Tag: Maarta Laiho

After reviewing Wings of Fire: A Guide to the Dragon World by Tui T. Sutherland last week, Caramel realized that he had not yet reviewed the graphic novel version of Winter Turning, the seventh book in Tui T. Sutherland’s Wings of Fire series even though he had read it right when it was published in January 2024. So to make up for this forgetfulness, today he is talking to Sprinkles about this book: Winter Turning: The Graphic Novel, written by Tui Sutherland, adapted by Barry Deutsch and Rachel Swirsky, with art work by Mike Holmes, and color by Maarta Laiho.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, I know you read this book all the way back in January; did you reread it before this review?

Caramel: Yes. In fact I am still rereading it.

S: I see. So you explained the plot of the book in quite some detail when you were reviewing the original.

C: Yep. And so maybe I do not have to go over it again.

S: Sure, our readers can go and check out that review, but let us try to make this one a bit self-contained. so why don’t you tell us just a little bit about the book? you do not have to go into too much detail. For that our readers can check out your review of the original book.

C: Well, this is about an IceWing named Winter, who is one of the students in Jade Academy. The dragonets from Jade Academy end up finding Queen Scarlet. They were searching for Hailstorm who is Winter’s brother, and they thought Hailstorm was taken by Scarlet. But it is not that simple. Hailstorm is under the influence of some magic which makes him almost worship Scarlet, so he is kind of staying willingly.

S: I see. Maybe this is a good recap that can get folks started with the book.

S: So tell me about the drawings. This is after all a graphic novel version of a full novel.

C: One word: amazing. I mean it is just the same crew who did the previous graphic novels, and so the drawings are familiar and they just work.

S: And I know you have read this book so much that it is already kind of worn out.

C: Kind of. But yes, I have read it a lot. And maybe we will eventually get the graphic novel versions of the eighth book, and then the ninth, and then the tenth, and I will get to read all of them!

S: Only if you promise you will review them too.

C: Of course.

S: Okay, so before we wrap up this review, can you describe this book in three to five words?

C: Sure. Colorful, hilarious, and adventurous.

S: Hilarious because your favorite character Qilbli is there?

C: Yes, I love how funny he is! But we have to wait all the way until book ten to have a whole book in his perspective.

S: That is alright though. I seem to recall it was worth the wait.

C: True, that book was awesome too, but also I don’t like waiting.

S: I know. Anyways, let us not make our readers wait further (did you see what I did there?) So what do you want to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel is a young bunny who loves dragons. In these last couple years, he has gone through all fifteen books of Tui Sutherland’s Wings of Fire series, and reviewed most of them. (His review of the fifteenth book, The Flames of Hope, contains links to all his reviews of the previous books.) He also loves graphic novels. So it was totally expected that when the graphic novel version of the sixth book in the series (Moon Rising) appeared, he just had to get his paws on a copy. Today, for his first review for the new year of 2023, he chose to talk about this book, written by Tui Sutherland, adapted by Barry Deutsch and Rachel Swirsky, with art work by Mike Holmes, and color by Maarta Laiho. As always, Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

[You can see Caramel’s reviews of the graphic novel versions of the first five books here: The Dragonet Prophecy,  The Lost Heir,  The Hidden Kingdom, The Dark Secret, and The Brightest Night.]

Sprinkles: So here we are, Caramel, back from our January break, and you have yet another Wings of Fire book to talk about!

Caramel: Yes! This is Moon Rising, the sixth book of the series. It is the first book of the second arc, Jade Mountain.

S: You reviewed the original version of Moon Rising for the blog before. And I know it was one of your favorites in the series.

C: Yes, I think it is my favorite after the fifteenth, fourteenth, and the tenth.

S: Well, that means it is one of your top three. That is neat. It means you really liked the book. How is this one?

C: Good. But different. The graphic novel versions are all really really different from the actual books.

S: How so?

C: I guess they have similarities, I mean the characters, the main plot lines, and so on, but the original books, they have so much more detail, it feels like you are there.

S: Well, the graphic novel usually does not have as much room for as many words, but the images can help you see the story, perhaps?

C: Yes, I like the pictures in the graphic novels.

S: Does how they depict the characters visually fit your view of them?

C: I guess. You mean do they look like what I think they should look like?

S: Yep.That’s what I mean.

C: Then yes. They do kind of look like what I think they should look like.

S: And since you have read the first five graphic novels before moving into the actual series, maybe they already set some of the imagery in your mind.

C: Maybe.

S: So let us come back to Moon Rising. Can you remind our readers what the plot line is?

C: This is about Moonwatcher, who is a NightWing, and she has a dark secret. She has three dark secrets actually, but I will only tell one.

S: Okay, do tell.

C: She can read minds!

S: Oh yes, I seem to remember that from your review of the original version of the book.

C: Well, the story is the same as that one. With few minor differences. In the original book, there is a little bit more said about MoonWatcher’s secret, and there are more clues to her other dark secrets. But I won’t tell you more about those!

S: I guess I will have to wait and see for myself when we get to the book in audio. Perhaps this is a good time to tell our readers that we as a household are listening to the Wings of Fire books as audio books, and we are only in the third book (Hidden Kingdom).

C: Yes, but we are going kind of slow.

S: I know. We only listen to one chapter a night, and that is optimistic, some nights we don’t listen at all.

C: That happens way too often.

S: I know you like these books a lot, and listening to them, I can actually see why. The characters are all so vividly developed, though so far I only really met Clay, Tsunami, and Glory as the main narrators of the first three books, and the latter two are both too sure of themselves. Not like confidence isn’t nice, but theirs is more like, I know how to do all things and I don’t need help.

C: Yes, but both of them learn that they do need their friends.

S: I guess I can see that happened to Tsunami in the second book and might eventually happen to Glory in the third. So how about the central character of Moon Rising? Is Moonwatcher also very confident?

C: No she is the complete opposite. She doesn’t believe she can ever do anything right. But she is actually pretty awesome too.

S: Okay, so you liked this book!

C: Yes, I liked the original too, but the graphic novel is also pretty great. I already read it like fifty times.

S: I’d not doubt that. I have been seeing it in your paws for a while now.

C: Yep. I like reading it and rereading it. And I can’t wait till the seventh book comes out as a graphic novel.

S: I know! You do love these books. I think it might be time to wrap up this review though. What would you like to tell our readers as we do that?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel has already reviewed the graphic novel versions of the first four books of Tui Sutherland’s Wings of Fire series; below he shares his thoughts on the fifth book in the series, published recently as a graphic novel: The Brightest Night. As in the first four graphic novelizations, this book is adapted by Barry Deutsch and Rachel Swirsky, art work is by Mike Holmes, color is by Maarta Laiho.

In the following Sprinkles is taking notes and is asking questions.

You might like to check out Caramel’s reviews of  The Dragonet Prophecy,  The Lost Heir,  The Hidden Kingdom, and The Dark Secret before moving forward.

Sprinkles: Okay, Caramel. You finally got your paws on the fifth graphic novel based on the Wings of Fire series.

Caramel: Yup. I had told you I was waiting for it for a while when we were talking about the original version of the Dragonet Prophecy.

S: So was it all that you hoped for?

C: Yup. This is the fifth and last book of the prophecy series. So that was cool! Sunny found her mom and dad, and a lot of things are now clear.

S: Tell me about that. So does the prophecy story tie up well?

C: Yes. All the dragonets are well and things are all tied up well. They even set up a school at Jade Mountain.

S: So the five books tell a good story all together, right?

C: Yes.

S: Now that you read all five as graphic novels, will you go back and read the original five as well?

C: I am more curious about the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth books!

S: Hmm, maybe you should read the original books before we dive into the full series?

C: It is so hard to wait though…

S: Okay, we can talk about that later. For now, tell me if the author leaves any doors open for the following books.

C: Yes. I think the next five books are about Jade Mountain.

S: Hmm, I see. Wikipedia tells us that the second story arc is called the Jade Mountain Prophecy.

C: Yes, I want to read those too!

S: Okay, so then we an conclude that you liked this fifth book.

C: Yes.

S: So what three words would you use to describe it?

C: Colorful, exciting, and NightWings. Those are all over the place in this book.

S: Okay, I guess we can accept that. So who is your favorite character in the book?

C: Well, I like all of them. Thorn, Sunny, Clay, Tsunami, Glory, and Peril. All the main dragons. And Starflight. He is also a main character, and I like him too.

S: Hmm, so that is not being too selective.

C: Well, I do like all of them. They are all so interesting!

S: Okay, then. I guess we will let that be. And probably this is a good place to wrap things up. What do you want to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!