The Dark Secret

Wings of Fire #4

by Tui T. Sutherland

The WINGS OF FIRE saga continues with a visit to the mysterious land of the NightWings, where Starflight must face a terrible choice---his home, or his friends?

Like all the dragonets of destiny, Starflight has always wanted to see his home -- but he's also been afraid of his fellow NightWings. Starflight doesn't have mindreading powers like his tribe, and he doesn't understand why they're so secretive. No one has ever even seen the NightWing queen.

But now Starflight is the dragonets' only hope -- he must find a way to negotiate with his fellow NightWings to free the RainWing dragons they've captured, and perhaps end the war in Pyrrhia altogether. Starflight is the smartest of the dragonets... but is he brave enough to speak up? Or will he falter in his mission, and accidentally betray them all?

Genres: Fantasy, Dragons, Middle Grade, Fiction, Childrens, Adventure, Young Adult

336 pages, Hardcover

First published October 29, 2013

About the author

Okay, I know what you’re thinking. Tui? What kind of name is that? Is it short for something?

Nope. Among the many great things to come out of New Zealand (the Lord of the Rings movies, cats that paint, my mom) is a bird called the tui—not as well known as the kiwi, but a heck of a lot noisier!

I was born July 31 (same birthday as Harry Potter!) in Caracas, Venezuela, and lived in Asuncion, Paraguay; Miami, Florida; and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, before moving to New Jersey in high school, where I started doing theatre—mostly backstage work, because (a) it was fun, and (b) you got to hang out in the dark with cute boys. (Er, I mean . . . because it was artistically fulfilling, yes.)

I graduated from Williams College in ’98 and I currently live in Boston with my husband, my perfect new baby, and my adorable yoodle Sunshine (what’s a yoodle? A puppy that’s three-quarters poodle and one-quarter Yorkshire terrier, of course!).

Much to my parents’ relief, I abandoned my theatrical aspirations after college for the far more stable and lucrative career of fiction writing.

My first two official books were beginning readers, part of Grosset & Dunlap’s “First Friends” series for kids learning to read. MEET MO AND ELLA is tough to find now, but FUN WITH MO AND ELLA should still be out there somewhere.

My first novel for teenagers was THIS MUST BE LOVE, which retells Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream in a modern-day high school, from the POV of the two heroines, Hermia and Helena.

And now I'm writing in a new project called SEEKERS! It's a children's book series that I'm writing with Erin Hunter. Check out my blog to find out more!

Reviews

[S · Rating 5 out of 5]

My mind is blown. This series was taken to a whole new level. The big plot twist at the end was insane!!!

[Lanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nope. Sorry. Can't review properly!

It's Fan girl time!

XDXDXDXD omg omg omg omg!that ending! Best one yet! :D :D :D :D

I freaking love these books! Each dragonent is just so wonderful! The cultures, the characters, the writing! This gal can write, let me tell you. Dialogue is top notch here, seriously. Some authors just can't to it. But she does. And she does it well. I can not wait for book five! Finally it'll be time for sweet little sunny to shine! How will the dragonet's of destiny ever get out of this mess?

Recommended to anyone who loves adventure, epic fantasy, and of course, dragons!

XD XD XD XD XD XD XD XD XD XD XD XD XD!!!!!!!!

Omg omg omg!!! Loved loved loved.

Ok. Sorry. Done freaking out now. & I promise, I'm really way better at this reviewing & critical reading than this shows. :)

But who cares! Omg, that ending! Cue dramatic music! :D fucking epic!

[Kayla Charisse · Rating 4 out of 5]

[4.5 stars] Loveee the audiobook narration, definitely going to continue listening to this series ASAP. This is shaping up to be one of my all-time favorite middle grade series for sure. The character development is on point, and I am here for it.

[Jasmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

It turns out what is necessary for me to ship romances is a BUNCH OF BAD STUFF HAPPENING. Cause whooo yikes bad stuff happens.

DRAGONS DRAGONS SNARKY DRAGONS SCIENCE DRAGONS MAGIC DRAGONS.

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

I will say that I most certainly enjoyed this more than The Hidden Kingdom, but I didn't feel it reached the first two, which I thought were great.

The start was once again very slow. It took quite a bit of time setting up. I thought The Night Kingdom would have been much action packed, but instead there was a lot of Starflight wandering around with Fatespeaker (who I found very annoying) and not taking matters into their own hands (claws?).

That being said, the slow start was bearable since we had a great narrator. I found Starflight to be a very relatable character. I'm not sure if it was intended, but I found him kind of funny in a way the other characters weren't. I love that he was slightly self deprecating but never whiny.

The climax was extremely exciting, and I loved the reveal at the end. I had a ton fun after I got into it, andf as far as the Starflight/Sunny romance, I thought it was very cute.

Can we please get some more Deathbringer? I felt like he stole every scene he was in and I think Starflight and Deathrbinger would be good friends.

My one nitpick I had is that each book started developing a different character, and right when we started to feel like we knew that character and got invested in the story, the book would end and then the problems that character had would be abandoned in the next book without us getting resolution. What happened to Peril? What about Tsunami's family? How is Glory faring as queen? I'm worried all of my questions won't be answered in the final book.

Nevertheless, I found this very fun with a narrator I could easily connect with. Some issues, but still a good addition to the story.

[RM(Alwaysdaddygirl) · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars.

🇺🇸🐉

[Bethany (Beautifully Bookish Bethany) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set on the volcanic island where the Nightwings live, Starflight finally discovers his courage and also faces some difficult realities about the moral failings of his tribe. This book is interesting, because while it's about dragons rather than people, one of the issues it tackles is essentially the dehumanization of a group by race and justifying medical experimentation and severe mistreatment of members of that group - in this case Rainwings. I like that this series doesn't shy away from serious subject matter, but does it in a way that is accessible for kids.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm continuing to enjoy this series about several young dragons who have been prophesied to end the war among all the different types of dragons in their realm. In this installment, Starflight finally meets his father in the land of the NightWings and realizes that they have very little in common. While he sorely misses his friends, especially Sunny, the insecure dragon finds some allies among a group of substitute dragonets and worries about the RainWings who have been kidnapped and upon whom experiments are being performed. Although this title is darker and less frothy than the other titles, that isn't unexpected as the dragons move closer to their destiny. I loved seeing Starflight take center stage while Glory also continues to come into her own. The scenes in which the dragons are threatened by a volcano and earthquakes are fearsome. I'm looking forward to seeing how the author wraps all this up in the next book.

[Daniella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dit blijft gewoon echt een hele toffe serie. Draken zijn sowieso cool, maar draken POV’s… Echt heel cool. Wel blijf ik de snelheid van het verhaal nog een beetje te langzaam vinden. De spanning kwam bij dit boek echt pas op het eind. Ik zat er pas in vanaf het eind, MAAR toen zat ik er ook goed in. Het einde heeft dit boek voor mij echt gered. Ik moet weten hoe dit verder gaat.

[Ruby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'VE READ 100 BOOKS THIS YEAR!!! WOOOOOOOO!!! Honestly I didn't think I would be able to read 100 considering I had NCEA but somehow I managed :)

[PJOfan5005 · Rating 4 out of 5]

First book I read in a day

[Lindsay Keim · Rating 5 out of 5]

We loved the twist and can't wait for book 5!

[Izik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wings of Fire: The Dark Secret by Tui T. Sutherland was great! There's finally a book coming from my favorite character's view in the whole series of Wings of Fire, Starflight. Every single chapter ended with a cliffhanger, which made my eyes glued to the book. The book had really challenging scenarios for the main character, which made me want to read more! This book really showed how hard it was for Starflight to understand his original tribe, the NightWings. Their methods of all the things they were doing like hunting, studying the RainWings, eating only five times a month, etc. were strange and brutal. It was very interesting because it was different from all the other books witch were on the mainland, Pyhrria. He had to overcome his fear of Morrowseer, his horrible mentor. It was very interesting having Morrowseer in mostly the whole book because the past three books didn't mention much about him. Morrowseer was a big obstacle for him because he always blocked the path of success for Starflight. Also, when Starflight met his father, Mastermind, he was so excited and joyful until he saw what he was doing to the RainWings. It was difficult for him to accept Mastermind after what he saw in the laboratory. That related to real life because when you meet someone new you get excited and sometimes you see they're doing something that you don't like and you try to get distance in between the two of you. This book showed a water vs. blood concept. He kept thinking of doing what was right for him and his friends (water) or do what was right for his original tribe (blood). I get in this scenario many times because I would have a choice of helping my friends or my family. An example would be that I could either play with my friend or spend some time with my family. I would recommend this to younger people because I feel this interested me, but I don't think this would interest my parents or older sisters.

[Mora · Rating 5 out of 5]

--12 Dec 2023
while i technically do agree with what i said about this not being my favorite of the first arc, it's still so good and we get so much... forward plot? like, nightwing plan revealed! nightwing plan foiled! the prophecy is FAKE! what does this all mean for the war! not to mention the fun epilogue montage of all three queens deciding to prioritize finding and killing the dragonets, love a fun anticipation of danger (also! it's just tilting them all towards collision! they are all aimed at the same target! this was in no one's plan!).

and maybe this is k's fault but i am so obsessed with the prophecy and how it's actually happening even though it's fake. and how the dragonets' actions have set it all up even though they weren't trying for it. is that fate? is it coincidence? is it just the natural course of things? who's to say!!!

also i love glory.


--25 June 2021
hmm probably my least favorite of the first arc but still solid! all the povs in this series have good character development during their books and starflight is no exception

[Kitten Senpai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Starflight got a clear character development in this book. He's awesome

[Stormy Summer]

Talk here!
Active dudes/dudets.
Lydiezeeb aka Snowstripe

[Juliette · Rating 4 out of 5]

i'm a proud member of the Morrowseer hate club

[Kirstie Elfreich · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m loving this series! I think it’s a great battle of good vs. evil series with loyalty and friendship and courage. It’s been great so far!

[Katie Kaboom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, listen. Buckle in.

This series has been my saving grace through the absolute MID rut that I have been through with my own books. I found myself looking foreward to the times in the car with Little Man because /I/ was curious what happens next. And the build up throughout the entire series to come to this book? MAN. I haven't felt PUMPED when finishing a book in a while. THIS WAS SO GOOD. I AM 33 A BOOK ABOUT DRAGONS SHOULD NOT BE THIS GOOD BUT IT IS.

[Brett Salter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am finally caught up to my son! He just started book #5 last week, so... I'm almost there. I cheated a little though, as I listened to this audiobook instead of reading it. In reality, I feel like I cheated MYSELF by going the audiobook route. Listening to a book is quick and much easier, but you definitely lose some of the intimacy that reading a book carries. So, although I did like this one better than The Hidden Kingdom , I still felt a little disconnected from the story. And, of course, this is my own fault. Lesson learned. I will NOT be doing audiobooks for the rest of the series.

So, let's talk about the book. I really DID enjoy it. So far, this one had the most political intrigue which always fascinates me. And, it DID deliver on answering most of the questions I had regarding the prophecy and the Nightwings. So, I love when a book fulfills promises, but I like it even more when a book fulfills promises, but leaves you with new questions. Unfortunately, this book only left me wondering which of the 3 queens will kill the dragonets first. So, that was my only disappointment.

Much to my surprise, I also enjoyed Starflight as our narrator/POV. I thought he was insightful and theoretical in his thought process, which reminds me of myself a little. His introduction to and eventual detachment from his father also gave him a quality I liked. Whereas, he had been floundering and undecided about most things in the past, he made concrete and lasting decisions here. It was a nice change.

I also reveled in the new characters and their names (Fatespeaker, Mastermind, Battlewinner, etc). Everyone knows how much I love naming things in my books, so I certainly appreciate it here too. I find the Fatespeaker/Starflight/Sunny love triangle to be interesting going forward. Although it was mentioned in the past, I still found it rather jarring that Starflight "loved" Sunny. Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention to the relationships in the previous books. Oh well. Looks like Sunny may have to choose between Clay and Starflight at some point.

Anyway, overall, I thought this one was better than #3, but still not as good as #1 and #2. I think I may just be leaning towards liking the books that have my favorite dragonets as the narrators though (Clay and Tsunami). I would certainly recommend this book and series to anyone who likes Middle Grade fantasy, dragons, magic, side plots of political intrigue, humor, and destinies. Overall, really great stuff!

[Whitney · Rating 4 out of 5]

~3.9~
almost done with the first arc of wings of fire!

"'what does it take to become an assassin?' Flame blurted. 'I want to know the best way to kill another dragon fast.'
Deathbringer stood up and took a step towards the bars. 'you mean, the best way to kill another dragon and not care,' he said.
Flame hissed and lashed his tail.
'you have to be doing it for a really good reason,' said Deathrbigner. 'and you have to believe in that reason completely. you also should avoid talking to your targets, in case you find out that they're beautiful, sarcastic, and fascinating. for instance.'
'is that what happened to you?' Flame asked with a snort. 'is that why you're in here?'
The silver scales under Deathbringer's wings glinted faintly in the torchlight as he shrugged. 'perhaps.'

i love him so much. Deathbringer is my heart and soul.

this book was a lot slower than i remembered BUT THAT ENDING. aerogo'aerg er
Nightwings kind of always bored me and this was just spending 200 pages in their sad and depressing home, i felt like I knew nothing the whole time I was reading this book. But the ending really made it for me. the first time i read this, i didn't quite understand what was going on, UNITL lizzie described it to me and then i started to cry. CRY. ughhhh.

so many emotions.

farewell my fellow book lovers. until next time.

P.S. what even is that review down there?->


~August 20 2018 Review~
At the start I thought that it was a little boring but then it just kept getting better and better. But it was a little sad in the end but overall it was good!

[MasterSal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual Rating - 3.5 stars

I am consistently pleased at how much I love the main dragon in each book. For a series which started with a pleasant, but not fantastic, book 1, I am surprised at how well this series has settled.

Usually I try to pace books between series a little more because the books blend together but I wanted to know what happened next with the dragons. This book follows the NightWing dragonet as he is taken to his tribe’s secret home and we learn about plots and secrets.

After a rip-roaring book 3, the violence also returns in the series and I’ve realised that books which feature violence against kids by their guardians / parents are a no-no for me. This was more violent than I liked for my taste and Starflight provided to be a much less charismatic leas than Tsunami and Glory.

The book was not as cute as the previous entry but the action helped quite a bit in keeping my interest. Yes, some of the twists were a little pat but I didn’t expect them or see them telegraphed. Younger readers are sure to be thrilled and kept at the edge of their seats with this.

We spent just a little too much time with new characters to the detriment of the original quartet who really became side characters in this book (except for Starflight). That was a shame as it kept the pacing a little off for me.

3.5 stars for the twists and turns with the overarching plot. That really came together well and I enjoyed seeing that culminate.

Left a little too much to do with the ostensible finale though… ah well 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

[Endira77 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This tribe reminds me of people who turn to the "dark side" because of a traumatic event or a dysfunctional childhood. On the one hand, you are critical of their lies, manipulations, and evil intentions towards other dragons, especially the RainWings. On the other hand, you pity them and wonder if you would have made the same choices if you grew up half-starved and isolated on a volcanic island. The Queen should be respected for her tenacity within continuous threat. Morrowseer was a huge player in the "chess game" of strategy with the war between the three sisters and their alliances, so this part of the series is a definitive turning point. The key figures of power leave the rest of the Nightwings as weak followers who do not question the state of their world or do anything to change it. (Think of soldiers obeying the Nazi regime.) Except there's the witty Deathbringer enamored with Glory who truly has become glorious.

It's endearing to see Starflight discover his courage and self-confidence. You can't help but be proud of how he grows in spirit throughout the book. Fatespeaker is very annoying at first, but you begin to appreciate her sweet heart and good will. It's disappointing that Starflight's father used his intellect for scientific studies at the expense of others, seemingly without morals; although to be fair, they weren't perceiving the Rainwings as valuable dragons, much like humans justified their vicious treatment of Native Americans or slaves.

[Marshallmc · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the 4th book in the wings of fire series "the dark secret" and i must admire tui t. Sutherlands work. this book is more story than combat based but also kind of relaxing, its good because it actually focuses on story not bloodshed, there is some fighting, and those are the parts that get you pumped up! the story line gets you intrigued and makes you want to see/read more to see what happens next. i will continue to read this series and i recommend to anyone who likes a good adventure.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

(2.5) I'm just not really a big fan of Starflight as a narrator. And there was a plot twist that I think was supposed to be huge and shocking but I kinda saw it coming like 1.5 books ago. But hey we've been through 4 out of 5 dragons as narrators so far which means Sunny is next!! She's much less annoying yayyy

[Izzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love starflight so much now! these books keep getting better.

[Cassandra Hamm · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started to guess the plot twist by the end BUT IT WAS STILL SUCH A GOOD PLOT TWIST.

[mikael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Forget Sunny and Starflight, I want a relationship like Mangrove and Orchid.

[Elwen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deutlich düsterer und actiongeladener als seine Vorgänger, dafür aber mit unvorhergesehenen Wendungen und neuen Ideen zu der immer interessanter werdenden Welt. Die Reihe hat sich direkt in meine Favoriten katapultiert. Nun auf zum 5. und letzten Band.. :')

[Lucía Mira · Rating 5 out of 5]

solo necesitaba un apagón nacional para ponerme al día y comerme el libro. qué buen libro y qué buenos mis niños y cómo se nota que se prendió la wea por fin!!! Fatespeaker my sun!! Sunny my little bebe! Glory 💚💚💚💚💚 no sé quiero mucho a estos chiquillos y Starflight me representa ngl