"'And you?' she said, leering. 'What do you do?'
'I do what I have always done,' I said, suddenly realizing the truth of it. 'I reach across and bring the worlds together.'" ~p. 581-2
"We produced the most unholy cacophony, like fighting tomcats or the blast furnaces of the Infernum, The music brought tears to my eyes, not because it was teeth-grindingly dissonant but because they were all so swept up by it. They reached for each other as they sang, with hands and tails--one wrapped around my ankle--and with their crooning notes. If I closed my eyes, I could hear what they were doing, tendrils of sound curling and responding to each other, like pea shoots spiraling around a stake....This was art, quigutl art, and in some oblique fashion it was what I'd been looking for, what Dame Okra had once mocked. I'd found my people and they weren't even mine." ~p. 427
"'Soft-mouthed Mootya, you mean,' said the serving girl in Goreddi...'If you expect us to roar at each other, you'll be disappointed. We've transposed Mootya into sounds our soft mouths can make, but it's the same language.' Kiggs was enough of a scholar to know this already, but he bowed his head politely. The girl stared at him, her eyes bulging, 'That's why you know our names for things, like Tanamoot or ard,' she continued unnecessarily, 'whereas in hard-mouth Mootya, ard sounds like this,' She threw her head back and screamed. The circle of saarantrai, who'd been chatting together, went silent. 'You're screaming at a prince of Goredd,' said Ikat, crossing the lawn and taking the girls by the shoulders as if to lead her away, 'It's all right,' said Kiggs, trying to smile, 'We were discussing linguistics.'" ~p. 349-350
Synopsis:
Shadow Scale is the sequel to Seraphina and chronicles her journey across the continent to find the other half-dragons that she has been able to see in her "garden" and in visions all her life. Seraphina is running out of time to find her own kind and finding them is not easy--half-dragons technically shouldn't exist and must essentially remain in hiding except for in the city-state of Porphyry where they are accepted and/or revered. Seraphina sets out to find them all for the mounting war effort between the Old Ard (a group of extremist dragons that wants to wipe out humans, half-dragons, and any tolerant dragons) and the Southlands--apparently they can make together what is called St. Abaster's trap, which would repel the attacking dragons and save many lives. However, she is also looking for each of them to hopefully connect, to find the family and acceptance that she never knew--always living in fear of being discovered. Seraphina's journey takes her through the Southlands and Porphyry and even Tanamoot. What she does not account for is the one half-dragon she never wanted to find. Jannoula--who had invaded her mind as a child and has now begun to control the minds of the other half-dragons and everyone Seraphina loves and cares for. Seraphina must save her world not only from the extremist group, but from an enemy within--an enemy that dresses herself in light and sets herself up as a Saint. To do this, Seraphina must change her way of thinking about her own mind and unleash powers she was never aware of before.
My Two Cents:
The world of Seraphina, continued and expanded in Shadow Scale, is truly one of the most interesting and compelling fantasy worlds centered around dragons that I have ever read. Goredd, the other countries, their history, culture, and languages--are all fascinating. My absolute favorite characters in this sequel were the quigutl (essentially they are a techie, lisping, lizard-like, sub-species of dragon and wholly adorable). I wouldn't mind reading a quigutl novella. I enjoyed Seraphina's journey through the world immensely and her constant, continual struggle against Jannoula (Abdo's as well). I loved the transformation of Seraphina's "garden of grotesques" to the living breathing inhabitants, rather than the avatars, and their stories. And of course, I just love the dragons--Ardmagar Comonot, Eskar, the hatchling Brisi (featured above in the quote about the dragon language Mootya). My only complaint is that the writing and plot weren't quite as tight as Seraphina. Well, with a 587 page book I know that may be a tall order. Maybe it was just me, but I felt like there could have been enough material in there to split it and make it two books--and then maybe we could have seen a bit more of Tanamoot, the quigutl, and the other fabulous places/people that Seraphina meets. I have to say that the final showdown between Jannoula and Seraphina and the other half-dragons was epic. It's not every day that I giant metallic slug (?) saves the day, but that's Goredd for you!
Next up, I have decided to read Rachel Hartman's latest, Tess of the Road, which was nominated for a Hugo. I can't wait! (Hoping for more quigutl!)
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