Sir Callie and their friends are back! In this second volume of the series, the 12-year-old, nonbinary Callie is hopeful for change in the Kingdom of Helston. After the events in Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston, girls can now train to fight and boys can use magic—at least in theory. In reality, opposition to such changes is fierce, anti-magic sentiment is growing, and tension with the neighboring land of Dumoor, home to dragons, is on the rise. When even the queen seems to side with the more conservative voices, things come to a head. Callie must leave their two dads and flee with their friends—Crown Prince Willow and the children of the former chancellor, Elowen and Edwyn, finding refuge in Dumoor. There, they learn things that contradict all they have long been taught about both Helston and Dumoor. But who is right? And who can they trust as war looks imminent?
Once again, author Esme Symes-Smith brings us a tremendously likeable protagonist in Callie, chivalrous without being patronizing, quick to defend what they think is right, yet sometimes unsure of what that is or how to go about it. In this volume, too, the crush between Elowen and Callie evolves further; Prince Willow takes more steps to claim his gender-creative identity, and Edwyn begins to deal with the lingering effects of abuse and trauma.
As the clash between Helston and Dumoor looms, too, Symes-Smith offers reflections on what happens when a war isn’t about good versus evil, but about two lands, each with its own faults and each at the mercy of its flawed rulers. Callie’s dad Neal says to them at one point, for example, “You are going to be a knight. It is your duty to understand that nothing is so simple as right and wrong, good and evil.” Elsewhere, Callie reflects that they know the feeling of “Everyone with a different story, and the truth is getting harder and harder to grasp. Exhausted just by trying to hold on to the shards of a thousand different stories when all you need is the truth.” The lessons here about the difficulty of making sense of a complicated conflict feel exceptionally timely. And on a purely literary level, it’s refreshing to read a fantasy tale that takes a critical look at the old trope of good versus evil.
The book also weaves in themes of marginalization, privilege, and social justice, mostly bound with gender and gender roles, but also tying into who can use magic. It’s an imaginative take, more relatable than pure allegory and less simplistic than just mapping the real world’s mores and problems onto the story.
In one section, though, Callie and friends end up discussing gender identities and romantic orientations with some new friends (I’ll be vague on who in order to avoid spoilers), and learn terms like like “lesbian” and “nonbinary.’ The use of modern terminology could be seen as a lack of imagination in the worldbuilding of this medieval-inspired land. I would contend, however, that we instead view this as an attempt at real-life worldbuilding, giving young readers (of all identities) the actual terminology and concepts they need to build understanding in the real world. Wrapped in a fantasy adventure tale rather than a book “about” gender and relationships, this information just might have a greater chance of being read by those who need it. Symes-Smith has also always taken a lighthearted, engaging worldbuilding approach that blends contemporary lingo (e.g., “on brand”; “sorry not sorry”) into its fantasy setting, so their use of modern LGBTQ terms feels less out of place than it would in a more strictly Tolkien-esque novel.
The broader themes never overwhelm the thoughtfully drawn personalities of each character, though, or the evolving relationships among them. The book ends on a cliffhanger that would be frustrating if it didn’t portend the coming of yet another volume in this highly recommended series.
Callie, her dads, Elowen, and Edwyn read as White; numerous secondary characters indicate skin tone diversity in the world. Two major characters use xi/xir pronouns, a rare use of neopronouns in middle-grade literature. Another uses “she/they” pronouns, another rarity in the genre, and when a different character finds out, he is excited to learn that some people can have more than one set of pronouns. We also met a two-woman couple in addition to the two-man couple of Callie’s dads.
Content warning: Childhood physical abuse and trauma.
