Katie Cross

Interesting premise, but didn't quite work out, and I'm not entirely sure I can put my finger on what I didn't enjoy. Partly I think it was that I never quite had the impression of magistry of the dragons, they were more like overgrown fire-lizards than the magnificent creatures that are conjured by the word dragon. Also the forest just didn't seem right, somehow the descriptions of tree beams wider than a girl is tall, were too commonplace - such wonderful trees would be the exception rather than the rule. The villagers could be excused for being petty and mean-spirited, but the schoolgirls were simply an amorphous mass rather than having names and personalities of their own. Perhaps it was siply too ambitious for one book - to meld both the village and forest with their dragons into a part with the wider world, and the introduction coul dhave come later. Calling the different countries/factions/regions (it was never clear) Networks, only served to add confusion.

Two sisters grow in different directions, one bonding with a visiting dragon, an amazing feat but then they're all used to the local dragons, while the other refused all the dragons and ran away into the wider world, known to full of dangerous magic.

Plenty of the book was interesting, and the themes of lying deities, trust, belief, and the paths of magic were all well done, but the shade of the small dragons, and the lack of spark in the characters personalities hasn't persuaded me to read any further.… (mehr)