 | Blue is oblivious he lives under a totalitarian government, but when the Queen kidnaps his sister and hunts after him, Blue is forced to recognize the evil that’s been over him. Queen Wasp uses mind-control ability to keep her subjects under her submission. Blue and others hunt for a solution, but their search unearths an older evil who wants to rule over all dragons. |
Series format: chronological
The series is broken into three 5-book arcs:
Books 1-5: The Dragonet Prophecy
Books 6-10: The Jade Mountain Prophecy
Books 11-15: The Lost Continent Prophecy
Each book is told from a different character’s point of view. For this final arc, we travel to a new continent with three new dragon tribes.
11: The Lost Continent—after discovering he has a rare genetic condition, Blue flees from the Queen and her mind-controlled subjects.
12: The Hive Queen — Cricket finds the secret to the Queen’s mind controlling powers.
13: The Poison Jungle — Sundew takes her band of lost dragons to her home. Trying to find a cure to the Queen’s mind-control, they uncover another force: The Othermind, an older being who wants to control ALL dragons.
14: The Dangerous Gift — Snowfall, the IceWing’s youngest Queen, must learn empathy as she deals with dragon refugees escaping the Othermind.
15: Flames of Hope — Luna and nine other dragons return to home to stop the Othermind.
Positive elements
Truth prevails over lies. Tyrannical leaders and injustices should be opposed, not accepted. Main characters have at least one dragon they love and want to protect. Empathy is also encouraged. Two of our main characters take care of orphan dragonets. Blue doesn’t want to steal from a dragon’s shop.
When the queens learn that humans are intelligent, they ban the eating of them immediately.
Theme: responding to ‘tribal’ injustices.
Humans steal from dragons and dragons retaliate.
HiveWings oppress SilkWings and hunt down LeafWings.
Some characters want payback: “If humans or dragons do something unforgivable, shouldn’t they be punished?” Our villain sees his actions as justified because the other side 'started it.’
But this blanket-payback doesn’t work: not every person in the offending tribe is to blame nor should they be punished.
And things are not as simple as oppressed vs oppressor. One character learns that her own tribe, who was driven out of their homes by the HiveWings, tried to use mind-control on their enemies first AND its their fault that Queen Wasp can control her subjects. “Those HiveWings would have just cause to attack us for what we did to them.”
So, what’s the solution? Empathy, atonement, truth, and resistance. A dragon says it was easier to forgive the NightWings when he realized they weren’t really that different from them. They can empathize AND stop their evil actions at the same time. The truth is also held up: “Knowing the truth isn’t enough if you don’t share it. Everyone needs to know.”
By the end of the arc, our characters have learned to see individuals, not clans. And if every human and dragon does something to make the world better, there is hope for the future.
Character development
All characters wrestle with the question of injustice:
Religious/Spiritual
Before the main story, the future seeing Clearsight writes down every major disaster she can see to help her offspring. 2,000 years later, this dragon is treated as a goddess: temples and shrines are built in her honor. Characters pray to her for guidance or protection. But we quickly learn that her visions only saw a few hundred years into the future. The Book of Clearsight doesn’t predict any modern-day event and is only used by the Queen to stay in power.
Moon, another future-seeing dragon, is sometimes called “the second-coming of Clearsight.” Her prophecy "flows through her,” though we don’t know the source of these prophecies.
A tribe of humans have been worshiping an abyss and offering sacrifices. Although there is something down there, it certainly isn’t a god.
When it comes to the new prophecy, several dragons agree that “whatever happens next, it’s because of what we decide to do, not because of some mystical force.”
Family structure/gender roles
All marriages must be approved or assigned by the Queen.
Blue and Luna’s father has a rare genetic condition, so Queen Wasps ships him from hive to hive to father children, leaving behind the pregnant mothers (two of these ladies fall in love and co-parent their offspring).
Cricket’s parents wanted to marry but were denied due to a political reason. Fearing how the queen would treat their illegitimate child, Cricket’s grandparents become her legal parents. Cricket’s ‘big sister’ is her mother while her father is trapped by the Queen’s mind-control, unaware he has a daughter.
Desiring to perfect their Leaf-Speak power, the LeafWings arrange marriages.
Cricket’s grandmother divorces her husband and moves out.
Besides only females being able to rule as queens, there seems to be no gender roles in our dragon society. A dying queen, not wanting a secession war, assigns the next queen, making the other two daughters promise to support her and never challenge her.
We meet a human who identifies as neither or both a boy or girl and goes by ‘them/they’ pronouns.
Romance/sexual content
Same-sex romance has been upgraded from background characters to main characters. One of our heroines has a longterm girlfriend. Luna and Blue have two moms. Two boyfriends snuggle and flirt in a hammock together.
When Blue starts liking a girl from another tribe, he reflects that you, “can’t help who you fall in love with.”
A friend warns his sister not to fall in love with her boyfriend in case their marriage application is rejected.
While on the run, male and female characters sleep in a large cave, sometimes pressed together.
Drugs/alcohol
As punishment, dragons are stung with a paralyzing drug and set up on pillars as warnings to other dragons, their bodies frozen in whatever positions they were in when they were stung.
Language
“Oh my stars!” “Oh my gosh!” “What in the hive!” “For the love of trees!” “Great-ice spirits!” are used as expletive.
Cricket’s mother sends ‘strongly worded letters about how annoying and useless’ her daughters are.
There is also insults thrown around: “Worm,” “toad-s*cking voice,” “walrus-breath,” “skunk cabbage.”
A human is described as “cursing.”
The word “s*cks” also appears a handful of times.
Violence
While under the mind-control, a dragon stabs himself while another chokes herself.
A vine tries to strangle a dragon. A dragon is stabbed in the neck, killing him instantly. A dragon snaps another dragon’s arm. In a confrontation, several dragons claw and bite at each other, producing blood. A dragon spits flesh-melting venom into another dragon’s face.
A human beats dragonets. In retaliation, the dragons kill many humans, burning their homes.
A statue depicts a dead dragon with a spear through his heart and a triumphant Queen standing over him.
Magic/Non-real elements
A mother uses magic to create the perfect child. When her daughter doesn’t behave, she uses magic to fix her or wipe her memory.
An animist is cursed so that every time she uses magic, it consumes part of her body. She loses many claws and even her tail. Seeing magic as evil, she casts her a spell forbidding any animist to use it.
Even though no new spells can be cast, our characters still use magic-touched items: bracelets that turn dragons invisible. A scroll that will answer any question.
LeaveWings can ‘tree-speak,’ which allows them to control the growth of plants or communicate with them.
Miscellaneous
Luna struggles with depression, or 'sunny days and rainy days' as she calls it.
Snowfall's little sister stutters.
Other negative elements
We get a morbid description of vines growing through a human and dragonet’s skull.
Several of the Queen’s underlings are always under her control. To break free, one dragon hurts herself, hoping the pain will drive the Queen away.
Set on revenge, a group burns a hive to the ground. Though they warn the innocents of the sabotage, these dragons are left without a home.
Writing quality
Sutherland is a master of creating characters with unique personalities. Her descriptions, theme, and metaphors are also strong.
The storyline is weaker: some events feel contrived, such as breaking magic or having a bilingual human show up days before they need an interpreter between humans and dragons.
Final thoughts
I felt frustrated with this arc. There has been underlying sexual content throughout the series, but this arc jacked that up to 11 with more questionable parentage and same-sex romances. This book is marketed to 3rd graders as a fun dragon adventure, but by the time book 15 finishes, we’ve explored a lot of sexual concepts and deviances.
The series is broken into three 5-book arcs:
Books 1-5: The Dragonet Prophecy
Books 6-10: The Jade Mountain Prophecy
Books 11-15: The Lost Continent Prophecy
Each book is told from a different character’s point of view. For this final arc, we travel to a new continent with three new dragon tribes.
11: The Lost Continent—after discovering he has a rare genetic condition, Blue flees from the Queen and her mind-controlled subjects.
12: The Hive Queen — Cricket finds the secret to the Queen’s mind controlling powers.
13: The Poison Jungle — Sundew takes her band of lost dragons to her home. Trying to find a cure to the Queen’s mind-control, they uncover another force: The Othermind, an older being who wants to control ALL dragons.
14: The Dangerous Gift — Snowfall, the IceWing’s youngest Queen, must learn empathy as she deals with dragon refugees escaping the Othermind.
15: Flames of Hope — Luna and nine other dragons return to home to stop the Othermind.
Positive elements
Truth prevails over lies. Tyrannical leaders and injustices should be opposed, not accepted. Main characters have at least one dragon they love and want to protect. Empathy is also encouraged. Two of our main characters take care of orphan dragonets. Blue doesn’t want to steal from a dragon’s shop.
When the queens learn that humans are intelligent, they ban the eating of them immediately.
Theme: responding to ‘tribal’ injustices.
Humans steal from dragons and dragons retaliate.
HiveWings oppress SilkWings and hunt down LeafWings.
Some characters want payback: “If humans or dragons do something unforgivable, shouldn’t they be punished?” Our villain sees his actions as justified because the other side 'started it.’
But this blanket-payback doesn’t work: not every person in the offending tribe is to blame nor should they be punished.
And things are not as simple as oppressed vs oppressor. One character learns that her own tribe, who was driven out of their homes by the HiveWings, tried to use mind-control on their enemies first AND its their fault that Queen Wasp can control her subjects. “Those HiveWings would have just cause to attack us for what we did to them.”
So, what’s the solution? Empathy, atonement, truth, and resistance. A dragon says it was easier to forgive the NightWings when he realized they weren’t really that different from them. They can empathize AND stop their evil actions at the same time. The truth is also held up: “Knowing the truth isn’t enough if you don’t share it. Everyone needs to know.”
By the end of the arc, our characters have learned to see individuals, not clans. And if every human and dragon does something to make the world better, there is hope for the future.
Character development
All characters wrestle with the question of injustice:
- Blue wants to follow the rules and doesn’t even see problems at first.
- Cricket struggles with how to respond when it’s her tribe oppressing the SilkWings.
- Sundew is driven by anger, but she’s taken aback when she discovers her tribe’s wrongdoings.
- Snowfall wants to hide from the dragons who hurt her tribe. It isn’t until some magic-induced empathy strikes that she welcomes other dragons.
- Luna wants to fix the world but feels overwhelmed by the amount of brokenness. She finally rejects revenge and focuses on what she can do to make the world whole.
Religious/Spiritual
Before the main story, the future seeing Clearsight writes down every major disaster she can see to help her offspring. 2,000 years later, this dragon is treated as a goddess: temples and shrines are built in her honor. Characters pray to her for guidance or protection. But we quickly learn that her visions only saw a few hundred years into the future. The Book of Clearsight doesn’t predict any modern-day event and is only used by the Queen to stay in power.
Moon, another future-seeing dragon, is sometimes called “the second-coming of Clearsight.” Her prophecy "flows through her,” though we don’t know the source of these prophecies.
A tribe of humans have been worshiping an abyss and offering sacrifices. Although there is something down there, it certainly isn’t a god.
When it comes to the new prophecy, several dragons agree that “whatever happens next, it’s because of what we decide to do, not because of some mystical force.”
Family structure/gender roles
All marriages must be approved or assigned by the Queen.
Blue and Luna’s father has a rare genetic condition, so Queen Wasps ships him from hive to hive to father children, leaving behind the pregnant mothers (two of these ladies fall in love and co-parent their offspring).
Cricket’s parents wanted to marry but were denied due to a political reason. Fearing how the queen would treat their illegitimate child, Cricket’s grandparents become her legal parents. Cricket’s ‘big sister’ is her mother while her father is trapped by the Queen’s mind-control, unaware he has a daughter.
Desiring to perfect their Leaf-Speak power, the LeafWings arrange marriages.
Cricket’s grandmother divorces her husband and moves out.
Besides only females being able to rule as queens, there seems to be no gender roles in our dragon society. A dying queen, not wanting a secession war, assigns the next queen, making the other two daughters promise to support her and never challenge her.
We meet a human who identifies as neither or both a boy or girl and goes by ‘them/they’ pronouns.
Romance/sexual content
Same-sex romance has been upgraded from background characters to main characters. One of our heroines has a longterm girlfriend. Luna and Blue have two moms. Two boyfriends snuggle and flirt in a hammock together.
When Blue starts liking a girl from another tribe, he reflects that you, “can’t help who you fall in love with.”
A friend warns his sister not to fall in love with her boyfriend in case their marriage application is rejected.
While on the run, male and female characters sleep in a large cave, sometimes pressed together.
Drugs/alcohol
As punishment, dragons are stung with a paralyzing drug and set up on pillars as warnings to other dragons, their bodies frozen in whatever positions they were in when they were stung.
Language
“Oh my stars!” “Oh my gosh!” “What in the hive!” “For the love of trees!” “Great-ice spirits!” are used as expletive.
Cricket’s mother sends ‘strongly worded letters about how annoying and useless’ her daughters are.
There is also insults thrown around: “Worm,” “toad-s*cking voice,” “walrus-breath,” “skunk cabbage.”
A human is described as “cursing.”
The word “s*cks” also appears a handful of times.
Violence
While under the mind-control, a dragon stabs himself while another chokes herself.
A vine tries to strangle a dragon. A dragon is stabbed in the neck, killing him instantly. A dragon snaps another dragon’s arm. In a confrontation, several dragons claw and bite at each other, producing blood. A dragon spits flesh-melting venom into another dragon’s face.
A human beats dragonets. In retaliation, the dragons kill many humans, burning their homes.
A statue depicts a dead dragon with a spear through his heart and a triumphant Queen standing over him.
Magic/Non-real elements
A mother uses magic to create the perfect child. When her daughter doesn’t behave, she uses magic to fix her or wipe her memory.
An animist is cursed so that every time she uses magic, it consumes part of her body. She loses many claws and even her tail. Seeing magic as evil, she casts her a spell forbidding any animist to use it.
Even though no new spells can be cast, our characters still use magic-touched items: bracelets that turn dragons invisible. A scroll that will answer any question.
LeaveWings can ‘tree-speak,’ which allows them to control the growth of plants or communicate with them.
Miscellaneous
Luna struggles with depression, or 'sunny days and rainy days' as she calls it.
Snowfall's little sister stutters.
Other negative elements
We get a morbid description of vines growing through a human and dragonet’s skull.
Several of the Queen’s underlings are always under her control. To break free, one dragon hurts herself, hoping the pain will drive the Queen away.
Set on revenge, a group burns a hive to the ground. Though they warn the innocents of the sabotage, these dragons are left without a home.
Writing quality
Sutherland is a master of creating characters with unique personalities. Her descriptions, theme, and metaphors are also strong.
The storyline is weaker: some events feel contrived, such as breaking magic or having a bilingual human show up days before they need an interpreter between humans and dragons.
Final thoughts
I felt frustrated with this arc. There has been underlying sexual content throughout the series, but this arc jacked that up to 11 with more questionable parentage and same-sex romances. This book is marketed to 3rd graders as a fun dragon adventure, but by the time book 15 finishes, we’ve explored a lot of sexual concepts and deviances.
