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Wings of Fire--Pros & Cons, for fans & haters
Hoi guys! I...
Hoi guys! I just got WoF for Christmas (and never put it down until I finished the first 5 books/first series) and I wanted to write down what I thought. Please note--first five books only. PLEASE NO SPOILERS! (Also, I'm looking for a female RainWing name for the plushie I got for Christmas. Any suggestions?)
No mean debating/etc. Try not to act too much like it's a debate--that might turn out badly. * flashes a peace sign *
SPOILERS TO THE FIRST FIVE BOOKS AHEAD.
Pros:
The characters are interesting and laughable.
I can really see Glory's scales. I can describe them in total detail, The story actually brings me to that place.
Every dragon is a star in their own book.
None of the dragonets are perfect.
I love every single itty bitty character.
There's romance.
The books are very hooking.
I love the clan/tribe system.
I enjoy that the Dragonets aren't perfect friends, and that they can find love outside of their inner circle of Dragonets.
SHE WAS PART OF THE ERIN HUNTERS!
Cons:
Oh my Irene! This is my biggest pet peeve, and I LOATHE this part of the books. It's upsetting and makes me so sad, but... THE DRAGONETS AREN'T DRAGONS. They act like humans, have no real dragon customs, etc, and their lifestyles mainly consist of using furniture and stuff nearly exactly the way us humans (aka Scavengers) make things, and the sad bit is that a TON of that stuff would be hard to make with dragon claws/talons. Can't they have own weapons that enhance their natural physical build instead of spears? I keep on seeing the dragonets as, well, people instead of dragons, no many times they use the word 'talons' instead of 'hands', etc. Heck, I kept on forgetting that DeathBringer was a dragon. I just CAN'T. (on a side note, however, the dragon queens, such as Queen Coral, all seemed VERY dragon to me, but mainly everyone, even Whirlpool, etc, was all appearing in my mind as human. MAKE THEM MORE DRAGON AND LESS HUMAN!)
Okay, she hyped us up at Sunny and Starflight, and then at the last moment, when we were sure they were both in love-- "I love you as a brother." Great, go run off with Fateseer. Err, was that her name? It's late. :P
Some parts of it were very predictable--or maybe that's just me, being a little crazy. I predicted that the prophecy was false, predicted that the NightWings were just big fakers. Okay, it really was obvious that the NightWings were fakers. REALLY obvious.
I didn't find the locations very well, so my mind had to make half of that up. It was if she had forgotten to put in half of where they were.
My littlest pet peeve--SOMEONE GETS CAPTURED EVERY BOOK. At least one of the dragonets, or all of them, get captured each book so far. PLEASE stop this dragonet injustice...however, I didn't mind it as much. But it was getting old.
-=O=-
I enjoyed the books otherwise, and I will be bribing--I MEAN ASKING--my mom to get me more. Sorry if this sounded REALLY LOUD but I'm very passionate. Also, I'm very passionate about being passionate, but I am open to people telling me to "SLOW DOWN YOU'RE HURTING MY EARS" over my passionate rants.
submitted by Icy, age 12!!!, The Forest
(December 26, 2016 - 11:15 pm)
(December 26, 2016 - 11:15 pm)
Yeah, I know how you feel. That's the way I am, too.
(March 12, 2017 - 3:43 pm)
Honestly, l like the series. It's one of the few children's series that I still bother reading. I'd never realized this when I was younger because I read children's fiction and only children's fiction, but a lot of children's books (mainly ages 10-12) are just so badly written. Not all, but much of it.
My main problem is the actual dragonets. I feel like they act a lot older and are more responsible than children of that age. I'd ignore that in most cases because they're not human, but they act and react exactly like humans. I also don't really like the main cast in general, they tend to feel a bit fake at times.
Overall, l love those books. They're very well written and all around excellent.
(December 31, 2016 - 12:26 pm)
Hold on. You... read a fantasy series... and enjoyed it? I can't believe it! (But then again--what's not to like?)
(January 2, 2017 - 12:33 pm)
Many things: weak, bland characters, unessacarily silly systems of dragons, too many sequals, and predictability.
(January 2, 2017 - 2:53 pm)
Scylla--Hush. It's not like l'm exactly a fanatic about fantasy. Don't go about proclaiming it ;)
Gared--You're being nitpicky. Which is something that l have a hard time dealing with. Sure, there's problems--but honestly, do they matter? Do they really affect your overall experience of the books? l could complain about some typo or plot or whatever, but if it doesn't strictly matter to the overall book, then for heaven's sake, what's the point of nitpicking over it?
(January 4, 2017 - 3:06 pm)
I am not nitpicking. WIngs of Fire is a formulaic childrens series, and if I want to keep my skills in the humanitites up, I have to find something else.
(January 5, 2017 - 12:17 am)
(I've never read Wings of Fire, I just like reading Icy's rants :P)
Shadow, the statement that a lot of children's books aren't well written is a little loose. What do you mean by well-written? The Chronicles of Harris Burdick, written by 14 amazing authors, is in the children's section. Some of the stories could be better written, but many of them were amazing. For instance, The Third Floor Window was composed of letters written by a sister to her brother in the army. They obviously did not have a lot of connection to each other. The girl ended most of her letters with, "I hope you don't get shot," and the boy never wrote back. She kept alluding to the time he left her at the train station without looking back, even though they only had each other. Well-scripted? Definitely. Beautifully written? Yes. You could see Pearlie's character and get connected to her hardships just in the first few sentences of the first letter.
So this might be one book that falls in that 1/4 of childrens books that aren't "well written." What about Shiloh? Summer and Bird? Splendors and Glooms? Bed-Knobs and Broomsticks? The Black Cauldron? And for that matter, The Book of Three? What about When You Reach Me? This was one of the most thought-provoking books I've ever read, and its home was in the children's section, and it was written for the 10-12 age group. What about The Candymakers? The plot is a bit of a stretch, but you NEVER forget the realistic characters. And, as for classics, what about Anne of Green Gables? The Call of the Wild? Peter Pan? Treasure Island? The Mysterious Island and every single other book that Jules Vern wrote (actually, I think those are in the adult section, but I read them when I was ten or younger so they totallly qualify for kids books). What about those timeless books you see on the school reading list and think yay! A good book for once! Like: Tuck Everlasting? The Witch of Blackbird Pond? Or Number the Stars?
I could probably go on, but I've got to go compare the English Bill of Rights with the American Bill of Rights.
(January 3, 2017 - 9:09 am)
THIS SERIES IS JUST AMAZING!!!!!! Sure, it has it's flaws, but heck, so does Star Wars, and that's like one of the most popular fandoms IN THE WORLD!!!
For both you have to sort of suspend your need for reality, and just sit back, and enjoy what has been created. In fact, that's what I try to do for any new book or movie; so that I am almost garenteed enjoyment from it.
Then I can go back and criticize it's life out of it. :)
I disagree strongly with Gared's "unnecessary systems for dragons." It adds a whole lot to the series! Animals having compliicated governments? That's cool!
And BTW, I JUST READ TALONS OF POWER!!!!! TURTLE HAS A LOT MORE CHARACTER THAN WE GAVE HIM CREDIT FOR, JUST AS I PREDICTED!!!!!!!!!
One more thing. It was. So. Good. Very confusing, but still MINDBLOWING!!!!!
Gared, read the rest of the series up to this book, and then predict everything that is going to happen in it, post it on here, and then read ToP. I dare you to.
(January 3, 2017 - 10:12 am)
What do you think about the first con? The series is extremely good and descriptive, but this bugs me. Could I hear your opinions on some of the items on the cons list? ☺
(January 3, 2017 - 4:22 pm)
Sorry. :)
I'm the biggest fangirl whoever did fangirl. But here's what I think about the cons:
It is very annoying that they all act like humans. Honestly, why not use nests instead of hamocks?! A pile of food, rather than a table? The cages in the first was original, thankfully.
Their personalities would be shaped differently if Tui just remembered that they were actually dragons, and not humans. AND OHMIGANDALF YES THAT MAPS ARE SO WORNG!!!!
The Great Diamond so often mentioned in Darkstalker would be near The Great Diamond Delta, right? NO, IT'S ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD!!!
I have to go now, but I'll do more later.
(January 3, 2017 - 7:51 pm)
Hey Icy!
I have read all the books, including the Darkstalker Legend (which was my fav!) and loved them with all my heart. Yes, it is sad how similar to humans the dragons are, except for all the emotion that they display so vividly.
SPOILER ALERT!
What really broke my heart was how Darkstalker ended up bad, even after all the good that Clearsight tried and all. It was so sad and disappointing. Of course, I had previously read the Wings of Fire series (and I plan on starting the Winglets series soon), so I knew that he had to be bad. But the way they portrayed was as an understandable villian. You sympathized with his decisions, and cry when Clearsight has to get rid of him.
I also hated Fathom's girlfriend, whatever her name was. It seemed like Fathom could get a way better one! She made bad decisions and gave awful advice. It was maddening!
Well, sorry. I am also passionate about these series, and it is heart-breaking how the mistakes ruin some of the best, most lovable characters.
(March 12, 2017 - 3:40 pm)
I got the first book for Christmas one year and have been reading them OBSESSIVELY ever since, including Darkstalker, and I own them all.
I completely disagree with you about Indigo! She just wanted what she thought was the best for Fathom, and tried to follow orders. THOSE WERE DIFFERENT THINGS!!! If you've read The Land of Stories: Book 4, Beyond the Kingdoms (if you haven't, SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sorry, didn't want to spoil it for anyone. DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T READ BOOK 5 YET!!!!!!!!!!! Alex does the same thing with Arthur, doesn't she? She doesn't want to hurt Arthur, so she keeps him away from her. Indigo didn't want Fathom to get in trouble with Pearl, so she stayed away.
Speaking of Pearl, (this is a whole different rant) has anyone else noticed that all the Seawing queens are totally paranoid? Pearl in Darkstalker was terrified of her own brother so much that she wouldn't let him father eggs, so he couldn't pass down the animus gift, BUT IT DIDN'T EVEN WORK, because you've got Turtle, and Anemone, and WHO KNOWS WHO ELSE!!! Then you've got Coral, who is so afraid of losing Anemone that she harnesses her to her! Anemone can obviously take care of herself, I mean, she's an animus!
"Rock, knock out any dragon who tries to harm me," HONESTLY! Seawing queens are SUPER paranoid.
(May 20, 2017 - 4:58 pm)