Storm Dragons: Lightning Born (Book 1)
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Storm Dragons: Lightning Born by Julie Kagawa is book one in the Storm Dragon series. This fantasy series centers around an imaginative world in which people inhabit floating islands above a destructive maelstrom. Special crystals keep the islands afloat but with the slow fading of the crystal’s power, the use of mages and a rogue search for an old knight are the hope for saving the kingdom.
The story opens with switching back and forth between two characters, Remy and Gem, before their storylines ultimately collide. Remy is an orphan living on Cutthroat Wedge on the fringe of the kingdom. Remy spends his time thieving to stay alive, but as the story opens he is returning Bart’s money purse to him after it was stolen by pirates. Bart is the local dragon lore story teller in the local tavern. Not soon after the opening of the story, there is a magical storm taking place in which a baby dragon falls into his lap. He swears to take care and protect the dragon despite an evil pirate mage who is offering a great reward for the dragon’s return. Gem is the princess of the kingdom with mage abilities, her own dragon, and a rebellious desire to help her kingdom despite her father’s expectations. Her storyline opens with her attending her magic school, but she is soon called back to the palace due to impending doom. After reading about the Ancients, she is even more determined to find them, hoping that they can help save the crystals and the islands from complete destruction.
Their stories eventually cross as Gem comes across a pirate ship, the Queen’s Blade, run by Captain Cutlass - a woman. Captain Cutlass agrees to help Gem in her quest. When they visit Cutthroat Wedge, their path crosses with Remy and the journey continues as they work together to save Bart and Storm (the baby dragon). Their task isn’t easy and is extremely dangerous with Captain Jhaeros seeking complete power to dominate the entire kingdom.
Noteworthy mentions/quotes:
As a fantasy novel, there is magic, mages, and dragons. While the maelstrom has magic and increases the magic’s energy and power, there aren’t any mentions of specific spells that are used or cast. There is a mention and use of creating a ghostly hand with the magic that Gem uses to open a window, lightning power, as well as the power to create wind and storms.
The history of the world that brought it to be what it currently is in the story is discussed on page 7 and 8. The characters refer to it as “the Shattering.”
Page 9 gives explanations about the dragons in the story. One important feature is that most dragons have a “magical tattoo” that “conveyed ownership, bloodline, and hatch date, so no dragon was ever unaccounted for.” Part of what makes Storm so special is that he is unmarked and is a wild dragon. Later, readers find out he is a True Dragon which is related to the Ancients Gem is looking for. “True Dragons were said to be creatures capable of intelligent thought and speech. In some stories, they could also cast and use magic” (15).
Page 19 gives Remy’s history. His father left on a ship and never returned. Meanwhile, his mother encouraged his dreams of dragons and knighthood before she died of what called “some wasting sickness.”
Mages or anyone who is able to do magic have hair that turns white over time. It is one way that people can tell who they are.
“As her father had told her: ‘The laws are there for a reason. Not even we can ignore them. If we do break the rules, we have to face the consequences like everyone else’”(24). While not present for a huge portion of the story, Gem’s father is a good role model to her, and he has a desire to train her well before she becomes queen.
“Though they were long extinct, it was said that the True Dragons were the ones who first taught magic to humans, in the days before the Shattering” (30).
Due to the floating islands, people navigate between them with the use of sky ships. As a result, there are pirates who attack other sky ships.
Jhaeros is a violent evil pirate who is also a mage. He threatens violence to anyone who crosses him. On page 75, he holds up a skull as proof of his violence should anyone cross him. He also destroys Bart’s home and there is a battle between him and the others towards the end of the story.
On page 206, he says about leaving Cutthroat Wedge, “Now we can finally leave this piss-pot island and get on with the real mission.” This is the only use of any type of foul language.
On page 106, there is a mention of the librarians at the college being “like wraiths” because of how silently they move about.
If parents are looking for a clean fantasy with dragons and are not against the magical elements, then Storm Dragons: Lightning Born is worth a read. A little slow at the beginning as all the details for the series is set in place, the action quickly picks up and Kagawa does a great job of maintaining tension to keep the story moving along. I really enjoyed the story and will finish out the others in the series to help keep parents informed.
