We return to the world of the tea dragons in this second volume of the graphic novel fantasy series, which acts as a prequel to the first. Here, the protagonist is Rinn, a nonbinary child whose uncles are tea dragon keepers Erik and Hesekiel, whom we met in the first book. While Rinn has grown up around tea dragons, they are surprised one day when they wake a real dragon, Aedhan, who fell asleep in the forest 80 years ago when he was supposed to be protecting the village. Erik and Hesekiel seek the cause of Aedhan’s slumber while Rinn tries to make him feel at home in the changed village.
Rinn is dark skinned and black haired; Hesekiel is a humanoid and llama-like; Erik is dark skinned, brown haired, and uses a wheelchair. Another character is deaf and uses American Sign Language (though only named as such in a Reader’s Note, not in the fantasy world of the tale).
Themes of friendship and community gently fill this captivating story.
