in Talons of Power, and now given as a blast to the face here.
Thirdly-- and this is mostly due to Talons of Power, not inherently this book-- Darkstalker’s defeat was so…dumb. One of the unspoken laws of writing is to never, ever make any character-- good or evil-- all-powerful because then there is no really good way to get rid of them. I mean seriously, he teleported all animus dragons all over the world to his throne room in a second (by the way, where on earth is the animus enchanting in that spell?), and he supposedly made himself invulnerable to animus magic, yet both with Turtle's stick and with his defeat it didn't seem to work...
Fourth, the greatest plot hole in the book, how did Darkstalker even get his power back or how did the piece of his scroll that Moon and Qibli used to defeat him have any power? The animus magic can only be in one place-- otherwise, it makes absolutely no sense-- but when they "destroyed" the scroll with his animus magic he got his power back, yet there was part of his scroll still left with magic in it. How does Tui explain this? She doesn't, which is the worst thing she could do.
Fifth and finally-- and this one is about the character pairing in the book-- why the heck did Tui decide to do Moon and Qibli? Although I suppose it was obvious since she announced that the last book was going to be on Qibli. And this isn’t all about personal opinion! If you think about it, how many times before this book did Moon and Qibli even speak to each other, let alone exchange special looks, or were even alone together? In Winter Turning I would say that Winter and Moon had some romantically tense moments, which were very exciting to read about. On top of that, and this last part doesn’t matter as much but it is still significant, there were polls on what pair the readers wanted in several places on the internet, including Scholastic’s official website, and readers voted incontestably for Moon and Winter, with the polls going at an average of 76% to 24%.
**End of Spoilers**
All in all, a complete flunk from my point of view. I understand that the vast majority will be happy with whatever they are given, but I’m not. I only ask for three simple things: A good story. Consistent characters. And a good ending to the series. That’s it. Nothing more. I’m not asking for perfection, just decency, and although this was one of my favorite series ever, this book couldn’t even nearly reach those simple standards. And for that, my 1-Star Rating.
I understand that Tui T. Sutherland had backed herself into a corner with the major plot holes in Talons of Power, but she only digs herself deeper. At this point, I don’t think it was an accident or a poorly thought plan, just simply a bad idea executed pretty well.
All things considered, I am extremely disappointed with this book, I was so connected to it, I had dreams of it, wrote fanfictions of it, was inspired by it, and its characters were always in my head…I’m not sure I will ever get over how upset I am with this.
**SPOILER WARNING** If you have not read the book yet, please stop here.
Firstly, it was bad enough that readers had to follow Turtle in Talons of Power, with his sadly pathetic demeanor and slow dopey train of thought, despite his obvious capabilities. But then we get a book with Qibli, whose cleverness and cunning I for one have been greatly looking forward to, only to find someone who thinks along the same lines. “Oh, woe is me, I’m useless and the world hates me…”
Secondly, Tui has been showing signs of failing in the exact same place as many other authors, something as an author I cannot stress enough-- character consistency. First shown in the fleeting glimpses of our beloved characters in Talons of Power, and now given as a blast to the face here.
Thirdly-- and this is mostly due to Talons of Power, not inherently this book-- Darkstalker’s defeat was so…dumb. One of the unspoken laws of writing is to never, ever make any character-- good or evil-- all-powerful because then there is no really good way to get rid of them. I mean seriously, he teleported all animus dragons all over the world to his throne room in a second (by the way, where on earth is the animus enchanting in that spell?), and he supposedly made himself invulnerable to animus magic, yet both with Turtle's stick and with his defeat it didn't seem to work...
Fourth, the greatest plot hole in the book, how did Darkstalker even get his power back or how did the piece of his scroll that Moon and Qibli used to defeat him have any power? The animus magic can only be in one place-- otherwise, it makes absolutely no sense-- but when they "destroyed" the scroll with his animus magic he got his power back, yet there was part of his scroll still left with magic in it. How does Tui explain this? She doesn't, which is the worst thing she could do.
Fifth and finally-- and this one is about the character pairing in the book-- why the heck did Tui decide to do Moon and Qibli? Although I suppose it was obvious since she announced that the last book was going to be on Qibli. And this isn’t all about personal opinion! If you think about it, how many times before this book did Moon and Qibli even speak to each other, let alone exchange special looks, or were even alone together? In Winter Turning I would say that Winter and Moon had some romantically tense moments, which were very exciting to read about. On top of that, and this last part doesn’t matter as much but it is still significant, there were polls on what pair the readers wanted in several places on the internet, including Scholastic’s official website, and readers voted incontestably for Moon and Winter, with the polls going at an average of 76% to 24%.
**End of Spoilers**
All in all, a complete flunk from my point of view. I understand that the vast majority will be happy with whatever they are given, but I’m not. I only ask for three simple things: A good story. Consistent characters. And a good ending to the series. That’s it. Nothing more. I’m not asking for perfection, just decency, and although this was one of my favorite series ever, this book couldn’t even nearly reach those simple standards. And for that, my 1-Star Rating.
December 13, 2020
Wow! A very surprising conclusion to the second timeline of the Wings of Fire series! Excited to read on! :)
August 16, 2019
NEW DRAGON NEW TRIBE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 9, 2017
2.5 stars which I rounded up after a fierce deliberation.
I'm so sick of being disappointed by books that I've really looked forward to.
In general it wasn't so bad - I would have liked a more epic ending, and maybe a little bit less of the whole flying-across-the-continent-without-a-definite-plan thing, but it really wasn't so bad.... until these lines came along:
"Ha!" Winter barked. "Indeed! Ha ha ha! Don't believe a word he says! I can't stand him!"
"We'll probably end up married one day." Qibli said.
That one shocked me. For a second I didn't believe it was actually there, that someone (Qibli, no less) had actually said that. But then there was a short conversation about how that might be good for clan relations, an IceWing prince marrying a SandWing soldier.
But maybe I could have forgiven that (maybe). Until we have Kinkajou (!!) describing Anemone's crush on Tamarin as "adorable".
*clears throat*
I'm not going to argue or lecture about the moral side of this whole thing - there are better people than me on both sides of the 'gay' conflict. (Just so everyone knows, I'm Catholic and I oppose gay relationships for moral reasons, but that's beside the point.) I'm not going to get into that. Instead, I'm going to prove what a terrible marketing and writing decision it was for Tui Sutherland to put those lines in her book.
Firstly, the marketing side. I assume she put the lines in either because she herself supports gay relationships, or because she thought it would increase her popularity following. If she supports it then that's another thing entirely.
But if she thought it would increase the popularity of Wings of Fire? Simple logic will tell you that's not the case! Maybe half of her fans will be delighted that she's chosen a side, and that her characters have started mentioning this kind of thing, but that still leaves the other half who's now put down the book and stalked away in disgust! Before, she had 100% of her fans loving the series wholeheartedly - now she has about 50%. And last time I checked, we were going for a greater percentage of fans, not a lesser percentage.
And did she really have to put it in? Everyone, everywhere, is fighting about this all the time -can we please keep it out of the middle-grade dragon fantasy series? Is that too much to ask? What kind of escape is that, when you dive into a book to get away from all the fights and turmoil, and then run right into them?
Secondly, it was an absolutely terrible writing choice. Maybe if she'd built up to this revelation. Maybe if 'gay rights' had been an ongoing struggle in the dragon tribes, and this was a final decision. Maybe if it had simply been a part of dragon culture from the beginning. (I wouldn't have been reading it, but it would have made more sense.)
But adding it in now? That just show's that Tui Sutherland's writing is being heavily influenced by current pop culture! And that's the opposite of good worldbuilding and good writing! It's like Qibli suddenly starting to wear skinny jeans with rips in them, or Winter having a fondness for One Direction! It's absolutely ridiculous and unlike anything that we've been taught about these characters! If she'd planned from the very beginning to put this aspect of our culture into the world of the dragon tribes, then it would make sense and maybe she'd be able to state her opinions on this subject in a subtle-yet-forceful way as so many writers have done on so many different topics through the centuries.
But putting it in now? That's just bad writing.
I'm so sick of being disappointed by books that I've really looked forward to.
In general it wasn't so bad - I would have liked a more epic ending, and maybe a little bit less of the whole flying-across-the-continent-without-a-definite-plan thing, but it really wasn't so bad.... until these lines came along:
"Ha!" Winter barked. "Indeed! Ha ha ha! Don't believe a word he says! I can't stand him!"
"We'll probably end up married one day." Qibli said.
That one shocked me. For a second I didn't believe it was actually there, that someone (Qibli, no less) had actually said that. But then there was a short conversation about how that might be good for clan relations, an IceWing prince marrying a SandWing soldier.
But maybe I could have forgiven that (maybe). Until we have Kinkajou (!!) describing Anemone's crush on Tamarin as "adorable".
*clears throat*
I'm not going to argue or lecture about the moral side of this whole thing - there are better people than me on both sides of the 'gay' conflict. (Just so everyone knows, I'm Catholic and I oppose gay relationships for moral reasons, but that's beside the point.) I'm not going to get into that. Instead, I'm going to prove what a terrible marketing and writing decision it was for Tui Sutherland to put those lines in her book.
Firstly, the marketing side. I assume she put the lines in either because she herself supports gay relationships, or because she thought it would increase her popularity following. If she supports it then that's another thing entirely.
But if she thought it would increase the popularity of Wings of Fire? Simple logic will tell you that's not the case! Maybe half of her fans will be delighted that she's chosen a side, and that her characters have started mentioning this kind of thing, but that still leaves the other half who's now put down the book and stalked away in disgust! Before, she had 100% of her fans loving the series wholeheartedly - now she has about 50%. And last time I checked, we were going for a greater percentage of fans, not a lesser percentage.
And did she really have to put it in? Everyone, everywhere, is fighting about this all the time -can we please keep it out of the middle-grade dragon fantasy series? Is that too much to ask? What kind of escape is that, when you dive into a book to get away from all the fights and turmoil, and then run right into them?
Secondly, it was an absolutely terrible writing choice. Maybe if she'd built up to this revelation. Maybe if 'gay rights' had been an ongoing struggle in the dragon tribes, and this was a final decision. Maybe if it had simply been a part of dragon culture from the beginning. (I wouldn't have been reading it, but it would have made more sense.)
But adding it in now? That just show's that Tui Sutherland's writing is being heavily influenced by current pop culture! And that's the opposite of good worldbuilding and good writing! It's like Qibli suddenly starting to wear skinny jeans with rips in them, or Winter having a fondness for One Direction! It's absolutely ridiculous and unlike anything that we've been taught about these characters! If she'd planned from the very beginning to put this aspect of our culture into the world of the dragon tribes, then it would make sense and maybe she'd be able to state her opinions on this subject in a subtle-yet-forceful way as so many writers have done on so many different topics through the centuries.
But putting it in now? That's just bad writing.
August 29, 2017
Reader thoughts: This was such a good way to end the book. I really think that was the best way to deal with Darkstalker.
I love Qibli! I'd been hoping to get a book from his pov ever since Moon met him back in book 6. His analytical mind is so fascinating. I wanted that on every page, but we only got splashes of it now and then. It was enough to remind the reader how Qibli thought.
I had guessed Qibli's thirst for power was going to get him in trouble. I also suspected the weather bracelets were going to prove more dangerous than useful.
I love what happened with the IceWings and NightWings! I knew Qibli and friends should do some spell, but I couldn't figure out what! I'm afraid of you.
I did think Qibli should have made someone do speed spells when they were trying to get back to Jade Mountain, racing the dragon armies, and the scouts kept passing the friends. The scouts were spelled to have speed. Why not the friends? Why fly slowly for a day and a half when you don't have to?
That twice as much bowl has to be one of the best inventions. Now an animus dragon should bespell a rock to heal dragons. Then they can double double double it and pass it around to all the tribes. Why haven't they done this yet???
I like that the epilogue gave several different povs to wrap up the series. I'm rather surprised we didn't hear more about the scavengers or dragons communicating with them. I guess that will be the next set of books?
Writer thoughts: I like that TTS made the distinction between magic and power and that friends who have to like you aren't real friends at all. She also brought up the difference between magic corrupting your soul and choices corrupting your soul. Some authors make the mistake of assuming MG books don't have to explore deep ideas, or assume MG readers have no interest in philosophical questions. There were no long conversations about the ideas, but they were woven into the plot and decisions well.
I love Qibli! I'd been hoping to get a book from his pov ever since Moon met him back in book 6. His analytical mind is so fascinating. I wanted that on every page, but we only got splashes of it now and then. It was enough to remind the reader how Qibli thought.
I had guessed Qibli's thirst for power was going to get him in trouble. I also suspected the weather bracelets were going to prove more dangerous than useful.
I love what happened with the IceWings and NightWings! I knew Qibli and friends should do some spell, but I couldn't figure out what! I'm afraid of you.
I did think Qibli should have made someone do speed spells when they were trying to get back to Jade Mountain, racing the dragon armies, and the scouts kept passing the friends. The scouts were spelled to have speed. Why not the friends? Why fly slowly for a day and a half when you don't have to?
That twice as much bowl has to be one of the best inventions. Now an animus dragon should bespell a rock to heal dragons. Then they can double double double it and pass it around to all the tribes. Why haven't they done this yet???
I like that the epilogue gave several different povs to wrap up the series. I'm rather surprised we didn't hear more about the scavengers or dragons communicating with them. I guess that will be the next set of books?
Writer thoughts: I like that TTS made the distinction between magic and power and that friends who have to like you aren't real friends at all. She also brought up the difference between magic corrupting your soul and choices corrupting your soul. Some authors make the mistake of assuming MG books don't have to explore deep ideas, or assume MG readers have no interest in philosophical questions. There were no long conversations about the ideas, but they were woven into the plot and decisions well.
February 21, 2017
Can just I give it 5 stars before it even comes out? I know I'm gonna love it. I might cry too.
Cover looks amazing <3
Cover looks amazing <3
January 15, 2021
it was kinda annoying how throughout the whole book there was this hUGE relevation going on but it wasn't really emphasized the right amount. and also it was like the book kept contradicting itself and it was pretty annoying. a lot of the stuff didn't add up.
the ending was amazing and i love Kinkajou and Peril.
the ending was amazing and i love Kinkajou and Peril.
October 12, 2018
This was my 8th Wings of Fire book in three months. That says it all, doesn’t it? Love the audiobooks, love the world, love all the dragon tribes. It makes me want to fill a sketchbook with all the different characters. I’m here to stay for whatever Pyrrhia adventure comes next.
August 8, 2018
It was great until the ending. What a terrible ending. Kinkajou is by far my least favourite character in this series, and seems to have no capacity for self-reflection, ethics and the mind of a 5 year old and none of the other characters or the author seem to think this is a problem. Everything we have been previously shown were wrong in this series and even this very book are suddenly just fine when Kinkajou does it. All the other characters undergo some sort of personal growth and improve and Kinkajou doesn't, and it's never implied that she needs to.
Also, this was supposed to be Qibli's book, but he doesn't even get to participate in this final scene. He's there to let the reader observe it from afar, but for someone who is always thinking, we don't get any of his thoughts and opinions about it. It's like he's not even there, like the scene was plotted in advance and only later it was decided that the final book will be from Qibli's POV.
This also means that instead of flowing directly on from the cliffhanger ending of Talons Of Power, we go way back chronologically to Qibli's POV pretty much when he left Turtle early in the previous book, and take half the book to get back to the timepoint where Talons of Power ended. Since this is the big final book of the series, we just don't care at this point about yet another sidequest that isn't even related to the main problem. So I really think that the author had trouble since she has only one character POV per book and decided some events to happen from their POV rather than in chronological order.
The author ruined the ending. If the 'resolution' would have been
'An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind'. And this is true. The other characters, the author and Kinkajou are suddenly entirely blind to why it's a problem to Even though we've been shown over and over that this is a bad thing to do: Then nobody even considers that this is a bad idea, an ethical grey area. Kinkajou is just a hero.
I sincerely hope we're never forced to see Kinkajou again in the 3rd arc, but I suspect she's the author's favourite character. Glory was never shown to have remorse either, but everything she did could be readily justified, and she usually kept to herself a lot anyway. Kinkajou just does whatever she wants because it's FUN AND EXCITING AND AMUSING. And we've already been shown a million times that Rainwings aren't harmless so it's not like we have to keep feeling sorry for them, and Darkstalker didn't seem to have any particular vendetta against Rainwings. Kinkajou is just an annoying pest who apparently can do no wrong and survives any adversity magically (literally) unscathed. What was her personal growth this arc? Learning to write? That doesn't count.
Then the love triangle. It felt very forced. To make up for having almost no involvement in the taking down Darkstalker and not getting any powers, Qibli is given a runner-up prize of . This is really, really stupid. Although improved a lot during this series, he really does seem to need to improve more before he should be with someone like , but instead of leaving this open, the author is desperate to have a canon pairing. , although was too one-sided. But I don't see why there's a romantic dynamic with Qibli except that the author was desperate to make a pairing and give Qibli a sort of reward (after taking all the magical and powerful ones earlier). This really sends the wrong message. So most of the main characters are clearly shown to have flaws or weaknesses and even punished for them , except Kinkajou. Ugh. And I still think Qibli's character was wasted, and I'm not even really a fan of him. Maybe the final book was originally going to be from Kinkajou's POV? I suppose at least we were spared that.
Maybe I will get the text of the last chapter and change it and pretend that 'happened instead', that's how much of a let down this ending was. There were so many good scenes and then all just wasted.
Not sure how to rate the book when it's good UNTIL the ending.
Also, this was supposed to be Qibli's book, but he doesn't even get to participate in this final scene. He's there to let the reader observe it from afar, but for someone who is always thinking, we don't get any of his thoughts and opinions about it. It's like he's not even there, like the scene was plotted in advance and only later it was decided that the final book will be from Qibli's POV.
This also means that instead of flowing directly on from the cliffhanger ending of Talons Of Power, we go way back chronologically to Qibli's POV pretty much when he left Turtle early in the previous book, and take half the book to get back to the timepoint where Talons of Power ended. Since this is the big final book of the series, we just don't care at this point about yet another sidequest that isn't even related to the main problem. So I really think that the author had trouble since she has only one character POV per book and decided some events to happen from their POV rather than in chronological order.
The author ruined the ending. If the 'resolution' would have been
'An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind'. And this is true. The other characters, the author and Kinkajou are suddenly entirely blind to why it's a problem to Even though we've been shown over and over that this is a bad thing to do: Then nobody even considers that this is a bad idea, an ethical grey area. Kinkajou is just a hero.
I sincerely hope we're never forced to see Kinkajou again in the 3rd arc, but I suspect she's the author's favourite character. Glory was never shown to have remorse either, but everything she did could be readily justified, and she usually kept to herself a lot anyway. Kinkajou just does whatever she wants because it's FUN AND EXCITING AND AMUSING. And we've already been shown a million times that Rainwings aren't harmless so it's not like we have to keep feeling sorry for them, and Darkstalker didn't seem to have any particular vendetta against Rainwings. Kinkajou is just an annoying pest who apparently can do no wrong and survives any adversity magically (literally) unscathed. What was her personal growth this arc? Learning to write? That doesn't count.
Then the love triangle. It felt very forced. To make up for having almost no involvement in the taking down Darkstalker and not getting any powers, Qibli is given a runner-up prize of . This is really, really stupid. Although improved a lot during this series, he really does seem to need to improve more before he should be with someone like , but instead of leaving this open, the author is desperate to have a canon pairing. , although was too one-sided. But I don't see why there's a romantic dynamic with Qibli except that the author was desperate to make a pairing and give Qibli a sort of reward (after taking all the magical and powerful ones earlier). This really sends the wrong message. So most of the main characters are clearly shown to have flaws or weaknesses and even punished for them , except Kinkajou. Ugh. And I still think Qibli's character was wasted, and I'm not even really a fan of him. Maybe the final book was originally going to be from Kinkajou's POV? I suppose at least we were spared that.
Maybe I will get the text of the last chapter and change it and pretend that 'happened instead', that's how much of a let down this ending was. There were so many good scenes and then all just wasted.
Not sure how to rate the book when it's good UNTIL the ending.
April 28, 2024
In which every dragon across the continent picks up Qibli’s style of wearing one earring. ;)
Absolutely fantastic ending to the second series (which I liked even better than the first). Also, a good ending to the love triangle. ;)
Absolutely fantastic ending to the second series (which I liked even better than the first). Also, a good ending to the love triangle. ;)
Read
July 19, 2024--15 July 2024
i enjoy qibli pov and to some degree his character arc, and of course the writing style is wonderful and funny, but i think this book dropped the ball a lot with the themes. qibli's arc/plot didn't fit into the "forcefully changing or controlling others/taking away choices" thread that all the others dealt with, and it focused so much on moon and romance (to its detriment!). (speaking of the love triangle, i thought this book also did winter a disservice and i'm mad about it.) i suppose qibli's angle was that he wanted to have animus powers or power to control others and doesn't, and realizes he could have fallen into the same traps as darkstalker and ultimately that it isn't good to control others like that, but it didn't feel as strong as the other arcs and the way it was framed did make it seem that qibli was doing this mostly based on what he thought moon wanted rather than truly learning/changing because of the concept itself.
re: the ending, i don't really see how else anyone could have defeated darkstalker (though to be fair i haven't sat down to trace possibilities), but i do think it undermined themes, which was disappointing because they've been so strong and consistent the entire series so far. i also don't think it really drove home any sort of point with the souls, and whether it's animus power that corrupts it or what people do with the power. i'm fine with ambiguity and think this even could have been done ambiguously in a satisfying way, but it just was not.
i enjoy qibli pov and to some degree his character arc, and of course the writing style is wonderful and funny, but i think this book dropped the ball a lot with the themes. qibli's arc/plot didn't fit into the "forcefully changing or controlling others/taking away choices" thread that all the others dealt with, and it focused so much on moon and romance (to its detriment!). (speaking of the love triangle, i thought this book also did winter a disservice and i'm mad about it.) i suppose qibli's angle was that he wanted to have animus powers or power to control others and doesn't, and realizes he could have fallen into the same traps as darkstalker and ultimately that it isn't good to control others like that, but it didn't feel as strong as the other arcs and the way it was framed did make it seem that qibli was doing this mostly based on what he thought moon wanted rather than truly learning/changing because of the concept itself.
re: the ending, i don't really see how else anyone could have defeated darkstalker (though to be fair i haven't sat down to trace possibilities), but i do think it undermined themes, which was disappointing because they've been so strong and consistent the entire series so far. i also don't think it really drove home any sort of point with the souls, and whether it's animus power that corrupts it or what people do with the power. i'm fine with ambiguity and think this even could have been done ambiguously in a satisfying way, but it just was not.
April 17, 2024
This book was REALLY intense and it had a LOT of plot twists! But I’m the end during the Epilogue, when Moon chose “Blank” (don’t want to give spoilers) I was so happy! There were literally so many plait twists my brain almost couldn’t keep up! And there’s just so much going on! But this was one of my favs in the “Wings of Fire” series!
August 1, 2017
She loved it! Aaaaannnddd. It ended in a cliffhanger, is a sign that there's more to come. She's stoked.
September 20, 2022
This series did a Fonzie: It jumped the shark!
August 14, 2017
... Frankly, I was disappointed in this book.
I've read this series, all nine of the books before this, to myself, and then to my younger siblings. They were clean, relatively well-written MG books that I could both enjoy and feel comfortable reading to my little siblings (ages 4-11).
I wonder if something happened between Talons of Power and this book, because the difference, while still minor, are stark.
First of all, there was a replacement swear word. Not a bad one, but Sutherland has never done this before, and it doesn't really fit in with the world she's created here.
Secondly, the book seemed a bit clunky. It was the longest yet of the Wings of Fire series, and yet the plot felt crammed in, like it needed more words for the amount of plot.
Thirdly, the ending (it's a spoiler, so I won't say what happened) really grated. It felt slapped on and contrived, like she wrote herself into a corner and this was the only cheap way she could fix it. And also, the entire series, it was stressed that something (spoiler, so not saying what) was wrong. Especially in this book, it was pointed out that this action was unacceptable.
And then the characters pretty much went and did it. I have more to say about it, but I'd rather not, as it would reveal the climax of the story-arc.
And lastly, but definitely not the least of my concerns, there are two paragraphs which stuck out like a sore thumb decorated with pink lace, sparkles, and the stamp of an author bowing to the whims of an immoral culture. Yes, the "gender" thing.
Maybe I'm overreacting. Those are places I can easily skip, but... It's still there. I can't pretend that she isn't supporting this, just like I couldn't with other things (like Beauty and the Beast). I won't support it. I guess I've learned my lesson about looking forward to a movie or book.
And not only that, it didn't fit in with the world of Pyrrhia. It's just not something that would happen there.
This makes the fourteenth book of Sutherland's that I have read and enjoyed. I am now reading it to my little siblings, though, obviously, I'm taking out a few paragraphs.
But I won't be reading the next five books to them.
I've read this series, all nine of the books before this, to myself, and then to my younger siblings. They were clean, relatively well-written MG books that I could both enjoy and feel comfortable reading to my little siblings (ages 4-11).
I wonder if something happened between Talons of Power and this book, because the difference, while still minor, are stark.
First of all, there was a replacement swear word. Not a bad one, but Sutherland has never done this before, and it doesn't really fit in with the world she's created here.
Secondly, the book seemed a bit clunky. It was the longest yet of the Wings of Fire series, and yet the plot felt crammed in, like it needed more words for the amount of plot.
Thirdly, the ending (it's a spoiler, so I won't say what happened) really grated. It felt slapped on and contrived, like she wrote herself into a corner and this was the only cheap way she could fix it. And also, the entire series, it was stressed that something (spoiler, so not saying what) was wrong. Especially in this book, it was pointed out that this action was unacceptable.
And then the characters pretty much went and did it. I have more to say about it, but I'd rather not, as it would reveal the climax of the story-arc.
And lastly, but definitely not the least of my concerns, there are two paragraphs which stuck out like a sore thumb decorated with pink lace, sparkles, and the stamp of an author bowing to the whims of an immoral culture. Yes, the "gender" thing.
Maybe I'm overreacting. Those are places I can easily skip, but... It's still there. I can't pretend that she isn't supporting this, just like I couldn't with other things (like Beauty and the Beast). I won't support it. I guess I've learned my lesson about looking forward to a movie or book.
And not only that, it didn't fit in with the world of Pyrrhia. It's just not something that would happen there.
This makes the fourteenth book of Sutherland's that I have read and enjoyed. I am now reading it to my little siblings, though, obviously, I'm taking out a few paragraphs.
But I won't be reading the next five books to them.
September 7, 2017
Professional Opinion: ★★★☆☆
Personal Opinion: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♡
I want to give this book a higher rating, I really do. What it does well, it does extraordinarily well. It’s an excellent entry into the series and a fantastic study on what I consider to be one of this series’ most interesting POV characters to date. I have been chomping at the bit to get Qibli’s perspective, as keenly observant and wildly funny as he’s proven to be in previous installment, and on that front Darkness of Dragons is excellent. It also does a magnificent job of upholding the serires’ pacifist morals, examining the right and wrong ways to use power, and the temptation that exists in all of us to have that power.
However, as a climax, Darkness of Dragons ends up falling flat in all the same ways that Brightest Night did. If I were to pinpoint any weakness in Sutherland’s writing, it would be that--for all her brilliance in creating memorable characters, introducing interesting plots, and building tension--she struggles with delivering a satisfying, climactic ending. The final decisions are made too hastily without enough build-up, and the entire first part of Darkness of Dragons feels like it could have been a novella all on its own, with very little bearing on the rest of the arc, or even the rest of this book.
Darkness of Dragons tries to handle too many different characters doing too many different things at once, which weakens the impact of the story and mucks up the pacing somewhat. I actually would have liked to see it broken down into two books, with the arc finale being a sixth book from Kinkajou’s POV, since she does a number of important actions in the later third of the book and is ultimately the one who brings about the resolution.
That said, Darkness of Dragons was still a good book in other ways, and the epilogue has me more than excited for what may be coming in the future of this series.
Please check out our official site and our Patreon for more information on our books! Thank you!
Personal Opinion: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♡
I want to give this book a higher rating, I really do. What it does well, it does extraordinarily well. It’s an excellent entry into the series and a fantastic study on what I consider to be one of this series’ most interesting POV characters to date. I have been chomping at the bit to get Qibli’s perspective, as keenly observant and wildly funny as he’s proven to be in previous installment, and on that front Darkness of Dragons is excellent. It also does a magnificent job of upholding the serires’ pacifist morals, examining the right and wrong ways to use power, and the temptation that exists in all of us to have that power.
However, as a climax, Darkness of Dragons ends up falling flat in all the same ways that Brightest Night did. If I were to pinpoint any weakness in Sutherland’s writing, it would be that--for all her brilliance in creating memorable characters, introducing interesting plots, and building tension--she struggles with delivering a satisfying, climactic ending. The final decisions are made too hastily without enough build-up, and the entire first part of Darkness of Dragons feels like it could have been a novella all on its own, with very little bearing on the rest of the arc, or even the rest of this book.
Darkness of Dragons tries to handle too many different characters doing too many different things at once, which weakens the impact of the story and mucks up the pacing somewhat. I actually would have liked to see it broken down into two books, with the arc finale being a sixth book from Kinkajou’s POV, since she does a number of important actions in the later third of the book and is ultimately the one who brings about the resolution.
That said, Darkness of Dragons was still a good book in other ways, and the epilogue has me more than excited for what may be coming in the future of this series.
Please check out our official site and our Patreon for more information on our books! Thank you!
July 30, 2018
THIS BOOK DESERVES ALL THE STARS. I actually enjoyed this conclusion WAY more than I enjoyed the conclusion to the Dragonets of Destiny arc. I was blown away by the twist ending and how issues were dealt with.
I'd had an inkling from Moon Rising that I would enjoy Qibli's story, and it is safe to say that he is my number one favorite dragon after Glory (because she is QUEEN). Qibli's backstory was heartbreaking and made him that much more of an amazing character because he came out of a horrific situation as a good person. He struggled with doubt, always fearing he would be like his family, which is a normal thing to deal with when you're family is a bunch of raging murders and psychopaths.
When Qibli saw his family again, I was genuinely worried he would fall for their tricks and become a villain (which would have been an interesting twist in the series for sure), but he stayed true to his friends, even in the face of temptation later on, and it made him that much better.
I thought it was interesting that Qibli, out of all the dragons, struggled with animus magic, even though he had no powers. The concept of magic and how you could feasibly use it to fix every problem worried him more than anyone else, and he was constantly wishing he could fix everything with magic.
The series ending was satisfactory and not at all what I was imaging would happen. The bridge into the next series arc was subtle, and I think it would have packed more of a punch if I didn't already have the eleventh book sitting on my shelf, because I knew Tui Sutherland had to tie in the new arc somehow.
I'd had an inkling from Moon Rising that I would enjoy Qibli's story, and it is safe to say that he is my number one favorite dragon after Glory (because she is QUEEN). Qibli's backstory was heartbreaking and made him that much more of an amazing character because he came out of a horrific situation as a good person. He struggled with doubt, always fearing he would be like his family, which is a normal thing to deal with when you're family is a bunch of raging murders and psychopaths.
When Qibli saw his family again, I was genuinely worried he would fall for their tricks and become a villain (which would have been an interesting twist in the series for sure), but he stayed true to his friends, even in the face of temptation later on, and it made him that much better.
I thought it was interesting that Qibli, out of all the dragons, struggled with animus magic, even though he had no powers. The concept of magic and how you could feasibly use it to fix every problem worried him more than anyone else, and he was constantly wishing he could fix everything with magic.
The series ending was satisfactory and not at all what I was imaging would happen. The bridge into the next series arc was subtle, and I think it would have packed more of a punch if I didn't already have the eleventh book sitting on my shelf, because I knew Tui Sutherland had to tie in the new arc somehow.
February 14, 2020
This book is the end of the main dragons of Pyrrhia, yet the beginning of a new land! That is, after the Darkstalker legends book.
But this book has quite an interesting end to the land, yet many cliffhangers. But I’m happy to see Qilbi and his friends save the world!
But this book has quite an interesting end to the land, yet many cliffhangers. But I’m happy to see Qilbi and his friends save the world!
October 21, 2023
This one was probably the best out of all of them. The characters finally come together off their own little side quests to wrap up the story and it fit, mostly nicely. I really liked the magic in this series, but I hope that the next arc moves onto new stuff other than magic, because other wise it’s going to get old. I’d personally rather see Quibli and Winter end up together, but oh well. I like that the relationships between each friend had actual connections outside of the group, unlike the first arc where they were more like a friend group and didn’t end up interacting just two-three at a time very often enough for actual separate friendships. I really liked the arc, a lot better than the first, I almost wish it had gone a little darker but it’s alright.
December 29, 2020
This seems to wrap up the second group of dragonet heroes. I think a new group begins with the next book. The protagonist in this book is a smart problem-solver who thinks of all the possibilities of situations. The message of how our choices determine our identity is universal. The villain can’t change except through a rebirth. Moon represents empathy and seeing the best in everyone. The importance of parents, some good and others bad is in every book. Each character’s personality is distinct and the author crafts an interesting story.
August 28, 2017
HYPE AND FEELS
July 13, 2019
Firstly, Quibli seemed to jump from event to event with barely any connection between them. The struggle with Vulture had very little connection to the main plot, and the fight between Thorn and Onyx should have had far more tension around it.
Secondly, Darkstalker’s war against the IceWings ended too quickly. He only fought in a single battle, so he didn’t seem nearly as destructive and evil as he should have to justify the brutal ending he got. He did bad things earlier, like creating the IceWing plague, sending Flame to kill Stonemover, and taking Turtle’s powers, but he never does something absolutely horrifying that we can clearly see.
Thirdly, Darkstalker’s end was unbelievably cruel. The idea of someone losing everything that he valued about himself, partly because of his own mother, was so disturbing that it gave me nightmares the first time I read this book. Darkstalker’s sense of betrayal and fear is clear in his voice, and Foeslayer just says that it will be happier for both of them while ignoring his pleas to keep something of his old self. Because of this, while reading about his slow transformation, I didn’t feel triumphant; I felt horrified. This goes completely against the moral set up in the rest of the story: that changing a dragon into someone else is and evil, unnatural act. Think about Hailstorm and how he was scarred for life after being Pyrite for so long, and how Tourmaline was weakened and used by Scarlet. This ending shows the main characters doing the same thing to Darkstalker, only worse, because it’s permanent. They even go out of their way to turn him into the opposite of his old self, even changing his race just for the heck of it. It would almost be okay if the characters felt any sense of remorse, or got any sort of consequences for what they did, but they don’t. Everything turns out okay in the end. So what is the moral!? Doing something absolutely evil and violating someone’s mind and body without their consent is fine if that person is “the bad guy”? That is a terrible moral! If you buy this book for your kids, be sure to explain how wrong this ending is.
Secondly, Darkstalker’s war against the IceWings ended too quickly. He only fought in a single battle, so he didn’t seem nearly as destructive and evil as he should have to justify the brutal ending he got. He did bad things earlier, like creating the IceWing plague, sending Flame to kill Stonemover, and taking Turtle’s powers, but he never does something absolutely horrifying that we can clearly see.
Thirdly, Darkstalker’s end was unbelievably cruel. The idea of someone losing everything that he valued about himself, partly because of his own mother, was so disturbing that it gave me nightmares the first time I read this book. Darkstalker’s sense of betrayal and fear is clear in his voice, and Foeslayer just says that it will be happier for both of them while ignoring his pleas to keep something of his old self. Because of this, while reading about his slow transformation, I didn’t feel triumphant; I felt horrified. This goes completely against the moral set up in the rest of the story: that changing a dragon into someone else is and evil, unnatural act. Think about Hailstorm and how he was scarred for life after being Pyrite for so long, and how Tourmaline was weakened and used by Scarlet. This ending shows the main characters doing the same thing to Darkstalker, only worse, because it’s permanent. They even go out of their way to turn him into the opposite of his old self, even changing his race just for the heck of it. It would almost be okay if the characters felt any sense of remorse, or got any sort of consequences for what they did, but they don’t. Everything turns out okay in the end. So what is the moral!? Doing something absolutely evil and violating someone’s mind and body without their consent is fine if that person is “the bad guy”? That is a terrible moral! If you buy this book for your kids, be sure to explain how wrong this ending is.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 28, 2024
Took me forever to get into this book, but once I did I thought it was one of the best in the series! As always, WAY too many characters for me to keep them all straight. But this one was not only filled with actions, but also "good" choices and decisions and very inspirational. As well as lots of laughs and dragon romance and war and ... just lots of life. Loved it!
November 19, 2017
I never thought I'd have to call out queerbaiting in a middle grade dragon book, but here I am!
I'm just gonna get right to it - I was not satisfied with this as the ending to the arc.
Darkstalker get defeated by being turned into a baby??? That's honestly laughable.
The end was, of course, everyone being conveniently paired off into ships. Peril deserves so much better than Clay. He's never actually respected her and always gave her extremely mixed signals.
I have a huge issue with how the Winter/Qibli/Moon love triangle was handled. Winter and Qibli are together for almost the entirety of this book, and the queerbaiting is INTENSE. They joke about getting married, Qibli talks about wanting to hold Winter's heart, and way more that makes it impossible to be unintentional. Then, in the end, Qibli and Moon end up together despite barely interacting in the book.
A minor character female character, Anemone, is revealed to have a crush on another girl character, and I have seen a sad amount of reviews of people saying they're angry that there were any LGBT characters in the story. If that doesn't show why more LGBT+ characters are needed in middle grade, I don't know what does. Tui needed to fully commit here, and she didn't. However, I would be interested to know if perhaps the publishers were against having a m/m romance in a middle grade series. I wouldn't be surprised.
I don't know, I was just really frustrated with the outcome of this book. I will probably read the next one out of curiosity, but I'm overall becoming less enamored with this series as time goes on.
I'm just gonna get right to it - I was not satisfied with this as the ending to the arc.
Darkstalker get defeated by being turned into a baby??? That's honestly laughable.
The end was, of course, everyone being conveniently paired off into ships. Peril deserves so much better than Clay. He's never actually respected her and always gave her extremely mixed signals.
I have a huge issue with how the Winter/Qibli/Moon love triangle was handled. Winter and Qibli are together for almost the entirety of this book, and the queerbaiting is INTENSE. They joke about getting married, Qibli talks about wanting to hold Winter's heart, and way more that makes it impossible to be unintentional. Then, in the end, Qibli and Moon end up together despite barely interacting in the book.
A minor character female character, Anemone, is revealed to have a crush on another girl character, and I have seen a sad amount of reviews of people saying they're angry that there were any LGBT characters in the story. If that doesn't show why more LGBT+ characters are needed in middle grade, I don't know what does. Tui needed to fully commit here, and she didn't. However, I would be interested to know if perhaps the publishers were against having a m/m romance in a middle grade series. I wouldn't be surprised.
I don't know, I was just really frustrated with the outcome of this book. I will probably read the next one out of curiosity, but I'm overall becoming less enamored with this series as time goes on.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 5, 2023
I write this as an adult to other adults who read this series because if I were a kid it would get 5 stars. Now, this book didn't measure up to the others which is disappointing given it is the finale of act 2. But being in the head of Qibli was actually quite cringy. He's a lovable character from the other dragon's perspective but stepping into his mind was unnecessarily long, exaggerated, and whiny. I assume the length of it all was to show how much more Qibli thinks than other dragons, but it just got old. Fast. I just wanted to know what was next, beyond what can be summed up in one sentence as opposed to a whole chapter. Honestly. Spending chapters upon chapters stuck in one dragon's busy head was exhausting. Normally I can't put these books down but I had a hard time picking this one up. If you look at the books side-by-side you will see that Darkness of Dragons is the thickest book in the series. It is not because it is the finale of act 2, ideally, full of amazing adventure and acts of heroics, it is because Qibli thinks too much and instead of "showing it" through well written imagery, the audience was spoon fed every neuron Qibli had running through his skull. But of course it is a must read if you wish to continue the series.
March 8, 2019
I'm crying rn. Because I was writing a review on how amazing this book was and how funny and sweet this was and how funny Kinkajou is and that I was about to go like 162567365362 books in this series in a row that had 50+ stars and my thoughts were bouncing around in my head. (And I'm going to need sixty thousand commas to stop this train of thought. Plus the ones I missed while this was speeding up.) *Finally lets go of breath* But then I looked at the other reviews. And I remembered "Wait this book was terrible" (And I hear the "chug chug chug" of that thought train starting up again) So I just stop, and think, and cry. Because my favorite author RUINED the most amazing series in the world. it is sad to think that in the end, IT IS ALL GOING WRONG. I am going to take the view of each dragonet/dragon in the end
Winter
Winter, WINTER, WINTER I TELL YOU THE POOR DRAGON WHO HAS SUFFERED SOO MUTCH GET HIS HEART AND SOUL REJECTED FOR THE LAST TIME!!!! AND BY WHO?!? IS IT KIBLEY? NO, IS IT KINKAJOU? NO, IS IT TURTLE? NO, I WILL TELL YOU WHO IT IS MOONWATCHER!! *Breaks down into sobs* and
Winter
Winter, WINTER, WINTER I TELL YOU THE POOR DRAGON WHO HAS SUFFERED SOO MUTCH GET HIS HEART AND SOUL REJECTED FOR THE LAST TIME!!!! AND BY WHO?!? IS IT KIBLEY? NO, IS IT KINKAJOU? NO, IS IT TURTLE? NO, I WILL TELL YOU WHO IT IS MOONWATCHER!! *Breaks down into sobs* and
February 13, 2019
The book was very riveting up through the last chapter, until the epilogue came. I personally feel like the story would’ve been fine without an epilogue. I mean, I see why the author wrote it, but it also felt lengthy and had some unnecessary information. Otherwise, the story was good and I thought Qibli to be a very fascinating and fun character. He’s probably one of my favorites from this series now. You come to a see Darkstalker’s reasonings for why he did what he did, but that didn’t make me like him any more.
The storyline is intriguing and, even though it felt long in certain areas, it’s still a fun book. However, I think I’ll be stopping here.
One of the things I was not very fond of is the fact that there is a strong insinuation of a gay relationship. It felt a bit forceful and unnecessary. I’m a little disappointed. Otherwise, the book is enjoyable and the detail of the dragons is, as always, super fun to read about and thoroughly imaginative! This has been an entertaining series.
The storyline is intriguing and, even though it felt long in certain areas, it’s still a fun book. However, I think I’ll be stopping here.
One of the things I was not very fond of is the fact that there is a strong insinuation of a gay relationship. It felt a bit forceful and unnecessary. I’m a little disappointed. Otherwise, the book is enjoyable and the detail of the dragons is, as always, super fun to read about and thoroughly imaginative! This has been an entertaining series.
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