If you ask me, the first installment in the second Wings of Fire arc, Moon Rising, was a bit of a disappointment. That's not to say it wasn't good, but it just paled in comparison to how good arc one was. So let's see if book two in arc two (book seven overall) is any better! Spoilers ahead!
Prince Winter sets out on finding his lost brother Hailstorm, who is said to be held captive by Scarlet still. This takes him on a journey all the way back to the Ice Kingdom, where he must face his disapproving parents and a test called the Diamond Trial.
Compared to Moon Rising, this is a huge step up. I felt like we were nearing the level of writing and characterization we had in the first arc again.
First things first, I much preferred Winter as a protagonist over Moon. Not to say that he is morally better than her, he's clearly very stuck-up and believes in superiority of his dragonkind a lot, but he's at least working on himself by the end of the book. He just had a stronger character arc than Moon. The other characters I enjoyed more over here as well. Except Moon, I guess. Who's just kind of there and looks pretty and listens with her powers once every while. Turtle also doesn't do much and just kind of vanishes, but that's rectified in his own book.
The twists in this story were not to be understated. Things that may seem insignificant at first (a random NightWing attacking Kinkajou) will come back in later installments. Of course we have the ginormous twist that there's magic accessories that can literally turn a dragon into someone else. Hailstorm in the end is revealed to have been changed into a SkyWing named Pyrite for all this time, and even after being freed it leaves a huge mental impact on him.
It was interesting to finally get to see the Ice Kingdom. Most of the dragon tribe's respective lands got their own time to shine in arc 1, but we never quite got to see much if anything of the Ice Kingdom. This book rectifies that. And it kind of makes you wish you weren't an IceWing. Most of them appear to be very strict, their parenting skills are nothing short of abusive or neglectful and they don't treat their poor the best seemingly, either. But still, it was interesting to finally get an inside look. I also thought the Diamond Trial was very engaging, when we got to learn the fate of Darkstalker's mother.
I'd say this is a big step up from the last book, it definitely restored some of my hope for this arc! I'd say I recommend this one!
Rating: 4/5
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