Tag: dragons

Caramel has been reviewing Tui Sutherland’s Wings of Fire books one by one, and today he is talking about the eighth book: Escaping Peril. 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), and the seventh (Winter Turning). Also beware: there might be more spoilers in this review than our usual fare.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, you are back to reading another Wings of Fire book!

Caramel: Yup. This one is called Escaping Peril, and it is all about Peril, a Skywing with the firescales.

S: Hmm, I know each of these books is focusing on one of the main characters. So is Peril someone we just met?

C: No, she appears in the very first book actually, The Dragonet Prophecy. And I reviewed that book twice, the graphic novel version and the original book. So I know what is in it pretty well.

S: I see. So we have met Peril before. How is the Peril in this book different from the other depictions of her?

C: Well, in the other books Peril is always seen from the outside. We don’t ever hear her thoughts or feelings. Even Darkstalker and Moonwatcher who can hear other dragons’ thoughts cannot read her mind. All Moon can see in Peril’s mind is walls of fire actually.

S: Oh yes I remember Moon from your review of Moon Rising. So Peril has been a mystery to the readers for a while now.

C: Yes I think you can say that. And in this book, we finally learn her version of the story. She is actually not so mean and wants to have friends but thinks nobody would ever like her because she is so mean. But she does actually have a friend, Clay, and we met Clay all the way back in the first book.

S: Oh, I like how all these characters and their stories are so intertwined with one another! The author must be a master weaver of story threads!

C: I guess you could say that too. I like these stories so much!

S: So maybe tell us a bit more about the actual story line of this particular book.

C: This is about Peril trying to find the ex-queen Scarlet.

S: Wait, you mentioned a Queen Scarlet before.

C: Yes, she calls herself a queen but she is no longer a queen actually. But Peril is faithful to her and wants her to become the queen again. Of course we learn that she was enchanted and that is why she is so loyal to Scarlet. And eventually she rips off the enchantment and burns it–

S: Wait, I think we are very close to or already past the line for too many spoilers!

C: But Queen Scarlet is killed, Ruby kills her–

S: Wait, that is even more spoilers. I think we should not give away too much.

C: Well, I disagree. It is more fun to talk about what actually happens in the book.

S: Okay, but there might be folks reading this without having read the book itself. So for those people, let us be more cautious, and leave some things in the book for them to discover on their own.

C: Okay, I can see how that would be more thoughtful, I suppose.

S: Okay, so having read these eight books (and actually, you jumped ahead and read the eleventh one too), who is your favorite character?

C: I still like Qibli. He is still the funniest character, though I am not quite sure if I am pronouncing his name correctly. And even my happy octopus friend agrees that Qibli is the best character.

S: I see. But I think Qibli is not a main character, no?

C: I think he will be, in the tenth book. But you are right, so far, he is not one of the main characters.

S: So among the eight main characters you met so far, which one is your favorite?

C: I like all of them. Because we get to see the world through their eyes and we can understand them.

S: I see. That is nice Caramel, that you can empathize, even with dragons!

C: Why wouldn’t I? I love dragons. Anyways I also kind of wish the author would write a book about Kinkajou, the RainWing. I think it would be interesting because she is always so positive–

S: You mean like optimistic?

C: Yes.

S: Okay, so what three words would you use to describe Escaping Peril?

C: Descriptive, because there is a lot of description. Especially in the gory parts.

S: So it is also gory?

C: A bit. Like when Ruby rips off Queen Scarlet’s wing–

S: Wait, that does sound vicious.

C: Yes. But Ruby is actually nice and this happens in a duel to the death so Ruby has to kill Scarlet.

S: That does sound a bit too much.

C: Yes, there is gore but it is only in some small parts. And war is violent and vicious and pretty terrible, always, so why hide it?

S: Wow, Caramel, that is unfortunately true and pretty wise for a little bunny. Okay, so descriptions, gore, what else is worth pointing out about this book? What would be your third word?

C: Funny. It is still funny.

S: So are you and your happy friend ready to move on to book nine?

C: Yes, and then book ten, and then book eleven–

S: Okay, I get the point. Then let us wrap up this review. What do you want to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunnies reviews!

Though still quite a little bunny, Caramel has been reading bigger and longer books these days. As a dedicated fan of all things dragon, he got into the Wings of Fire series of Tui Sutherland via 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). Then he began to read the original books. You can read his review of the very first book (The Dragonet Prophecy) and the sixth book (Moon Rising) before diving into this review, which is of the seventh book: Winter Turning. As usual, Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions. (After all, Caramel is still a very little bunny.)

Sprinkles: So Caramel, this is book seven. What is going on in this one?

Caramel: This one is about a new dragonet named Winter. We met him before, in Moon Rising. That is the sixth book.

S: Okay, so I am guessing this book is centered around Winter then, given the title of the book.

C: Yes. But he is not turning anywhere. Or at least he is not turning bad.

S: Is someone trying to turn him bad?

C: No not quite. Well, there is Scarlet who is kind of trying. And Winter has a sister, named Icicle, who is already bad. And maybe I guess you could say she tries to turn Winter evil too.

S: I see.

C: But Winter has some classmates from Jade Academy. They call them clawmates, and Moonwatcher is one of them. Remember she was the main character from Moon Rising. Winter thinks that his kind of dragons, IceWings, are superior to the others, and thinks he does not need anybody’s help. But his friends try to help him anyway.

S: That is what friends are for, right?

C: Yes. But unfortunately they find themselves facing Queen Scarlet who is pretty bad. And dangerous. And then eventually Winter is alone and has to continue the path almost alone, he does have his brother with him. Hailstorm. And Hailstorm is good. But he has been transformed into a Skywing, named Pyrite, who is annoyingly loyal to Queen Scarlet.

S: Wait. I am confused. First how can one type of dragon be transformed into another? And you said Scarlet is evil. So if Pyrite, or Hailstorm is actually good, how is he so loyal to this evil queen?

C: One word. Darkstalker. And some of that is in the previous book.

S: Oh, so is Pyrite the one that is not what she seems in the prophecy?

C: I think so. Pyrite is definitely not the female SkyWing that she seems to be. She is actually a male IceWing named Hailstorm.

S: Oh, did we give away a lot here?

C: No, this comes up soon in this book. So not too much of a spoiler really.

S: So okay, maybe we can leave the plot aside because I’m afraid we will give away some vital information. But it seemed to me that you really enjoyed this book too. Is that true?

C: Yup. The books are all very very exciting! Icicle tries to kill Winter and then —

S: Wait, no more of the plot! I want to hear more general things. So tell me for example your three words to describe the book.

C: Exciting!

S: What else?

C: Confused.

S: You mean confusing?

C: No, I mean confused. Winter is confused. He is in love with Moon but he is not supposed to love a NightWing.

S: Okay, but you are getting awfully close to giving away more plot clues! What is your third word?

C: Funny! Qibli is really funny! He makes lots of jokes. And he is the friend of both Winter and Moonwatcher. We met him first in Moon Rising actually.

S: I see. So is he your favorite character then?

C: I think so.

S: That is cool. Are you ready to dive right into the next book then?

C: YES!

S: Okay. Let us wrap up this review then so you do just that. What do you want to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel reviewed the graphic novel versions of the first five books of Tui Sutherland’s Wings of Fire series: you can see these reviews here: The Dragonet Prophecy,  The Lost Heir,  The Hidden Kingdom, The Dark Secret, and The Brightest Night. He also reviewed the original version of the first book (The Dragonet Prophecy). Then he jumped ahead a bit and reviewed Book Eleven: The Lost Continent. At first this made some sense as the eleventh book starts a new story arc, the Lost Continent Prophecy arc. But it seemed very likely that skipping the second story arc (the Jade Mountain Prophecy arc) all together might lead to some difficulties. So he finally decided to go back and read the Jade Mountain books from the beginning. This is the review of the first book of that series: Moon Rising. As usual Sprinkles is taking notes and asking followup questions.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, we are back in Pyrrhia, the continent of the dragons in the Dragonet Prophecy books, right?

Caramel: Yes.

S: Are any of the characters from the first five books in this sixth one?

C: Yes, in fact Tsunami is more or less the principal of Jade Academy. Remember that she was the main character in The Lost Heir, the second book of the series. Now she is the headmistress of the new school they founded in Pyrrhia, to protect the peace they built in the first five books. And apparently she has thirty-two brothers. That is a lot of siblings!

S: I see. And I agree that is a lot of siblings!

C: But the main characters are actually new dragonets, who we have not met before. And the real main character of this book is Moonwatcher. She is a NightWing and she does not want to go to school.

S: Wait, so the “Moon” in the title “Moon Rising”, is that this dragonet?

C: Yes. I think so. The book is definitely about her, and she has some powers that she is trying to keep hidden.

S: That sounds intriguing.

C: There is an attempted murder which ends up killing someone else and Moon tries to help find the killer. And she is the one who receives the new prophecy: The Jade Mountain Prophecy.

S: Ooh, of course this is a new story arc, and there’s got to be a new prophecy. Can you tell us what it is?

C: Sure. Here you go:

Beware the darkness of dragons,
Beware the stalker of dreams,
Beware the talons of power and fire,
Beware one who is not what she seems.

Something is coming to shake the earth,
Something is coming to scorch the ground.
Jade Mountain will fall beneath thunder and ice
Unless the lost city of night can be found.

S: Oooh, that is kind of creepy!

C: Yes, I’m not sure about what any of this means.

S: I am really curious to see how the author will make these things happen. Do you think Moonwatcher is the one who is not what she seems?

C: I don’t think so. I think it is probably someone else, because I think the person who is not what she seems is probably not a good person. And I think Moon is a good person.

S: Hmm, that is an interesting conjecture Caramel. So tell me, was this book as exciting as you hoped it to be?

C: Yes. I can’t wait to read the next one.

S: Okay, then let us wrap up this review so you can dive right into Book Seven. But before that, tell me three words you’d use to describe this book.

C: It is exciting, and thought-full.

S: What do you mean by “thoughtful”? How can a book like this be thoughtful?

C: Well, it is full of all kinds of thoughts of all kinds of dragonets, and Moon can hear all of them! So thought-full, you see?

S: I see. I’m not sure I’d call that thoughtful, but okay. What is your third word then?

C: It’s funny too.

S: Okay, that is cool. Alright, maybe it is time to say your usual closing words then.

C: Yay! Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!