dragons

Why Fourth Wing’s Dragons Steal the Show

by Stefani

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Published: May 3, 2023 by Entangled: Red Tower Books

Buy this book at: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo

Synopsis:

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away…because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.

With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.

Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom’s protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.

Rating:

Review:

Unless you’ve been living under a rock or out in the vast wilderness you’ll know that the 3rd book of this series came out recently. You can’t get away from it. Onyx Storm is everywhere. And everyone seems to love it. Maybe if I was still a doe-eyed 20 something then I would have liked it more too. I decided to give this series a shot and while it is entertaining, it has problems.

I listened to this on audiobook and thought the narrators did a fabulous job. They told this story and the characters to the best of their ability.

**Spoiler alert** Read no further if you wish to remain unspoiled

I love dragons. Adding dragons to a fantasy is a really big winner for me, especially intelligent dragons. The dragon that pairs with Violet is very witty and intelligent, and frankly he was my favorite character. But, it also made me wonder, what does it say about a book when the most logical character is a dragon? The dragon politics in this book was interesting but it also made me ask a lot of questions. Mainly, what do dragons need humans for? They have power, intellect and magic all on their own. They have their own laws, their own politics and their own functioning world. Why do they want to bond with humans? Share their magic with humans? Weaken themselves to empower the humans? Most importantly, why do they want to assist the humans in their wars? Even if the dragons had the same enemy, they seem perfectly capable of fighting on their own. And unfortunately we never get the answers to those questions.

Xaden was a great character, very complex and morally grey. But as soon as I heard his name I knew we were getting a cheesy romance starring Xaden Riorson. And it’s the stuff of every YA book’s dreams. Unreasonably jealousy, trying to make jealousy sexy. On a side note, can we please stop trying to make jealous outbursts sexy? They aren’t. But most importantly, we get Violet and Xaden angsting at each other until they finally find their way into each other’s pants. I probably would have enjoyed this more if I was still a naive 20-something. Instead, fully adult me, rolled my eyes and moved along.

I also found the timeline really confusing. So, there’s a war that seems to have been going on for centuries. The enemy wants to break into their kingdom, but they don’t know why. Everyone seems to just suggest that they obviously want something really badly but…it’s been 600 years? You haven’t had a single peace negotiation to find out? And there was also an internal rebellion that seemed to have happened a lot more recently. A lot of the characters talk about it like it was a long time ago, but since Xaden is involved with the ending of that rebellion it can’t have been any more than maybe 5 years earlier? Xaden is only around 23, so it can’t have been too long ago. But as it turns out the people they’re fighting against (the people in the war or the rebellion, can’t really tell) want magic from the kingdom, because they’re being attacked by magical creatures that no one thinks actually exist. So…instead of just explaining the situation you’re in, you start a war and sacrifice more fighters trying to steal the thing you need? Someone was missing battle sense.

This book was full of tropes. Violet is “so frail”, so tiny, so boring, so unremarkable. Who then ends up doing so many amazing things that no one has ever done before! Eye roll. Sexy jealousy. Eye roll. Childhood friend who has all the feelings. Eye roll. Heroine having an “addiction” to the bad boy. Eye roll. So many tropes.

The things that pulled me into this were the dragons, who were pretty badass. The magic system was very well done and interesting. And the enemies we finally get introduced to right at the very end. Those things have kept me invested enough to probably read the 2nd book. But if the worldbuilding doesn’t get a lot tighter than I’m bowing out of the series for good.

Dragons and Destiny: Exploring Ragar Or’s Mysteries

by Stefani

The Prophecy of the Yubriy Tree by Ben Spencer

Published: October 19, 2024 by Knock Knee Books

Buy this book at: Amazon / Barnes & Noble

Synopsis:

Every year, prophecy leaves fall from the Yubriy Tree. And every year, the Dayborn king sends his most trusted servants to collect the leaves and return them to the capital.

Only this year, one of the leaves drifted into the forest unseen.

Three lives will be forever changed by the undetected prophecy leaf.

The strong-willed daughter of a powerful family. The mysterious and reviled half brother of the king. And a talented but unlucky musician, desperate to write the song that will bring him good fortune.

Looming in the background are reports of the first dragon to appear in Ragar Or in over sixty-five years. And, as anyone familiar with Ragar Or’s history knows, when dragons appear, royalty dies.

Rating:

Review:

**Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest feedback. Thank you Net Galley and Knock Knee Books!**

I really loved this book. The very first chapter captured my attention and the book didn’t let go until the last page. The first chapter details the process of collecting the Yubriy leaves and it follows the journey of the three leaves that get carried away. Then we jump straight into meeting our main three characters, around whom I presumed that the lost prophecies would revolve. It was a perfect introduction into the story.

So because we have these three main characters that means we have three ongoing narratives that revolve around different aspects of this world. Johanna is the daughter of a high lord whom the king is asking for assistance in squashing a rebellion. She was amazing. I loved her character, her story and her spunk. The first time we’re introduced to her was unforgettable and I loved her for every page after. Silas is a musician who desperately wants to get a patronage somewhere, but he gets caught up with an unexpected ally while running from soldiers who are trying to murder them. He was a little harder to enjoy, he’s a sullen musician after all. But eventually he warmed my heart too, and his story turned out to be incredibly important to events that happen later in the book. And Gregor, the bastard half brother of the king who acts as his counsel and his sage. Gregor’s story was probably the most compelling of the bunch. He introduces us to so many beautiful and important parts of the story.

I couldn’t get enough of this book. I dreamed about it a few times, trying to work out how it would end and what the missing prophecies were. The world was wonderfully crafted. The characters were realistic and likeable. The magic of this world was fascinating and unique. I just loved it. This is definitely a series I will be following.

Progress Update Friday – October 25, 2024

by Stefani

The Prophecy of the Yubriy Tree by Ben Spencer

Progress: 59 of 379 pages

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

Every year, prophecy leaves fall from the Yubriy Tree. And every year, the Dayborn king sends his most trusted servants to collect the leaves and return them to the capital.

Only this year, one of the leaves drifted into the forest unseen.

Three lives will be forever changed by the undetected prophecy leaf.

The strong-willed daughter of a powerful family. The mysterious and reviled half brother of the king. And a talented but unlucky musician, desperate to write the song that will bring him good fortune.

Looming in the background are reports of the first dragon to appear in Ragar Or in over sixty-five years. And, as anyone familiar with Ragar Or’s history knows, when dragons appear, royalty dies.

How it’s going:

This is such an interesting idea. I was really pleased to get the ARC for it. So far the stories are interesting. I have read a chapter from 2 of the people mentioned in the synopsis and both were very intriguing. It’s off to a good start and I hope it continues.

Nuclear War by Annie Jacobsen

Progress: 7:25 of 11 hours, 19 minutes

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

There is only one scenario other than an asteroid strike that could end the world as we know it in a matter of hours: nuclear war. And one of the triggers for that war would be a nuclear missile inbound toward the United States.

Every generation, a journalist has looked deep into the heart of the nuclear military establishment: the technologies, the safeguards, the plans, and the risks. These investigations are vital to how we understand the world we really live in—where one nuclear missile will beget one in return, and where the choreography of the world’s end requires massive decisions made on seconds’ notice with information that is only as good as the intelligence we have.

Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen’s Nuclear War: A Scenario explores this ticking-clock scenario, based on dozens of exclusive new interviews with military and civilian experts who have built the weapons, have been privy to the response plans, and have been responsible for those decisions should they have needed to be made. Nuclear War: A Scenario examines the handful of minutes after a nuclear missile launch. It is essential reading, and unlike any other book in its depth and urgency.

How it’s going:

If the hold times on this through my library is any indication, this book has been gangbusters popular. The hold on the physical book stands at 75 people, the ebook stands at 7 months, and getting the audiobook took my 3 1/2 months. So far, I am depressed. And I need a stiff drink. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Honestly, I will probably finish this one today and then if I can manage a review this weekend that’s great, but I might need to digest it a little bit.

New ARCs!!

by Stefani

It’s been a minute since I updated the advanced copies I have received through various sources. Time for an update on what I will be reading in the future.

Witches: A Compendium by Judika Illes

Expected publication: October 7, 2024 by Weiser Books

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

A compendium of witches through the ages, from earliest prehistory to some of the most significant modern practitioners, Witches explores who and what is a witch. Ranging from such famed historical figures as Marie Laveau, Tituba, Sybil Leek, Isobel Gowdie, and Countess Erzsebet Báthory (popularly known as the Blood Countess) to popular literary and cinematic figures such as Endora, the Scarlet Witch, Storm, and the Wicked Witch of the West, Illes offers a complete range of the history of witches.   Also included are the sacred (Baba Yaga, Lilith, Isis, Hekate, Diana, Aradia, Circe) and the profane (the Salem Witch trials and the Burning Times), plus travel tips for witches and a guide to the tools of the trade. Witches is appropriate for readers of all ages and serves as an excellent and entertaining introduction for those fascinated by the topic.   Previously published in 2010 by Weiser Books as A Weiser Field Guide to Witches, this book has been updated for new witches as well as a new era.

Tilt by Emma Pattee

Expected publication: March 4, 2025 by Simon & Schuster

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

Set over the course of one day, a heart-racing debut about a woman facing the unimaginable, determined to find safety.

Last night, you and I were safe. Last night, in another universe, your father and I stood fighting in the kitchen.

Annie is nine months pregnant and shopping for a crib at IKEA when a massive earthquake hits Portland, Oregon. With no way to reach her husband, no phone or money, and a city left in chaos, there’s nothing to do but walk.

Making her way across the wreckage of Portland, Annie experiences human desperation and strangers offering help, a riot at a grocery store, and an unlikely friendship with a young mother. As she walks, Annie reflects on her struggling marriage, her disappointing career, and her anxiety about having a baby. If she can just make it home, she’s determined to change her life.

A propulsive debut, Tilt is a primal scream of a novel about the disappointments and desires we all carry, and what each of us will do for the people we love.

The University of Arizona: A History in 100 Stories by Gregory McNamee

Expected publication: October 15, 2024 by Sentinel Peak Books

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

The University of Arizona: A History in 100 Stories is a celebration of the people, ideas, inventions, teaching, and structures that have been part of the school’s evolution from a small land-grant institution to an internationally renowned research institution. Drawing on half a century of connection with the University of Arizona as a student, staff member, and faculty member, Gregory McNamee presents a history through the lens of a hundred subjects.

That story begins in 1885, with the establishment of the school, which quickly proved itself to be a powerhouse in its foundational “four pillars”: agriculture and earth sciences, followed by astronomy and anthropology. In the years following World War II, those four pillars became ever more important to the University, even as countless other fields of study gained prominence: optical sciences, women’s studies, the humanities, mathematics, and more. This phenomenal institution has as its setting the Sonoran Desert, and, closer to home, to a built environment that is widely considered among the most scenic in the country, from the Historic District with its buildings that are more than a century old to the latest steel-and-glass constructions on the edges of the ever-expanding campus.

McNamee relates this history in an entertaining manner, peppering discussion of serious intellectual and institutional themes with lighter moments—the origins of the university’s rivalry with Arizona State, the ghosts that are said to lurk about campus, and more. Wildcats everywhere will delight in McNamee’s celebration of the people, places, learning, books, and pastimes that have distinguished our school.

Spark of the Everflame by Penn Cole

Expected publication: October 8, 2024 by Atria Books

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

When old secrets catch fire, everything will burn.

In a mortal world colonized by the gods and ruled over by the Descended, their cruel offspring, Diem Bellator yearns to escape the insular life of her poor village.

Her mother’s sudden disappearance—and the discovery of a dangerous secret about her past—offer Diem an unexpected opportunity to enter the dark world of Descended royalty and unlock the web of mysteries her mother left behind.

With the dying King’s handsome, mysterious heir watching her every move, and a ruthless mortal alliance recruiting her to join the growing civil war, Diem will have to navigate the unwritten rules of love, power, and politics in order to save her family—and all of mortalkind.

The Black Hunger by Nicholas Pullen

Expected publication: October 8, 2024 by Orbit

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

John Sackville will soon be dead. Shadows writhe in the corners of his cell as he mourns the death of his secret lover and the gnawing hunger inside him grows impossible to ignore.

He must write his last testament before it is too late.

It is a story steeped in history and myth – a journey from stone circles in Scotland, to the barren wilderness of Ukraine where otherworldly creatures stalk the night, ending in the icy peaks of Tibet and Mongolia, where an ancient evil stirs . .

Review: Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

by Stefani

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Published July 10th, 2012 by Random House Books for Young Readers

Buy this book at B&N / Amazon / Book Depository

Cover photo and synopsis from the Goodreads book page.

Synopsis:

Four decades of peace have done little to ease the mistrust between humans and dragons in the kingdom of Goredd. Folding themselves into human shape, dragons attend court as ambassadors, and lend their rational, mathematical minds to universities as scholars and teachers. As the treaty’s anniversary draws near, however, tensions are high.

Seraphina Dombegh has reason to fear both sides. An unusually gifted musician, she joins the court just as a member of the royal family is murdered—in suspiciously draconian fashion. Seraphina is drawn into the investigation, partnering with the captain of the Queen’s Guard, the dangerously perceptive Prince Lucian Kiggs. While they begin to uncover hints of a sinister plot to destroy the peace, Seraphina struggles to protect her own secret, the secret behind her musical gift, one so terrible that its discovery could mean her very life.

In her exquisitely written fantasy debut, Rachel Hartman creates a rich, complex, and utterly original world. Seraphina’s tortuous journey to self-acceptance is one readers will remember long after they’ve turned the final page.

Rating (out of 5):
Review:

Wow, wow, and just wow!  Normally I am a bit apprehensive about reading debut novels because they tend to be either hit or MASSIVE miss.  Since there is no previous work to compare public reaction to, unless I am very interested in a book and hear good things about it, I won’t risk it.  I already have a massive pile of books that just keeps getting higher every day to bother with something that may or may not be good!  But after hearing so many rave reviews about it and seeing some reviewers whose opinions I highly value thinking it was amazing, I knew I needed to check this out.  And all I can say at the end is wow. Now I present you, reasons I loved this book:

First, you have an absolutely compelling cover.  The dragon flying over the village with the faint red splatters on the image.  Admittedly I almost had a panic attack that I had stained the cover somehow, until I noticed that is how it was supposed to be.  The cover was beautiful in its own way and makes you want to read the story.  I am also intrigued with dragon stories, so I’ve been looking for a good one.

Second, you have the way this book is written.  It was lyrical and magical.  The language in this book is beautiful.  I was unsurprised to learn that the author was inspired to write this book by music.  You can almost hear the music as you read.  As a great lover of classical music, I loved this aspect so much. Music is also a vital aspect to the plot so that was a lovely plus as well.  I also have to comment on the vocabulary in this book.  It is classified as a YA book, but the language is not nearly as elementary as a typical YA book.  I loved that, it made the book feel like it was anticipating its audience to be intelligent individuals and won’t talk down to them.  That’s nice.  But if you are not the most vocab rich reader, you will still love this book but there may be a few times that you need to reach for a dictionary.

Third, the characters and world building in this book are superb.  The world is so deeply detailed that you can imagine yourself walking through the streets and see the characters in your mind.  The characters are delightfully detailed and all of them have flaws and talents and their own unique personality.  Seraphina was a character that you can love and then be annoyed with all at the same time.  I found myself yelling at her in pure frustration a few times, but being moved to tears by her at other times.

There were only two things that kept this from a perfect five stars.  I suspected the red herring for the villain a bit too quickly. It felt like it was being shoved in my face “THIS IS THE BAD GUY!!”, that rather quickly I started to think, no this isn’t the bad guy at all. I didn’t have any idea who the real bad guy was but I knew it wasn’t that one!  And the romance.  While at first I liked the unique aspect of this “love triangle” and appreciated that it didn’t come off like a typical love triangle, the way it ended in the book really pissed me off.  I just sat there dumfounded that the hero would suggest something so stupid and selfish!  And further dumfounded that Seraphina didn’t promptly slap him in the face for suggesting it!  Hopefully that will be resolved in the sequel because as it stands this left a bad taste in my mouth for the end of the book.  Two things that prevented me from giving this a five star rating, but ultimately I loved this book and am eagerly anticipating the next one.  If you are looking for something fun, well written, and unique then you might want to give this one a try.