Parents' Guide to Chaos & Flame

While this duology start could use a deeper dive into characters and more careful plotting, it does have a tough female hero, curious mythological lore, and plenty of romance. Darling is an admirable character, as a soldier and a survivor who endured years in the sewers after her entire political house was murdered. She wears the scars of it on her face in the form of tinted goggles that protect eyes that grew too used to the dark. These are the eyes that wild and unpredictable Caspian, seer Prince Regent of House Dragon, paints over and over. He knows she's vital to ending the endless war. And at the start of the story, it almost feels like they are fated to meet and something truly powerful will happen, something romantic as well. But it's the other brother, Talon, the soldier like her, whom Darling despises then fancies. Talon takes turns with Darling as a narrator and they both describe how their feelings change for each other. While this dual narrator style is often used to deepen connections the reader has to characters, here it manages to both slow the forward action and reveal feelings that are conflicted but not particularly introspective. For two survivors of war and trauma, this surface-level tension doesn't seem to fit.

Another hiccup in the story is a lack of breadcrumbs in the plotting. A few things turn out to be vital to the finale and they are barely explored earlier in the story. It's easy to figure out what a Boon is in this world, but Blood Magic needed an explanation. Also, what turns out to be the most dangerous house that House Dragon faces is a total surprise, and not in a good way. Knowing the danger, knowing how high the stakes are, adds tension and excitement. Otherwise, confusion takes over, and following along with Caspian's wild behavior is unmooring enough. Chaos & Flame offers an exciting, high-flying finale that sets up the sequel well, but the ride is a bumpy one.