Common Sense Media Review
By Carrie R. Wheadon
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Qing Dynasty with airships and a STEM girl in disguise.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
In OF JADE AND DRAGONS: FALL OF THE DRAGON, BOOK 1, Aihui Ying feels burdened by her life in the small village of Huarin. She'd rather work at her father's workshop than get married or take care of her younger siblings. Perhaps that's why when she finds her father stabbed in his workshop, she has trouble heeding his last requests: she's asked to burn a secret journal detailing his work and she is told not to seek revenge for his death. Ying hides the journal under her robes, disguises herself as her brother Min, and leaves for the big city of Fei, home of the Engineer's Guild. She's sure her father's death and the journal are connected, and that she'll get answers where he used to study and create. She only gets as far as the town of Muci before she's attacked in the streets by the same man that killed her father.
Is It Any Good?
This exciting intro to silkpunk mixes Qing Dynasty characters with cannon-equipped airships and features a cross-dressing STEM genius named Ying. There's so much to intrigue readers in this story: the four guild trials, the political power play, the arms race, the assassination attempts, and of course Ying's constant fear of being discovered as a woman, and a woman who knows her dead father's valuable secrets. If only Ying understood herself better. She's a character who's harder to root for at the get-go because she heeds none of her father's dying wishes. She wants more than anything to be an engineer, despite claiming that her studies at the guild are a part of avenging her father's death, and she's repeating her father's grave mistakes. Isn't it the job of the children in stories to make better choices with each generation? Otherwise we're just telling the same story over and over again. At least Ying makes a good call about her love life (not to be revealed here). And she chooses her friends at the guild well. Here's hoping Ye-kan, Chang-en, and An-xi come back in Book 2, and that Ying finds a better path to follow on her next adventure.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the arms race in Of Jade and Dragons. In Chapter 13, Ying recalls her father saying that the ability to create things as an engineer "is as much a gift as it is a burden." How was it a burden for Ying's father and for Ying? If Ying's father was looking for another path forward, why do you think he kept the secret journal? Is curiosity ever a negative thing?
Ying must disguise herself as a man to be accepted into the Engineer's Guild, which takes courage. What other stories have you read of girls disguising themselves as men?
Was Ying's decision surprising at the end of the story? What do you think is next for her? What about for Ye-yang and Ye-kan?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Fantasy
- Topics : Adventures , Family Stories ( Siblings ) , Fantasy ( Dragons , Magic ) , Friendship , Robots , STEM
- Character Strengths : Courage , Curiosity , Integrity , Perseverance , Teamwork
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Viking Books for Young Readers
- Publication date : June 18, 2024
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 12 - 17
- Number of pages : 480
- Available on : Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : March 6, 2026
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