When a half-frozen Patch Brightwater stumbled into the small mountain village, the people thought he was their hero: a
Piper, albeit a young one, finally arriving to help them deal with the rats that are eating them out of house and home.
But Patch isn't who they think, or hope, he is. True, he studied the art of magical music, but fled in disgrace and shame
before finishing his training, and is now on the run from the Custodian Elite for playing tunes that are technically
illegal - Dance songs, such as those once played by the infamous Piper of Hamelyn who stole away over a hundred human
children before crossing to the dragon nations and doing the same to a hundred of their young. Though the madman has been
imprisoned for over a decade, and Patch's music was nowhere near as powerful or malicious, the Pipers' Council takes a
very dim view of anyone evoking even the slightest memory of the power that monster unleashed, which nearly led to war
with the dragons. Worse, just when a pair of Custodians turn up to drag Patch back to justice, he learns that one of the
town's rats is actually a girl, Wren, trapped in a rat body by a sorcerer... but he can hardly help her when he's
probably going to be spending at least the next five years, likely more, in prison. Then he makes a startling,
terrifying discovery - the man sealed in the iron mask may not be the real Piper of Hamelyn, scourge of humans and
dragonkind alike. But, even with a magic rat and a friendly dracogriff, how is one disgraced (and now fugitive) Piper
boy going to warn anyone, let alone stop a horrific plot that threatens the whole world?
Review
After Pet Sematary, I figured I was due for something lighter, and A Darkening of Dragons fit the bill.
(Plus it had dragons... and griffins. And dracogriffs, crosses between the two.) As promised by the cover and blurb, it's
a reasonably straightforward fantasy adventure in a world of fantastic beasts, beings, sorcery, and songs with tangible
magic, while also riffing on the Pied Piper fairy tale. From the start, Patch is a boy who tries his best but isn't above
a little deception (even self-deception) and more than one mistake, such as the one that cost him his future as a proper
Piper. Wren, too, is hiding some secrets, but is a steadfast companion nonetheless, if one who has few options: being a
transformed rat isn't the kind of secret you can tell just anyone. As for the dracogriff Barver, he turned out to be my
favorite character in the book, and not just because he melds two of my favorite fantasy creatures. Like the other two,
he's an outcast in his own way as dracogriffs tend to be in this world, looked down on by both dragon and griffin sides
of his family. His own journey, to fulfill his late mother's final requests, dovetails with that of the two humans in
unexpected ways, and the trio make a solid adventuring team. Their travels are complicated by mishaps and
misunderstandings and run-ins with one of Patch's old friends, now an apprentice Custodian Elite who may or may not be
more loyal to his cloak than his fugitive friend. The whole tale moves well, with some nice emotional tweaks and a
little more depth to it and the characters than I might've expected at the outset. The dangers faced here are not small
or superficial for anyone, and they all understand what's at stake if they fail. It made for an entertaining read (or
listen, rather, as another audiobook), and I'm looking forward to the second installment.
Once, young Patch Brightwater was a failure, running away from his Piper training - where he learned to play magical
music - because he didn't want to train in battle magic. After finding Wren, the maid transformed into a rat by a
sorcerer, and Barver, a dracogriff protector abandoned by a dragon army, he learned that the man imprisoned for ten
years in the Piper dungeons - the ones the dragons executed in fire before his eyes - was not the dreaded Piper of
Hamelyn, the madman who stole away human and dragon children for his own nefarious purposes. Indeed, Patch, Wren, and
Barver were instrumental in stopping the real Piper of Hamelyn when he attempted to take over the minds of every Piper
in the lands, to create a nigh-unstoppable army... but nobody ever found the villain's body. Worse, he fears that
members of the Pipers' Council are traitors after hearing a prophecy from a witch woman. But, for all their heroics, he
and Wren are still children and Barver's an outsider. What can they do?
After a rescue mission to save a former friend and traveling companion from the clutches of a pirate king (a friend who,
due to a misinterpretation of the witch's prophecy, Patch abandoned), Patch and his companions reunite with the few
people they know they can trust, remnants of the legendary Eight Pipers who originally hunted down the Piper of Hamelyn
(even if they ended up grabbing the wrong man). Unrest is spreading through the land, and the Pipers' Council is only
making it worse by inexplicably recalling all of their Custodian Elite Pipers to dedicate them to the manhunt... a
manhunt where they seem to be chasing shadows and rumors instead of solid leads. While searching for clues about the
murder of one of the Eight, they uncover evidence of what the Piper of Hamelyn may be planning next, a terrible plot
that, if it succeeds, would see the whole world of humans, dragons, and griffins fall under the monster's heel
forevermore. Patch and his friends aren't about to let that happen if they can help it, but this time the stakes are
much higher, as more of the world seems to be falling to chaos and ruin around them.
Review
I hit a string of DNFs (did-not-finish titles) on Libby, so I decided to just go ahead and listen to the second
installment of Patch's adventures. Like the first installment, it's a fun adventure in an interesting fantasy world,
with some nice emotional weight to the characters and real risks of failure. It doesn't shy away from some of the
nastier ways people can treat each other and what they are willing to do in pursuit of power, or just in pursuit of what
they're convinced is right, even if that conviction is based on lies and iron-fisted cruelty to others. Patch, Wren, and
Barver run afoul of politics and old prejudices wherever they turn for help, as the intelligent races of the world seem
to be folding inward and turning away from each other, sometimes violently, just when they need to be uniting to face an
existential threat. (Not at all what happens in the real world, of course... ahem...) They're all changing and growing
up, though it seems Wren and Barver are facing more growth than Patch at this point; Barver in particular must confront
his relationship with both sides of his family and himself, dragon and griffin. The griffins get some nice page time
here, fleshing out their culture and history. Wren, meanwhile, still pursues magical knowledge with increasing
ruthlessness, taking greater and greater risks that sometimes get her in trouble, as when she undergoes a risky
procedure and spends more time learning "impressive" spells than practical ones. Not that Patch is entirely static,
though; in addition to coping with the guilt over betraying his old friend over a mistaken reading of the prophecy, he
starts taking on more responsibilities and developing his Piper skills. The Piper of Hamelyn, as before, is more of a
specter than a character for much of the story, but he remains a formidable enemy when he does turn up in person, his
actions made all the more terrifying for his utter conviction in his righteousness in destroying the world to remake it
in his own image. This one ends on something closer to a cliffhanger than the previous installment... and,
unfortunately, the third volume doesn't seem to be out yet, and isn't due until spring of 2024. Dang it... That delay
aside, I enjoyed this book every bit as much as the first one, even if it does spend a little too much time on the
excretions of a baby dragon (a detour that younger readers will likely find more amusing, but for me felt like a plot
point setup that was never quite followed through on, unless something comes of it in the next book).
