cover image Sparks Fly

Sparks Fly

Katie MacAlister. Signet, $7.99 mass market (352p) ISBN 978-0-451-23653-1

Like the toothy monsters of legend, MacAlister’s more civilized light dragons (last seen in The Unbearable Lightness of Dragons) wheel and deal to maintain their status and protect beloved possessions. After the First Dragon tells Ysolde de Bouchier, the human reincarnation of a famous dragon, that she has to save Baltic, her light dragon mate, and the other dragons in some vague and unspecified way, she tries to glean clues from historical visions that periodically envelop her and anyone standing near her. Eventually she realizes she must coordinate a complicated scheme involving Green, Silver, and Black dragons that will reunite Baltic with a prized talisman and lift a curse. The confusion is balanced by a well-organized plot and MacAlister’s trademark humor, and the addition of a glossary and dramatis personae make the complex dragon politics more palatable, though new readers will still be lost. Agent: Michelle Grajkowski, 3 Seas Literary Agency. (May)