Dragonslayer

Tui T. Sutherland’s Wings of Fire is a best-selling high fantasy series for young readers, notable for being told almost exclusively from the perspective of its dragon characters. Across more than 15 main-series novels, the dragons of the continents of Pyrrhia and Pantala navigate war, prophecy, and social upheaval. There are 10 known tribes of dragons across the two continents, and the wars, trade networks, and shifting alliances among them form the narrative backbone of the series. The series depicts dragon society as analogous to the pseudo-medieval human societies depicted in most high fantasy novels—complex, stratified, and riven by power competition among the ruling classes of its various groups. From the perspective of the dragons, humans appear as minor, often pest-like creatures, little more than animals to be preyed upon or kept as exotic pets. The dragons refer to humas as “scavengers” for their tendency to survive on the discarded leftovers of dragon society, much like pigeons or rats in real-world, urban settings.

Legends: Dragonslayer deliberately inverts this narrative framework, showing that humans are just as incapable of seeing the complexity of dragon culture as the dragons are incapable of seeing human complexity. As a parallel story, its events run concurrently with the first five books of the main series. This installment shifts the focus to three human protagonists—Ivy, Leaf, and Wren—and presents their distinct experiences living in a world dominated by dragons.

This change in perspective forces readers to re-evaluate the established world of Pyrrhia. Events that are pivotal in the main series, such as the death of the SandWing queen, Oasis, are recast from a human viewpoint, revealing the fears and motivations of the people involved. By giving voice and complexity to human societies, Sutherland transforms the “scavengers” into characters with their own cultures, conflicts, and political structures. This narrative strategy adds a new layer of depth to the series, challenging the reader’s allegiances and highlighting how concepts of “monster” and “hero” are entirely dependent on one’s point of view.