Ah, back with Ileth. She is one bad ass woman. I really enjoyed this story. It was choked full of dragons and pirates, and of course an adventure or two. We finally have some back story to our character and the world is built around us even more. A wonderful world that I can picture in my head. If you love dragon lore, then this would be the book for you.

My review will go live on the Book Confessions blog on 10-21-20.

You'd think that after the hardships that Ileth had to endure in the prequel it would be smooth sailing for her to become a dragoneer? Turns out E. E. Knight had other plans for her in the second instalment of the Dragoneer Academy Series. Back at the academy, Ileth is forced to prove herself to her superiors and contemporaries, and once again finds herself caught up in a conflict between nations.

I really liked the first book, Novice Dragoneer, mainly because the overall world setting was new and I was eager to learn more about it. Daughter of the Serpentine was able to recapture that same feeling by focusing on different aspects of the world, and thus painting a bigger picture. I ended up getting sucked into the story, repeatedly reading just one more chapter.

Hopefully this does not end up to be the end of Ileth's story. I'm definitely down to read a sequel.

Daughter of the Serpentine by E.E. Knight is the second book in her fantasy Dragoneer Academy series. Daughter of the Serpentine picks up shortly after the last book left off, and continues to follow our heroine, Ileth’s, journey into this magical world of dragons. Ileth’s earned the respect of her peers in the last book, and is now an apprentice to a dragoneer, which has some pitfalls; she also continues to help with her dancing group.

Ileth finds herself meeting new friends, as well as keeping her old ones. When a request comes from a Lord claiming to be her father, she is forced to leave the academy and spend time with her powerful and wealthy father and his wife, which changes things for her (having grown up poor). But in time, her friend Santeel will visit, and together they work on the father to allow Ileth to return to her training to become a dragoneer.

Ileth continues to be a wonderful heroine, who is smart, savvy, loyal and always willing to go beyond. I loved how she made friends with Aurue, a young Dragon, who befriended her. I hope in future books, perhaps in time she will become his dragoneer. But it was great to follow her journey, meeting new friends and dragons, as well as riding one of the dragons back home. With a war on the horizon, Ileth will have to step up to help, proving how good she has become, even at the age of 17.

Daughter of the Serpentine was an excellent story line, with a wonderful heroine, very good secondary characters, dragons, exciting and action packed. As I had said in my previous review, I thought there was a bit too much details that slowed down the story a bit. I did enjoy the book and look forward to finding out where EE Knight is going to take us in the next book. If you enjoy fantasy, dragons, training, and a wonderful young heroine, I suggest you read this series.

Actual rating: 3.5/5 stars

Daughter of the Serpentine is the follow-up to The Novice Dragoneer, one of my favorite books of this year. There is something uniquely comforting about this series—it wraps you in its magical atmosphere like a warm blanket. Even though I didn’t quite love Daughter of the Serpentine as much as its predecessor, I really love this series and ardently adore main character Ileth, her fight to overcome her station and stutter, and her journey to becoming a fully fledged Dragoneer.

My favorite parts of Daughter of the Serpentine are the parts where Ileth trains as an apprentice at the Serpentine. I love her relationship with her fellow trainees, and even those ranked above her. Something about her life in the Serpentine feels magical, akin to when I was a young girl reading The Song of the Lioness series. Author E.E. Knight makes it feel like anyone could train alongside Ileth, and with hard work, could also become a Dragoneer.

“There are two basic sorts of people. Those who try to change their situation for the better, and those who look around and seek out villains to explain life’s many, many disappointments and spend the rest of their life crying on the proverbial stump assigning blame. I believe very strongly you are the first type, rare in your sex and rarer still at your age.”*

Especially interesting to me is that author E.E. Knight uses Ileth’s upbringing in a Lodge (basically a working orphanage) and her stutter to highlight the difference class, sex, and great Names make in actually achieving one’s goals. Ileth is discouraged by practically everyone with a mouth from her goal of becoming a Dragoneer due to her lack of a great Name, sex, and poor upbringing. She is encouraged to remain among the dragon dancers and to give up on her dreams. But she never lets this deter her, which I love. Poor Ileth doesn’t even have the money to buy herself an apprentice sash, and no one is going to give it to her. When her position as an apprentice dragoneer is threatened as a result, Ileth finds another—less legal—solution, and immediately owns up to it. This situation demonstrates everything I love about Ileth—she unabashedly makes the most out of what she has and makes no apologies for it—and her fierceness in a nutshell.

Ileth doesn’t shy away from working as dragon dancer and simultaneously training as an apprentice. She’s physically exhausted from the demands of this lifestyle, but works harder than all of her counterparts combined. I love when she got paired up with the most notorious teacher of the Serpentine, dubbed The Horse. This teacher really puts her and all of the trainees through the paces, but also comes to recognize Ileth’s unique strengths. Every time Ileth brings someone around to recognize her determination and character strength, my heart sings right along with hers.



To Ileth’s dismay and my own, she spends a good portion of Daughter of the Serpentine away from the Serpentine, which is probably the main reason I didn’t like this novel quite as much. As much as I love Ileth, I love her relationship and interactions with the dragons, fellow trainees, and instructors the most. Despite this lack of dragon time, Ileth’s time away further highlights the class disparities in a pretty hilarious way, reveals more about Ileth’s mysterious past, and even finds Ileth receiving the deserving attention of a young man. It is entertaining to see Ileth in such a different situation and gave me a bit of Jane Austen vibes. Plus, Santeel Dun Toot, Ileth’s high class friend with a great Name, gets involved and that girl is a veritable riot. To top it off, this sidequest, for lack of a better word, all leads up to an epic dragon battle with pirates, so I really can’t complain.

“’From the Serpentine’s perspective, it could hardly have gone better,’ Dun Huss said. ‘Not a single dragon lost or crippled.’ Ileth didn’t know if it was usually to speak only in terms of the dragons. She’d seen, now, the Academy’s method ensuring that a lost dragoneer could be replaced quickly.”*

This battle with the pirates is Ileth’s first experience of war. Author E.E. Knight does a great job of depicting the harsh realities of battle without being overly gruesome or gory. Instead, the grim reality of death and destruction is dealt with in matter-of-fact way that is authentic. Daughter of the Serpentine skillfully and easily demonstrates how each person, and dragon, is affected by the war in different ways. Even unwavering Ileth is given pause by the the actual fight and the business-like approach to death and destruction, but of course, finds her mettle.

“You’ll understand, some day. You’re the future of the Serpentine. I’d like to leave it, as we all must, in the right hands. With the right ideals.”*

In the midst of this battle with pirates, particularly thrilling to me is Ileth’s relationship with Aurue. Aurue, a young scaleless dragon, is like Ileth, a bit of an oddball. I love their kindred spirits and I can’t help but to hope that will one day be Ileth’s dragon. It is hard not to be impatient for Ileth to become a fully-fledged Dragoneer because I feel she deserves it so much, but I am enjoying every bit of her journey to her lifelong dream becoming true. Even more so, I love this adventure of Ileth overcoming all obstacles through sheer force of will and watching the people around her come to realize and to appreciate her strength of character and greatness.

If you enjoyed The Novice Dragoneer, love strong heroines or dragon riding stories, do not hesitate to pick up Daughter of the Serpentine. I can’t wait to read future entries in the series.

*All quotes are taken from an ARC and are subject to change.

I found this tale adventurous and exciting. The story is unique, and I found myself swept away into a land of pirates, dragons, and peril. I definitely would recommend this book to young and old readers alike. A very engaging story that keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very end!

This book was incredibly confusing; nothing in the description indicated that this was book 2 in a series and I didn't realize this until about a 3rd of the way through the book that this was the case. The writing style was engaging and the characters felt interesting. This would probably be a great book if you had read book one.

Daughter of the Serpentine by E.E. Knight, a good second book. This second book in the series can be a little slow in places but it doesn't fall victim to the curse of second books. I enjoyed it.