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A review by blacksphinx
To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose
adventurous
challenging
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I can safely say that this book lives up to the promise of its incredibly original and interesting plot synopsis. In fact it's even more out of the box than you'd expect. I was confused when I opened the book and was greeted with a partial periodic table of elements - something left off the cover is that dragons don't breathe fire in this world, their breath instead reduces anything it touches to their base elements like carbon and nitrogen. Chemistry is a major and constant plot point!
This is a book that only could have been written by a Native American, and is a shining example of what we're all missing out on when publishers don't give minority voices a space in SF/F. This book tells a steampunk story in a magic school about a Girl And Her Dragon, while also being an unflinching account of the struggles of indigenous people at the turn of the century. Despite having a plethora of characters along almost every axis of diversity I can think of, no one felt like a hollow check mark on a list to me. I especially liked that the indigenous characters are not uniform in their opinions on how to shape the future (you know, like real people!). As you would also expect, the range of white characters realistically behave in ways of their time, with well-intentioned ones also being various degrees of racist/ethnocentric. It's a story that's both "important" while also being a great read on it's own, you know?
I found the plot itself to be beautiful while not neatly fitting into a standard action-oriented structure. If you need some sort of central mystery or struggle to unfold and then be solved by the end of the book, this one might not be for you. There's a revelation around the 60% mark that brought tears to my eyes. While it's not a YA novel, it's the kind of fiction that would have blown my mind as a young teen and I hope going straight to paperback allows it to fit into as many hands as possible.
My only complaint is that I wish there was a glossary of terms, even though I feel it was intentional so we feel as overwhelmed and out of place as our protagonist. While she eventually got the hang of things, my dyslexic self constantly struggled.
This is a book that only could have been written by a Native American, and is a shining example of what we're all missing out on when publishers don't give minority voices a space in SF/F. This book tells a steampunk story in a magic school about a Girl And Her Dragon, while also being an unflinching account of the struggles of indigenous people at the turn of the century. Despite having a plethora of characters along almost every axis of diversity I can think of, no one felt like a hollow check mark on a list to me. I especially liked that the indigenous characters are not uniform in their opinions on how to shape the future (you know, like real people!). As you would also expect, the range of white characters realistically behave in ways of their time, with well-intentioned ones also being various degrees of racist/ethnocentric. It's a story that's both "important" while also being a great read on it's own, you know?
I found the plot itself to be beautiful while not neatly fitting into a standard action-oriented structure. If you need some sort of central mystery or struggle to unfold and then be solved by the end of the book, this one might not be for you. There's a revelation around the 60% mark that brought tears to my eyes. While it's not a YA novel, it's the kind of fiction that would have blown my mind as a young teen and I hope going straight to paperback allows it to fit into as many hands as possible.
My only complaint is that I wish there was a glossary of terms, even though I feel it was intentional so we feel as overwhelmed and out of place as our protagonist. While she eventually got the hang of things, my dyslexic self constantly struggled.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Ableism, Colonisation, and Racism
Moderate: Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Homophobia, Slavery, Violence, Classism, and Genocide
Minor: War and Animal death