books you may love: Moon Rising (Wings Of Fire Book #6) by Tui T. Sutherland

I started reading the Wings Of Fire series after my little one, D, asked me to read it aloud to him, having already read many of the books and the graphic novels countless times by himself.

This was sometime last fall, I reckon. By that time, it had been several months since I had read to D at bedtime. What had once been an unmissable routine had long slipped away into whatever fogs of time childhood habits and routines seem to disappear into.

Delighted to have these moments of connection with him once again, I started with the first book in the series — The Dragonet Prophecy. It's a series of five dragons who are being reared in a secret underground cave to fulfil a prophecy of bringing an ongoing war between the SandWing Queen sisters to an end.

The series is full of alliances between different dragon tribes, political intrigue, and cunning dragons caught up in their own distorted visions of grandeur and glory (although the two RainWing dragons who go by these names are among the good ones).

And in their midst are these set of five dragons — innocent, naïve, courageous, and with a great sense of loyalty towards each other despite the endless differences in opinion they have.

Books # 1—5 focus on each of these five dragons, one at a time, and it wouldn't be revealing a spoiler to say that Book #5 ends with them setting up Jade Mountain Academy, a school for dragonets.

Book #6 focuses on Moonwatcher, or Moon, a Nightwing whose mother hatches her in secret in the rainforest under two full moons, which gives her prophetic and mind-reading abilities. Moon is the first Nightwing in a century or more to have these gifts.

Her mother instructs Moon to keep her gifts a secret, worried that the young dragon might invite a lot of trouble if others came to know of her secret abilities.

Moon's story begins with her mother dropping her off at Jade Mountain Academy, where she meets a whole host of other dragons, several of whom we've met in earlier books in the series, as well as a bunch of new characters who're thrown into the mix.

One of the most amazing features of this book in particular is that because Moon can read minds, the chapters are peppered with the thoughts of the dragons she interacts with. Sutherland does it so skilfully it doesn't feel like a drag but adds so much more depth and layer to their conversations and interactions.

What I love most about this series is how conflicted many of the characters are and how determined the protagonists are to do the right thing.

Sure, pick any book on writing, and they'd inevitably portray inner and outer conflicts as the hallmarks of any good character. There's just something about the way Sutherland infuses the dragons with these utterly human traits that make these books such amazing reads.

Since the instant Moon was born, her mother has drilled into her the message, Stay secret. Stay hidden. Stay safe.

This was meant both physically and metaphorically, because Moon was hatched in the rainforest in secret, so that she could hatch under moonlight at a time where the Nightwings were living on a volcano.

The story begins with Moon's mother, Secretkeeper, dropping her daughter off at Jade Mountain Academy. They're standing at a little distance away from the entrance to the school and observing the other dragons coming.

A bunch of SeaWings arrive, and Moon recognizes them from all the scrolls she has studied to prepare for school. She informs her mother who the SeaWings are.

"Remember not to show off," her mother said. "I mean, thank you for telling me, but the other dragons might not like you if you always know all the answers."

Moon stared down at her claws. It was pretty clear from Secretkeeper's thoughts that her mother was a lot more worried about whether other dragons would like Moon than she was about whether Moon would like them. That, in fact, didn't seem to be among her concerns at all.

~ An excerpt from Moon Rising

Moon sees the SeaWing queen worried about dropping off one of her daughters, Anemone, at school.

Moon felt her own wings dropping. Why didn't Secretkeeper want to keep her close like that? Why wasn't she getting a speech about coming home the moment she got lonely?

Was it because her mother thought she was cursed? Maybe Secretkeer really wanted to keep Moon as far away from her as possible. Her thoughts never quite said that, but she'd learned to block some of them over the last four years ... and she did worry all the time about Moon's mind reading.

Moon wasn't sure she wanted to be normal if it meant grumping around thinking only her own thoughts and mostly all about herself, the way most NightWings did. But her mother seemed very sure that she'd be happier that way. Maybe acting normal was something she could learn here.

~ An excerpt from Moon Rising

Another passage that stood out to me for entirely different reasons was this one, which comes towards the end of the book.

A dragon named Darkstalker confides in Moon information about a talisman to which he has transferred all his power.

As with all animus-touched objects, it can be used by any dragon who comes across it, Darkstalker said. You simply writing your command — for instance, "Give this necklace the power to make me invisible when I wear it." Or "Enchant this mirror to spy on whichever dragons I choose." You must be as specific as possible, or the magic is liable to go awry and reinterpret your request in some odd way.

Doesn't that sound like AI? Haha!

Towards the end of the book, Moon is comforting her friend, Sora.

"And then everyone was looking at me," Sora whispered. "Everyone was thinking about me and how awful I am and how much they hate me. They could see right through me. I know they could."

"No, Sora," Moon said, "they weren't, truly. Dragons think mostly about themselves. Everyone is so worried about what other dragons think of them, they hardly stop to decide what they think of everyone else. Believe me, no one is thinking about you as much as you think they are."

She'd finally realized how reassuring that was. All her self-doubt and nerves and feeling like an outsider — once she paid attention to what she could hear around her, it turned out those were the things that made her the most normal. It turned out that was how everyone felt. "And certainly no one is thinking about you as much as you are thinking about you.

~ An excerpt from Moon Rising

At one point, Moon gives Sunny a demonstration of her abilities by reading Sunny's mind.

"But mostly," Moon hurried on, "you're thinking about the school and wondering if it's already failed. You're thinking about giving up and sending everyone home, because it's only the first week and all these terrible things have happened. You're wondering if bringing peace to all the tribes is too hard, and if you're not the right dragon for the job."

"Wow," Sunny said faintly.

"But you are," Moon blurted. "You can't give up. Of course it's hard; the whole point is that you're trying to fix something that's nearly impossible to fix. But if no one ever even tries, then it will always be terrible. You and Clay and the others ... dragons believe in you. You have to take that gift and do something with it, not run away from it."

...

"Was that a prophecy?" Sunny said hopefully. "Did you see us changing the world? Like, five eggs to hatch on brightest night, five dragons born to teach history and art and get everyone to calm down and be nice to each other?"

Moon laughed. "When the school has lasted twenty years, the tribes will be at peace?" She shook her head. "No, it's not a prophecy. It's just faith."

Sunny nodded. "I know all about that." And if we make our own destiny, that's what I want mine to be, she thought.

~ An excerpt from Moon Rising

These words especially have stayed with me. I'm coming to realize that off late I've been finding myself entangled in a lot of inner conflict and, I came across this term only recently, moral injury.

That merits an entire post in itself, but Sutherland's words have come at the right time as I hold the entire gamut of conflicts that I feel — about writing and publishing, on God and faith, on AI, on my utter insignificance in the midst of all that's going on in the world, but also the unquestionably important role I play as the mother of my child.

I think I've been seeking an optimal balance of work, parenting, creativity, and spirituality in the mistaken belief that such a well-defined balance exists.

It's as JD Krishnamurti says. I am utterly alone. There's no one to tell me if I'm doing the right thing, especially if I define 'right' in terms of favourable results and outcomes, whether short-term or long-term.

What if I had the courage to let go of these conditions and see what happens when I go with the flow?

For instance, when D is around, I prefer to devote my time and attention to him to the extent my physical and mental capabilities allow. But there's always this nagging voice in my head that I ought to be working instead.

What if I can hold that conflict in me, understanding that that voice that's pressuring me to be 'productive' is not my own but that of culture and society?

Trusting that in that moment I am the best judge of how I spend my time?

And if I choose to spend my time with my child, it's not with the expectation of some future reward (he'll grow up to be an emotional well-adjusted human being, or that he'll have a great relationship with me)

but for the satisfaction that I did the best I could with the responsibility I was entrusted with?

What if we could approach our days and tasks like this?

Not questioning whether they are worth doing or not, because often that question implies a desire for a guaranteed outcome.

But trusting that the best use of our time is to approach the task in front of us to the best of our ability.

And remembering that the outcomes are not in our control anyway.

If this piece resonated with you, sign up for my monthly newsletter on writing, reading, parenting and living the creative life. Sign-up is by invitation only for the time being; please hit the button below to write to me to subscribe.