Blazewrath Games Published by Page Street Publishing on October 6, 2020 Source: ARC Trade
Genres: Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy, Contemporary, Sports & Recreation, General, People & Places, Caribbean & Latin America, Social Themes, Emigration & Immigration
Pages: 368
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Dragons and their riders compete in an international sports tournament in this alternate contemporary world fantasy
Lana Torres has always preferred dragons to people. In a few weeks, sixteen countries will compete in the Blazewrath World Cup, a tournament where dragons and their riders fight for glory in a dangerous relay. Lana longs to represent her native Puerto Rico in their first ever World Cup appearance, and when Puerto Rico’s Runner—the only player without a dragon steed—is kicked off the team, she’s given the chance.
But when she discovers that a former Blazewrath superstar has teamed up with the Sire—a legendary dragon who’s cursed into human form—the safety of the Cup is jeopardized. The pair are burning down dragon sanctuaries around the world and refuse to stop unless the Cup gets cancelled. All Lana wanted was to represent her country. Now, to do that, she’ll have to navigate an international conspiracy that’s deadlier than her beloved sport.
Review
This book has an intriguing concept that hooked me into picking it up. I heard it described as Quidditch with dragons. Blazewrath is two teams with dragons ridden by six players, and they attempt to get a blazing rock through a hoop. Goal achieved, then the runner must fight their way to the top of a mountain. There are three places where the runner can be attacked and have a dragon tooth stolen from them and thrown to the hill’s bottom. Whichever runner reachers the top of their mountain first wins the game.
When the book starts, we meet Lana, who is desperate to be on the Porto Rican team, to show her pride for her homeland that she has been away from most of her life. We also learn that her mother is highly against this as when she was five, she was attacked by a dragon but survived. All of this intrigued me, but once Lana is recruited, and you get to the games, another subplot starts to overshadow, and I think it meant to take front stage, and the Blazewrath Games is just a background element. I found the revenge thread of the story hard to follow when mixed in with the Games. I enjoyed the aspect of the rich Latino culture that is interwoven in the story. Still, I would have enjoyed this more if I stayed with Lana’s storyline on the Blazewrath team and then figured out some complicated revenge story.
