Reviews

Synopsis:
- Turtle and Moon had followed Darkstalker, leaving only Quibli and Winter behind at Jade Mountain Academy. But when Ostrich and Onyx also left for Scorpion Den, Quibli knew he'll face his worst nightmare sooner than expected. Darkstalker, on the other hand, had slowly rebuilding his lost city. With his people's strength growing more powerful each day, Quibli (and friends) connected it to the nearing prophecy they were dreading since.

Strengths:
1. The ships are sailing ❤️.
2. At least it breathed some clarity to Quibli's past.
3. Creative and sharp-minded main character.
5. Darkstalker (his desperation, and the conflict of his morality.)
6. Rounding up the main characters of each 2nd arc books towards the epilogue.

Flaws:
1. Awkward/Faulty plot structure (the biggest issue by far.)
2. Too many plot points and some holes.
3. Not much buildup on the finale.

Remarks and Rating:
- Here's an anomaly, where despite the strengths outnumbered the flaws, the latter were much, MUCH heavier and was more significant in determining the quality of the book. Structure wise, this novel was probably one of the least technically impressive books in the series.
- The first part of the book was insignificant/unnecessary. Quibli's story does conflict with the overarching plot (unlike the past book where it blended smoothly.) It attempted to be more personal, but I think the book would fare better if it was fully plot-centric.
- The final clashing was good, I guess. It's passable enough despite its deficit buildup. (It seems that it needed Darkstalker to be flushed out further.)
- Hey, Kinkajou was great on this book. I also like Anemone on this one. She's finally not overbearing (thank goodness 😌.)
- There's some pretty unsettling elements with Darkstalker here. I LOVE DEVOURING THEM!!!
- End of arc commentary: The 2nd arc of the Wings of Fire Series was more individualized. This leads to better personalized books in general, at the cost of a less culminating arc finale. As of writing though, I prefer this more than its predecessor.
- With everything considered, I'll rate Wings of Fire: Darkness of Dragons a 4/10.

WINGS OF FIRE BOOKS RANKED:

1. The Dangerous Gift (9/10)
2. Moon Rising (8/10)
3. Talons of Power (8/10)
4. Winter Turning (7/10)
5. The Hidden Kingdom (7/10)
6. The Poison Jungle (7/10)
7. The Lost Continent (7/10)
8. The Dark Secret (6/10)
9. The Brightest Night (6/10)
10. The Dragonet Prophecy (6/10)
11. The Lost Heir (5/10)

12. Darkness of Dragons (5/10)

13. The Flames of Hope (4/10)
14. Escaping Peril (4/10)
15. The Hive Queen (4/10)

JUSTIFICATION:
- This finale entry had so much promise to be the best of them --- and then decided to utterly flopped the chance. This book's abysmal plot structure was the main reason why this is so low. Unlike Turtle, Quibli's story was a jarring conflict with Darkstalker's. The whole narrative was like made of two books crammed into one, and they both don't work together. For being the lengthiest book of the series, it doesn't appear to be one. It even sucks to say since Quibli was an excellent good-willed hero character yet this was the anticipated finale for Darkstalker, and he should be the full priority.

After the 'separated' 1st act, the book finally got to things that mattered. The readers get to know more about Darkstalker and his plans, while Quibli and friends were trying their best to stop him while undercover. But from there, whenever the book does attempt to do good scenes, it kept reminding me of its sore 1st act because those 'good' scenes could had developed more if it was connected better to its foundational start.

The 3rd act was a little mixed for me. The battle was engaging, that's sure. But the whole persuasion scene wasn't really as climactic as I expected. Overall, the most mediocre finale. but this ain't the worse one.