#taipan

I worry dragons like Taipan may stick out against my other designs since these are complicated and the others are simple, but again. Maybe it's just the way of Wildwings... and the designs are about how I see them in my head! So it doesn't really matter

This is the spikiest thing to have ever existed

His color pallet makes me think of the colors on sketchers for young boys

Things I liked:

-First, I love how the WildWings aren't actually a new tribe but hybrids. When I heard there was gonna be a new tribe I was not exactly happy about it, since I feel like 10 are enough and there's enough stuff to work with without adding more. Them being just heavily mixed dragons is a great compromise imo.

-I also liked how the stuff about LeafWings and BeetleWings having to migrate from Pyrrhia ties back nicely to The Legend of The Hives from book 13, now the whole story of Pantala feels a lot more complete.

-This is purely subjective, but my favorite thing about the new characters is that none of them genuinely piss me off. In all the other arcs there was always at least 2 characters who annoyed me to the point tainting the experience (arc 1 it was Glory and Kestrel, arc 2 Winter and Icicle and arc 3 Snowfall and Nettle), this book didn't have a single character who made me think "omggggg shut the fuck upppppp". Not even Platypus, who I know to be pretty disliked. I liked all the new characters and I hope we'll see them again.

-Also I see people say this books is "sanitized" or "scared to show violence" and... No?? The flashbacks of the Murder of the SkyWing queen and Beryl's seize of power are, in fact, pretty brutal. Not to mention Mulberry litteraly self-harming upon witnessing his scene in the "room of visions" (I forgot what it was called) why is NOBODY talking about this? Just because there are no scenes with exploding guts it doesen't mean a book can't be violent.

Things I didn't like:

-Honestly my biggest gripes with the book are the pacing, which is a little too fast, and the handling of Sora's arc.

I was looking forward to see Sora's recovery from her PTSD, but then it only gets addressed a bit at the start, then Sora just gets better off-screen. Yes, Umber is still very worried about her for the whole book but we never really see her go through any particular development on her PTSD. This doesen't ruin the book for me but I feel like it's a bit of a wasted potential. And I'm not really a fan of Sora x Dugong being set up, it's not really a problem but I'm a firm AroAce Sora supporter and I feel like she works better without a love interest.

-Another thing I wasn't fond of is how the Triumvirate has basically no character development, except maybe Monarch. Tuatara and Horizon have nothing, but hopefully they will gain some character development later on. Beryl's motivation for taking over is also not really explained besides "she wants power" and this just makes her another Scarlet who is not as unapologetically evil, in my eyes.

-Also, Mulberry and Umber's romance happens way too fast and it's unbelievable how Umber forgives him so easily for basically leading him and his sister into forever jail. However, I don't really care for romance in WoF in general, so.

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Overall, I liked this book and I'm excited to see what happens next, especially with an epilogue like that.

Also! Kinkajou PoV!