Wings of Fire 9: Talons of Power

Talons of Power by Tui T. Sutherland is book nine of Wings of Fire, a dragon adventure for 10 year olds starring a quiet SeaWing prince with a very big secret.

What happens

Turtle is one of thirty-two sons of the SeaWing queen, and nobody notices him much. That's exactly how he likes it. He's spent his whole life trying to be ordinary and forgettable.

Because Turtle can do magic. He's an animus, so he can enchant ordinary things just by telling them what to do. He's only ever used it for little things. A strand of kelp made him swim a bit faster than his brothers (but only a bit, so nobody would notice).

The prologue shows why he hides. When he was two, his father sent him to fetch help for two unhatched sisters. Turtle couldn't find the right dragon, and while he was looking, the eggs were destroyed. His father told him it was his fault.

Now the most terrifying dragon Turtle has ever seen has risen out of the mountain, enormous and ancient and smiling. Turtle is sure this dragon hates him. So he grabs a broken stick and enchants it to hide himself completely.

You'll feel for Turtle straight away. He thinks of himself as a background character in other dragons' stories, the one who falls over his claws in the first chapter. Haven't we all wished we could just disappear sometimes?

There's lots of fun around him too. His bossy little sister thinks he's the most boring prince on the planet. Peril wants him to make the big dragon's face fall off (she's only a little bit kidding).

It's only fair to say the prologue is upsetting. A guard falls ill with a growth on his neck that swells until it bursts. Two eggs are found crushed, and the queen orders the guards executed. Then a grieving father blames his little son. If yours is upset by unfairness to a child, that might sting. If they're already deep in the series, they'll be desperate to see Turtle prove everyone wrong.

This is book nine and follows on from the eighth, so it really needs the earlier books first, starting with The Dragonet Prophecy. Every one of them is in the library.

What to read next

Got a reader who always roots for the underdog? Try Wild Born. Conor spends the most important birthday of his life doing up forty-eight fiddly clasps on a spoilt young lord's coat.