Review of Deathbringer by Sonia Tagliareni
Aug
13
2026
Deathbringer
by Sonia Tagliareni
432pp (Hardcover)
My Rating: 4/10
LibraryThing Rating: 3.8/5
Goodreads Rating: 3.67/5
 

Book Description:

For fans of Naomi Novik and Kerri Maniscalco, “a slow-burn dark academia filled with delicious yearning, dripping with atmosphere, and a compelling mystery” (Ellis Hunter, author of Blood Bound) about a death mage who hates her magic and a poison mage who hates her that are forced to work together to stop a killer before one of them is next.

Everything about Sylas Archyr feels like a sin.

Born with the ability to speak with the dead, Viola’s magic killed her sister, Olivia, and if she doesn’t learn why, it will kill her too. Her only hope lies within the perilous walls of Gorhail Institute of Magic, where Olivia spent her final days.

There, Viola clashes with Sylas, a poison mage whose magic stems from three magical snakes. Immortal, tormented, and reckless, Sylas is tethered to a life he never asked for and haunted by guilt for his father’s death. His hatred for death mages runs deep, and he’s determined to keep Viola at a distance. But when an attack forces him to heal her, their fates become intertwined by a magical bond that threatens to upend his loyalties—and his common sense.

As more students start turning up dead, Viola and Sylas are drawn into an uneasy alliance that pulls them deeper into Gorhail’s treacherous passageways, where secrets fester beneath the stone and the dead do not rest. And as enemy lines begin to blur and their undeniable attraction grows, Viola and Sylas uncover a chilling conspiracy: someone is hunting mages for their magical relics, and if they can’t uncover the killer in time, Viola will be next.

There haven’t been many fantasy romance books that have managed to catch my eye this year, but Sonia Tagliareni’s debut novel, Deathbringer, did since its description mentioned several elements that intrigued me: dark academia, death magic, poison magic involving snakes, and enemies who discover they might not actually hate each other after all once they’re forced to work together. Furthermore, the author cited Viola as a softer heroine, which is the same type of character as some of those who have stuck with me the most (such as Phèdre from Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Legacy books, Mehr from Tasha Suri’s Empire of Sand, and Amani from Somaiya Daud’s Mirage).

Unfortunately, I didn’t think Deathbringer was a good book, but at the same time, it was entertaining enough that I actually finished it, which is more than I can say for a lot of books. It worked in the sense that I needed to read something that moved fairly quickly without being overly complex at the time due to illness, and there were promising aspects, like the murder mystery that involved digging into the story of the previous generation and the academy’s past. (It’s possible that would have made a more engaging novel.)  I also liked that the House of Poison used magical snakes for both killing and healing, but that had more to do with snakes being neat and underutilized in fantasy than this system’s implementation. In general, I thought some of the ideas that went into Deathbringer had potential but ended up feeling like everything about it could have been executed so much better, especially the worldbuilding and character development.

This is one of those fantasy books that has a lot of different types of magic and explanations about how they work and differ, and it never really gelled for me. Maybe this is in part because I read it when I wasn’t feeling well, but the specifics felt like they were there because they sounded neat or served the plot rather than because they fit (like magical snake venom conveniently functioning as birth control for some reason).

In particular, I found the setting puzzling. Each chapter is preceded by a date with most of the story occurring from late November to early December 1939, which makes it feel like it’s supposed to be historical fantasy set in an alternate version of our world. Yet there is nothing that indicates this is not set in a semi-modern secondary world other than the fact that it uses a familiar calendar. Perhaps that’s just because the first book in this trilogy is somewhat limited in scope given that it’s almost completely set in the academy with just a bit of the beginning showing Viola’s hometown, but it seemed odd to me that such a basic aspect of the world was left murky. It ended up seeming like these dates were used just to show that not much time passes throughout this story’s events without putting thought into why they were being used and precisely what this meant in context of this world.

The characters also seemed to serve the plot rather than behaving like believable people. There were times they reached the right, not-so-obvious conclusion extraordinarily quickly during the course of their investigations, but then they took a long time to figure out something incredibly obvious that was waiting for a Big Reveal closer to the end. Though this was my biggest problem with the characterization, the romance also felt more like an author coaxing two people together than one that was given room to breathe and unfold naturally.

The story is narrated from the first-person present tense perspective of both main characters, Viola (who hates her death magic) and Sylas (who also hates her death magic). Their dynamic had potential for a compelling romance arc with Sylas coming to admire Viola’s heart and resolve despite his prejudice against death mages like the one who killed his mother, but it seemed too one-sided since Viola mainly seemed pushed toward Sylas because he was there, he was hot, and she didn’t really have anyone else. While there are certainly times he’s there for her, the way he vacillated between appreciating her and being unsure whether he could trust her or forgive her for something she didn’t even do came across as indecisive rather than making for an interesting situation where he was in conflict with himself—and he certainly did not seem like an equal match for Viola, who deserved better than that. Their romance is not at all a slow burn since they reach the point where they are so in love they’re ready to do anything for each other in the course of something like two to three weeks, so even aside from that, it was far too rushed for my taste.

In some ways, I feel like I should be rating Deathbringer lower than I am since I ended up feeling like it was a bit of a mess that didn’t live up to its potential once I finished it, but I also think it deserves some credit for keeping me interested enough to actually read the entire book. Although it didn’t make me want to continue the series, I leave books unfinished far more than I used to so I appreciate that the idea of magical snakes and curiosity about the past behind the murders kept me reading (even if I was disappointed in the lack of dark academic aspects and depth in the end).

My Rating: 4/10

Where I got my reading copy: ARC from the publisher.

Read or Listen to a Sample from Deathbringer

The Leaning Pile of Books
Jul
05
2026

The Leaning Pile of Books is a feature in which I highlight books I got over the last week that sound interesting—old or new, bought or received in the mail for review consideration. Since I hope you will find new books you’re interested in reading in these posts, I try to be as informative as possible. If I can find them, links to excerpts, author’s websites, and places where you can find more information on the book are included, along with series information and the publisher’s book description.

Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org, and I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

It’s been quiet around here due to some things going on, but a book that sounds rather intriguing arrived in the mail last week!

Cover of Bones of Jade, Flesh Like Ice by Gracie Marsden

Bones of Jade, Flesh Like Ice by Gracie Marsden

This adult fantasy debut novel will be released on November 10 (hardcover, ebook, audiobook).

The Penguin Random House website has an excerpt from Bones of Jade, Flesh Like Ice.

I love the sound of this: Taiwanese myth–inspired historical fantasy that follows a darker/morally gray character pursuing power. It would have been on my anticipated 2026 speculative fiction book releases list if I’d known about it at the time!

 

“Scintillates with power, sacrifice, and sisterhood.” —Shen Tao, nationally bestselling author of The Poet Empress

A young woman makes a bargain with a shapeshifting demon who promises her power, if she will give up love—a painful price that sets her on a dark journey in this historical fantasy inspired by Taiwanese myth

Eleventh century Kangzhu. In a small village, far from the political conflicts of the royal dynasty, a too-young Yu’er is sold off to be married at the word of a jing, a shapeshifting-demon who prophesizes that her parents will thus gain wealth beyond their imagination. Her new husband Xiaozhu is, like her, barely more than a child himself—but he’s kind, and, over the years, Yu’er heals as they build a home together. They become allies, then friends, then lovers.

Until misfortune befalls them, once again at the hands of a demon. They’re left destitute and estranged. Reeling from loss, and determined to never leave her fate in another’s hands, Yu’er decides to strike her own bargain with a jing: she will have all the agency and riches she desires. She just has to leave Xiaozhu and their home together, forever—a price that will cost her more than she then understands.

Yu’er’s choice sets off a saga that will lead her to the heart of the royal court, and bring her more power than she ever dreamed of, but may kill her humanity along the way, in this sweeping tale of love, revenge, and redemption.

The Leaning Pile of Books
May
24
2026

The Leaning Pile of Books is a feature in which I highlight books I got over the last week that sound interesting—old or new, bought or received in the mail for review consideration. Since I hope you will find new books you’re interested in reading in these posts, I try to be as informative as possible. If I can find them, links to excerpts, author’s websites, and places where you can find more information on the book are included, along with series information and the publisher’s book description.

Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org, and I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

It’s been a little while since the last one of these, partially because I got new books when other things were going on (like my birthday-related gifts in April) and there have been a lot of weeks there just hasn’t been anything new. But I added a few books to the TBR over the last couple weeks and thought I’d highlight those that haven’t already been featured this year (like A Long and Speaking Silence by Nghi Vo and The Republic of Memory by Mahmud El Sayed, which I’ve been hearing such great things about).

Since this is the first of these I’ve done this year, I’m not going to link to every single post since the last one of these features, but here are a few highlights in case you missed any of them:

On to the newest additions to the TBR!

Cover of The Salt King by Natasha Pulley

The Salt King by Natasha Pulley

This novel by Natasha Pulley, whose debut The Watchmaker of Filigree Street was a Locus Award finalist for Best First Novel, will be released on August 18 (hardcover, ebook, audiobook).

I’ve not read any of her books before (although I now also have my eye on The Hymn to Dionysus), but this sounded intriguing to me given that it sounds like it blends multiple genres and focuses on some interesting themes, like the power of myth.

 

An apocalyptic novel about belief, religion, and the power of myth that blends the gripping, end-of-the-world storytelling of The Passage with the biting wit and epic queer romance that makes Natasha Pulley’s books “delightful” (The Washington Post).

Jesuit priest Avelyn Brocken was born into a mining family in Hreodwater, a small, totally isolated salt town in the Fens of England. At age 16, he fled, abandoning his faith in the god of the mine-the Salt King-and the mythology that killed his whole family.

When a fellow priest is miraculously healed only to then be turned to salt after a visit to Hreodwater, Avelyn is sent by the Vatican to investigate. But in Hreodwater, the town’s gentle doctor, Jericho, tells him that the priest is not the only one experiencing strange cures-and may not be the only one in danger from a substance in the mine that the locals call “salt light.”

Avelyn and Jericho team up to protect the world from the salt light-but they may already be too late: strange happenings are occurring at mines all around the world. At an archaeological dig on the Dead Sea, electrical devices froth salt; at another salt mine in Russia, a KGB officer finds the bodies of five tourists who seem to have turned to salt; and at the huge salt works at Wieliczska in Poland, all communication is lost, and rumors circulate of total annihilation.

As salt light spreads, devastating cities around the world, Avelyn must decide what and who to believe-and whether his faith is strong enough to withstand an apocalypse.

Cover of The Sourdough Compendium by A. G. Slatter

The Sourdough Compendium: Dark and Dangerous Fairy Tales by A. G. Slatter

This collection of stories set in the Sourdough universe will be released in trade paperback and ebook. It’s scheduled for publication on June 9 in the US and UK and June 16 in Australia and New Zealand.

This edition is a compilation of three previous collections, starting with the World Fantasy Award–winning The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings, which is then followed by Sourdough and Other Stories and The Tallow-Wife and Other Tales. They are in that order instead of publication order since the first of those was a set of prequel stories, according to the author’s note in the beginning of this volume.

I’ve been interested in discovering the Sourdough universe for a while, and although I tend to read more novels than short stories, the short fiction collections felt like the right place to start to me for some reason. (I do have a particular fondness for dark and dangerous fairy tales; after all, one of the very first books I remember reading and loving was a Hans Christian Andersen collection.) Given that the Sourdough collections all seemed to be out of print when I looked for them at one point, I was thrilled to learn they were being rereleased in one volume.

A. G. Slatter was also here shortly after the release of one of her novels set in this universe, The Crimson Road, during Women in SF&F Month 2025 with an essay about writing stories of various lengths titled “The Long and the Short of It.”

 

Award-winning stories from the world of All the Murmuring Bones and The Briar Book of the Dead, this is a compendium of fantastic tales from the dark gothic heart of the Sourdough universe. Witches, assassins and pirates are brought to life in immersive, sinister and magical prose.

Within these pages, coffin-makers work hard to keep the dead buried and their own murderous urges in check; poison girls are schooled in the art of marital assassination; books carry forth stories and forbidden secrets; a young witch wreaks a terrible revenge on an old lover; the Little Sisters of St Florian devote their lives to knowledge good and bad; a dying forest god is reinvigorated; mermaids and seamstresses make dangerous bargains; changelings bring havoc. Saints slumber, hind-girls dance across the countryside, bears show their true colours, and the fate of the upper and lower worlds rests on the whim of a volatile plague maiden…

Comprised of three collections (Sourdough and Other Stories, The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings and The Tallow-Wife and Other Tales) these award-winning storms form much of the foundational mythology for Slatter’s dark fairy-tale gothic Sourdough novels. Exquisite, compelling and rich with unforgettable characters, these tales layer and intertwine in the dextrous hands of a master storyteller.

Cover of Everybody's Perfect by Jo Walton

Everybody’s Perfect by Jo Walton

Jo Walton’s next novel, set in a fantasy version of Venice, will be released on June 30 (hardcover, ebook).

The publisher’s website has an excerpt from Everybody’s Perfect, although the formatting is a bit off since all the paragraphs seem to run together. (I tried to find another sample, but that’s the only one I could find!)

This sounds mythical and compelling, and I’ve been meaning to read more by Walton since I very much enjoyed her World Fantasy Award–winning novel Tooth and Claw with its very proper flesh-eating dragons in a Victorian Era setting.

 

Piranesi meets Swordspoint in an elegant relay race through fantasy Venice from Hugo award-winning author Jo Walton

The Serenissima is built from mist and belief, a mythical shadow sister to Venice and crossroads of the nine worlds.

When a laborer called Tiry has a dream that Serenissima will have a doge, and that they will marry the sea, he tells it to a fortune teller named Khadsha. She tells her apprentice, a gondolier called Taddeo, who tells a cop named Gom, who’s heard it from five people this morning already. And by that point, it’s already settled into the bones of the Serenissima, more than half-fated.

Everybody’s Perfect is a gentle, shifting, structurally inventive narrative of startling beauty that will make you rethink everything you think you know about fantasy.

Cover of A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir

A Reaper at the Gates (An Ember in the Ashes #3) by Sabaa Tahir

Technically, I recently got both this and A Sky Beyond the Storm, the fourth and last book in this New York Times bestselling YA fantasy series.

It’s been a stressful month or so, and when that first started, I was looking for something fun to read. After scouring my bookshelves, I decided to finally pick up An Ember in the Ashes (which I have had for some time seeing as I got for Christmas 2017).

I’m a mood reader, and this is why I like having so many books I haven’t read to choose from at any time. This was a case of the right book at the right time for me, and it ended up being just what I needed: something entertaining and not too complicated, meaning I could just get lost in it and read. Shortly after that, I bought and read the second book in the series, and I just went ahead and got the last couple of books once I finished that one.

It’s bothering me that it was literally impossible for me to get copies matching my edition of the first book in the series since the cover styles changed after the second book came out, but at least I could still get them all in hardcover… although the newer editions are not even the same size hardcover, which is also annoying me.

 

BOOK THREE IN THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING SERIES • An Entertainment Weekly Summer Reads pick!

“The perfect summer read.” –The Washington Post

The beloved and bestselling fantasy series that “glows, burns, and smolders.” (Huffington Post).

Beyond the Martial Empire and within it, the threat of war looms ever larger.

Helene Aquilla, the Blood Shrike, is desperate to protect her sister’s life and the lives of everyone in the Empire. But she knows that danger lurks on all sides: Emperor Marcus, haunted by his past, grows increasingly unstable and violent, while Keris Veturia, the ruthless Commandant, capitalizes on the Emperor’s volatility to grow her own power–regardless of the carnage she leaves in her path.

Far to the east, Laia of Serra knows the fate of the world lies not in the machinations of the Martial court, but in stopping the Nightbringer. But in the hunt to bring him down, Laia faces unexpected threats from those she hoped would help her, and is drawn into a battle she never thought she’d have to fight.

And in the land between the living and the dead, Elias Veturius has given up his freedom to serve as Soul Catcher. But in doing so, he has vowed himself to an ancient power that demands his complete surrender–even if that means abandoning the woman he loves.

May 2026 Virtual Fantasy Book Recommendations
May
22
2026

If you missed the second of my 2026 book recommendations events with the Ashland Public Library last night, you can watch the video on Youtube here. While last year’s program focused on both fantasy and science fiction, I’m primarily focusing on fantasy book recommendations this year. (But if you’re looking for more science fiction books this year, Elizabeth Bear has you covered!)

2026 Virtual Fantasy Book Recs with Kristen of Fantasy Cafe Graphic

This time, I highlighted the following:

These book recommendation events are quarterly half-hour long discussions taking place on Zoom on the third Thursday of the month, and the next book chat will be from 6:30 to 7:00 ET on August 20. You can register for the next virtual book recommendations event here.

May 2026 Virtual Fantasy Book Recommendations
May
14
2026

One week from today, I’ll be doing the second quarterly virtual book recommendations event with the Ashland Public Library in Massachusetts of this year. If you followed last year’s recommendations, both fantasy and science fiction books were covered. This year, I’m focusing on fantasy books and author Elizabeth Bear is covering science fiction recommendations. (She just did her second recommendation event last night, which made me want to start a couple of books on my shelves I still need to read!)

I’ll be sharing these fantasy book recommendations on Zoom from 6:30 to 7:00 PM Eastern Time on Thursday, May 21, and if you want to join us live next week, you can register here.

2026 Virtual Fantasy Book Recs with Kristen of Fantasy Cafe Graphic

If you want to see it but can’t make it, I will be posting the video later. You can keep up with each video at this link, and the previous recommendations event videos can be seen at the following links:

Review of To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose
May
06
2026
To Shape a Dragon's Breath
by Moniquill Blackgoose
528pp (Trade Paperback)
My Rating: 8/10
LibraryThing Rating: 4.18/5
Goodreads Rating: 4.1/5
 

As a Bookshop affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose, the first book in a trilogy set in an alternate historical version of our world with dragons, was one of my favorite books published in 2023. Since I wanted to refresh my memory before reading To Ride a Rising Storm, the second book in the Nampeshiweisit trilogy that was released earlier this year, I decided to reread it and write a lengthier review than my previous best-of-the-year summary before continuing the series.

Fortunately, I found To Shape a Dragon’s Breath every bit as delightful as it was the first time I read it. Once again, I was a bit puzzled by just how much I enjoyed it since I tend to gravitate toward books with complex, messy characters dealing with internal conflicts, and this novel’s protagonist is very much the opposite: someone with a strong sense of self who comes close to being a bit too neat and perfect at times, though I felt this fit her background and character since she doesn’t quite cross the line into unbelievably faultless. I suppose my love of academic settings, fantasy of manners, and characters who call out ridiculous social rules supersedes my love of deeply flawed protagonists when handled as well as Blackgoose did in her award-winning debut novel—and it actually ended up being refreshing to follow a self-assured character helping those who are still trying to figure out who they want to be in this case.

Though published through an adult speculative fiction imprint, To Shape a Dragon’s Breath has received recognition in both young adult and adult fiction award categories. It tells the story of a young Indigenous woman who attends a college-like academy for people bonded with dragons in an alternate 1840s North America (set in the New England region, namely versions of Rhode Island and Massachusetts). The novel opens with the protagonist, Anequs, becoming the first person from her island to see a dragon in ages, prompting her to discover an egg that was left behind. After this egg hatches, Anequs also becomes the only one of her people in living memory chosen to be a dragon’s companion. Since much of her people’s knowledge about dragons and their bonds with humans has been lost over time, Anequs ends up deciding it is her duty to go to a dragon academy run by the colonizers on the mainland after her dragon accidentally burns her younger sister when frightened.

Life at the academy is a challenge for Anequs, between navigating a different culture with different social rules and learning some unfamiliar subjects, particularly the chemistry-based system that allows someone to shape a dragon’s breath into various elements. Worst of all, many people do not want Anequs at the academy, and her studies are made more difficult by several people—ranging from her fellow students to her teachers to powerful politicians—who feel threatened by the idea of Indigenous people having dragons, particularly now that there are a grand total of two of them. But Anequs is determined to succeed: if she cannot prove she’s capable of shaping her dragon’s breath and preventing her from being a danger to others, the cost will be her dragon’s life.

To Shape a Dragon’s Breath has collected several awards and accolades since its 2023 publication—including winning the Andre Norton and Lodestar Awards and being nominated for the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel—and it’s easy to see why. I found it riveting from start to finish, and I loved the world, the oral stories sprinkled throughout, and the school setting. Although I prefer stories with more richly developed characters, felt conflicts were often resolved too quickly and easily, and thought major events toward the end were not given the weight they deserved, I found this to be an engaging, delightful book that stood out more than most of those I read.

I can’t comment on the next book in the series yet, but this novel is somewhat small in scale, focusing on a localized region containing a couple of islands and the area on the mainland relatively close to the school. The stakes are not the fate of the world, and although a lot of it feels low stakes given the heavy focus on classes and social gatherings, the stakes certainly aren’t low for Anequs and her dragon. While dragons are sacred to Anequs and her people, she discovers that the Anglish people who came across the ocean kill dragons they consider feral and have even put them to death because they don’t like their choice of companion. These dragons are wild animals that can be a danger to people, and although they form a bond with a human, they aren’t the type who use language or communicate clearly. The dragon and their human companion can only sense what the other is feeling in the moment, such as when Anequs picks up on the fear that makes her dragon loose the breath that hurts her sister early in the novel—and it’s vital for these creatures’ safety and longevity that they learn to refrain from actions making them seem too prone to violence.

In this version of the world, there never was a Roman Empire. The people who colonized North America followed Scandinavian culture and traditions, and though the names have been slightly altered, many of their stories and holidays are steeped in Norse mythology. In addition to containing alternate history, there are also speculative elements in the form of steampunk/Gaslamp fantasy technology like automated horses, chairs with crab-like legs for those unable to walk, and various inventions powered by the dragon’s breath that can be broken down and shaped into different elements.

Despite these speculative and historical changes, the Anglish people in this setting did carry over the hierarchical views and social rules associated with the Victorian era. Part of what I found compelling about this book was being immersed in this society while getting the first-person perspective of an outsider who didn’t grow up with these rules and often challenges them. Anequs doesn’t see any reason she can’t befriend a maid or consider courting a woman (or a man and a woman at the same time), and it doesn’t make sense to her that some things are “for ladies” and others are “for gentlemen.” But as much as I enjoyed her character, I sometimes wondered if maybe she seemed a little too wise and together, given she always seemed to have all the answers and not one drop of uncertainty. Although I can’t think of many qualities she has that would be considered flaws, I feel like she’s just imperfect enough to be realistic. There are times she speaks her mind when it may not be advisable, even if she does tend to be in the right and being outspoken doesn’t get her into as much trouble as one might expect. Given that, the main factor that convinced me was a moment when she realized she’d previously been wrong to dismiss her roommate’s offer of help as not being useful after she’d gained a better understanding of Anglish society.

After putting some thought into it, I ended up deciding that being wise and together fit her character. Although she’s only fifteen years old at the start of the novel, she’s been an adult in her culture for two years at that point. As the older daughter in a family with four children, she’s also been raised to understand how to run a household with the expectation that she’ll take her mother’s place one day, and she’s helped look after her two younger siblings. Her reactions to life among the Anglish showed she was raised in a culture that valued respecting others and allowing them to be who they were so long as they weren’t hurting anyone else. Starting from this point earlier in life seems like it would make it easier to be self-assured and secure in oneself at a younger age, and she wouldn’t have to unpack all the social baggage so many accumulate and end up contending with when they leave home for the first time.

With these qualities, Anequs is the person in the friend group who is always giving good advice, trying to help, and supporting everyone else. The other students and young people around her have more internal conflicts and struggles with figuring out who they want to be and how they can exist in their society. Liberty, an indentured maid with a talent for sewing whom Anequs befriends and crushes on, has had to hide that she is only attracted to other women. Theod, the other Indigenous student (whom Anequs also crushes on), only knows what the Anglish have told him of his heritage, having been raised among them after his parents were executed when he was a child, and is frustrated by Anequs’s refusal to behave as expected and try to blend in. Sander, who becomes Anequs’s friend after he helps her in one of their classes, is often treated poorly and underestimated due to his autism. Marta, Anequs’s roommate as the only other young woman attending the academy, has a lot of the aforementioned social baggage but seems to have a good heart underneath it all—if only she can learn to follow it instead of pursuing status and propriety, which she feels is even more necessary given she’s going into a male-dominated field and is therefore a bit of an oddity.

I enjoyed all these characters and their dynamics with Anequs, and I also appreciated the variety of adults at the academy. Its headmistress is the type who has often been the protagonist in a fantasy novel: she disguised herself as a boy to gain access to the male field of dragoneering when she was young, eventually becoming the first woman in the field. Though she has some clashes with Anequs due to her overall Anglishness and insistence on “proper” behavior—in large part because she realizes there are many people looking for excuses to make her stop doing unusual things like teaching people who aren’t young white men—she’s also advised by the softhearted matron of the house who tends to be sympathetic to the students. The professors range from one who actively tries to sabotage Anequs’s education to one who supports her by showing that she knows a lot more about natural philosophy than she thinks she does when starting his class. Most of the others are between those two: it’s common for them to do things like show surprise at Anequs’s knowledge or make uncomfortable comments related to her people and culture, but they don’t seem to be trying to make her studies any more difficult than they’re supposed to be.

As much as I enjoyed the dragons and the scholastic setting, I found the alternate world and the mythological stories covering subjects like how one of Anequs’s people became the first to bond with a dragon stood out more (and as previously mentioned, I love fantasy of manners). Yet in the end, what I found most memorable was Anequs herself: like many characters in this novel, she was shaped by her background and circumstances, and she showed what formidable strength can come from growing up among those who value community and acceptance. I look forward to reading more about her and seeing where her story goes next in To Ride a Rising Storm.

My Rating: 8/10

Where I got my reading copy: Finished copy from the publisher.

Read/Listen to a Sample from To Shape a Dragon’s Breath

Read Moniquill Blackgoose’s 2023 Women in SF&F Month Essay