Ignius Lockden and their companion Kathely are ready for adventure. Joining Far Patrol was only going to be the beginning—they were right, but in all the wrong ways. Suddenly, there’s a war on the horizon and the two of them are stuck in the middle. Ignius wants to do what’s right, but it isn’t easy to tell what actions will lead to the correct ending. How is one young dragon supposed to change the course of history?
First of all: This is not an adventure at all and Far Patrol doesn't play a very important role. The actual story is about a society in upheaval, possibly facing civil war, and the experience of two young, privileged people. Still sounds interesting and different, but again, the execution just didn't really work. Somehow, it all just really dragged. I didn't feel any connection to any of the characters, nor did I ever feel excited about what was going on. The many, many names didn't help things either. At times, I was really confused who was a dragon and who a human and what their relationship with Ignius was.
Dragons are a non-binary species and in theory it totally made sense. Why should a lizard-like Fantasy animal adhere to the way most mammals reproduce? But once more, the execution was lacking. It all felt forced. Why name your non-binary dragons Jack and Mary and call them mother and father? On that note, I would have liked to learn more about how the dragons reproduce. They hatch from eggs, but that's it. There's even a completely fade-to-black sex scene that told us exactly nothing.
I didn't like the extremely negative way that Ignius' asexuality was portrayed. They have very negative feelings about their lack of sexual and romantic interest and the supporting characters aren't exactly helping either. I just wished for someone to actually tell them it's okay to not want sex. Instead, there's this constant negativity and nobody ever just accepts that Ignius isn't interested in sex and romantic relationships. It's fine if your MC isn't feeling great about their sexual orientation, but at least give me one supportive person. And that courtship thing was just a complete disaster. I hated the way Ignius handled the whole thing.
The humans felt rather decorative and didn't really get their own personality. I didn't really feel the close bond between Ignius and Kathely either. Ignius was just constantly in their own head and didn't seem to care that much about anybody else.
Long story short: Great idea, but very disappointing execution. No adventure and excitement to be found anywhere. A real shame.
I received a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
