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4.38 AVERAGE
4.38 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Where was THIS book hiding my God???
The frankly huge amount of plot that Darkstalker had to deal with really forced Sutherland here to keep her nose to the grindstone---especially early on, where we're getting huge time skips with practically every third chapter---which makes the book feel propulsive but focused in a way that books in the main series tend not to be. The shifting perspective and fairly universal mind-reading also played to Sutherland's greatest strengths---her uncanny awareness of every characters' motivations in a scene. The plot was also freed up from the usual demands of a WoF plot (see long spoiler tag LOL), which allowed each POV character a level of complexity (*cough cough* angst) that the main series simply can't address, since it focuses on dragons who are essentially wholly good, fighting against dragons who are essentially wholly bad.
ANYWHO. Really cool, especially for this series. Best book from WoF, hands down it's not even close
5/5 stars
The frankly huge amount of plot that Darkstalker had to deal with really forced Sutherland here to keep her nose to the grindstone---especially early on, where we're getting huge time skips with practically every third chapter---which makes the book feel propulsive but focused in a way that books in the main series tend not to be
Spoiler
(in my experience, the main series WoF books have a pretty reliable formula: a character who is fundamentally good at heart but has a few flaws spends the book recognizing their flaw as a flaw and finding ways to overcome it, with some progression of the overall arc's plot. You'll notice that the formula emphasizes character development over plot---and you can see this in the books themselves. Despite being nominally split into a three-act structure, usually the plot threads in any individual book don't weave together in any other context besides character development, leaving the plots feeling sort of loose and secondary)ANYWHO. Really cool, especially for this series. Best book from WoF, hands down it's not even close
5/5 stars
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This first book in the Wings of Fire: Legends series presents us with a collection of extremely (dangerously) powerful dragons and asks us to consider what makes someone a "bad guy." Is it the nature of the power they possess? Were they just born that way? Or perhaps it is more complicated than that.
Once again, the narrative sticks true to the through line of the series: while absolute power corrupts absolutely, it is ultimately the choices one makes with it - how they choose to help or hurt the world - that determines who they are and how they will be remembered. Some "bad guys" do bad things for what they think are good reasons or because they're hurting. That doesn't make their actions right, but it's important to always remember that everyone is human - even if they stand in your way, even if you don't like them - because the moment you start to think yourself above anyone else or that any one type of person is all bad and deserving of death/punishment/suffering is the instant you have lost your humanity and become the very thing you claim to despise. Evil begins when you start seeing people as objects and Darkstalker shows us how easy it can be to fall into that self-righteous mindset... and how much of a conscious effort it takes to make responsible choices!
Once again, the narrative sticks true to the through line of the series: while absolute power corrupts absolutely, it is ultimately the choices one makes with it - how they choose to help or hurt the world - that determines who they are and how they will be remembered. Some "bad guys" do bad things for what they think are good reasons or because they're hurting. That doesn't make their actions right, but it's important to always remember that everyone is human - even if they stand in your way, even if you don't like them - because the moment you start to think yourself above anyone else or that any one type of person is all bad and deserving of death/punishment/suffering is the instant you have lost your humanity and become the very thing you claim to despise. Evil begins when you start seeing people as objects and Darkstalker shows us how easy it can be to fall into that self-righteous mindset... and how much of a conscious effort it takes to make responsible choices!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War
Minor: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship
This is from the view of Darkstalker, Clearsight, and Fathom. Well written as usual and it was nice to finally get the back story to them. I hope we get more legends stories. Regardless, it really helps develop the story further and we learn so much more about the history of Pyrhhia. This world is amazing.
DNF 25%
I just did not like this one and it disappoints no one more than me. The only perspective I even sort of liked was fathom, but even then only a little. Clearsight was way too scattered, which makes sense from a character perspective but made the reading experience of her chapters excruciating. And Darkstalker I hated from the get go. He’s not a compelling villain even within the main series. There was no need to explore his backstory in a full length book. He isn’t Loki. I just want to move on to the rest of the series and stop agonizing over trying to push through this one. It’s official.
I just did not like this one and it disappoints no one more than me. The only perspective I even sort of liked was fathom, but even then only a little. Clearsight was way too scattered, which makes sense from a character perspective but made the reading experience of her chapters excruciating. And Darkstalker I hated from the get go. He’s not a compelling villain even within the main series. There was no need to explore his backstory in a full length book. He isn’t Loki. I just want to move on to the rest of the series and stop agonizing over trying to push through this one. It’s official.
A villain is born, (he is semi-evil at the start when he wants to kill his father.)