Stabbed. Burned by a dragon. Abandoned for the windrocs to pick over. The traitor Ra’aba tried to silence Hualiama forever. But he reckoned without the strength of a dragonet’s paw, and the courage of a girl who refused to die.
Only an extraordinary friendship will save Hualiama’s beloved kingdom of Fra’anior and restore the King to the Onyx Throne. Flicker, the valiant dragonet. Hualiama, a foundling, adopted into the royal family. The power of a friendship which paid the ultimate price.
This is the tale of Hualiama Dragonfriend, and a love which became legend.
[Full disclosure: I requested and received an ebook ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.]
You could use any of those words to describe Dragonfriend but in truth to do this book justice you’d have to use them all. It is so many different things woven together into one book that you can’t help but fall in love with Hualiama as well as her companions Flicker (the dragonet) and Grandion (the dragon).
Hualiama is one of those characters that you’ll never forget after finishing the book. In the beginning she’s nothing but a royal bastard, the half-daughter of the king who stands up to his captain-of-the-guard, the usurper of the Onyx Throne. She doesn’t even particularly like her father but she likes Ra’aba even less and for her trouble she gets her back and stomach sliced open before being tossed off the Dragonship to die. But thanks to Flicker breaking her fall, carrying her to safety and patching her up, Hualiama isn’t so easy to get rid of. (If you don’t know, dragonets aren’t much bigger than a couple of feet long and just a little bigger in wingspan so for Flicker to carry a human, even a tiny one, it was a huge sacrifice on his part.) As Flicker nurses her back to health and teaches her to speak in a civilized manner—Dragonish, of course—she grows stronger and more and more determined to seek revenge against the man who deposed her family. No one in her family save for her adoptive mother may like her, but Hualiama loves them with a fierce, protective sort of love that leads her to the gates of hell and back in her quest.
What I found really interesting about Dragonfriend is that it’s set 425 years before the ‘main series’, Shapeshifter Dragons. It’s set almost 275 years before the spin-off series, Shapeshifter Dragon Legends. So all of the technology that’s introduced first in Legends and then in the main series is just in its infancy. There are no meriatite-fuelled Dragonships; they’re powered by the back-breaker, the machine that soldiers have to pedal in order to keep the ship moving. Dragons and humans have no contact with one another whereas in Legends it’s the peak of Dragon Riders and in the main series the Dragon Rider era has waned and dragons are hunted. You really don’t have to read Aranya and Shadow Dragon from the main series or The Pygmy Dragon from the spin-off in order to appreciate Dragonfriend, but it does make the whole experience more enjoyable. However, if you start with Dragonfriend, go to The Pygmy Dragon and then move on to Aranya and Shadow Dragon, you’ll actually be reading the series in the in-universe chronological order. So really, either way works and whether this is your first Marc Secchia book or not, you’ll really appreciate the sheer amount of detail he puts into all of his world-building.
One of the things that constantly surprises me is Marc Secchia’s ability to write from a female perspective so believably. He creates these amazingly strong characters but they’re not all Action Girls! Hualiama tries to fight but is hopelessly clumsy and has to really, really work at it. Pip from The Pygmy Dragon was born gifted at fighting but is at a huge disadvantage because of her small size. Aranya is better than Hualiama but that’s because her father made absolutely sure she became good at fighting whereas Hualiama’s father the king actively discouraged Hualiama’s more masculine pursuits. Each female main character has her own journey to womanhood in unique ways and Hualiama’s is just so amazing. She goes through so much in order to achieve her goals and even though she tries her hardest, sometimes (much like in the real world) things don’t work out. Her life is one of pure happiness and pure tragedy and even though I’m not a very emotional reader I must admit I balled my eyes out at the ending of this book. I defy anyone not to become attached to Hualiama throughout this book. It’s impossible because Marc Secchia not only writes believable and diverse female characters, his writing has such an emotional quality that you won’t be able to remain impassive during their struggles. You’ll really be rooting for Hualiama, trust me. Even when she makes mistakes, you’ll root for her.
The plot starts off pretty fast-paced compared to the other three books in the Island World and although it does slow down in terms of action, it always remains interesting. There’s always that undercurrent of tension as Hualiama is rehabilitated and learns from Flicker and it helps that the point of view changes quite naturally between the two friends. With any other characters I’d say changing points of view with no clear page break would be nothing but trouble but the points of view of Flicker and Hualiama are so different that you’ll never get confused. There’s a tremendous difference between a dragonet and a human being and the difference is even more pronounced when our dragon, Grandion, joins the story. The point of view switches definitely keep things interesting but in reality you could have had the whole book from Hualiama’s point of view and it would still be able to keep readers’ attention. It really is just a fascinating story with so many plot twists your head will spin.
If you haven’t already guessed, I really did love this book. This is definitely one of my top 10 favourites of all time and considering I read on average 200 books per year, that’s really saying something. It’s an incredible book and everyone should buy it. It will make you laugh, cry and just generally have an amazing time. The cliffhanger will also make you as eager as I am for the next book. If my review has intrigued you at all, please go and pre-order Dragonfriend on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. It’s only $3.20 and $3.49 respectively and you absolutely won’t regret it.
*Obviously a triggery subject so take care in reading on.
**Also, I will be using language far more foul than I usually do because I will be quoting directly from the show.
***Spoilers are present up until the point Season 4 ends, both in the show and in the books.
As I stated in my most popular article, Why Girls Hate Game of Thrones—A Rebuttal, I love the TV show Game of Thrones and I absolutely believe it is wrong to state with such a sweeping generalization that all women hate it. That would be like saying all men loathe romantic comedies or all little girls play with Barbies. It’s wrong to make such a generalization and it does a disservice to women who happen to be fantasy fans as well. But as I also mention in the article, while I love Game of Thrones I believe that there are some problems with the show. The answer to these problems are not really to boycott the show but to try to bring about a reasonable discussion about said problems. I know that’s hard on the internet and will likely lead to me getting death and/or rape threats, but it’s an important conversation to have.
I want to talk about rape. Specifically, how it is portrayed and worked into the various storylines in the television show.
But for those of you who don’t read full articles before commenting I want to make a few things clear:
I am not against nor have I ever been against depicting rape in fiction on principle. It is unfortunately a large part of many women’s and men’s lives, directly or indirectly and it deserves to be depicted because of that.
Portraying something is not the same as condoning or otherwise supporting it.
Any threats I receive over this article will be passed on to the RCMP. I will also be heavily moderating the comments section here on this article so before you comment, go over and read my commenting policy. No, my blog is not a democracy and I will quite happily permanently ban you from commenting if you start spewing vitriol rather than contribute to the discussion.
First off, I want to look at the cases where the depiction of rape was actually justified:
Case #1: Craster’s Keep and the Deserters of the Night’s Watch
Obviously, this takes place in the fourth season of the show and it is one of the cases where rape and sexual assault are accurately depicted. I mean, the view we get inside Craster’s Keep under Karl Tanner’s reign of terror is absolutely horrific. There are women crying, whimpering, covered in dirt and bruised, just otherwise being treated like objects. Karl Tanner even states his objective: “Fuck them ’til they’re dead!”
It’s a chilling scene and rightly so. These women have suffered so much under the hand of Craster—who in some cases is their own father sexually abusing them—but to further suffer under men who are supposed to ‘protect the realms of men’ is just even worse. Even amongst the Free Folk north of the Wall, it shows that women are still not fully the equals of men. The gender inequality is far worse when you get south of the Wall but it is still most definitely present in the north.
What makes this scene important is not only that it depicts the brutal reality of sexual assault and rape, it is justified within the storyline. HBO isn’t just including it to increase sexual intention or to titillate viewers. It actually plays an important role because after Jon Snow and the others liberate the women it wraps up the entire Craster storyline, shows Jon’s budding leadership qualities and gives Bran yet another hard choice because he sees Jon at the keep and has to decide whether or not to call out to him. In the end Bran chooses not to in favour of finding the Three-Eyed Raven but the fact that he had that choice in the show tells viewers how determined he is and hints at how important his mission is.
Case #2: Daenerys’ marriage to Khal Drogo
In the books her wedding night is a little more ambiguous with Drogo arousing her until she finally said ‘yes’ to his advances. When reading that scene one has to keep in mind the fact that she was 14 at the time so I do say it’s ambiguous. In a lot of countries the age of consent hovers around 14-15 but there’s a reasonable debate about whether or not a teenager at that age can truly consent to a marriage and all that comes with it. In Canada the answer is no when the age difference is there but a lot of other countries have a lower age of consent. However, what happens in the books is not really the problem here.
I was a little troubled when I watched the first episode of Game of Thrones and saw Daenerys being undressed by Drogo and then bent over by him forcibly, still crying. She was terrified and definitely not consenting, therefore it was unequivocally rape. However, this is not as troubling an example as the one after this for a very simple reason: it was not gratuitous because it was actually worked into her storyline and affected her character development.
In the beginning, Daenerys is raped nightly by Khal Drogo. She’s crying and terrified, being forced into a marriage with a hulking foreigner who doesn’t speak her language and doesn’t seem overly concerned about her feelings regarding the situation. But after talking with her maids and beginning to learn the language, she asks Doreah to help her with her marriage, to let her take control of a situation she has very little control over. Daenerys eventually succeeds and actually begins to love her husband as he falls in love with her, particularly after they find out she is going to have a son. The psychological and ethical implications of that aside, it’s really the start of her taking control over her life and leads to her highly independent streak after Drogo’s death. She becomes a stronger person and overcoming the fact that she was being raped nightly is just one part of the equation.
So while I don’t necessarily see that the change from the books was for the better, it certainly wasn’t for the worse and it was an integral part of Daenerys’ storyline. In addition to that, it really drives home the point that Game of Thrones is set in a world very different from ours, where marriage is a license for rape, women are cattle, men kill each other over nothing and the smallfolk are caught in the middle of the game of thrones the lords play. It’s an important part of portraying the real culture of inequality that permeates every aspect of that society.
To sum up: Yes, I believe that this was a justified portrayal within the context of the story.
Now, I want to look at the one really glaring example where rape was absolutely not justified.
Case #3: The Sept of Baelor Scene
This particular rape scene takes place in Season 4 in the Sept of Baelor during Joffrey’s wake. Jaime comes in after Tywin takes Tommen out, dismisses every single person so that he can be alone with Cersei and rapes her. The first time I watched the scene I thought that I saw Cersei reaching for Jaime’s belt after he gets her on her back but I’ve gone over the scene since then and am left with the feeling that this was pretty clearly rape. She and Jaime kissed pretty passionately with positive responses on both sides but then Cersei moves away. Jaime then grabs her, kisses her and starts to rip off her clothes while moving her toward the floor. All the while, Cersei says: “Jaime not here, please. Please. Stop it! Stop it! It’s not right.” Even though she consented to that kiss, Jaime should have backed off the second he saw her move away. But he didn’t. Instead, he grabs her and forcibly kisses her. Even when she tells him to stop—which is pretty clearly a ‘consent not given’ message—he continues anyway. She was verbally refusing to have sex with him and since he didn’t accept this refusal, this is rape. You can watch the scene for yourself:
The problem with this whole scene is not that rape took place in a pretty disturbing setting, it’s the fact that it was completely gratuitous. There is no justification within the show for making this scene. Let me state my case.
First off, in the books the sex was consensual because Cersei hadn’t seen Jaime yet and he just appeared to her for the first time in almost two years, even if it was at her son’s wake. She initially protested about the wrongness of the location but then said to Jaime: “Hurry…quickly, quickly, now, do it now, do me now.” That’s a far cry from “Jaime not here, please. Please. Stop it! Stop it! It’s not right.”
I don’t mind the fact that the producers and writers decide to change scenes from the book to fit the show a little bit more. It makes sense for Jaime and Cersei not to have frantic, consensual sex in the Sept of Baelor after their son dies because Jaime’s been back since before the wedding. But does it really make sense to have Jaime rape Cersei? I think not and when I discussed this with my dad, who follows the show as well, he and I were in agreement. And he said something that makes a lot of sense to me: “What kind of a man would have sex near the body of his dead child?”
That got me thinking. Even if Jaime was frustrated because Cersei refused to have sex with him (as seen in episode one of the fourth season), is he still the kind of man who would have sex near the body of his dead child? He was never close to Joffrey in the show but at the same time I don’t think he is that kind of man anymore. I don’t have much doubt that he could have done it in the first season but now, after all that he’s been through with Brienne, confessing some of his past and showing himself in actions if not words to be a better person? I don’t think so. The kind of man who risks his life to save a woman he doesn’t even particularly like from a bear is not the kind of man who would have sex near the corpse of his son. It just doesn’t fit Jaime’s character, particularly when you consider the character rehabilitation he underwent after the loss of his hand and the confession to Brienne what really happened during the fall of King’s Landing all those years ago. And it presents a lot of problems later in the season as Jaime seems to go back to his new nicer self, begging the question: what the hell was that little episode? It’s like the writers wrote the scene and then just ignored the character implications for Jaime other than a token distancing between him and Cersei that was already going on. That leads to my next point.
My point is that although it doesn’t make sense for both characters (Cersei is not the sort of woman to let a rape by the man she used to love go off with just a bit of cold shoulder), it really doesn’t make sense in terms of the plot. There was really no need for it! By refusing Jaime in the first episode and mentioning to Qyburn that her symptoms were “completely gone”, it’s almost certain that she was having an affair while Jaime was gone. Especially when she tells him he “took too long” to get back and that “everything’s changed”. By that point, their relationship was already crumbling; it didn’t need the rape to make a clear break between the two. The writers could have just gradually let their relationship fall apart over the course of the story, inserting that clear break when Jaime refuses to kill Tyrion and supports him during the trial.
The rape scene was just completely gratuitous and that’s why I really don’t agree with it making it into the episode. If you’re going to change the timeline and the storyline from the books, you should have a good reason for doing so (which they did) and do it in a way that makes sense for the rest of the story (which they didn’t). And the fact that the most revenge Cersei takes on Jaime for raping her near the corpse of her firstborn son is giving him the cold shoulder? That’s just ridiculous and completely out of character for Cersei. She’s had people murdered before, as many characters allude to and she didn’t let Robert get away with raping her for so long, taking her own revenge in little ways before finally arranging his somewhat accidental death. I don’t think her character would have allowed Jaime, the man she used to love as much as someone like her can love, to get away so easily. It just doesn’t make sense.
The thing is, I love Game of Thrones and I’m almost bouncing up and down I’m so eager for Season 5 to start on Sunday. But at the same time, I am able to acknowledge the problems it has. I don’t really see some of the gratuitous sex as bad but that completely gratuitous rape scene between Jaime and Cersei…that’s a little troubling and even George R. R. Martin couldn’t really justify it to his fans after the controversy swept the internet. Even if you don’t think it was rape (which, yeah, it was) you can probably agree with me that it didn’t really advance the story any so there was really no point to it. Jaime and Cersei were already becoming distant and the writers could have easily made Tyrion’s trial the breaking point instead of inserting a scene that was shocking and should have had consequences for the character arcs of both parties involved but didn’t really. It was just gratuitous and I haven’t even tried to justify it.
But I still do love the show and I firmly believe that depicting things like rape is not glamourizing or condoning them. I just really wish that Game of Thrones tackled rape in a consistently ‘good’ way rather than inserting shocking scenes just to generate controversy rather than advance the story or the character arcs.
So what do you folks think of all this? Did the Jaime-Cersei rape scene bother you as much as it did me? Book readers: how did you feel about the drastic change in that particular scene? And did anyone else find the lack of aftereffects on both characters and the plot sort of odd, as if the writers were trying to pretend that scene never happened?
Please let me know your thoughts on this topic. Also, please keep the tone respectful. I certainly don’t expect everyone to agree with me (because that would be ridiculous) but I expect polite disagreement. If you can’t manage that, don’t comment. And if you can’t manage that but still comment don’t be surprised if you’re banned from commenting on this blog ever again.
I am a tom boy. I always have been and I probably always will but I am fully aware of societal expectations regarding dressing up so I’m not totally clueless…or so I thought.
Here’s all of the girly stuff I did this week:
1. I bought and applied my own make up for the first time ever. In the past I only put on make up for dance performances and in those I always had friends that were all too glad to do my hair and make up for me. So I went to the local Mary Kay representative and learned how to do my own make up and then bought some from her. So far, so good.
2. I’ve tried out hairstyles other than ‘ponytail’ or ‘braid’. It’s a really weird experience. Ladies, how the heck do you keep your arms up that long to do some of the more elaborate hairstyles? All the blood drains out of mine and they start to ache. Also, my hair will not curl. Ever.
3. I actually debated long and hard about what outfit I was going to wear. As you’ve probably guessed, this is not normal for me!
So why would I put myself through all of this?
Well, the answer is that I decided to get some professional photos done for the first time in years. I wanted to have some more formal, business-like ones her for my blog and for my real job and I also wanted some fun ones for my blog and to send to relatives (since I haven’t actually had my picture taken in at least two years). It was a really, really weird experience being in front of a professional photographer again; I haven’t been to one since I stopped dancing.
About five minutes into what would eventually be an hour-long photo shoot, I began to have even more respect for models than I did before. “Tilt your head, part your lips, give me that sexy look, go into this impossible pose!” It’s really hard, particularly when you’re really uncomfortable in front of a camera. The poor man photographing me had to do all sorts of crazy stuff to get me to actually smile widely and show my teeth. It’s not that I wasn’t trying, but nearly half a lifetime of hiding bad teeth before I got braces is hard to erase. But when he actually showed me some of the pictures on the camera I was much better because I could see it looked good.
Although I must admit most of my pictures are of me with my ‘Mona Lisa smile’, as pretty much everyone who meets me calls it. However, despite some of the physically agonizing poses I was put into I actually had a good time. It was really different getting all dressed up by myself for an event. It was weird, yet slightly liberating. Meh, it’s hard to explain. After I go to the studio and check out the photos I might post some of the fun ones here on The Mad Reviewer if I like them. If I don’t like them, only the extended Slager family will ever see them.
So, I had an exceptionally girly week. How are you guys doing? Anything exciting happening in your lives lately? How is spring progressing in your particular corner of the world? Who’s as excited as I am for next Sunday, aka Game of Thrones Season 5 Sunday?
Most people enjoy a brand of fantasy, be it epic fantasy or urban fantasy or some variation of the two extremes, so to speak. I personally enjoy pretty much all types of fantasy when it’s well-written and one of the things that makes it so is usually the fantasy creatures that inhabit the writer’s world. What elevates some fantasy books from good to great is well thought out, unique fantasy creatures. They don’t necessarily have to be completely unique, but I do like it when authors put a new spin on old tropes, particularly regarding vampires, werewolves and dragons.
Personally, my favourite fantasy creature is dragons. I love dragons in fiction because there is really no canon dragon; each author most definitely has their own type. Christopher Paolini in his Inheritance Cycle has dragons with riders that are just as intelligent, if not more than humans. Marc Secchia has both dragons, dragon shapeshifters, Ancient Dragons and dragonets and his fantasy world is one of the best thought out of all the ones I’ve ever read. Rachel Hartman’s math-loving, shape-shifting, highly analytical dragons are pretty cool as well. Essentially, dragons are unique to the writer and that part of what makes me love them so much.
Now what I want to know is this: What is your favourite fantasy creature? Why?
Callie Jacobsen isn’t about to open her heart to just anyone. Not so very long ago, trusting someone changed her life forever—and not in a fun way. Now she’s better off focusing on her career, her friends, and her dog. So when former Marine Everett Silverton takes an interest in her, Callie’s more than a little wary. No matter how charming he is, men are a bad idea. In fact, she’s got the scars to prove it. But Everett isn’t convinced Callie should shut everyone out—especially not him. He may be a hero to the people of Rock Canyon, but he’s got his own demons, and he bets they’re not that different from Callie’s. Still, he knows it’s going to take more than chemistry to get her to let her guard down. Everett will do whatever it takes to show her she’s safe with him. All she has to do is take a chance, take a step … and take his hand.
An obsessive bookworm, Codi Gary likes to write sexy small-town contemporary romances with humor, grand gestures, and blush-worthy moments. When she’s not writing, she can be found reading her favorite authors, squealing over her must-watch shows, and playing with her children. She lives in Idaho with her family.
“Son of a bitch!” Surprised, Callie spun around from her kneeling position so fast that she fell over, landing in the softening muck with a splat. She’d been too busy cursing the shredded tire and the pouring rain to hear Everett behind her until he spoke.
Callie shook her mud-covered hands and was sure she heard a snort of laughter from Everett over the pouring rain and Ratchet’s muffled barking inside the Jeep.
“Hasn’t anyone ever told you that sneaking up on someone is rude?” Callie glared up at Everett, who was holding his hands down to her. Even though he wasn’t smiling, she’d have to be blind not to catch the amused gleam in his eyes.
Jackass.
Ignoring his offer of assistance, she climbed to her feet, but her bruised pride earned her even more mud as her jeans were soaked through. She tried to wipe off the muck, but it just smeared.
“They have, which is why I didn’t sneak; I walked. I saw you huddled over and figured I could help.”
“Thanks, but I’ve got this,” she said.
Thunder erupted over their heads, and Callie felt like the sky was laughing at her too.
“You sure? You’re shivering like crazy, and I can have this changed in under four minutes. I’ll have you know I hold the Silverton family record for fastest tire change.” Lightning lit up the sky, highlighting his cheeky grin. “And I’ve been told more than once that I’m good with my hands.”
She didn’t want to smile at his gentle teasing, but she was cold and miserable, and he was offering her a way out.
“I was just going to call triple A for a tow—”
“It will be faster if I just change it; believe me. Here.” Everett reached around her and opened the door to the Jeep. “Hop in, and I’ll grab the spare from the back.”
Callie’s face burned with embarrassment. “It’s not there.”
“What?”
“I meant to buy another one, but these suckers aren’t cheap and I just . . . I never got around to it.” She leaned her head against the door, laughing humorlessly. “Pretty stupid, huh?”
“Well, yeah, but there’s no use in me lecturing you when you already know.”
Callie glanced at him sharply. “Thanks a lot, Dad.”
“Come on; I’ll take you to Jose’s Tires, and we’ll get you a new one.”
“I told you; I can’t afford it right now—”
“I’ll take care of it. Don’t worry.”
“Um, no. I don’t like being in anyone’s debt.” She squirmed under his thoughtful gaze and added, “Thank you, but I must decline.”
“Well, I must insist. You can’t just sit here on the side of the road until payday, and triple A will ding you for using one of your get-out-of-trouble calls.” Another crack of thunder shook the sky. “Look, I get it. You don’t know me from Adam, but I can get you over to Jose’s and get you a line of emergency credit. That way, you won’t owe me anything, and I don’t have to stand out in the rain. Sound fair?”
Her insides churned, and she cursed. If she’d just gotten a new spare when she’d bought her last set, she wouldn’t be sitting in the rain at the mercy of a large former marine.
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
