I received a free physical copy of this book from Scholastic Press in exchange for an honest review.
Title: Darkstalker
Series: Wings of Fire: Legends #1
Author: Tui T. Sutherland
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Publication Date: June 28, 2016
Genre: Middle grade, Fantasy
Genre: Middle grade, Fantasy
Length:
Format: arc / galley
Source: publisher
Synopsis:
Three dragons. One unavoidable, unpredictable destiny. This is the beginning... of the end.
In the SeaWing kingdom, a young prince learns he is an animus--capable of wonderful magic that comes with a terrible price.
In the mind of a NightWing dragonet, a thousand futures unfold--and almost all of them, she knows, lead to disaster and destruction.
And under three full moons and the watchful eyes of his NightWing mother and IceWing father, the most powerful dragon Pyrhhia will ever know is clawing his way out of his egg. Darkstalker, the dragon who will change the world forever.
Long before the SandWing war, lifetimes before the Dragonet Prophecy... darkness is born.
My Thoughts:
When an IceWing dragon prince falls in love with a NightWing and has two dragonets, Darkstalker and Whiteout, it creates a rift between the two tribes. Darkstalker is an animus like his father, Prince Artic, but the two are as different as night and day and get along even less.
An animus is a dragon with magical abilities but that magic comes with a heavy price. No one knows exactly how the magic works but it is thought that the more magic an animus uses, the more they lose their soul, go crazy, and become evil.
Fathom, a SeaWing animus learns this hard truth when his grandfather, Albatross, kills the majority of his royal family. He is then sent to the NightWing tribe to keep an eye on Darkstalker, the NightWing's first and only animus dragon and keep him from using his power.
Clearsight, a gifted NightWing who can see the future clearer than other seers, knows that there is darkness and destruction in the future, as well as war between the IceWing and NightWing tribes, and will do everything she can to make sure those timelines don't happen. But she never anticipated that love would block her 'sight' and hide the worst future of all.
Fathom, a SeaWing animus learns this hard truth when his grandfather, Albatross, kills the majority of his royal family. He is then sent to the NightWing tribe to keep an eye on Darkstalker, the NightWing's first and only animus dragon and keep him from using his power.
Clearsight, a gifted NightWing who can see the future clearer than other seers, knows that there is darkness and destruction in the future, as well as war between the IceWing and NightWing tribes, and will do everything she can to make sure those timelines don't happen. But she never anticipated that love would block her 'sight' and hide the worst future of all.
This was my first time reading anything by Tui T. Sutherland and I was not previously aware of the original Wings of Fire series until after I received this. I do believe this is a prequel series and I don't think it is necessary to read the Wings of Fire series first but I will be reading that series soon so I can make a more sound judgement in the future.
I really enjoyed that the characters are dragons. I love fantasy and any mention of a dragon usually captures my attention but it's not often that we get to read about dragons from their perspectives, let alone in their own dragon world! Add in all the different dragon tribes, their special abilities, and the animus dragons, and I was hooked.
All of the characters in this book were fantastic. I adored each and every one and found myself sympathizing with them. I often went back to the illustrations of the different tribes at the beginning of the book to see exactly what each type of dragon looks like. Even beyond their descriptions, their characters were so interesting, whether it was a mind reading dragon, a dragon that could see the future, or just a regular dragon with no magical abilities. I love anthropomorphic stories and this book really fueled that love.
The worldbuilding was wonderful. There's a map of Pyrrhia at the beginning of the book that gives us a good look at where each tribe's kingdom lies. I particularly loved the SeaWing kingdom and how it was portrayed Not all of the kingdoms are described in detail but I'm looking forward to reading more about them all in future books in this series as well as the Wings of Fire series.
These books are a must read for fantasy lovers, especially if you adore dragons!
I really enjoyed that the characters are dragons. I love fantasy and any mention of a dragon usually captures my attention but it's not often that we get to read about dragons from their perspectives, let alone in their own dragon world! Add in all the different dragon tribes, their special abilities, and the animus dragons, and I was hooked.
All of the characters in this book were fantastic. I adored each and every one and found myself sympathizing with them. I often went back to the illustrations of the different tribes at the beginning of the book to see exactly what each type of dragon looks like. Even beyond their descriptions, their characters were so interesting, whether it was a mind reading dragon, a dragon that could see the future, or just a regular dragon with no magical abilities. I love anthropomorphic stories and this book really fueled that love.
The worldbuilding was wonderful. There's a map of Pyrrhia at the beginning of the book that gives us a good look at where each tribe's kingdom lies. I particularly loved the SeaWing kingdom and how it was portrayed Not all of the kingdoms are described in detail but I'm looking forward to reading more about them all in future books in this series as well as the Wings of Fire series.
These books are a must read for fantasy lovers, especially if you adore dragons!
My Rating:
4.5 stars
4.5 stars
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