The second book in Robert Vane’s series continues back-to-back with the first book, sending Bayloo on an adventure that will test him in many aspects – and show that his struggle for freedom of dragons might be quite complicated.

The first book ended with Balyoo fighting a battle for his former home – for the same people that once enslaved him. Now, he flies to find his sister and get justice – or vengenace? – for the death of his mother. His flight takes him to a different land, where he’s one dragon in an unknown world.

His journey gives him strange companions. One of them is Harlan Dor, a human of descent that puts him at odds with several groups in this world. Harlan is a sailor with a lot of seaman wisdom and his own mission (and desire for adventure, it seems).

The second major character Bayloo encounters is Elasu, a female dragon who opposes a self-proclaimed “skyking” – a leader of the other dragons on this continent. Among her servants are the tigris – pretty much the werecat archetype. She offers Balyoo to join her, as she knows the wizard responsible for the death of Balyoo’s mother and the kidnapping of his sister is in the enemy ranks.

Thus, Bayloo is thrown into a conflict he knows very little about, and things get even more complicated once he sees the first fight between Elasu and one of the prominent enemies – who offers Bayloo their point of view. It gets clear that there are deeper motives – and Bayloo eventually has to choose a side as the two dragons battle to the death.

Afterwards (no spoiler for who wins), Balyoo gets some answers, and gets to see his sister. But as one conflict ends, it’s clear that much worse things are afoot. Darsu, the wizard Bayloo was chasing – is reported dead from a combination of old age an overexertion, but that’s no reason for joy to Bayloo as the wizard’s power was holding even worse things at bay. Things that wreak havoc fast and make it clear that Bayloo’s role in the fate of this continent is not over yet.

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Read date: 3.-16.4.2023
Published: 12.6.2021
Goodreads/Amazon rating: 4,55/4,6
My rating: 90% (up 5% compared to book one)
Length: 268 pages (Kindle edition)
My highlights

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The book, just as the first one, is a short, fast-paced read that only took me a while due to other aspects of my life getting in the way – I was reading it by quarters. And it leads well into the third one, which I’m already almost half-way through.