Wings of Fire Legends: Darkstalker by Tui T. Sutherland, Scholastic Inc, ISBN 9781338053623
REVIEWED BY SCARLETT, 10, QLD
Scarlett reviewed her own copy of this title.
Darkstalker is a book about dragons, and not just any old dragons. They are as complicated as we humans are.
It is a legend that happened 2000 years before the main Wings of Fire series, but I know it’s by far the best Wings of Fire book.
This book is about an Ice Wing Prince and a Night Wing who have eggs together and one of the eggs is … Darkstalker. One way or another he is going to change the dragon world forever whether it’s through tragedy or harmony but only he can decide …
If you want to know about the extraordinary terrain that the dragons live in, you can see it on the very well-drawn, detailed map at the front of the book. It’s enchanting to look at.
The characters are realistic and complex. The dragons seem like real people, especially Darkstalker. He has lots of different viewpoints and questions his view of the world. He is not one dimensional like superheroes often are.
My favourite character is Whiteout. She is a unique and very interesting character. She shows emotional and social development as the story goes on.
The author is very good at writing in first person, so everyone who reads it can understand the characters from the dragons’ own point of view, not from the author telling us about them.
The description in this book is exquisite. It is so immersive you will feel like you are really there. For example:
“… rain poured from a grumbling, fire-breathing sky. The river at the bottom of the canyon swelled and roared and ate the walls, sending all the dragons who lived down there scrambling for higher ground. The wind was so fierce it seemed to be sent from vengeful Ice Wings to rip every Night Wing out of the sky. It was veering quickly from a storm to a baby hurricane.”
This book is good for philosophical people, fantasy lovers, or people who are reading / have read the Wings Of Fire series before.
I think this book is suited to mature 9–11-year-olds and above because there are some philosophical topics and diaologue that may be difficult to understand and some violence towards the end.
And I rate this book 10/10.
This is Scarlett’s first book review for Alphabet Soup. To send us YOUR book review, read our submission guidelines. Happy reading!
alphabetsoup.net.au 