Review – Talons of Power (Wings of Fire, Book 9) by Tui T. Sutherland (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Middle Grade
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 336 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Release Date: December 27, 2016
ISBN-13: 978-0545685405
Stand Alone or Series: 9th book in the Wings of Fire series
Source: Bought
Rating: 4/5 stars

“The war is over. The false prophecy has been fulfilled. But the dragonets still have enemies. A dark evil, buried for centuries, is stirring.

And a young NightWing may have had the first true prophecy in generations . . .

Something is coming to shake the earth
Something is coming to scorch the ground
Jade Mountain will fall beneath thunder and ice
Unless the lost city of night can be found.

Don’t miss the next chapter in the epic, bestselling Wings of Fire series!”

This was a good continuation of the Wings of Fire series. The book was easy to read and progresses into the next part of the Darkstalker story arc. There was a stand alone Darkstalker book released that explains Darkstalker’s history and it would be helpful to read that book before reading this one. I continue to read this series mostly because my 10 year old son enjoys it so much; I have also become somewhat attached to these dragons myself.

This continues the storyline with Darkstalker’s awakening and really focuses on animus dragons. The story is told from Turtle’s perspective; he is a SeaWing dragon that is an animus in secret. He alone seems to be immune to Darkstalker’s charm and it is up to him to discern what Darkstalker is really up to.

There isn’t a lot resolved in this story, it is basically just the start of another broad storyline involving Darkstalker and his efforts to rebuild the Nightwing Clan and gain the trust of the other Dragon Clans. We learn some more about Turtle’s history and past, but honestly not a ton happens in here. Mostly this book seems to be setting up the story for more excitement in future books. There is a sense of doom over the whole story as you are just waiting for things to go really wrong in the next book.

Overall this was a good continuation of this series. I liked learning more about animus dragons and it was interesting to see things from Turtle’s perspective. However I felt like this was a very short book and not a lot actually happened in here. I am curious to see what this book builds to as the series continues. Recommended to fans of the Wings of Fire series.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
– Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge
– YA Reading Challenge