Reviews - Wings of Fire Book Six: Moon Rising, Volume 6

337 reviews for:

Wings of Fire Book Six: Moon Rising, Volume 6

Tui T. Sutherland

4.3 AVERAGE

fowl_47's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious relaxing sad tense medium-paced

oliww's review against another edition

4.0

i liked the pathetic emo white guy

random_spider's review against another edition

4.0

Synopsis:
- The war on the three SandWing sisters was finally over, but it does not mean all problems of dragons were fixed. Moon (short for Moonwatcher) was so anxious about her first day in Jade Mountain Academy, but then sooner she realized that perhaps it wasn't the END of her. As she was trying to adjust and keeping her personal secret safe, she stumbled upon a new 'company' within her thoughts. Moon --- and her winglet --- dishearteningly recognized that their new school contained a conspiring killer, while tensions brought by the freshly ended war began erupting out of control.

Strengths:
1. Some much needed fresh start after the first 5 books. New set of protagonists, new settings, new main character (the best so far), use of previous characters, etc.
2. Again with the progressive world building. Love that this was respectful yet an ambitious continuation of the previous arc.
3. Psychological elements.
4. Relationship dynamics were fun.
5. Thought-provoking themes.
6. FINALLY some explanations to previous plot devices.
7. WAIT!!!! Am I recognizing an Anti-Villain???

Flaws:
1. Numerous minor side characters can be a challenge to manage for some readers.
2. The events accelerated too quickly on the second half.
3. The final hidden killer was uncomfortably forced and executed awkwardly.

Remarks and Rating:
- Like The Hidden Kingdom, this book was both a personal story and a compelling establishment for succeeding installments of the series. I just love when these books accomplished both aspects satisfactorily.
- I really like the inclusion of more intellectual themes within this book. Examples are Great power comes great responsibility and Peace isn't guarantee after War.
- We now got Hogwarts, but by dragons. I love both the new and reused dragons for this arc. We've got a Draco Malfoy IceWing, a calculative and untrusting SandWing, a Gay MudWing (at least I think he is), a hyperactive RainWing, an irritated, standoffish and insecure SkyWing, a void SeaWing, and the main character was an overanxious psychic NightWing.
- I've some criticisms about the book though. Yes, pacing isn't perfect (as usual with the series.) I also think there's a little too much of other minor side characters that doesn't contribute much to the current plot.
- I think the best parts of the School/Academy trope was the classroom scenes, where various characters naturally interact amongst themselves. I think it was done pretty well here (like being a tension amplifier, and more.)
- Just saying the name --- Darkstalker .
- With everything considered, I'll rate Wings of Fire: Moon Rising an 8/10.

WINGS OF FIRE BOOKS RANKED:

1. The Dangerous Gift (9/10)

2. Moon Rising (8/10)

3. Talons of Power (8/10)
4. Winter Turning (7/10)
5. The Hidden Kingdom (7/10)
6. The Poison Jungle (7/10)
7. The Lost Continent (7/10)
8. The Dark Secret (6/10)
9. The Brightest Night (6/10)
10. The Dragonet Prophecy (6/10)
11. The Lost Heir (5/10)
12. The Flames of Hope (4/10)
13. Darkness of Dragons (4/10)
14. Escaping Peril (4/10)
15. The Hive Queen (4/10)

JUSTIFICATION:
- As a Wings of Fire book, this was the best one (excluding the special case of Book 14.) It was an excellent arc starter by continuing the past events organically and introducing the most enjoyable casts of characters. Moon was an amazing point-of-view character with relatable characteristics, great development, and was the sole reason why the novel is written artistically due to her abilities. It made your ordinary dragons/dragonets around her achieved more character depth and nuance. The plot, itself, was quite unique among its peers. Like c'mon, a book full of dragonet school drama (w/ superiority complex, happy-go-luckies, war-shocked, etc.) was pure entertainment. Not to mention it formally introduced the best antagonist of the series: Darkstalker.

One might say there are too many characters to handle all at once and it's overwhelming, but remember, WE the readers are using Moon's point-of-view. And when you're reading something that perfectly captured what the main character's emotion and situation was, I'd say the book done its job excellently.

All in all, this series entry was pretty great despite not being paced perfectly. I could see why it's the favorite of many.