What happens to the world after the dust from a revolution has settled?Friends Annie and Lee were children from very different circles when Atreus killed Lee's father, dragonlord Leon Stormscourge, ending the uprising on the bloodiest day in Callipolis' history. For too long the dragonriders held all the power while their people starved and lived in fear. Nine years later, a new generation of dragonriders is emerging, children selected and trained on merit, not bloodlines. Their dragons are finally mature enough for them to compete for Firstrider, a position of power that can give Lee back a small part of what his family lost. However, not only is Lee competing against Annie, but rumors are circulating that some of the royal family have survived and have dragons of their own. Everyone will have to make a choice: Restore the old regime, support the First Protector and the new caste system he created, or look for a new way, no matter what the cost. From the beginning, this book pulls readers in with political intrigue and action. What keeps them invested, however, are the complex relationships between many cast members. Choices are complex, and the consequences for all could be deadly. The world is well fleshed out and believable. Annie and Lee are light skinned; secondary characters are diverse, and race is a nonissue in this world.Full of drama, emotional turmoil, and high stakes. (author's note) (Fantasy.14-17) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Gr 7 Up--Nine years ago, First Protector Atreus led the poor of Callipolis in a bloody revolution, overthrowing the aristocracy and slaughtering the dragonborn rulers and their families. What followed was to be a new regime in which one's place in society would be based on merit rather than noble birth. However, in the chaos of the revolution, one dragonborn heir was spared and soon forgotten in an orphanage: Leon Stormscourge's son, Leo. There Leo, known now as "Lee," bonds with fellow orphan Antigone over their shared grief and the need to survive. What Lee cannot bring himself to confess to Annie is that his father was the one who murdered her family. Soon the two find an escape from the orphanage as trainee dragonrider guardians of Callipolis. But after years of training together, trust and loyalties shift as they find themselves vying for the same position of power and are further strained when Lee's exiled cousin reappears and asks him for help reclaiming their birthright. Thought-provoking and full of social and political intrigue, this book is a pleasure to read. The author deftly interweaves the stories of Annie and Lee through flashbacks and contrasting inner monologue, demonstrating the complexities of their friendship, their growing rivalry, and the bitter secrets that threaten to tear them apart forever. Readers should find Annie an especially satisfying heroine as she fiercely refuses to give in to the prejudices stacked against her gender and lowborn heritage. VERDICT Recommended for both teens and adults who enjoy a mentally stimulating novel and for those who wish to lose themselves in a world full of dragons.--Lara Goldstein, Orange County Public Libraries, NC

What happens after a revolution, when the fire and fury of the righteous must turn to governance? Munda sets her stunning fantasy debut nine years after a bloody uprising against the triarchy, the dragonborn families that enforced their tyranny with dragons. Now, Callipolis is a fledgling meritocracy, and Annie, a peasant whose family was executed under the old regime, is a top contender for the position of Firstrider, who will lead the new dragonrider fleet. Yet there are still those who believe a former serf should not lead and sometimes, to her shame, Annie herself is one of them. Her close friend and Firstrider rival, Lee, lost everything in the revolution when his dragonborn family was killed. His true identity hidden to all but Annie, Lee struggles with the knowledge that Callipolis' noble new vision, one he believes in, was built upon the massacre of his kin. When survivors of the old regime resurface ready for war, Annie and Lee are forced to examine their loyalties to family, friend, self, and city. Munda centers her philosophical quagmires on Lee and Annie, deeply relatable characters with understandable motivations and passionate feelings. This series opener also thrills with dragon action, from aerial tournaments to wartime battles. This is a near-perfect work of high fantasy and will have wide appeal.--Krista Hutley Copyright 2010 Booklist

Lee and Annie have been close friends since the bloody revolution nine years earlier that freed Callipolis from the reign of the despotic dragonborn aristocracy. Only Annie, whose entire serf family died at Lee's father's hands, suspects that orphaned Lee is the scion of one of the slaughtered dragonborn lineages. Now, both teens are top competitors for the position of Firstrider, leader of a new fleet of dragon riders, and their privileged position allows them to see shortcomings in the new meritocracy seeking to elevate the downtrodden and redistribute power in their new society. But loyalties are tested as Lee's relatives lead the long-fled survivors of the dragonborn to threaten the fledgling nation. Drawing inspiration from The Aeneid and Plato's Republic, debut author Munda generates a plot that moves quickly, tempering fate-driven elements of classical tragedy with hope. The nuanced cast, particularly Lee and Annie, engage in complex relationships, and scenes of dragon-mounted combat are simultaneously exciting and grounded in idiosyncratic details of process and mechanics. Munda seamlessly moves between breathless action and an unflinching examination of horrors inflicted in pursuit of noble ideals, and the difficulty of escaping cycles of power and violence. Ages 12--up. (Oct.)