"To Shape a Dragon's Breath" Discuss Everything *Spoilers*

[SFFBC, Ancillary Mod]

A few questions to get us started:


1. What did you think of the world?
2. What did you think of the characters?
3. What worked or didn't for you?
4. Overall thoughts?

[Melanie, the neutral party]

This is my first 5-star book if the year. I loved the world-building (slightly historically analogistic setting, but not quite, so it leaves room for its own realities), the realistic characters and the realistic ways they cope with colonization, and of course DRAGONS.

[Ariel]

1. World, and world building: this I found interesting. There were elements similar to real, yet the author took liberties with it to make it feel off. Helped to fit in the mythology and history she wanted to best tell her story. I also felt it gave a better experience as a reader to be relatable to what Anequs would be experiencing.

2. Anequs was refreshing. I love her simple, yet bold outlook. Her sense of kindness. Worked well against characters like Marta. Creating instant conflict. Pushing the reserved Thoed, helping him come out of his shell and face his horrors. Sander was my favorites of secondary characters. However felt there were too many side characters to properly remember all.
I didnt feel there was a strong villian. Just characters that were prejudiced for the sake of being so. No grey, just mean.

3. I enjoyed the approach to how the book was written. Felt proper and old world, helping with the immersion of when the story was set.
I didnt like some of the overly complicated way some things were explained. Like skilacraft. It is chemistry.. real element names would have made that simpler. Different terms for simple titles. Became too much.
The school setting may as well been Hogwarts. Professor Ezel, Snape. Frau Brinkerhoff, McGonagall. Etc. There were too many similarities that my brain picked up, that it didnt feel unique.
Too many social parties as well.. these could have been condensed to give the story a better flow, told in less time and still make sense. It began to feel more like a story about fitting in and cleverly manipulating to fit in over the dragons..
The ending fell flat for me. Too much conveniently tied up too quickly. After the slow pace in the middle to make things work in as little chapters as it did, it was not a satisfactory way to wrap it up, in my opinion. Rushed. I was ready for it to end though.. again because of the length and middle feeling listless.
The last few things... they took from the time with the dragons and Anequs' revelation about the dances.

4. Main thought.. needed more dragon lore. My favorite part was Anequs' intro to Kasaqua. She felt like a pet as the book is, contrary to Anequs saying dragons weren't.

I like that it was mostly different, how the author wrote it, but idk that I want to read more.

[aPriL does feral sometimes]

I want more dragon lore, too! But the book focused more on social inequality issues, barely disguising the fact that the story is based on real history. Simply using unusual words in place of real ones does little to hide that the novel’s plot is based on the actual historical colonialism of the Western world, and that Anequs’s people and their customs are almost exactly like those of real indigenous peoples around the world. The mythological stories appear to be barely disguised real world myths of indigenous people, as well as those of the Norse people. I really wish the author had included a bibliography or notes section for sources as well as recommendations for further reading. Oh well. I do recognize this is a teen and YA read for which it is hoped to introduce real history and mythology to readers in a more enticing way than reading textbooks.

[WTEK]

I really liked this book, but it was also a hard read due to all the misogyny and racism. The slightly off names of everything (like isen for iron) also made it difficult to know what exactly they were talking about at times, but not so much as to impede the story or my enjoyment of it.

I think the world building was well researched and thought out. I enjoyed the magic system with the dragons and the chemistry based runes. It was especially cool the way she incorporated the dances into it too.

I really like Anequs and Sander. I feel like they were well fleshed out. Characters like Marta and Theod were less so, but I think that was because they both were so steeped in propriety that their true selves were always suppressed. And of course I loved Kasaqua!

I enjoyed this book and definitely want to continue the series, but I do need something lighter to get me out of the anger funk the colonialist attitude of much of the characters in the book got me into.

[HeyT]

I think my favorite part of this was the discovery that the dances were the same as the weird dragon chemistry. Some of the story was a bit predictable but I kind of liked that because it made it feel more comfortable.

[Melanie, the neutral party]

Agree. I think the book built up to that revelation nicely. Not too obvious but expected when it happened.

[Ariel]

HeyT wrote: "I think my favorite part of this was the discovery that the dances were the same as the weird dragon chemistry. Some of the story was a bit predictable but I kind of liked that because it made it f..."

Yep, hoping those dances come more into play with book 2. Anequs and Kassaqua flirting with the skies and creating something amazing.

In a way, has a beautiful symmetry with life, we have tradition for a reason. As far as we are in history, however, the meanings are often lost.

[Tamara]

I didn't really enjoy the book and DNF-ed at 60%.

The world seemed fairly uncomplicated - an alter-Earth with a side of dragons, set in the height of colonialism. At first I was intrigued by the indigenous culture described, and by the dragons, and I was looking forward to how the dragon would grow up, and to other dragons it might meet. I was curious about how Anequs sees the world around her, and excited to see her battling the injustices of her world.

However, when she went to the academy and as the story progressed, it became obvious dragons were relegated to fire-breathing house cats (at least the small ones), and that most of the book will be comprised of Anequs criticizing the colonial empire she found herself existing in. That in itself isn't inherently bad - but Anequs was so perfect in every thought and reaction that I grew bored of her. It seemed like the whole plot was Anequs being perfect as she made a check list of every little thing wrong with colonialism and the societies that birthed it, and I grew tired of it.

Seeing how I was not interested either in the plot or the characters, I decided not to finish the story.

[Meredith]

I really enjoyed this. I was wary of it being another 'magic school' book, but I found the story much richer than that. I really liked Anequs and appreciated that she did not give up her sense of self and her connection to her family and community despite various pressures. I liked how the last chapters started to reveal a bigger picture of the world than just the school and Anequs' immediate, personal situation. I wish some of the steam-punk elements were developed more, but that is because I wasn't expecting that aspect and was excited to see it. I am definitely interested to read the next book.