Wings of Fire 10: Darkness of Dragons

Darkness of Dragons by Tui T. Sutherland is the tenth Wings of Fire book, a dragon adventure for 10 year olds told by a quick-witted SandWing who grew up among thieves.

What happens

Qibli grew up in the Scorpion Den, a city of thieves, con artists and assassins. His mother is the most feared poisoner in it. She never once looked up while his brother and sister buried him in sand or trapped his tail in doors.

When he was three and a half, he stole a coconut for her because he knew she loved them. She threw him into a wall.

Then a dragon called Thorn walked in and took him away for good. (She asked what he'd done with the spiny mouse he'd rescued, which tells you everything about her.)

Now Qibli is at Jade Mountain, and he's worried. A hugely powerful dragon seems to have his friends under some kind of spell. Winter is acting strangely, and Moon has flown away with the newcomer. On top of that, a young SandWing he promised to look after has gone missing.

Qibli wishes he had magic so he could just fix everything himself. He thinks about it a LOT.

Reading it is like being in the head of the cleverest dragon in the room. He notices everything. He makes jokes when he's scared, and he's soppy about Moon in a way he'd never admit out loud (his attempts at heroic faces in the mirror are a highlight).

The prologue is a story of its own. A palace kitchen dragon on the run lets her own sister be dragged off in chains in her place, to protect the egg she's carrying. It's not clear yet how it connects, which keeps you reading.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

Qibli's early life is properly harsh. His mother hits him, calls him useless and lets him go without a backward glance. A child who's had a hard time at home might find those pages painful. Others will cheer the moment Thorn turns up.

It's book ten and leans hard on what came before, so a reader new to the series should go right back to the start, The Dragonet Prophecy.

What to read next

If they're after another boy his family didn't want, try The Thief Lord. Prosper's aunt only wants his little brother, so Prosper takes Bo and runs all the way from Hamburg to Venice.