I enjoyed this second book in Moniquill Blackgoose's fantasy series about indigenous dragon riders, set within a surrounding conqueror people's culture. This is definitely one of the deepest YA fiction books you'll find this year, and it doesn't shy away from putting strident political and philosophical words into the mouths of its young characters.
Once more, Anequs, the native dragon rider starts off in her home island of Naquipaug. From there she is caught up in the increasingly invasive political disruption that encroaches from the mainland. This affects her people and relationship with love interest, Theod, as they face unfair treatment and restrictions when they try to meet to discuss or confront the issues.
The new year at the dragon riders' academy is easier on Anequs this time, although she constantly encounters repression, patronising dismissal and the assumed superiority of others that can only come from ignorance and unfamiliarity of her background. Anequs faces difficulties with two other main characters that have a love focus, with her wealthy friend, Marta, and with male students we are introduced to who have formed an (initially ridiculous) secret society of students.
While there is rather a lot of description of the humdrum activities around the school and at times the students get very into lengthy philosophical arguments, this actually turned oddly into a strength of the book for me. In our current age of media sound bites and brief tweets, the long, sustained focus on the students' relationships and their passionately held ideas is something refreshing. There is also a lot of lore being delivered to the reader, but it walks a fine line between info-dumping and dowsing you in intricate world-building and does it well. This time round I also appreciated the author's confident grasp at representing late 19th century English manners and dialogue.
My favourite characters included Herr Gerdasson, the provocative follower of Enki who visits the school, whose ideas motivate the students to question everything. And Sadsong, the foreign indigenous dragon rider character, whose no-nonsense attitude and bank of knowledge helps Anequs further learn about her cultural heritage with her own people's dragons.
In the second third of the book, the action picks up. The political upheavals become more real and students at the academy face a very present and immediate threat. This final climax is jolting and will leave you wanting to get hold of the next book some time soon.
Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)
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(Thanks to Del Rey / Random House Worlds / Inklore and Netgalley for an ARC of this book.)
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