CHILDREN OF THE GODS

A rebellion against an empire threatens a peaceful, magical island in Klopfenstein’s fantasy novel, the first in a series.

On the Isle of Faltara, young Malik Jorensein and 17 of his peers are “Ascending.” This rite of passage, which not every child survives, involves traversing a precarious realm to retrieve a dragon egg. Malik, who’ll one day be a shaman like his father, learns a startling secret: At least some of those eggs make it to the Attican Empire each year—that’s how the much-feared imperial Dragonmounts bond with the dragons they ride. Not every kingdom in Attica is content, and the emperor dispatches soldiers to squash the occasional uprising. When a rebellious kingdom realizes that Faltara is the source of the empire’s greatest power, they see this island of serenity as a danger to be vanquished. Malik, his fellow Ascendants, and even his family may have to fight, as war, usually reserved for the “outside world,” may soon be coming to Faltara. Klopfenstein wisely focuses the story more on the island than on the expansive Attican Empire; this allows room to develop the absorbing cast, starting with the people of Faltara, who have ready access to magical “hish” (the “breath of the gods”), something uncommon in Attica. The characters pop, including Malik’s childhood friend Riese Torendeil; Ava Rykus, who hails from the Attican kingdom Valucia and proves integral to the plot; and a villain who, from his opening scene, is easy to hate. The author delivers a well-balanced mix of action, exposition, and character introspection. The narrative’s exhilarating latter half churns out one shocking turn after another and will surely leave readers eager for the series’ next installment. Despite several artists (Requeza, Dechakamphu, Magalhães, and 21) providing illustrations, the exquisite black-and-white images are cohesive in their depictions of battle, turmoil, and dragon eggs.

A radiant, worthwhile introduction to an astonishing supernatural world.