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Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite
In the second book of The Skystone Chronicles, Dragon Guard by Blake and Raven Penn, Meleya and her group enter the Rengard military induction, facing nine dragons with Meleya's exceptional skills. A shock announcement changes the Captain of the Guard, and Meleya's visit to her imprisoned parents draws the attention of Mage Hunters. When Meleya uses her magi abilities to save dragons, a military trial as an “unregistered magi”, led by the Queen, puts Meleya, her dragon Sniff, and the squad in the Outcast Outpost. She receives a silvermark branding, and their baptism into life at the Outpost is instantaneous. Dragon attacks are the norm, and Jax offers to help Meleya improve her rift abilities. These prove an asset when they're confronted by The Liberator, although escaping into the Mist and a potential underground ambush with a Drekai is hardly ideal. Help comes from great power, but when it comes to saving the king and the realm, Meleya will have to reach deep to find the power within herself.
All the kids are back in Dragon Guard, and Blake and Raven Penn let some individual skeletons out of the closet from within the group [I'm looking at you, Brigan]. Following up an exceptional first book with another equal to the task is difficult, and my luck in finding them is as rare as voidshards. This is not the case in The Skystone Chronicles, and the subplot upon subplot upon plot stacking is absolutely brilliant. The highlight of the book remains the enduring friendship of the newly anointed “Reckless” squad, but when they are put in the Outcast Outpost, a place that feels like the magic and dragon version of Star Wars' Outer Rim, this is when the literary magic happens. It is dangerous, vibrant, and full of a lot of nobodies that really, really are somebodies. And even somebodies have to work on dragon corpse removal, unless they are clever enough to open a pub called the Brough-kin Arms. The Penns throw in some moral ambiguity with regard to a job Meleya takes, twists that come in the form of who runs the Grey Ones and the shocking unveiling of the Liberator, and a longboat full of other surprises that make this installment a winner. Very, very highly recommended.
