Review for A Dance to Wake a Dragon by Richard Pratt

Set in a land named Tianya, A Dance to Wake a Dragon showcases traditional eastern elements inspired by both locations and lore. Dragons, magic, and nature vie against modernization and urbanization, clashing in a way that reminded me of one of my favorite entities across all media: Princess Mononoke.

The initial premise sucked me in. Shengli, a young village girl, finds that the legacy she shared with a mother she lost far too early in life might just save the world. Dancing and music, tangled with connection outside of more than just humans, can save a broken land. Forced into a lot of responsibility for young teens, the main character, her twin friends, and her loyal dog with so much personality were also highlights of the novel for me. The execution was not.

A Dance to Wake a Dragon is listed as a young adult or teen novel, but I don’t feel like it matches that target audience. Shengli being described as thirteen does meet expectations for the genre, but the way she acts and talks seem quite a bit younger. The twins also feel the same way. If it weren’t for the themes depicted or the writing style, I’d actually recommend the title to a younger audience.

Some phrases and depictions of the places Shengli and company journey through are downright beautiful. However, they are often mired within sentences that make you feel like you’ve run a marathon by the end of them. Out of curiosity, I counted up a few toward the beginning. Multiple sentences run past 100 words and throw clause after clause at you, often getting lost in the middle a little. The general “readability” level matches postgraduate expectations. Because the content is geared toward younger readers, and the writing style creates a difficulty that’s highly demanding, I am not really sure what the target audience is.

Pacing also set me back a little as a reader. I’d argue that this is actually two books smashed into one, leaving it hard to let some of the more emotional scenes truly have the impact they deserve. Without the proper time spent on them, some events feel more like they were included for shock value rather than for the purpose of the story. For me personally, I would have DNFed after one of them if I hadn’t already been so invested by the time it happens.

I appreciated the subversiveness of several tropes in A Dance to Wake a Dragon. The journey of our heroes isn’t to slay a dragon to save the world, but to summon one. Music and dance are the methods of winning, not slashing and hacking. Readers looking for that flavor of different should enjoy.

A Dance to Wake a Dragon is available to buy on Amazon.