Having just finished Fireborne, I knew I had to be on this blog tour! I am so excited I was able to ask Rosaria Munda to talk favorite dragons! Can you think of a more fun topic?
Summary
Annie and Lee were just children when a brutal revolution changed their world, giving everyone—even the lowborn—a chance to test into the governing class of dragonriders.
Now they are both rising stars in the new regime, despite backgrounds that couldn’t be more different. Annie’s lowborn family was executed by dragonfire, while Lee’s aristocratic family was murdered by revolutionaries. Growing up in the same orphanage forged their friendship, and seven years of training have made them rivals for the top position in the dragonriding fleet.
But everything changes when survivors from the old regime surface, bent on reclaiming the city.
With war on the horizon and his relationship with Annie changing fast, Lee must choose to kill the only family he has left or to betray everything he’s come to believe in. And Annie must decide whether to protect the boy she loves . . . or step up to be the champion her city needs.
From debut author Rosaria Munda comes a gripping adventure that calls into question which matters most: the family you were born into, or the one you’ve chosen.
Guest Post
Can you talk about your favorite literary dragons and your experiences reading them or seeing them for the first time?
Ooh yes. So I’ll confess my first time falling in love with dragons, they weren’t literary at all—they were on screen. I LOVED How to Train Your Dragon—everything about it. It was visually stunning, the music was arresting, and the WRITING—wow. It was a masterclass in story structure, in plotting, character development, everything. And those dragons! I loved the way they combined all the best elements of the best animals, the way they were personable but still nonverbal, small enough to engage with each other more like spitfires than like lumbering 747s. That was when I first realized the immense potential that dragons had to provide the storytelling framework I wanted.
Since then, I’ve read and fallen in love with so many other dragons, and it turns out dragons make for some truly beautiful stories—though maybe I’m biased. My favorite are:
THE LAST NAMSARA by Kristen Ciccarelli, which is a rare story that contains both dragon-slaying and dragon-riding, and is itself a paean to storytelling—with dragons themselves as the first great storytellers.
I recently read and adored DAMSEL by Elana K. Arnold, about a girl who gets rescued from a dragon by a prince—or does she? It’s a gritty, Byronic tale of female empowerment and read it in a sitting.
And of course, no list of dragon books can be made without including the glorious SERAPHINA by Rachel Hartman, a story that beautifully imagines dragons as shapeshifters who can take human form, and whose intelligence is equal but subtley different than our own—creating the space for a nuanced exploration of cross-cultural communication. The thing I love about dragons as a storytelling device is how versatile they are. They can be huge or tiny, verbal or nonverbal, fiery or elemental; they can be wise counsellors or terrible monsters; they can embody the heights of mystical potential that Tolkienian high fantasy aspires after, or the gritty medieval substitute for nuclear power in hard fantasy. I love their potential.
Giveaway
Prize: Win (1) of (2) copies of Fireborne (The Aurelian Cycle #1) by Rosaria Munda (US/CAN Only)
Starts: 9th October 2019
Ends: 9th October 2019
a Rafflecopter giveawayAbout the Author
Rosaria grew up in rural North Carolina, where she climbed trees, read Harry Potter fanfiction, and taught herself Latin. She studied political theory at Princeton and lives in Chicago with her husband and cat.
For book recs and updates, follow her on instagram: @rosariamunda
Blog Tour Schedule
October 9th
The Unofficial Addiction Book Fan Club – Welcome Post
October 10th
L.M. Durand – Review
Becky’s Book Blog – Spotlight
Onemused – Review
Novelishly – Review + Favourite Quotes
Paws and Paperbacks – Promotional Post
October 11th
Utopia State of Mind – Interview
Book Slaying – Review
Lost in Storyland – Review
Flyleaf Chronicles – Review
Fictitiouswonderland – Review
October 12th
Luchia Houghton Blog – Spotlight
Love, Stars and Books – Spotlight
Jrsbookreviews – Review
A Dream Within A Dream – Review
Once Upon a Time, I Read a Book – Review
October 13th
NovelKnight – Guest Post
Here’s to Happy Endings – Review
The Reading Chemist – Review
Port Jericho – Review
Dazzled by Books – Review + Favourite Quotes
October 14th
Wishful Endings – Guest Post
Moonlight Rendezvous – Review + Favourite Quotes
Library of a Book Witch – Review
Artsy Draft – Review + Favourite Quotes
Adventures Thru Wonderland – Review
October 15th
Bibliobibuli YA – Interview A Court of Coffee and Books – Review + Favourite Quotes The Reading Corner for All – Review + Favourite Quotes Novel Nerd Faction – Review + Playlist The Book Bratz – Blogger’s Playlist