How the Dangerous Gift THRIVED Without a Villain | Wings of Fire Analysis

Woops - mistook Tundra for Narwhal in the script. Several times. Sorry but Narwhal is just a better name 😅

The Dangerous Gift tied up many MUCH needed loose ends that were left unresolved at the end of Arc 2. And after all the excitement that had been happening throughout Books 11-13 without much time to stop and breathe, it mixed in really well to balance out the pacing. It provided a whole ton of closure that would put the thoughts of readers to rest before they’d move onto the final entry. The Dangerous Gift successfully accomplished everything it needed to do and I am very satisfied with the book.

I agree that Dangerous Gift had the villain as the main character- Snowfall seemed to go through a villain arc and redemption arc, as she was purposefully trying to keep the main cast from their goal, trying to keep them out of her kingdom so they couldn't get good rest and immediately setting an army on them. But by the end after seeing what they were going through turned her into a changed dragon with a better heart- still snarky and paranoid, but a bit more open minded. Lots of protagonists see what an antagonist is going through and understand their pain (Tempest and Twilight from MLP is a good example of this), but it was the other way around here.

The Dangerous Gift has got to be one of my favorite Wings of Fire books. When I started it, I had low expectations due to hearing about how many people were annoyed by it and disliked it, but I was pleasantly surprised. I can see how Snowfall’s behavior at the beginning of the book could be annoying, but it was also refreshing to read something from a unique point of view that thought so differently than most of the protagonists. Nothing about the book felt rushed either- everything felt slow and steady and her change of heart didn’t come out of nowhere. Snowfall is proof that (almost) everyone has some good in them and can be redeemed. I also had a lot of fun reading about the visions and Lynx was an awesome side character that made me smile. :) About Snowfall being the villain- If you think about it, from the point of view of the main characters she certainly acts like one. They’ve just traveled all the way from an entire continent and when they get there they are turned away despite being exhausted, starving, and definitely not a threat. And then the first dragon they meet takes out her entire army :’)

You nailed it on the head. That scene with Opal brought tears to my eyes as it was just so cathartic! And you are absolutely right. The flashbacks are not just info dumps like they easily could have been. Sure, they were full and complete stories about what happened, but its still just info. But once we saw them through the lens of Snowfall's fear and anger, you start rooting against her, encouraging her to get better, which pulls you through the rest of the book.

The Dangerous Gift is easily one of my favorite books in the series! Partially because it was the first one I read with zero spoilers, but also because of the joy I got from Snowfall finally overcome her paranoia to help put her tribe on a better path! I saw a lot of people have problems with the Gift of Vision, but when you really put yourself in Snowfall's situation, the ring makes complete sense. We've never heard of it before because it only appears to Queens who got the throne before they were ready, so there was no way it could be a pre-established item. I saw some say they liked that Snowfall changed by the end, but they don't like how it was done and in short time. The thing is, Snowfall NEEDED to change before the summit with all the other Queens, so that she could give the information in order to make a plan. The arrival of potentially hundreds of dragons were going to catch the other Queen's attention anyway, so from a story point of view, there was never going to be a long amount of time to play with. And when she asked the ring more politely to show her what was going on with Animus magic, it obliged. NOT because it was what she wanted to see, but because it was what she NEEDED to see, and only after she'd done the right thing in the plan for helping Pantala. If it had just gone with her request, it would have just shown Boa breaking the magic, and given Snowfall a reason to shout at her more. But the ring showed her Boa's life so that she could understand WHY Boa broke the magic. Since she became Queen, she's been demanding of Boa, so it makes sense that she needed to learn what Boa has been through so she can make steps to perhaps apoligize and maybe become a friend to her. Is the ring very convenient? Yes of course, it's Animus magic, it can be the most convenient thing on the planet. But as you said, Snowfall was the villain of this book in the sense that she presented obstacles that needed to be overcome, mostly through her paranoia, and she was the one who needed to overcome them. Literally the villain and protagonist in one dragon, fighting against herself for most of the book, even when her anger is directed at others. Sorry for the long comment but I could talk about this book for hours! ^^

As I started reading The Dangerous Gift, I instantly fell in love with the inner turmoil that Snowfall had. How she had so much doubt, pain, anxiety, and every thought she had would drag her down. And I loved reading her slowly think differently about everything where she had a much healthier dose of anxiety and doubt, enough to make her a good queen and see if every thought that came up was a good one or not. Though I do think I really love the 4th books in the arcs the most since those characters always start off with this self doubt and stuff but are thrown into a situation where they have to be something else whether they want to be that or not but it's still getting them out of their comfort zones and making them grow. Growing up isn't easy, it's painful; I literally know since I've had growing pains since I was little and still get it from time to time since I still grow a bit. It reminds me that not being in my comfort zone isn't bad, it just gives me a new perspective and let's me grow in a different direction than I was intending and that's okay. It honestly makes me disappointed that people don't like those books since it's so character focused and involves so much internal dialogue yet people strive for action and all that jazz. But oh well, people will like what they like. I also just really love seeing characters suffer so seeing Snowfall internally scream about everything was amazing to me.

People dislike these books?? I loved them both, and the last book was really interesting. Arc 3 was the scariest arc in the whole series (for me at least), especially books 11-13.

Well Snowfall was also under a LOT of stress, and a magical spell from Queen Diamond from 2 thousand years ago, so spells plus stress is bound to change someone's temper, ect. She also had a lot of worries, like her throne, kingdom and other things. It doesn't excuse her behaviour, but we also have to remember she's barely a dragonet, and she has to try to live up to her mother's memory when she's not ready. It's like a bird chick trying to fly before it's ready, it's going to fall down. Again, this doesn't excuse her behaviour, but she was put under so much pressure at a young age, and needed a bit of time to be ready for the role of Queen, with so much responsibility.

Honestly the dangerous gift is my favorite WoF book

ngl snowfalls book, like perils, made me relate so much, i had a very dark time in my past where i thought everyone was out to hurt me, even some of my best friends. Her book had me relate to her becuse ive been there and like snowfall i got thought it. Perils will always be my favourite book(come on fav charter and her book came out on my birthday!) but snowfalls is a close 2nd becuse of how much i can relate to her.

having only recently read the third series hearing that this book was disliked at all was ASTONISHING!!! I adored this book so much more than the others in the third series. the first and second books were alright but I never felt a true connection to the characters or world like I did with this book

Glad to see my favorite book from the third Arc getting some love ❤️

I loved the Dangerous Gift so much. As a person with anxiety, I connected with Snowfall's inner monologue immediately, and I loved her character development. I finished the book in one setting so I don't know why some people thought it was boring 😅

The Dangerous Gift is actually my favorite book in the series. The book by itself is pretty solid and really fun to read but in the context of the plot as a whole… it didn’t do a lot. I also think some fans are overstating how bad The Flames of Hope is. The pacing is whack and I honestly think Queen Wasp stopped being a good villain in this book (I think she should have been expanded upon in earlier books and then have a major presence in Flames of Hope) but even with those flaws I really liked Freedom and it was really cool how Tui finally revealed what The Scorching was about and how each side tells the story in the way that makes them look like the good guys

The Dangerous Gift is one of my favorite WoF books, honestly.

Amazing thumbnail art! Love to see your art style grow and improve ^^

The only thing you would need to know about book 14 to read 15 is that every tribe sent one dragon to go and help

Due to shipping problems and getting into wof late, I ended up reading FoH before DG. I was originally super excited to read FoH but it ended up being very boring to me. I didn't have any problems understanding the plot, it's just the plot was nothing. It was a lore dump being told to Luna who spends most of the book in a cave. I was very disappointed because I was really looking forwards to the 10 tribes working together to push back the othermind. I honestly didn't like the othermind being sentient byt there's no point in complaining about it. But when I read the Dangerous Gift, I was so invested that I couldn't put the book down until I finished it. Snowfall being her own worst enemy and facing the reality that no one wants her throne was such a compelling story. Her slowly going from hating her visions to wanting them to happen showed how much she began to empathize with others. After reading it a few times, I realized that my favorite stories are ones about characters growing. This easily became my favorite book in the series and I'm glad people are starting to appreciate it.

Minor correction- Narwhal is dead, I think you meant Tundra. But this was really interesting and I agree, Snowfall being both the hero and the villain of this book was so interesting to read. When I opened the book and read the first page, I was like, instantly mad at her, and by the end she was one of my favourite characters. Honestly, I think the worst part of this book is the way scavengers were handled, and that's a pretty forgettable plot point rly