Title: Call of the Dragon
Author: Natasha Bowen
Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 400
Publisher: Random House Children
Review Copy: ARC by publisher
Availability: Available Now
Summary:
The people are calling . . .
And the gods will answer.
Moremi has only ever known peace in the Kingdom of Kwa, thanks to the two dragon gods keeping an unspeakable evil at bay. But when the king tries to claim the gods’ power for himself, it all goes dreadfully wrong. The great dragons are injured and flee . . . and the world’s darkest shadows are released.
Suddenly, Kwa’s ancient tales of monsters become all too real. Yet as death comes for those around her, Moremi somehow finds herself magically connected to both dragon gods—a feat that should be impossible.
Now, Moremi is Kwa’s only hope for restoring the gods to full strength. But will Jagun, the mysterious prince, let her anywhere near the dragons? And how does her childhood friend, Nox, feel about it all? It may not matter in the end, because if Moremi fails her quest, then she risks the earth caving in and the sky crumbling down.
Review: I never really read high fantasy when I was a teen because I did not see people who looked like me in them so it’s only as an adult and having more fantasy published by Black and other authors of color that I’ve lost myself in the genre. I read Natasha Bowen’s debut novel, Skin of the Sea, and truly enjoyed it. Can you imagine how excited I was to see her newest series and learn it was about dragons? I was so excited to read this novel especially after looking at that gorgeous cover. I found the premise to be unique and couldn’t wait to read it.
Like many high fantasy, the beginning is a bit slow as the novel is doing the heavy lifting of world building. I’ll admit I struggled a bit but as I read on and understood what was what the reading because easier. Bowen created a fully unique world with a highly developed religious system that was so detailed down to the movement of the prayers (which is an element I really liked). Because Bowen had done the work making her world so detailed, I could clearly imagine the movements of the prayers, so when the three different ceremonies occur to cleanse the world, the power of ritual and faith clearly resonated with me.
Moremi is the daughter of the high priestess who serves Yida, the female dragon, so she has immense pressure on her to be chosen as one to carry Yida’s power. Moremi struggles with this pressure and doesn’t want to carry this power but due to an incident, finds herself participating in the ceremony connected to Yida. The ceremony has two parts where after Yida shares her power with women, Dam, the male dragon, shares his power with the men. Moremi, in her own way, intervenes and ends up getting power from Dam as well. She knows this is unusual and as chaos reigns after the king tries to claim the dragons power as his own, Moremi sets off on a journey to find the dragons and complete the cleansing ceremony. Thus, this novel becomes a classic hero’s journey type of novel as Moremi travels with her best friend Nox, and her rival Zaye. They encounter the different peoples who live in the kingdom, receive help from religious elders, and of course, battle monsters. There is a lovely twist that I didn’t see coming and is used to propel the series forward.The way the novel ends is intriguing because it takes the story in a whole new direction and one that I’m looking forward to reading.