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The Dragons of Solunas #2
Dragon of Sand & Storm: The Autobiography of a Goddess
"While a dragon may be worshipped, she may never be truly tamed."
With scales of glorious gold, young drakina Anekh Sun is taken from the banks of the River Nahr to the palace of the Ophar in the God's Land of Gifah. But life as a 'Great Gold' comes with a great cost, and war comes on the wings of the Empire of Remus across the Nameless Sea. Anekh soon becomes a pawn in a Game of Empires, as factions jockey to take the Golden Throne of Gifah as their own.
Along the banks of the Rivers Sand and Storm, Anekh is pursued by all nations, not only as a royal symbol but for her glorious golden hide, where even one scale is believed to grant eternal life. Will Anekh be able to outwit the empires of the world, or will she be be pulled back into a game where dragon lives are sacrificed in the service of kings and the whims of the gods?
With scales of glorious gold, young drakina Anekh Sun is taken from the banks of the River Nahr to the palace of the Ophar in the God's Land of Gifah. But life as a 'Great Gold' comes with a great cost, and war comes on the wings of the Empire of Remus across the Nameless Sea. Anekh soon becomes a pawn in a Game of Empires, as factions jockey to take the Golden Throne of Gifah as their own.
Along the banks of the Rivers Sand and Storm, Anekh is pursued by all nations, not only as a royal symbol but for her glorious golden hide, where even one scale is believed to grant eternal life. Will Anekh be able to outwit the empires of the world, or will she be be pulled back into a game where dragon lives are sacrificed in the service of kings and the whims of the gods?
432 pages, Paperback
Published June 8, 2022
53 people are currently reading
168 people want to read
About the author
H. Leighton Dickson
20 books320 followersH. Leighton Dickson grew up in the wilds of the Canadian Shield, where her neighbours were wolves, moose, deer and lynx. She studied Zoology at the University of Guelph and worked in the Edinburgh Zoological Gardens in Scotland, where she was chased by lions, wrestled deaf tigers and fed antibiotics to Polar Bears by baby bottle.
A successful indie author, Heather is now repped by D. Ellis Wilson of Looking Glass Literary & Media. She has 10 indie novels including the 'Rise of the Upper Kingdom' series and the Empire of Steam series, as well as the award-winning DRAGON OF ASH & STARS. Her next novel, SHIP OF SPELLS, is published by Red Tower Books and will be available November 4, 2025.
Come join the conversation at http://www.hleightondickson.com or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/HLeightonDickson
A successful indie author, Heather is now repped by D. Ellis Wilson of Looking Glass Literary & Media. She has 10 indie novels including the 'Rise of the Upper Kingdom' series and the Empire of Steam series, as well as the award-winning DRAGON OF ASH & STARS. Her next novel, SHIP OF SPELLS, is published by Red Tower Books and will be available November 4, 2025.
Come join the conversation at http://www.hleightondickson.com or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/HLeightonDickson
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
July 3, 2022
A wonderful book that I enjoyed even more than the first in the series. The Ancient Egypt setting felt fascinating and unique, and each of the three kingdoms felt very distinct from Remus in the previous book in their relationship with dragons. While the quantity of reader suffering was similar to the first entry, Dickson made it quite different in its manner. The plot of the book felt more tied together than the first one from beginning to end, rather than being a series of disjoint chapters, and the two main human characters held my interest well. The tension was high at all times, with oscillating ups and downs thrashing my heart back and forth between hope and pain the entire book. I'm very excited to see the next entry in this series, if Dickson chooses to write one!
July 5, 2022
Beautifully written and very immersive in the view of the world of the dragon.
Like Stormfall in the previous book from the series, Anekh finds herself profoundly bound to humans and getting little in return of what she gave. Like him, she has an ambiguous relationship with humans.
From a station ambiguous between revered godess and slave in jewels, she is thrown by fate into a swirl of events that take her through very contrasted ups and downs, until she can find her own way.
The world of the first book expand to new lands and empires, and like previously, inspired of antique civilizations.
Like Stormfall in the previous book from the series, Anekh finds herself profoundly bound to humans and getting little in return of what she gave. Like him, she has an ambiguous relationship with humans.
From a station ambiguous between revered godess and slave in jewels, she is thrown by fate into a swirl of events that take her through very contrasted ups and downs, until she can find her own way.
The world of the first book expand to new lands and empires, and like previously, inspired of antique civilizations.
May 12, 2023
My 400th book on Goodreads; that was a long time coming.
This is the second book in the so-far Duology of the Dragons of Solunas. It follows the life of Anekh Sun, in similar fashion to the first book, as their respective dragons reflect on long and eventful lives.
I think it's a shame this second book hasn't received as much attention as the first; objectively it is a more proficient work; the relationships between characters, their development, and the structure of the story are more complex. There are some deep themes at work here that, due to the novel PoV, require some parsing and re-reading to bring to the surface.
I would love to see more in this series; granted the 'wild dragon becomes captive and regains their freedom' has been well-trod in this series now, and a shift in perspective would probably be necessary. But the world has only really begun to be revealed.
I do take slight issue with the ending of this novel, in comparison to the first. It seems like a -- somewhat -- unhealthy development to a character (although I more than understand it). That could just be a result of my current circumstances though.
Very worth a read. One interesting point is that both novels in the duology stand alone. I was half-hoping for some returning characters or references but they were either not present or flew over my head.
This is the second book in the so-far Duology of the Dragons of Solunas. It follows the life of Anekh Sun, in similar fashion to the first book, as their respective dragons reflect on long and eventful lives.
I think it's a shame this second book hasn't received as much attention as the first; objectively it is a more proficient work; the relationships between characters, their development, and the structure of the story are more complex. There are some deep themes at work here that, due to the novel PoV, require some parsing and re-reading to bring to the surface.
I would love to see more in this series; granted the 'wild dragon becomes captive and regains their freedom' has been well-trod in this series now, and a shift in perspective would probably be necessary. But the world has only really begun to be revealed.
I do take slight issue with the ending of this novel, in comparison to the first. It seems like a -- somewhat -- unhealthy development to a character (although I more than understand it). That could just be a result of my current circumstances though.
Very worth a read. One interesting point is that both novels in the duology stand alone. I was half-hoping for some returning characters or references but they were either not present or flew over my head.
July 6, 2022
Just like the first book, this is a dragon story through and through. I had a lot of difficulty settling down on a rating for this one. The storytelling is great. I liked the Dragon of Ash & Stars better, but comparing to other dragon stories I've had a pleasure to read, this one stands tall. Goodreads says five stars is "amazing" and I would be pressed hard to disagree. So, five stars is a fair mark in my book, I think.
The story is dark, but beautifully told and yet it's missing the whole "coming back" part of the first one. There's no justice or revenge arc in this one and I would have liked it much better if the dragoness had more... "agency" of her own, as a friend of mine put it recently. The protagonist never truly finds a will of her own until the very epilogue. And that is sad. But not all stories must have happy endings, after all.
I do recommend this to anyone looking for a true draconic literature. This is one of those. A required reading.
The story is dark, but beautifully told and yet it's missing the whole "coming back" part of the first one. There's no justice or revenge arc in this one and I would have liked it much better if the dragoness had more... "agency" of her own, as a friend of mine put it recently. The protagonist never truly finds a will of her own until the very epilogue. And that is sad. But not all stories must have happy endings, after all.
I do recommend this to anyone looking for a true draconic literature. This is one of those. A required reading.
August 28, 2022
Well, this book was an interesting one. I had some strong feelings and critiques about the first one, and went into this one expecting a much more enjoyable book, and I must say, it certainly was that. The main issue I had with the first book, the very disjointed plot that was basically events tied together, was fixed in this one, and the story was much tighter and much more central in regards to the characters. Although, I will admit, halfway through the book, it went back to the disjointed format of the first book, and had a lot of chapters that bored me, and I couldn't bring myself to care much about the events or the characters shown there. I would've much preferred if the main plotline from the first half of the book continued throughout, instead of moving over to chapters involving dragon slavery again.
During those parts, I felt my attention really slipping, and I was kind of forcing myself to continue reading, and I'm really glad I did, because the ending does pick up in a significant way, and is quite strong and emotional and wraps up really nicely. I enjoyed Anekh as a character far more than the male dragon from the first book, and her reasoning and logic was actually sound and understandable, compared to that drake's, who's actions made me go "how much of an idiot are you?" many times throughout the book.
One aspect of the book that I found excellent and a very pleasant surprise was the worldbuilding. Going into it, I expected the setting to be Ancient Egypt inspired, but I didn't expect the world building to be so rich in regards to the nations, the spirituality of the dragons and the humans living there, as well as the great amount of detail put into naming many various animals and objects from the perspective of a dragon. The world building was very well fleshed out and had a lot of thought put into it, and I really enjoyed reading about it.
Overall, I liked this book a lot better than the first one, just wish the majority of the latter half of the book was more focused on the plotline established in the first part. The latter half was, to me, boring and unnecessary, although the ending did redeem it quite a bit. It was still a very good read, and a very good dragon book, that I would recommend to fans of dragon literature.
During those parts, I felt my attention really slipping, and I was kind of forcing myself to continue reading, and I'm really glad I did, because the ending does pick up in a significant way, and is quite strong and emotional and wraps up really nicely. I enjoyed Anekh as a character far more than the male dragon from the first book, and her reasoning and logic was actually sound and understandable, compared to that drake's, who's actions made me go "how much of an idiot are you?" many times throughout the book.
One aspect of the book that I found excellent and a very pleasant surprise was the worldbuilding. Going into it, I expected the setting to be Ancient Egypt inspired, but I didn't expect the world building to be so rich in regards to the nations, the spirituality of the dragons and the humans living there, as well as the great amount of detail put into naming many various animals and objects from the perspective of a dragon. The world building was very well fleshed out and had a lot of thought put into it, and I really enjoyed reading about it.
Overall, I liked this book a lot better than the first one, just wish the majority of the latter half of the book was more focused on the plotline established in the first part. The latter half was, to me, boring and unnecessary, although the ending did redeem it quite a bit. It was still a very good read, and a very good dragon book, that I would recommend to fans of dragon literature.
April 18, 2023
Sometimes I wish the Likert scale on GoodReads was a bit more sensitive. Three stars seems low, but 4 seems high. Maybe I just fear committment.
I'm a sucker for dragons and xenofiction, so this duology is up my alley. The POV was distinct from that of the previous book, and from the human characters. The language was lovely and understandable (sometimes with xenofiction it can be tough to get into if the language is both unnatural and clunky, which this avoided).
The themes are very similar to the previous book: Dragons, like cats and dogs, are too good for us and humans don't deserve them. Our protagonist goes through innumerable heartbreaks and is still willing to be vulnerable, something that I alternately found strong & brave, or naieve & stupid. Both takes are valid.
Its more cohesive a story than the DoA&S, but suffers from having characters rapidly added and removed to the cast. By the end, I was struggling to remember how they impacted our protagonist. No one got much development, so while I knew the losses hurt our dragon, they didn't hurt me. Less galavanting around and more development time would have improved the story and my emotional connection. Still, it was enjoyable and if there's another book in this series, I won't hesitate to pick it up.
I'm a sucker for dragons and xenofiction, so this duology is up my alley. The POV was distinct from that of the previous book, and from the human characters. The language was lovely and understandable (sometimes with xenofiction it can be tough to get into if the language is both unnatural and clunky, which this avoided).
The themes are very similar to the previous book: Dragons, like cats and dogs, are too good for us and humans don't deserve them. Our protagonist goes through innumerable heartbreaks and is still willing to be vulnerable, something that I alternately found strong & brave, or naieve & stupid. Both takes are valid.
Its more cohesive a story than the DoA&S, but suffers from having characters rapidly added and removed to the cast. By the end, I was struggling to remember how they impacted our protagonist. No one got much development, so while I knew the losses hurt our dragon, they didn't hurt me. Less galavanting around and more development time would have improved the story and my emotional connection. Still, it was enjoyable and if there's another book in this series, I won't hesitate to pick it up.
January 26, 2023
beautiful
loved the first book and was very excited to see this one released. i hope a third is written in this series as i much prefer stories told from the point of view of the dragon, not humans living amongst dragons, which is a hard find, especially for adult audiences.
one main criticism i have is that both this book and the first one are just simply heartbreaking. i know that’s the point but i would love to read a third book where the dragon is not constantly mistreated and abused by humans, and even have that book focus almost exclusively on dragons and not humans and their politics etc.
all the same i enjoyed it and hope there’s a third.
loved the first book and was very excited to see this one released. i hope a third is written in this series as i much prefer stories told from the point of view of the dragon, not humans living amongst dragons, which is a hard find, especially for adult audiences.
one main criticism i have is that both this book and the first one are just simply heartbreaking. i know that’s the point but i would love to read a third book where the dragon is not constantly mistreated and abused by humans, and even have that book focus almost exclusively on dragons and not humans and their politics etc.
all the same i enjoyed it and hope there’s a third.
August 20, 2022
I loved this novel and it's golden dragon narrator. Dickson's writing takes you with the Great Gold of Gifah, Anekh across the the beautiful ever changing land to know the people and dragons she has loved. Anekh struggles to understand the politics and wars of people and is instrumental in forging the future for Gifah. You can smell the smoke of battle, hear the cries of dragons and the wind in your face as Anekh flies through the skies from one situation to the next.
Well done Ms. Dickson, well done!
Well done Ms. Dickson, well done!
September 13, 2022
I loved the book! The main character and narrator is a dragon. She tells her story and the story of the humans who capture her in a very compelling way. I couldn't put the book down till I finished. It's sad to see how selfish and cruel we humans can be. Dickson has a way of making the characters feel alive and real, even the ones only seen for a short time. I felt fully immersed in the story and was sad when it ended.
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October 28, 2022Even better than the first
I just finished reading and I'm almost at a loss for words. I felt like I was in Egypt, being told the story from the mouth of a stunning Golden Dragon. Dragons are neither good, nor bad - they are wild things with wild hearts of fire. I recommend this book to anyone who has even a slight interest in dragons. You will not regret the read.
I just finished reading and I'm almost at a loss for words. I felt like I was in Egypt, being told the story from the mouth of a stunning Golden Dragon. Dragons are neither good, nor bad - they are wild things with wild hearts of fire. I recommend this book to anyone who has even a slight interest in dragons. You will not regret the read.
July 29, 2022
Again, a Good Tale
Very good reading, kept me enthralled and reading into the late night, then early morning until I finished it! Joy, then sadness, back and forth...was a very good tale and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Very good reading, kept me enthralled and reading into the late night, then early morning until I finished it! Joy, then sadness, back and forth...was a very good tale and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
November 28, 2022
FABULOUS
I truly love this book. I love dragons and reading from their POV is fantastic. The story is beautiful and heart rending. It makes me feel all the feels. It's one of the few books I could make myself read since I lost the ability to focus properly.
I truly love this book. I love dragons and reading from their POV is fantastic. The story is beautiful and heart rending. It makes me feel all the feels. It's one of the few books I could make myself read since I lost the ability to focus properly.
July 22, 2024
Heartbreaking
Once again, it's a wonderful story of dragons. I love the characters, the heartbreak. The love. The loss. The true circle of life and how people don't value what they have until it's gone. It's my second read through and I love it even more than I did the first time.
Once again, it's a wonderful story of dragons. I love the characters, the heartbreak. The love. The loss. The true circle of life and how people don't value what they have until it's gone. It's my second read through and I love it even more than I did the first time.
September 16, 2024
I'm glad H. Leighton Dickson wrote this as a series.
I like Dragons. I really like Dragons and I really enjoyed this portrayal of Dragons.
Not in the description of a reed, but from the other side of the looking glass.
I like Dragons. I really like Dragons and I really enjoyed this portrayal of Dragons.
Not in the description of a reed, but from the other side of the looking glass.
August 19, 2022
Fantastic story. Very well written. Couldn't put it down. Very highly recommended!!
November 18, 2022
The Autobiography of a Goddess
Loved the allusions to the ancient Egyptians and the topography of Egypt. The use of first person description gave a unique twist to the story.
Loved the allusions to the ancient Egyptians and the topography of Egypt. The use of first person description gave a unique twist to the story.
November 18, 2022
Wow
I like dragons. This book is from a dragon’s point of view. It is very well done. I really really liked this book!
I like dragons. This book is from a dragon’s point of view. It is very well done. I really really liked this book!
January 23, 2023
Even more breathtaking than book 1 and I didn't think it would be possible.
May 26, 2024
amazing story
A true testimony of the great dragons. Large legends and big hearts desperate to prove themselves. Amazing read! True joy
A true testimony of the great dragons. Large legends and big hearts desperate to prove themselves. Amazing read! True joy
March 23, 2025
Love the setting, love the writing, like this author's style!
January 10, 2023
To get the question out of the way: the first book does not have to be read to understand this book.
I would recommend this book to any dragon lover who always wanted to read about dragon-creatures, not dragon-humans. I believe one of the weaknesses of dragon books is their humanization of dragons. They often have the dragon speaking or writing in the human's language or their own and completely integrate or understand human culture. While some might prefer that, I found a more animalist approach to be refreshing. By no means are the dragons less intelligent or have less emotions. The main character learns and adapts to the situation in her own draconic way. Never once could I mistake her for a human with a dragon body. However, like most fantasy books, the start was rough with the terminology and culture. The story starts as a re-telling and this can be rough as terms which the character knows are given without much explanation. That being said, the confusion only lasted the first few chapters before I understood most of the world. The world is very interesting as it is a setting and culture rarely used in fantasy novels, especially one with dragons. I thought the integration was well-done.
Note: Got the book free-ish, due to kindle unlimited, but would buy it for my permanent library.
I would recommend this book to any dragon lover who always wanted to read about dragon-creatures, not dragon-humans. I believe one of the weaknesses of dragon books is their humanization of dragons. They often have the dragon speaking or writing in the human's language or their own and completely integrate or understand human culture. While some might prefer that, I found a more animalist approach to be refreshing. By no means are the dragons less intelligent or have less emotions. The main character learns and adapts to the situation in her own draconic way. Never once could I mistake her for a human with a dragon body. However, like most fantasy books, the start was rough with the terminology and culture. The story starts as a re-telling and this can be rough as terms which the character knows are given without much explanation. That being said, the confusion only lasted the first few chapters before I understood most of the world. The world is very interesting as it is a setting and culture rarely used in fantasy novels, especially one with dragons. I thought the integration was well-done.
Note: Got the book free-ish, due to kindle unlimited, but would buy it for my permanent library.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews