BookBunnies

And the book bunnies are back! Caramel starts the new season with the last book of Tui Sutherland‘s Wings of Fire series: The Flames of Fire. As usual Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

Caramel reviewed the first fourteen books from the series for the book bunnies blog. Before moving forward with his review of this fifteenth book, you might like to check out his reviews of these earlier books:

Caramel reviewed both the original version (The Dragonet Prophecy) and the graphic novel version (The Dragonet Prophecy of the very first book. He reviewed only the graphic novel versions of the next four books: The Lost Heir, The Hidden Kingdom, The Dark Secret, and The Brightest Night. These five make up the Dragonet Prophecy story arc.

Here are Caramel’s reviews for the five books that make up the second story arc (the Jade Mountain): Moon Rising, Winter Turning, Escaping Peril, Talons of Power, and Darkness of Dragons.

Finally here are Caramel’s reviews of the first four books making up the third story arc (the lost continent prophecy): The Lost Continent, The Hive Queen, The Poison Jungle, and The Dangerous Gift.

Readers should be warned that there may be more spoilers in this review than usual. 

Sprinkles: So Caramel, here we are, about to start yet another school year, and another season of books and book reviews! You have in your paws the fifteenth and currently the last Wings of Fire book: Flames of Hope. Are we finally done with this series? 

Caramel: Hopefully not. 

S: You mean the book ends with a cliffhanger?

C: To me yes. I’m not sure others would see it as a cliffhanger. I want to see the new world that Luna and Swordtail live in. 

S: Wait, that sounds like a spoiler.

C: No, I think it is already obvious that they would win. But to Tui Sutherland: if you are reading this, please write a sixteenth book. I want to know what happens next. 

S: Okay, let us slow down a bit. I recall that this fifteenth book is the fifth and final book of the third story arch: the lost continent. So is that arc completed and tied up nicely?

C: Yes, I think so. But these dragons will go on and live and do other amazing things, and I want to see them! 

S:  I think you mean that you like this world that Sutherland created and you are not ready to let go. 

C: Yes, exactly.

S: That is sweet. We started listening to the series as an audiobook, and I am already quite amazed at how complete this world that the author has created seems to be. So I understand why you don’t want to leave it just yet. 

C: And you know, we just are listening to the first book, and it gets better and better.

S: Cool. So would you then say that this fifteenth book is just as good as all the previous ones? 

C: Yes. 

S: So tell me what happens in it. Who is the main character this time?

C: Luna. We met her a while ago, first in book 10, The Darkness of Dragons. She is a SlikWing from Pantala.

S: So what is the main narrative arc of this book? What is the main event or challenge or conflict?

C: The main thing is that she battles the Other Mind.

S: What is the Other Mind?

C: It is the Breath of Evil, who took over a dragon and a human, and is using their minds for planning and stuff. 

S: Is the Breath of Evil a plant? I seem to recall that on Pantala there were evil plants. 

C: Yes. Exactly. The Breath of Evil is one of them. It tries to take over the entire world and Luna has to fight it. 

S: She has help from friends too, no?

C: Yes, but only Luna can do the actual thing. Only she can defeat the Other Mind. 

S: This story line sounds a bit creepier than the previous ones. 

C: But it is just as funny. There is an entire page of comic relief. Complete funniness. Pure hilarity. 

S: I see.

S: So do we see our friends from the first books? Tsunami? Clay? Peril?

C: We don’t see Peril I think, but we see the others. 

S: So do you think this is a clean and tidy ending for the series? 

C: Yes but –

S: Of course I understand you want more …

C: Yes, please Tui Sutherland, please, please, please, write more books about these dragons and their world!

S: I don’t know if she reads our blog, but I can see you feel very strongly about this. That is really neat! I think these books will be with you for a while. 

C: Yes. I will keep reading and rereading and rereading them. For a long time. 

S: I can see that. But for now, this series is over. We are done. Now looking back would you recommend this whole series to other little bunnies? 

C: Yes, of course, without a doubt. I think the first few books have some violence here and there, but overall, I love the world and the characters and everything in these books. 

S: How wonderful to have such a series that you are so fond of! So overall what three words would you use to describe the full series?

C: Hilarious, dragon awesomeness, and adventure, and friendship, and pure amazingness. 

S: Those are a little bit more than three words, but then again, they are about fifteen books. So I guess that is fine. This seems like to good place to wrap things up. What would you like to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews! 

Caramel has spent most of this year reading and reviewing books about dragons. Today, for his last review before the bunnies take off for the month of July, he talks about The Dangerous Gift, the fourteenth and currently the penultimate book in the Wings of Fire series by Tui Sutherland. As usual, Sprinkles is taking notes and asking followup questions.

Sprinkles: Book Fourteen. Here we are. What can you tell us about it?

Caramel: This one is about Queen Snowfall of the IceWings.

S: Is she the main character?

C: Yes.

S: But the queens are typically bad in this book series, no?

C: Not this one. Burn, Bister, and Blaze were bad, and so was Scarlet. But there is Ruby, and she is not that bad. And Snowfall is really not bad.

S: I see. So how does she fit into the storyline of the Lost Continent?

C: Some dragons from the tribes from the lost continent come over to the Ice Kingdom, though they were not intending to, and they ask for help. So the IceWings get involved.

S: I see.

C: Technically only about twelve IceWings get involved. Queen Snowfall orders ten guards to come with her, and Lynx, another IceWing, comes along, because she is not going to take no for an answer.

S: Hmm, is Lynx Snowfall’s friend?

C: They are technically enemies. Or they were, until Snowfall became the queen. Before her, the queen was Queen Glacier, who was Snowfall’s mother.

S: So what happened to her?

C: She died. Of a plague, sent by Darkstalker.

S: Oh, I remember Darkstalker, who was the bad guy from the second story arc, the Jade Mountain arc.

C: Yep.

S: Okay, so Snowfall is the main character of this book, right?

C: Yes. I like her. In the beginning she is kind of annoying but then you start to actually like her.

S: Do the IceWings decide to help the dragons from the other continent?

C: They have to. Because the new dragons have to get to the Sanctuary. That is the place that the Talons of Peace created after the war, at the end of the first five books. Did I tell you about the Talons of Power?

S: No, I don’t think so.

C: Well they come up in the tenth book.

S: Well the ninth book is called the Talons of Power?

C: Yeah, but you actually learn who they are in the tenth. They were created by Quibli’s grandpa who thought the Talons of Peace were too weak and so he created the Talons of Power.

S: I see.

C: But who is important in this book is the Talons of Peace, and the Sanctuary they created. The dragons from the other continent want to go there.

S: Why?

C: That is a safe place. They are running away the Hive Queen. That is Queen Wasp, who can control all the HiveWings. Remember?

S: Yes, I do. So our friends from the earlier books, Blue, Cricket, and Luna, are they among the dragons from Pantala who came over?

C: Luna had come over already in the tenth book. She was stuck in Pyrrhia, and when Queen Wasp attacked and took over a large part of the LeadWings, our friends escaped. It is now impossible to attack Queen Wasp because she now can control a lot of dragons.

S: I see. So does this book have a neat ending that ties things together? Or is everything going to have to wait till the fifteenth book?

C: It ends in a cliffhanger. I have to, have to, have to read the fifteenth book!

S: I know. Okay, let us wrap up this review so you can get your paws on the next one then.

C: Yay!

S: But our readers will have to wait till August for your review of it.

C: That’s true! This is our last review before we take off the month of July.

S: Yes. I hope we will be reading a lot this month, and by the time we get back to the blog, we will have a lot to talk about.

C: Yes!

S: So would you do the honors and say your words to the readers to wrap up the review?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews! Coming back in August 2022!

Today Caramel reviews the thirteenth book of Tui Sutherland’s Wings of Fire series: The Poison Jungle As usual Sprinkles is taking notes and asking followup questions. 

Before reading this review you might wish to check out Caramel’s reviews of the graphic novel versions of the first five books (The Dragonet Prophecy,  The Lost Heir,  The Hidden Kingdom, The Dark Secret, and The Brightest Night), as well as his review of the very first book (The Dragonet Prophecy, the sixth book (Moon Rising), the seventh (Winter Turning), the eighth (Escaping Peril), the ninth (Talons of Power), the tenth (Darkness of Dragons), the eleventh (The Lost Continent), and the twelfth (The Hive Queen).

Readers should be warned that there may be more spoilers in this review than usual.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, this is the thirteenth book. Only two more left I think. Right?

Caramel: Yep.

S: So tell us about this one. Who is the main character this time?

C: Sundew. She is a LeafWing, and she has the strongest LeafSpeak in her tribe.

S: What was that?

C: Remember I told you about it when we were talking about The Hive Queen. Some of the LeafWing dragons can help plants grow faster or slow them down. And Sundew is really good at this.

S: So what is the main story this time? What does Sundew do with her powers?

C: Well, she doesn’t tell her friends about her powers at first. But Cricket asks her some questions and it comes out. And remember the last time, Cricket, Sundew and Blue and Swordtail got to the Poison Jungle to hide. So this is the story of them hiding there.

S: Tell me more. What happens? What is the main conflict in the book?

C: Queen Wasp actually attacks the jungle and takes over a lot of the LeafWing tribes. She also gets Blue and Swordtail.

S: Wait, that sounds like a big spoiler.

C: Yes I guess it is because it happens towards the end. But I could not hide it. It is a big deal. And it is terrible, because Queen Wasp can control people. And now she will control Blue and Swordtail too.

S: Hmm, we should probably put a spoiler alert to this post. But who is Swordtail? I do not remember you talking about that dragon.

C: Swordtail is another SilkWing, he is a friend of Blue. We met him actually all the way back in The Lost Continent.

S: I see. So he was also trying to help Cricket hide and help them all get rid of Queen Wasp?

C: Yes, exactly.

S: Okay, since we already gave away some big spoilers, let us move away from the plot line and talk about the rest of the book. Do you find Sundew an interesting character?

C: Yes, she is strong and also likes another girl dragon, Willow, another LeafWing.

S: I see. Does Willow like her back?

C: Yes. But they are not quite a couple.

S: I see. So does Sundew talk about Willow in the book a lot?

C: Not too much. She hides a lot of her feelings, and her powers, and so on. She does not seem to trust others too much.

S: I see. So on this continent who is your favorite dragon so far?

C: I’d say Willow, because she is the nicest person of them all. She is kind and always trying to help. I also like Blue and Cricket. Blue does not like violence, and neither does Cricket. But also Cricket is very curious, she asks questions all the time. So I like all three of them.

S: Those are very good reasons to like a character Caramel! So did you think this book was at the right tone for the series? Did you think it carried the story along well so you would want to continue to read on?

C: Yes. I think the whole series is very good, all the books are so good! And I definitely want to read the next two books! And soon!

S: Okay Caramel, I get the hint. Let us wrap this up then so you can move on to book fourteen. But before then, what do you want to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!