Dance of Dragons Books In Order

Publication Order of A Dance of Dragons Books

Dance of Dragons is a series of novels written by Kaitlyn Davis, the popular USA Today bestselling author of young adult fantasy that also writes contemporary romance as Kay Marie. Marie wrote the first novel in the Dance of Dragons series of novels “The Shadow Soul” in 2014. The novel, which went on to become a bestseller, soon spawned two more titles in the series with each having a prequel to make for a trilogy. The lead character of the novels is Jinji, who embarks on a quest to become the leader of her tribe. Alongside Jinji is a varied cast of intriguing characters such as Prince Rhen and Princess Leena. The author has always had a liking for urban fantasy and after being compared to George R. R. Martin “A Song of Ice and Fire”, the novels in the series are among some of Davis’s best works. The writing in the Dance of Dragons is flawless with plot twists, plot line, and story that will have any fan of the likes of Tamora Pierce, Kristin Cashore, or Sarah J. Mass enamored from the first page to the last. Davis’s world building skills comes to the fore as she makes her world come to life with realistic characters, spirits, and shadows. The novels promise narratives full of secrets, danger, and adventure, and they do not disappoint in being intense from every aspect. Everything from the breathtaking descriptions, a good dose of hilarity, secrets, and battles offer an intense narrative that is sure to leave the adult fantasy fiction reader in thrall.

The lead character in the Dance of Dragons series is the sixteen-year-old girl Jinji that is being groomed for her marriage to the leader of the Arpapajo tribe, a man called Maniuk. Jinji is not an ordinary girl as she has the magical powers that make it possible for her to see and weave into illusions the elemental spirits of the land. Even as she is happy to be marrying the leader of her tribe, her happiness cannot overcome the longing for her brother Janu, who was mauled by a bear a few months past. She also frequent dreams of being attacked by a dark shadow with bright eyes that soon comes to life in bringing forth unspeakable violence. She would have lived in despair had it not been for meeting Rhen the prince of her country. Rhen is the descendant of Whyl the Conqueror who had conquered the Arpapajo’s lands, renamed it Whylkin and have ruled it ever since. Jinji joins Prince Rhen who is traveling the country in disguise investigating the threat from Ourthuro a hostile neighboring kingdom. Using the spirit threads, Jinji disguises herself as Janu her dead twin boy and joins the Prince in his adventures, even as she keeps her magical talents from the Rhen. Even as Rhen thinks his magical powers that make him capable of absorbing fire are secret, Jinji has him figured out as she can see his paranormal red flame threads around him. Seeking to avenge her people against a dark shadow while Rhen seeks to keep off the threat of an enemy invasion, the two unite in friendship and in adventure. But over the course of the novels their friendship will be tested to the limits from unexpected dangers inside and outside the kingdom.

The Dance of Dragons series provide engaging narratives with troubled, complex, but ultimately appealing characters in Rhen and Jinji. With great pacing, the novels move the story along quickly as the lead characters embark on a perilous voyage to Ourthuro in the Golden Isles, which are islands literally made up of precious metals. Over the course of the series, Davis introduces several other characters that offer some background narrative to the lead characters and serve to move the story forward. The stories move fast telling the political and spiritual side of the lead characters’ stories over the series. The war between the Kingdom of Whrylkin and Ourthuro make for some fantastic reading. The author achieves a realistic effect even as she does not resort to the usual crazy stroke of luck or some magical savior as the turning point in the war. The spirit side of the narratives is well written, with Jinji’s struggle with her soul and the spirit inside her making from some entertaining reading. The concept that all humans fall prey to their circumstances is also brilliantly portrayed through the shadow and spirit relationships in Jinji’s life. What makes the series even more intriguing is the conclusion as the last novel takes the beliefs he had developed in the first two novels and flips them around, to make for an explosive and unexpected ending.

“Shadow Soul”, the first novel in the Dance of Dragons series introduces the lead character Jinji. Jinji home has just been destroyed leaving her destitute, until she runs into Rhen a prince investigating the rumor of foreign invasion of his country. Using her magical powers, she disguises herself as a boy and joins the prince seeking vengeance. But even as they are travel companions, they do not trust each other as they both are keeping their identities and magical powers a secret. Rhen has the ability to absorb flames, while Jinji is a master weaver of illusions created from spiritual elements. Even as they try to hide the truth, unbeknownst to them a dark and ancient shadow lurks in the night, and it is up to the two most unlikely of friends to defeat it. Their meeting it would seem was nothing short of fate rather than coincidental, as it soon comes to light that their story is one of myth that played out centuries before.

“The Spirit Heir” is the exhilarating second novel in the Dance of Dragons series. Jinji finds herself surrounded by echoing screams and drenched in the darkness of her dungeon cell in Rayfort. The memory of Rhen being stabbed by a person in a foreign speaking voice still rings in her mind. Meanwhile, Rhen is about to get out of coma to find himself in a different world where his enemies encompass about him, his nephew seized the throne that was to be his, and his best friend is a strange woman. But even as the happenings in the human wars may seem significant to the human partaking in them, they pale in significance when placed in the context of the gathering darkness. Even as she adapts to the low light in her dungeon, memories of a past life through Jinji’s mind while Rhen gets some hope for the future after receiving a set of cryptic messages from a mysterious apparition. Tempted by their emotions and their altered relationship, the two acknowledge that a dark force looms in the darkness and that the fate of their civilization lies with them.