DECEMBER 2017 - AudioFile
Narrator Pearl Mackie’s soft, cultured voice is the perfect vehicle for the complicated story of Asha, a high-ranking dragon slayer who develops feelings for a slave in a country with a rigid class structure. Asha is also the Iskari, the death bringer, and is betrothed against her will by her father, the Dragon King. She uses her ability to tell the old stories to bring dragons to her, at first to kill them and then to bring about change. Mackie infuses the characters with emotions appropriate to their stations and to their relationships with each other. Asha progresses from scared and haughty to determined and loving—and ready to face the next part of her journey. E.J.F. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine
From the Publisher
Ciccarelli layers multiple story threads… seamlessly weaving them back as the plot moves along. The third-person narration allows full immersion in the world… The larger political implications of war, rebellion, and the years of rebuilding that must follow are all thoughtfully examined.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)
“This coming-of-age narrative shows the struggles of learning to trust one’s own mind and heart. Fantasy YA readers will love this story of a girl and her dragons. They will be dying to know what happens on their next adventure.” — School Library Journal
“One of my favorite books of all time.” —Tomi Adeyemi, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Children of Blood and Bone “This engaging tale of love and adventure... is a fantasy reminiscent of Emma Orczy’s The Scarlet Pimpernel.”—Booklist “This coming-of-age narrative shows the struggles of learning to trust one’s own mind and heart. Fantasy YA readers will love this story of a girl and her dragons. They will be dying to know what happens on their next adventure.”—School Library Journal — PRAISE FOR THE ISKARI SERIES:
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)
Ciccarelli layers multiple story threads… seamlessly weaving them back as the plot moves along. The third-person narration allows full immersion in the world… The larger political implications of war, rebellion, and the years of rebuilding that must follow are all thoughtfully examined.
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review)
Ciccarelli layers multiple story threads… seamlessly weaving them back as the plot moves along. The third-person narration allows full immersion in the world… The larger political implications of war, rebellion, and the years of rebuilding that must follow are all thoughtfully examined.
Kirkus Reviews
2017-07-17
Ciccarelli's debut checks all the boxes for teen high fantasy.Asha, the Iskari (a ceremonial warrior named for "a deadly" god) and a princess, believes in the new order of her homeland: dragons should be killed, not worshipped; skrals deserve their enslavement—collared, penned, not allowed to look at draksors, members of the ruling caste. As a child, Asha rebelled and told stories to dragons until the First Dragon, Kozu, burned her and half the city. Now she mostly toes the line. But a rule-breaking (and attractive) slave, the return of Kozu, an allegiance with the scrublanders, and Asha's impending wedding to the sadistic commandant lead Asha to rebellion. Ciccarelli has clearly poured care into both the creation of her world, which rests on a religious foundation without a real-world analogue, and her complex but well-managed plotting. The limited characterization and curious lack of physical descriptors (the enslaved skral seem to be fair-skinned) detract a bit from the worldbuilding, and readers may find the princess-slave love story inherently problematic. Even if destined by the Old One and although slavery is clearly positioned as not OK, this is an inherently unbalanced relationship, something the text acknowledges but resolves largely through a fairly literal deus ex machina. However, the underlying theme of strong females making change and the interesting setting will carry the day for many. Likely to be popular despite the pressing flaws, and—pleasantly surprising for a duology opener—a satisfying tale on its own. (Fantasy. 13-adult)
