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A review by galexandriaw
To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose
3.0
3/5 stars
There were some things I enjoyed about this book but a good few I didn't as well, so let's start with what I enjoyed.
First of all, the idea of a dragon's breath being something to use in a fantasy-chemistry, if you will, is really interesting! I think it's a clever concept of mixing science with the unknown. I wish there was less specifics on the athers and more on the concept as a whole because it got muddled down sometimes, but I enjoyed the system overall.
I really looked forward to reading a book with a native narrator and culture. I haven't read much indigenous fantasy and would love to read more in general.
Unfortunately I do think I had more I didn't like in general. For one, I had a lot of problems with Anequs as a main character. At first I was so stoked to be reading about someone who actually speaks up for herself and defends her culture. However, throughout the whole story she didn't really have any major consequences, and it seemed like she didn't have any flaws either. Don't get me wrong, European culture obviously has an unnumerable amount of issues, and everything Anequs called out was justified, but it never felt like she made a mistake or was wrong in her behavior. I don't think any character can or should be perfect. I was honestly surprised how much she got away with.
I would have loved to seen more of the side characters, especially Marta, and see them grow and change in their perspectives by being close to Anequs. You see it a little bit, but not to the depth I was expecting. Additionally, I felt the overarching plot and conflict took way too long to get into. It took me a while to get through the first couple hundred pages, but I read the last couple really fast.
There are a couple other things that bothered me about this book, more personal stuff I think. I realized I don't care for when fantasy lore is slightly different from real life. Like I get it's supposed to be clever by calling algebra "al-jabr", but it took me so long to get what it was talking about that at that point just call it what it is. I could go into the little nitpicky things but it's not worth it. I think I still enjoyed this book enough to read the next ones in the series, but I am going to be watching out to see if these issues I have improve as Blackgoose continues to write. It has a lot of potential to be a great series!
There were some things I enjoyed about this book but a good few I didn't as well, so let's start with what I enjoyed.
First of all, the idea of a dragon's breath being something to use in a fantasy-chemistry, if you will, is really interesting! I think it's a clever concept of mixing science with the unknown. I wish there was less specifics on the athers and more on the concept as a whole because it got muddled down sometimes, but I enjoyed the system overall.
I really looked forward to reading a book with a native narrator and culture. I haven't read much indigenous fantasy and would love to read more in general.
Unfortunately I do think I had more I didn't like in general. For one, I had a lot of problems with Anequs as a main character. At first I was so stoked to be reading about someone who actually speaks up for herself and defends her culture. However, throughout the whole story she didn't really have any major consequences, and it seemed like she didn't have any flaws either. Don't get me wrong, European culture obviously has an unnumerable amount of issues, and everything Anequs called out was justified, but it never felt like she made a mistake or was wrong in her behavior. I don't think any character can or should be perfect. I was honestly surprised how much she got away with.
I would have loved to seen more of the side characters, especially Marta, and see them grow and change in their perspectives by being close to Anequs. You see it a little bit, but not to the depth I was expecting. Additionally, I felt the overarching plot and conflict took way too long to get into. It took me a while to get through the first couple hundred pages, but I read the last couple really fast.
There are a couple other things that bothered me about this book, more personal stuff I think. I realized I don't care for when fantasy lore is slightly different from real life. Like I get it's supposed to be clever by calling algebra "al-jabr", but it took me so long to get what it was talking about that at that point just call it what it is. I could go into the little nitpicky things but it's not worth it. I think I still enjoyed this book enough to read the next ones in the series, but I am going to be watching out to see if these issues I have improve as Blackgoose continues to write. It has a lot of potential to be a great series!