House of Dragons by Jessica Cluess

This fantasy book follows an ensemble of five main characters. The chapters of the book switch between their various points of view, and their differing personalities are well defined.

I think Cluess does a great job of worldbuilding and establishing hierarchical positions. Mainly, nobles and royalty dislike commoners.

Cluess illustrates the concept of murder and death in a way that suits her story’s fantasy setting. She ultimately shows that despite how honorable it may be to fight a war for your kingdom, it doesn’t stop someone from feeling guilty for murder.

The five main characters are introduced by titles of a Thief, a Servant, a Soldier, a Liar, and a Murderer. 

Title: House of Dragons

Author Name: Jessica Cluess

Lexile Level: HL690L

Age Rating: I’d say that you should be 14 years old or older to read this book, understand the references, and be mature enough to stomach the murder and gore.

Star Rating: ✦✦✦✦✧

Genre: Fantasy, Fiction, Adventure, Dragons

Summary:

When the Emperor dies, the five royal houses of Etrusia attend the Call, where one of their own will be selected to compete for the throne. It is always the oldest child, the one who has been preparing for years to compete in the Trial. But this year is different. This year these five outcasts will answer the call… A liar, a soldier, a servant, a thief, and a murderer will answer it.

Favorite Character & Characterization:

My favorite character was Hyperia of Volscia. She is very goal-oriented, and her true feelings are always hidden away, making for an interesting personality. Overall, she carries herself like the royal she is, but she is a bit of an anomaly among the rest of the competitors. I think her character development never moved forward, if anything, it headed backward at moments.

Storyline Development:

The story started off by introducing the five people who would be fighting for the throne of the Emperor. Overall, all of them are very different people with different motivations to win the throne. The story is fast-paced despite being long, and it keeps you turning the pages.

I think the ending is going to be surprising for readers (it definitely surprised me), and the winner of the Trial will be even more of a shock. I think the fun of this story is that the reader is going to make many inferences and predictions, and most of them will turn out to be wrong.

Worldbuilding:

The world features different kingdoms, but there are five main kingdoms: the royal kingdoms of Etrusia. I think Cluess’s worldbuilding adds a lot of depth to the story because the world has its own interesting history. The motivations of the characters also have their own basis.

There are many elements sprinkled throughout the narrative that hint towards some hidden things that we don’t know. Because of this, as well as the last chapter of the book, I think there might be a sequel to this amazing story.

Feedback and Critique:

Some parts of the story didn’t make sense until later, which means that the story builds on itself, which I think is a very awesome way to tell it, and gives incentive to the author to reveal history and introduce the elements of the story in a way that is more entertaining than you would expect.

An example of this is when the author tells us that “so and so” is bad, but doesn’t explain why until later.