#ee knight

[godzilla-reads]

Let’s fucking go 🤩

[the-emerald-wyrm]

Two new (to me) dragon books!

Dragon Champion by E.E. Knight

Dragonfruit by Makiia Lucier

[novelmonger]

Because I've been poking at my dragon rider story, The Ambassadors (please see my sideblog @griseldabanks for a bit more information), my lovely characters have slowly been emerging from hibernation in my brain. Most notably Shynael, the black dragon who is the deuteragonist of the story. While I was writing the first draft of The Ambassadors, I would often hear him and Shard (the human protagonist) discussing whatever was happening in my life, like they were looking over my shoulder. Especially if it had anything at all to do with dragons.

Well, today I picked up Dragon Champion by E.E. Knight at the library, and it's happening again! I can hear them chattering away, like no time at all has passed :') So I think I'm going to chronicle my progress through the book, via my characters' commentary like one of those cringey fanfic author's notes XD

Okay, boys, what did you think of Chapter 1 of Dragon Champion?

Shynael: ಠ▃ಠ But...they...no! They can't have... He...He killed him! That was his...his brother, right? He killed him, and then he ate him, and... Shard. Shard, I think I'm gonna be sick!

Shard: Then go over there! Don't be sick all over me!

Shynael: Sh-Shard...Shaaaaaaard.... ಥ﹏ಥ

Shard: *sigh* I know, Shynael, I know. But you have to remember, this is a story about a different world. The dragons in that world must just be different.

Shynael: No! >:'( Dragons are dragons! But that...that was just a monster! You can't just kill and eat your brothers as soon as you're hatched!

Shard: Not that either of us would know about that.

Shynael: Don't be stupid, Shard >:( You're my brother. And you didn't see me trying to eat you as soon as I hatched, did you?

Shard: Heheh...no, you didn't. But come on. Wasn't there anything you liked about this first chapter?

Shynael: *sniffle* Well, they got it right about the mother talking to the babies in their eggs. It made me think of my mother. *sigh* Do we really have to read this book, Shard? I already don't like it.

Shard: You know the deal. We have to give it a chance for the first hundred pages, at least.

Shynael: Fiiiiiine. What page are we on now?

Shard: Page 7.

Shynael: *siiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh*

[wearethekat]

January Book Reviews: Daughter of the Serpentine by EE Knight

Catching up on book 2 of a series I started a while back. Ileth's position at the Dragoneer Academy is relatively secure now that she's a full apprentice. But the Rari Pirates are an increasing threat to the Republic-- one that their military dragons will be called on to answer. Meanwhile, secrets from Ileth's past return, and the course of her apprenticeship may once again be threatened.

One criticism I had of the first book is it seemed to have gotten the idea that A Woman's Lot Is Constant Sexual Assault. I was happy to see that that was either toned down here, or possibly Ileth finally has enough social status that incidents are less common. This is a very fun start from the bottom and claw your way up sort of narrative-- and more fun now that Ileth isn't on the absolute lowest possible point. It's also a dragon-riding book, and I adore dragon riding books. Knight does an excellent job with dragon culture overall. The Citadel is precariously perched between a government that resents spending money on very expensive dragons for the military, and dragons that can choose to leave if they want to give up the free food. It's so much more interesting when dragons are treated as sentient beings, with the long sense of history because they live for centuries-- and the personality that comes from being a very large apex predator.

Excellent dragon book. I was disappointed to hear that Knight's publisher declined to purchase book 3, but Knight is supposed to be self-publishing it. We shall see.

[leathery-wings-art]

Wistala the Green! My favorite of the three siblings from the Age of Fire series by E.E. Knight. If you like WOF, give it a try!

[godzilla-reads]

🐲 Reading: Dragon Champion by E.E. Knight

[wearethekat]

May Book Reviews: Novice Dragoneer by EE Knight

Picked this one up semi-randomly from the library. It’s about an orphan girl who runs away to join the DRAGON RIDERS. Which is always an excellent trope, and nearly as venerable as the classic Horse Girl plotline. Ileth is ruthless and hardworking and willing to do nearly anything to claw herself upwards-- which she manages quite neatly by the end of the book, although she still has a long way to go. 

The worldbuilding around dragons is quite nicely done here-- dragons are fully sentient and they talk. But Knight avoids a Temeraire-plotline of dragon independence, because here dragons are full, respected citizens and can even serve on juries (although mostly they don’t bother). They have essentially a treaty with this country, and are willing to put up with running courier mail and so forth because they get fed for free. No small thing when you’re a apex predator presumably weighing multiple tons.

One thing I did not like here is Knight’s assumption that a Woman’s Lot is constant sexual harassments and misogyny. Constant. Which was especially disgusting since for most of it Ileth was 14 or 15. I wasn’t thrilled about this plot element, but I will put up with many, many things for a good dragon story, and this was excellent. Recommended with reservations. 

[keytoyourhearts]

Review of Novice Dragoneer by E.E. Knight (2019), 1st book of the Dragoneer Academy series, sequel spin-off of the Age of Fire series

SYNOPSIS:

Ileth, an orphan girl with a stutter, dreams of becoming a dragoneer after a chance meeting with one as a child.  At fourteen, she leaves her orphan’s home to join the ranks of the Serpentine as a novice dragoneer, to climb the ranks of the “academy” to even have a chance at working with the dragons she so idolizes.  She faces many challenges, but ultimately, hard work and an incredible amount of luck lifts her into the saddle.

See my full review and rating below the cut!

RATING: 1/5 STARS

MY THOUGHTS:

The Novice Dragoneer is your average dragon-riding academy novel (minus the dragons and the classes) rife with misogyny, ableism, and choppy prose.  Unfortunately, it is unlikely that I will continue this series, nor will I be compelled to pick up another book by E.E. Knight any time soon, but to each their own.  If you are interested in this one, read the Goodreads synopsis instead, it covers about 75% of the plot.

TAGS: fantasy, young adult, dragons, dragon-riding academy, coming of age

CW: misogyny, sexism, ableism, racism, mentions of SA, dubious consent, slut-shaming, fatphobia

RECOMMENDATION: While this is not my cup of tea, and you may need more determination than Ileth to make it through, I would recommend this series to anyone who would enjoy reading about a girl who overcomes literally all odds (her disability; her gender; the circumstances of her birth; the demonization of sex work- I mean, dragon dancing; etc.) to achieve her dreams.

THE GOOD:

Ileth was a strong, female character, who was interesting enough to fail time and time again and keep pushing through.  If she were in literally any other book, I bet she would become a favorite of mine.

The story was fine enough to keep me entertained, and most of the conflicts were resolved by the end.  The ending had a twist I did not see coming, but I have not read the original series, nor was I aware it existed at the time.  Overall, it satisfied an itch for something familiar, as long as you can look past some of the gross, sexist bits.

THE BAD:

As soon as I started reading, the prose stuttered my reading to crawl.  It was choppy, with too many commas and/or short sentences.  It took a few chapters to get acquainted with it, but I stopped noticing it eventually.

I said it before, and I’ll say it again: the misogyny in this novel is heavy-handed and completely over the top.  Ileth’s character faces so many conflicts that knock her down that using a systemic one to force her down over and over felt unnecessary, cliché, and really antiquated.  This is a world where dragons exist, why is it so unbelievable that sexism does not need to?  Even the dragons themselves are sexist!  Also, if this society hates women so much, why did they let them into the dragoneer academy in the first place?

The villains of the story were so easy to pick out, as they were the most ableist, misogynistic, and predatory.  At one point, another country is introduced only to be MORE misogynistic just to prove that the original is not that bad.

At one point, Ileth was nearly taken advantage of by an older novice and is punished for it by being reassigned to a job where she was told that she was more likely to be taken advantage of by even older men.  I did not quite understand the thought process here.  (Also, the purity culture is nasty and outdated too.)

I think the humor was lost on me, and I am worried that I am growing out of the Young Adult genre.  Was that whole page explanation about maintaining regular bowel movements supposed to be funny?

Finally, where were the dragons??  For being a book about a dragon riding academy, there is barely any training or dragon riding.  Sometimes, classes are mentioned, but Ileth never seems to have time for them.  She’s too busy working or doing chores or accidentally ending up in another mess that was not her fault or, worst of all, being preyed upon by just about any male character that happens to show up at the time.  Why did they all have to be so creepy?

Also, did anyone happen to read the author’s afterword?  Lol.