The journey of the Wings of Fire Graphic Novel series was not a smooth one as I read volumes one and two out of order. Therefore, read the series in order, take your time and try to read as close together as possible as things pick up where we leave off from the previous book and it assumes you know the backstory.
Book One: The Dragonet Prophecy by Tui T. Sutherland, Mike Holmes I have not read the novels this series is adapted from. However, considering how layered the graphic novels are, they must be decent. We are introduced to the prophecy of the five dragons that are going to stop the war of the dragons and pick a queen to rule them all. She will be one of the three Sandwing Sisters: The mean one, the really mean one and the ditzy one. Okay, cute. But things are actually serious. These characters are not nice. They are mean old adults who eat scavengers, wage war, bribe, lie, steal, cheat, kill and steal some more. We learn that the five dragons of the prophecy should be a Mudwing, Nightwing, Sandwing, Skywing, and Seawing. But not a Rainwing. However, due to the destruction of the Skywing eggs, a Rainwing is substituted for it. And whereas the other types are all strong, smart, warriors types, Rainwings are supposedly lazy, dumb, and definitely not fighters. The five dragons have lived underground for years, forced to learn the version of their history and stories that their captors want. When they escape, they see the world is not perfect, they don’t really know the whole truth and friends can easily be enemies, if their motives are selfish enough.
The story starts out a smidgen slow, but works it way up. We focus on the Mudwing in book one, and we see his personality loud and clear. I am hoping to see more of him and his family, as they really do not spend a lot of time with them. The other books will (so far) focus more solely on the actual families of the characters.
The first three books have illustrations that are colorful and give a lighter tone by a mixed amount of details per page and their hues. There is fantasy violence (such as a dragon fighting arena) but things are tastefully done.
Book Two: The Lost Heir by Tui T. Sutherland, Mike Holmes We pick up where we left off from the previous book where we have seen Clay’s (Mudwing) story. Things again are a little slow in the beginning, but pick up. This time, there is a more fleshed out story as we follow the Seawing, Tsunami. She is the typical little sister of Clay (he is the first to hatch and she the second) by trying to show she as good as the others/Clay (maybe even better) and actually is a lost princess (the five dragons were stolen to fit a prophecy and they do not know where their eggs were found). Of course, her arrogance gets the better of her, but like each one will learn, the family/group/tribe/other dragons are there for her and not against her (that’s her mother, sister/sisters (it’s complicated), and uncle’s job).
Here we learn more about magic and the ways of dragons. We start seeing even more alliances and more of the ugliness of war. They start seeing the truth, but of course, they still do not have the big picture. They learn that the events of book one have consequences that follow them into the future. And we learn that, again, friends can be foe, but foe can be friends.
Book Three The Hidden Kingdom by Tui T. Sutherland, Mike Holmes This volume was my favorite so far. I like the Rainwing’s (Glory) character. She is the “one not supposed to be there” and therefore tries to prove herself, but at the same time knows that she is the “oops” and also starts to internalize the abuse from her guardians. She is clever at hiding her cleverness, but it is not lost on some of the guardians (or jailers, depending on your point of view) raising them. This time the story flowed more, we are introduced to new characters that are going to stick around for a few pages/even books and not just be “I need a foil for Character X so let’s toss this guy in.” We are seeing the plan unfold. And this time we interact with the characters on a cultural level, not just a political one. The Rainwings are the vegetarians of the dragons, they are the hippies, they need siestas or their “sun time” and are chameleon-like and change their hues to fit the mood. The only part I am not loving is she does go a bit “girly” and gets a little crush on the bad guy. (Now, Tsunami also has a crush on a possibly not good dragon, but I was less invested in her to be honest.)
In this round we are seeing a lot of the themes you find in fantasy stories. There are “good and bad” and yet, nobody is truly either. Unless you are really evil. The idea of “happiness all the time” is not always a good thing, and you might need to balance the warrior and the lover at times. I am not a huge fan of the fact that the Nightwings can read minds (after all, why do the alleged villains get the cool trick?) and that plays a role in the crush of Glory.
Book Four The Dark Secret by Tui T. Sutherland, Mike Holmes I started book four and wasn’t half way through the book when I called it a night. We are now following the dragon, Starflight, the Nightwing. He is supposed to be the mage of the group (he reads scrolls, should be able to read minds, be fierce and a killer. He’s none of that. Well, except the scrolls part. Which is not exactly a talent the others enjoy as much, or his dragon tribe will agree is important. We have learned (SPOILER) of the Nightwings plans to really manipulate the prophecy earlier, and one of those players are starting to take their place in things. We have a physically darker look and story arc this time around.
Book Five The Brightest Night by Tui T. Sutherland is Sunny, our odd dragon. Not that the others are not also odd, but she is the one who has a limb difference (she is missing the poisonous barb at the end of her tail), and is the smallest and youngest of the group. She is the baby and is never listened to. She is picked on and finally has enough so she runs off and finds herself in the middle of an adventure that will make or break things. Things do wrap up a bit this time, but as we have met a type of dragon that doesn’t have its own book, who knows what other possibilities there are (plus there are a lot more novels than graphic novels).
While I was writing this review, the phrase: AVATAR! bounced into my head. Therefore, if you need a comparison, it is a younger Avatar the Last Airbender but still has action/fantasy situations. There are also books six and seven available: Book Six Moon Rising by Tui T. Sutherland, Mike Holmes and Book Seven Winter Turning by Tui T. Sutherland, Mike Holmes. At the end of 2024/early 2025 we will have Book Eight Escaping Peril by Sutherland and Holmes.