The Summer Dragon by Todd Lockwood
The debut novel from the acclaimed illustrator—a high fantasy adventure featuring dragons and deadly politics.
Maia and her family raise dragons for the political war machine. As she comes of age, she hopes for a dragon of her own to add to the stable of breeding parents. But the war goes badly, and the needs of the Dragonry dash her hopes. Her peaceful life is shattered when the Summer Dragon – one of the rare and mythical High Dragons – makes an appearance in her quiet valley. The Summer Dragon is an omen of change, but no one knows for certain what kind of change he augurs. Political factions vie to control the implied message, each to further their own agendas.
And so Maia is swept into an adventure that pits her against the deathless Horrors – thralls of the enemy – and a faceless creature drawn from her fears. In her fight to preserve everything she knows and loves, she uncovers secrets that challenge her understanding of her world and of herself.
by Lília
My ancestors, as far back as anyone could recount, had bred dragons, first for warlords, then for Kings. And after the Empire of Gurvan subjugated our western province of Gadia, we bred dragons for the Dragonry of the Emperor.
When I’m on the fence about what to read next, I like to check colleagues’ Staff Choices to see if something sparks my interest. That’s exactly what happened with The Summer Dragon. I was intrigued by Maria’s comment, so I read the blurb, looked at that gorgeous cover and was sold.
Maia and her family raise dragons for the emperor and his war. She and her elder brother hope to have their own dragons so that the dragon stables will get an extra breeding pair. But the war is not going well, with the Harodhi and their Horrors attacking everywhere. When the Summer Dragon shows up, their peaceful lives are shattered and Maia embarks in a journey for not only her dreams, but also her life and her family. Things are not what they seem and she will be confronted with many secrets that will challenge her simple life and how she sees the world, shattering her innocence and everything she previously believed in.
This book is a lot more than a simple adventure with dragons, a coming of age and dealing with what happens around you. It’s about jealousy, religion, what people do for their own agendas, and how you fare in difficult situations. The dragons have their own personalities and language, something that Maia starts learning and understanding as she grows closer to a qit—a baby dragon. She will have to learn to navigate the reality of a religion that does not accept old ways, people who only think about their own interests, and how to deal with her own guilt and fears. And the darkness that accompanies the Horrors they all have to face.
I’m quite impressed with how Todd Lockwood presented the lives of dragons and their breeding, the relationships among people, how women are used as tools to men’s interests, and how Maia fights for her own independence and freedom—of thought and of being. Besides the story itself, the art in the book is also amazing, to be expected from a master artist like Lockwood.
This is a book you start reading and don’t want to stop. You get completely taken by the characters, their dragons, and how things develop. And when you get closer to the end, you want it to last longer, to give more information about the world, and wonder what will happen after the end.
