The Dragonet Prophecy (Wings of Fire Series #1)

The Dragonet Prophcey (Wings of Fire Series #1)
by Tui S. Sutherland
336 pages
Elementary+

In the land of Pyrrhia, dragons roam.  Divided into several kingdoms, they are governed by several queens and have various allies and enemies. When war rules the land, a prophecy comes forth: five dragonets will be born on the brightest night, and are destined to bring peace to the land by choosing one queen.  The dragonets are coming...

Clay, Glory, Starflight, Sunny and Tsunami grew up together, in a cave, always hearing that they are the chosen dragons of prophecy.  They have read scroll after scroll about the outside world, but now they want to experience it for themselves.  When they overhear the elder dragons discussing getting rid of one of them, everyone decides that it is time to leave.  Clay, a little unsure about everything, helps rescue his friends, leads them out of their cave.

Instead of getting out and exploring the world, Clay and his friends walk right into the claws of one of the queens.  Capture and separated from each other, they long for the security of the cave again.  How will they survive and how will they fulfill the prophecy?

I really loved the detail that went into creating this world and all the different types of dragons.  In the front of the book there are diagrams of the different dragon types, so you can see the differences in body, size and abilities.  Lots of thought was put into this book and it has tons of background.  This does help the reader to distinguish between them, especially helpful at the beginning when the reader has several different dragons to keep track or right away.

I did feel like there were lots of stereotypical characters and not tons of depth to them.  Clay is the insecure big dude, and there is the sassy girl, and the know-it-all.  As the series progresses, I hope that they are more fleshed out, and develop more beyond these stereotypes.  The reader does learn more about Clay right at the end, but I almost wish that passage had been earlier in the book, so you could see Clay grow more throughout the book, instead of just at the end.

Regardless of the characters, I did like the story.  There is the great prophecy that has lots of murkiness that can be interpreted different ways.  Lots of foreshadowing and possible twists in future books.  This book set up lots of friends and connections that can come back later in the series.  I will be interested to see where it all goes!

Overall, great book for that age range. The first few chapters is a little slow, but after that it picks up really quick.  Good for girls and boys (main character is a boy!  Get them hooked!).  Good start to a series, the sequel is out and I will definitely look forward to more!