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Gryphon Insurrection #3.5
Blue Eyes and Other Tales
On the shortest night of the year, blue eyes pierce the snowstorm.
The elusive gryphons of the frozen taiga are beautiful, mysterious, and nearly extinct. As the days grow short and danger lurks around every corner, their eyes turn a bright blue. This short story collection set in the world of Eyrie follows several famous taiga gryphons during their most trying times.
Satra and Mignet: the love story that split apart prides. Before the wingtorn, before the Ashen Weald, they were just two young gryphons learning to hunt for the first time.
Black ash coats the mountains. The Connixation, the blizzard to end all life, is coming. At the twilight of the taiga prides’ glory, Tielle and some fantails race against the apocalypse to save the Williwaw pride before they’re lost to the oncoming storm.
A taiga scout goes missing after being bitten by a starling and it’s up to Thenca and Deracho to hunt him down before he causes a new outbreak. Crackling Sea rangers, snowy owl gryphons, and bog witches come together to save Deracho’s friend before time runs out.
Snowfall Mountain has a new pride leader, and it’s up to Younce to bring together old enemies and new friends alike to celebrate the long winter. It’ll take more than sugar frogs and stormcloth to help the most powerful gryphons in the weald weather the storm.
And more!
Blue Eyes and Other Tales is a short story collection set after the novel Starling and is perfect for fans of the Gryphon Insurrection series.
The elusive gryphons of the frozen taiga are beautiful, mysterious, and nearly extinct. As the days grow short and danger lurks around every corner, their eyes turn a bright blue. This short story collection set in the world of Eyrie follows several famous taiga gryphons during their most trying times.
Satra and Mignet: the love story that split apart prides. Before the wingtorn, before the Ashen Weald, they were just two young gryphons learning to hunt for the first time.
Black ash coats the mountains. The Connixation, the blizzard to end all life, is coming. At the twilight of the taiga prides’ glory, Tielle and some fantails race against the apocalypse to save the Williwaw pride before they’re lost to the oncoming storm.
A taiga scout goes missing after being bitten by a starling and it’s up to Thenca and Deracho to hunt him down before he causes a new outbreak. Crackling Sea rangers, snowy owl gryphons, and bog witches come together to save Deracho’s friend before time runs out.
Snowfall Mountain has a new pride leader, and it’s up to Younce to bring together old enemies and new friends alike to celebrate the long winter. It’ll take more than sugar frogs and stormcloth to help the most powerful gryphons in the weald weather the storm.
And more!
Blue Eyes and Other Tales is a short story collection set after the novel Starling and is perfect for fans of the Gryphon Insurrection series.
112 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 22, 2020
3 people are currently reading
35 people want to read
About the author
K. Vale Nagle
12 books52 followersK. Vale Nagle is alarmingly hard to kill.
After surviving several pulmonary embolisms and multiple organ failure, Vale kicked their writing into high gear and saw their first short story and novel publications. When they're not writing creature fantasy or fighting for their life, they enjoys reading, archery, and exploring the Rocky Mountains with a tabby cat by their side.
After surviving several pulmonary embolisms and multiple organ failure, Vale kicked their writing into high gear and saw their first short story and novel publications. When they're not writing creature fantasy or fighting for their life, they enjoys reading, archery, and exploring the Rocky Mountains with a tabby cat by their side.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 3, 2025
This one sat on my to-read shelf for longer than it should. I sometimes struggle with short stories as I really just want to sink my teeth into something big, and a 100-page collection of four short stories isn't exactly that. As a fan of Gryphon Insurrection, the art of Fleeks (the artist behind this book's stunning cover image) and lesbian creature fantasy stories (a niche within a niche, I know), this was something I'd have to read eventually, and I finally have.
There are only four stories here and each of them bring something different to the table, though all are focused on the Taiga Pride, one of the most developed of all the prides in Vale's series. The stories flow together well and paint an interesting picture of all of the different characters involved.
Blue Eyes - The first story and the one the collection is named after, and honestly I can see why because this is the best and most essential story in the collection. It's a sugar-sweet, warm and cozy trip of nostalgia for a life we've never gotten to know before now, and also a stunning example of how context can change the feel and tone of a work. I've shown this story to people who have never read Gryphon Insurrection and they say it's warm and fuzzy and happy-go-lucky, but for those of us with context it takes on a much more somber tone as its events play out to their inevitable conclusion. Blue Eyes gives us a slice of life that cuts off right as that life takes a seemingly-permanent turn for the worse, but while the good and the bad of Satra's story are forever intertwined, this story shows us that the bad still doesn't cancel out the good. This story is an essential piece of the character arc of one of Gryphon Insurrection's best and most complicated characters, and also gives us our first glimpse of Mignet as a living, breathing gryphon.
Connixation - I appreciate this one more after reading the Author's Note of this collection and see what this one means to Vale, but in all honesty it doesn't do it for me as much as I wanted. There's some breathtaking use of imagery here and it's nice to finally get a glimpse of the fabled Connixation, but I can't help but feel with the complexity of the storyline and emotional throughlines within this would have been an even better novella.
Silver Eyes - Of all the stories here, this one feels the most like it was cut straight from a main series book. It's not relevant enough to the main plot to truly belong there, but it carries on with some of the main series' less developed characters (Thenca and Deracho, specifically) and gives us a glimpse into their soft and tender relationship, and the lengths they will go (and have gone) to keep other other safe and close. Perhaps not the best in the collection, but a thoroughly enjoyable read regardless.
Blue Eyed Festival - This, along with Blue Eyes, forms a sort of loose framing device of this book; a collection of stories told by friends and loved ones who have gathered after several years of hardships to make merry and honor the fallen. The true soul of this collection is Satra and her memories and grief, and this story in particular is an extremely poignant ode to friends, family, and the shaping power of memory. I thought I knew Satra before, but after reading this collection, I realized I barely did. Blue Eyes tells us exactly who she is at heart; a wounded soul searching for peace, leaning on the one bit of happiness she's ever known. It has always been Mignet that's driven her, and it will continue to be Mignet that keeps her alive until she finds her happiness or her final rest, but in truth she has more than she realizes, and she is not alone.
I'd consider this to be an essential read for Gryphon Insurrection fans, though anyone who doesn't fall into that group won't find much here except maybe in Blue Eyes.
There are only four stories here and each of them bring something different to the table, though all are focused on the Taiga Pride, one of the most developed of all the prides in Vale's series. The stories flow together well and paint an interesting picture of all of the different characters involved.
Blue Eyes - The first story and the one the collection is named after, and honestly I can see why because this is the best and most essential story in the collection. It's a sugar-sweet, warm and cozy trip of nostalgia for a life we've never gotten to know before now, and also a stunning example of how context can change the feel and tone of a work. I've shown this story to people who have never read Gryphon Insurrection and they say it's warm and fuzzy and happy-go-lucky, but for those of us with context it takes on a much more somber tone as its events play out to their inevitable conclusion. Blue Eyes gives us a slice of life that cuts off right as that life takes a seemingly-permanent turn for the worse, but while the good and the bad of Satra's story are forever intertwined, this story shows us that the bad still doesn't cancel out the good. This story is an essential piece of the character arc of one of Gryphon Insurrection's best and most complicated characters, and also gives us our first glimpse of Mignet as a living, breathing gryphon.
Connixation - I appreciate this one more after reading the Author's Note of this collection and see what this one means to Vale, but in all honesty it doesn't do it for me as much as I wanted. There's some breathtaking use of imagery here and it's nice to finally get a glimpse of the fabled Connixation, but I can't help but feel with the complexity of the storyline and emotional throughlines within this would have been an even better novella.
Silver Eyes - Of all the stories here, this one feels the most like it was cut straight from a main series book. It's not relevant enough to the main plot to truly belong there, but it carries on with some of the main series' less developed characters (Thenca and Deracho, specifically) and gives us a glimpse into their soft and tender relationship, and the lengths they will go (and have gone) to keep other other safe and close. Perhaps not the best in the collection, but a thoroughly enjoyable read regardless.
Blue Eyed Festival - This, along with Blue Eyes, forms a sort of loose framing device of this book; a collection of stories told by friends and loved ones who have gathered after several years of hardships to make merry and honor the fallen. The true soul of this collection is Satra and her memories and grief, and this story in particular is an extremely poignant ode to friends, family, and the shaping power of memory. I thought I knew Satra before, but after reading this collection, I realized I barely did. Blue Eyes tells us exactly who she is at heart; a wounded soul searching for peace, leaning on the one bit of happiness she's ever known. It has always been Mignet that's driven her, and it will continue to be Mignet that keeps her alive until she finds her happiness or her final rest, but in truth she has more than she realizes, and she is not alone.
I'd consider this to be an essential read for Gryphon Insurrection fans, though anyone who doesn't fall into that group won't find much here except maybe in Blue Eyes.
September 22, 2022
After the intensity of the first three books in the Gryphon Insurrection series, this is a nice little breather that still allows the reader to stick around with these beloved characters. I loved reading about Satra and Mignet, learning their backstory, even though it’s ultimately rather heartbreaking. I loved Tielle’s battle against the end of the world (after all, who doesn’t want to read about a gryphon going up against a natural disaster?!) I loved Thenca and Deracho’s mountain adventure, and I loved the final story which brought everyone together and offered some real emotional depth. Overall, this short story collection is a great way to stay in touch with this world and these characters without having to fear for their lives at every moment!
January 15, 2024
There’s really not much to say here. It's 4 Taiga-themed short stories in a universe that I already adore. And while not in a format that I normally prefer. It's nice to have something small-sized like this when having commitment issues about books.
My only problem with this book is that it's made me kinda impatient for Pridelord xD. But seriously though, I've read this at the wrong time in the series. It's meant to be read after Starling, and a LOT has happened since then, with characters and world events. The world felt a lot smaller around the time of Starling. The fact that I'm much further in the story had made me set unrealistic expectations for
So, good book but do not read it as late as I did.
My only problem with this book is that it's made me kinda impatient for Pridelord xD. But seriously though, I've read this at the wrong time in the series. It's meant to be read after Starling, and a LOT has happened since then, with characters and world events. The world felt a lot smaller around the time of Starling. The fact that I'm much further in the story had made me set unrealistic expectations for
So, good book but do not read it as late as I did.
February 26, 2024
Very short, but each of the stories were enjoyable!
Blue Eyes - 5 stars
This was so cute. Anyone else think that they're a lot like Sundew and Willow?
Connixation - 2.5 stars
This story was kind of odd, and the switching timelines made me confused as to what was happening. Tielle was a good character, but the stupidity of her pride was infuriating. At least she had a decent father.
Silver Eyes - 3.5 stars
Thenca and Deracho are a great couple, so I really enjoyed seeing them grow and decide to pursue a future with gryphlets!
Blue Eyed festival - 5 stars
A heartwarming conclusion to the collection. Loved seeing Younce again, and it was cute seeing him trying to comfort Satra.
Blue Eyes - 5 stars
This was so cute. Anyone else think that they're a lot like Sundew and Willow?
Connixation - 2.5 stars
This story was kind of odd, and the switching timelines made me confused as to what was happening. Tielle was a good character, but the stupidity of her pride was infuriating. At least she had a decent father.
Silver Eyes - 3.5 stars
Thenca and Deracho are a great couple, so I really enjoyed seeing them grow and decide to pursue a future with gryphlets!
Blue Eyed festival - 5 stars
A heartwarming conclusion to the collection. Loved seeing Younce again, and it was cute seeing him trying to comfort Satra.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews