Prairie Fire

Famed dragon slayer Owen Thorskard and bard Siobhan McQuaid (whose hands were severely burned in The Story of Owen) begin compulsory service in the Oil Watch, protecting the world's carbon sources from hungry dragons. The story of how the squad comes together to accommodate Siobhan's disability and her transformation into a star in her own right is highly gratifying.

Now that dragon slayer Owen Thorskard and bard Siobhan McQuaid have graduated from high school, their plan to use Owen's renown and Siobhan's musical ability to reshape the relationship between dragon slayers and the public can enter its next phase. In this sequel to the alternate-universe contemporary fantasy The Story of Owen (rev. 3/14), the duo begins compulsory service in the Oil Watch, a military organization protecting the world's carbon sources from hungry dragons. Siobhan, however, faces a greater hurdle than the other recruits: when she and Owen destroyed a dragon nesting ground in the first book, her hands were severely burned, leaving her unable to play her cherished instruments. While Siobhan adjusts to her diminished capacity, Owen struggles with government animus toward his previous heroics: to keep him from upsetting the status quo, they stash him away at a remote posting near the home of the largest dragon species in existence, the fearsome Chinooks. If Owen and Siobhan's objectives and the reasons for the government's animosity are somewhat opaque, and if a bard's role in the Oil Watch is a mystery to characters and readers alike, the story of how the squad comes together to accommodate Siobhan's disability is highly gratifying, and details of military life are immediate and gripping. The penultimate scene of a Chinook attack that assures Owen's elevation to lasting fame may come as a jolt, but it is Siobhan's transformation into a star in her own right that will stay with readers. anita l. burkam