From Inside Jacket: On one side of the border lies the modern world: the internet, homecoming dances, cellphones. On the other side dwell the ancient monsters who spark humanity's deepest fears: dragons. Seventeen-year-old Kay Wyatt knows she's breaking the law by rock climbing near the border, but she'd rather have an adventure than follow the rules. When the dragon Artegal unexpectedly saves her life, the rules are abruptly shattered, and a secret friendship grows between them. But suspicion and terror are the legacy of human and dragon interactions, and the fragile truce that has maintained peace between the species is unraveling. As tensions mount and battles begin, Kay and Artegal are caught in the middle. Can their friendship change the course of a war?
My Rating: 4 hearts
Thoughts on the Novel: Having read some of the books from Carrie Vaughn’s Kitty Norville series, I decided to read her YA debut, Voices of Dragons. The story doesn’t involve vampires or werewolves, and so it was refreshing in that regard. However, the plot seems to proceed pretty slowly, especially at the beginning.
The greatest strength of the novel lies in how seamlessly Vaughn creates a modern world in which it’s possible for dragons to exist. The re-emergence of the dragons is interwoven with humanity’s history really well. Vaughn also does a good job of portraying how life close to the borders of Dragon makes things like dragon-raid drills mundane until the peace is broken; and then, living in the closest American town to one of the dragon territories becomes terrifying.
Although I liked Kay, I never seemed to be able to connect with her. It just seemed like not only did I know her at a superficial level – virgin, teenager, enjoys rock climbing – but on top of that, her relationships didn’t appear very deep either.
On the other hand, I loved the character of Artegal! Vaughn’s writing really makes him come alive, and my favourite part of Voices of Dragons – besides the flight scenes where I wished I was the one on Artegal – was the way he is introduced because it just showed his complexity, beauty and power.
Voices of Dragons was released in March 2010 by HarperTeen.
Comments About the Cover: As pretty as it is with its warm hues, in no way does the cover show that the book has something to do with dragons, which is pretty disappointing.
i also loved Artegal! too bad Vaughn dosnt know when shell write the second book =( i really did enjoy it. your review was very nice, i am now following you!
ReplyDeleteI've had this book on my TBR for a while now. I really need to get around to reading it. I enjoyed your review! Now I'm even more motivated to seek out a copy. Thanks!
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