We're back, babey! Spoilers ahead!
By now, the trio of pandas all know that Sunset must be stopped, but this proves difficult because he has all power and everyone believes him to be the true Dragon Speaket. Ghost is feared by many other pandas, Rain is trapped in a pit with her adoptive mother, and Leaf doesn't see any way in which she can be of help other than uniting the trio. Maybe finding Rain and the last sibling holds the key to finding a way to defeat him.
Overall this is by far the strongest Bamboo Kingdom book. The other two weren't bad, but this one really made he hooked with the series. The characters feel the strongest here and I just genuinely had a great time reading it. The plot got really intense and built suspense and mystery really well. We get some interesting twists and turns this time around, including one about Sunset's true identity and how he became the Dragon Speaker, and Brawnshanks making his own plans to rule the forest aside from "Sunset".
The story was just overall far more epic than ever before, and there were also some really wholesome and sad moments to boot, such as the reunion between Ghost and his snow leopard siblings, and the final death of Shadowhunter and Sunset/Dusk. And of course the three siblings finally find one another and unite, and they get to actually speak to the Great Dragon this time around. Just really neat stuff.
The book still isn't perfect: I still don't find the world-building in it to be particularly strong or unique, but this book was so good on so many other fronts that at least it wasn't very bothersome this time around. And us getting to spend some time with the snow leopards again at least gives us a little bit more of a glimpse into their world and lore again for the first time since book one. They're pretty much the only species that has a unique worldview and lore (with all other animals seeming to follow the Great Dragon and the Dragon Speaker). Of course, in this book it's revealed that the snow leopard's Snow Cat deity/spirit is just another incarnation of the Great Dragon (which I'm not 100% sure if I actually like), but at least it adds more world-building. We also get more context for the trio's powers as we see them use it more and they get several visions. Rain's vision regarding Sunset/Dusk was honestly the most intense one out of all of them.
So overall this is a good mid-way point to end the arc, presuming it'll be another six-book arc and not a three-book one like Bravelands arc 2. Either way, I look forward to The Dark Sun immensely.
Rating: 4/5
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