Thank you to Solaris and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC copy.

Sephihalé ele Janan escaped life as a soldier working for the imperial Kattakans who colonised his people, but he left behind his love and partner Lilley, who we met in the first book.

We now follow Janan as a political refugee in a country where the people are descended from the same ancestors, but have so completely diverged from their origins to be nearly unrecognisable to Janan as a Ba'suon.

The themes of colonisation and imperialism are still heavily featured here, with an added exploration of exploitation for monetary gain via the dragon baron and his actions.


An exchange between the baron and Janan about midway through the book was something that stuck with me and only made me hate the baron more, even before finding out he was

torturing dragons and nailing their bodies tovthe walls of his barn.

"The dragon represents the power of the land, of nature, and our ability - even our birthright - to take hold of it. To ride it's back."
"You twist our history."
"You misread it, and so you've been stuck in your ways and overrun by foreign powers."

I liked Janan and his interactions with his sister and her son. It made the climax that much more emotional.

I didn't enjoy this quite as much as the first book, but I like where it ended off and am excited to see where it goes.