May 15

May 15 To Shape a Dragon's Breath (Nampeshiweisit, #1)

Author: Moniquill Blackgoose
Publisher: Del Rey
Goodreads | The StoryGraph

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Note: Content and trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the full review.

Cover Description

A young Indigenous woman enters a colonizer-run dragon academy—and quickly finds herself at odds with the “approved” way of doing things—in the first book of this brilliant new fantasy series.

The remote island of Masquapaug has not seen a dragon in many generations—until fifteen-year-old Anequs finds a dragon’s egg and bonds with its hatchling. Her people are delighted, for all remember the tales of the days when dragons lived among them and danced away the storms of autumn, enabling the people to thrive. To them, Anequs is revered as Nampeshiweisit—a person in a unique relationship with a dragon.

Unfortunately for Anequs, the Anglish conquerors of her land have different opinions. They have a very specific idea of how a dragon should be raised, and who should be doing the raising—and Anequs does not meet any of their requirements. Only with great reluctance do they allow Anequs to enroll in a proper Anglish dragon school on the mainland. If she cannot succeed there, her dragon will be killed.

For a girl with no formal schooling, a non-Anglish upbringing, and a very different understanding of the history of her land, challenges abound—both socially and academically. But Anequs is smart, determined, and resolved to learn what she needs to help her dragon, even if it means teaching herself. The one thing she refuses to do, however, is become the meek Anglish miss that everyone expects.

Anequs and her dragon may be coming of age, but they’re also coming to power, and that brings an important realization: the world needs changing—and they might just be the ones to do it.

TL;DR Review

To Shape a Dragon’s Breath is a beautifully rendered, fiercely imagined Indigenous Own Voices fantasy novel set in an academic setting about anticolonialism and dragons. I did think the shape of the plot was a little flat, but overall I liked it a lot.

For you if: You’re looking for some really kickass Indigenous queer poly representation.

Full Review

As soon as I heard about To Shape a Dragon’s Breath, I was on board. (Anticolonialsm + Indigenous own voices + queer poly rep + academia + dragons?? I mean, come on!) And while I didn’t think it was perfect, I really liked it, and I’m eager to see where the next book goes.

The book is set in a world that looks a lot, but not exactly, like ours. It takes place in a country similar to the United States during the Industrial Revolution, but instead of Christianity dominating, the colonizers (“Anglish”) descended from Vikings, and their religion is Norse in nature. Also, of course, there are dragons. The main character is Anaqus, a young woman from the Indigenous Masquapaug tribe, bonds with the first Nampeshiwe dragon to be seen in recent history. But the Anglish require all dragons to be registered and their riders attend a special school where they learn to shape their dragon’s breath, aka focus its power into a helpful instead of dangerous force. Fearing what would happen to her community if she eschews these rules, Anequs attends the school.

First, just a few minor complaints: While the beginning of this book tingles with promise, as I approached the end, I felt like the plot dragged a bit, mostly because it lacked a shape. The story essentially just follows her first school year, and that’s about it. I wished there had been some kind of central mystery to hook me in a bit more. Also, while I appreciated how unapologetic and loyal Anaqus to her people, she was a bit more aware of the dynamics of colonialsm than I thought was realistic. She was able to verbalize things like “There’s nothing uncivilized about my people” and “I don’t believe I would be better off by assimilating into Anglish society” — which, yes, and good for her, but contrasted with the way the other Indigenous student at the school had internalized those beliefs much more realistically, it felt a little convenient to the book’s (worthy) political purposes.

But like I said, those things are minor. This series has so much promise. Where it’s trying most pointedly — social and historical commentary on colonialism and racism against Indigenous people, and beautifully positioned Indigenous traditions and communities — it’s extremely effective. And the worldbuilding here is lush, imaginative, unique, and beautiful. I believe that all the setup in this book could come to fruition in big ways in the following books, and I definitely plan to read them.

Finally, a small thing: I really appreciated the extensive pronunciation guide at the front of the book, even though the author did not HAVE to do that for us. I did my best to refer to it every time I encountered an unfamiliar word until the proper pronunciations stuck in my head!