There have been a few big series of kids books about dragons in the last few years – Inheritance and Ice Fire come to mind right away. Honestly, I haven’t read them. Fantasy isn’t really my area, so I read selectively, and the kids who wanted those were already into them. I had heard, though, though this new one was something a little different, and a lovely book, at that, so I dove in – and am glad I did.
Seraphina
by Rachel Hartman
Doubleday Canada
ISBN: 978 0 385 66839 2
Seraphina has a secret, and she and her father think it might be worth her life to avoid drawing any attention to herself – but somehow, that’s not how it happens.
Instead, with the approach of the 40th anniversary of the peace treaty between dragons of the people of Goredd, it turns out that there are agitators on both sides who want to disrupt the celebrations and throw the nations back into war. Seraphina, with a keen understanding of both sides in this tense truce, gets involved in both advising the princess and in helping Prince Kiggs find and stop the traitors. Not exactly a low profile…
To make matters more complicated, she is learning more about who she is, what powers she has, and how to control and use her peculiar gifts. And of course, there is the small matter of finding herself madly in love with the Prince, who is betrothed to his cousin, the Princess. This particular story ends in a good note, but also leaves the door wide open for a followup, which I fully expect to see soon.
Seraphina is a fantastic character – tough, yet full of her own flaws and fears, and possessed of a great talent and passion for music. I find myself hoping for a sequel, in fact, so I can hear more of her story, and what eventually happens between her and Kiggs who, by the way, is a perfectly swoon-worthy other half of a love story. That doesn’t hurt… On the whole, I really enjoyed this, and even though I found the start a bit slow, once I fell in, it was well worth it.
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