The Dangerous Gift

The Dangerous Gift will be the fourteenth book in the New York Times bestselling series Wings of Fire and the fourth book in the third arc. It will be released on March 2nd, 2021. While the cover and summary of this book have not yet been revealed, the protagonist was disclosed to be Snowfall. The title The Dangerous Gift was released at a Barnes & Noble's Wings of Fire Fan Fest on March 7th, 2020.

It is preceded by The Poison Jungle and will be followed by Book Fifteen, which is currently unnamed.

Excerpts

Excerpt #1

This excerpt was read to fans at Barnes and Noble's Wings of Fire FanWing Fan Fest. The excerpt below of the first chapter was recorded by a fan and transcribed from that, so it may not be entirely accurate. However, another fan stated that it covered all the main points. Snowfall was going to be the very best queen of the IceWings ever. THE BEST. She was going to keep all of her dragons safe. They were all going to be healthy, and prosperous, and safe — and no one was going to die of any more evil magic plagues, like the one that killed the previous queen. NO ONE. NOT ON HER WATCH! Queen Snowfall had a plan. Or, at least, she had a firm death grip on an idea that was kind of like a plan. That plan was: STAY AWAY FROM OTHER DRAGONS! No more getting involved in other tribes' STUPID wars! No more summits with queens who talked down to her, or eyed her, like she might be the one to start the next war! No more interactions with the NightWings — ever! None of this inter-tribe, peace-talk empathy-building, drum-circle nonsense! IceWings were a GREAT tribe! They didn't NEED any other tribes! Those subjects of hers who wanted to go explore, to meet other dragons, and study in their perilous, flammable schools? They needed to be stuffed into igloos until they came to their senses! (She hadn't actually imprisoned anyone in an igloo YET. Just to be clear. It was only an idea. For now, she let a few dragons go to the Jade Mountain Academy, because of all the grumbling, and whining, and alarming enthusiasm at the idea. But she was hoping they would come back with stories about how TERRIBLE it was! And by then, all the other curious IceWings would have forgotten about ever wanting to leave.) No, in Snowfall's vision of her reign, all IceWings would stay IN the kingdom, where she could keep an eye on them. Other dragons would stay out of the kingdom and there would be NO MORE dealing with tribes that weren't them. Not unless she said so. It was a good plan. A straightforward plan. A nice, safe, brilliant plan. Except for the problems. Problems like queens who kept sending her messages about alliances, and trades, and building more schools like Jade Mountain Academy. (Shut UP, Ruby! Go AWAY, Glory! Deal with your OWN stupid dragons, Thorn!) Problems like the IceWings on her own council who wanted to meet with the NightWings and try to "build a bridge" over "centuries of violence and hatred" after that blasted magic empathy spell that had ended their last battle. Problems like not knowing exactly where everyone was, and having to wonder where the missing dragons in question had left the Ice Kingdom! Or were still lurking around somewhere? Maybe plotting some cold-blooded murder. Most urgently, the problem of the fact that hundreds of strange dragons were apparently flying towards her shores at this very moment.

Excerpt #2
This excerpt was read to fans on a live Crowdcast and transcribed as accurately as possible. More information flying in soon...

More information flying in soon…

Summary

The #1 New York Times bestselling series continues!

"In the newest installment of the Wings of Fire series, tensions are higher than ever as we prepare for a fight for the survival of dragonkind!"

Plot

Chapter Two

Tui read a part of chapter two at this Crowdcast discussion. Queen Snowfall was by herself for a few moments before she interacts with Lynx. Lynx greets the queen as "Snowfall," before being corrected by her as "Queen Snowfall." Snowfall proceeded to think about how Lynx was her biggest competition throughout training after Hailstorm was captured, and that Lynx was a hard, smart worker who often got her teachers to like her, and that Snowfall has wanted to strangle her more than a thousand times. Snowfall then thought about how Lynx was at the top of the dragonet rankings, and one year away from moving to the adult rankings, and that she could "flick her all the way into the Seventh Circle if she wanted to." Snowfall asked if Lynx had been spying on her, to which Lynx made a rueful face, spread her wings, and said: "I am, actually." This led Snowfall into many suspicions about Lynx, like wondering if she was working for the NightWings, the invading dragons (presumably the dragons flying to Pyrrhia from Pantala), Crystal, all of the above, or writing to Winter about what a terrible job she's doing (and that Lynx and Winter were always too friendly), or even that she'd convinced him to round up a bunch of SeaWings to invade. When Snowfall asked why Lynx was spying on her, she replied that she was worried about her, making Snowfall become very bewildered. When Snowfall got her bearings, she snapped at Lynx, stating that she was all right, as she's the queen. Lynx observed that those two things don't exactly go together, then Snowfall suspiciously asked if Lynx thought she'd be better at being the queen, to which Lynx completely denied, saying she'd never want to be queen. Snowfall snatched a moon globe and batted it into a window of another IceWing. Lynx said that she was worried that the only dragons Snowfall got to talk to were "old and bossy and kind of mean." Snowfall privately agreed that that described the council of dragons who "nominated themselves to guide the new young queen." Snowfall said that some would say that maybe she was mean and bossy, and Lynx jokingly agreed with that, then said that was why Snowfall needed some agreeable dragons to hang out with her that didn't make her brain hurt all the time. Snowfall asked if that meant someone like her, and wondered how Lynx knew that her brain hurt all the time. Lynx replied that she was not agreeable at all, and said, "you would be like, 'fetch be a narwhal', and I'd be like Uhhh whyyyyy? Narwhals are heavy and I'm reading,' and you'd say, 'But I want one, right now,' and I'd say, 'then go get one, bossy tail,' and you'd bellow, I AM YOUR QUEEN, and I'd be like, 'yeah, but this book is at a really exciting part though…' and then you'd probably have me [executed?]. And that would be super irritating. You already know this about me." Snowfall then asked Lynx how she knew that her brain hurt all the time, then amended that to asking why Lynx thought her brain hurt all the time. Lynx replied carefully that Snowfall hadn't stopped frowning since the beginning of the plague (and that she thought that would give anyone a headache), that her brain is always tired when all she has to do is study and train and sit at the top of the dragonet rankings, but Snowfall had to do all the "queen stuff" and the "sad bit." Snowfall cut her off, stating that she wasn't a low noble like Lynx, so she could do all the queen stuff just fine and it was what she was preparing for her whole life. Lynx observed that it hadn't really had much of a "whole life" though, to which Snowfall said that Lynx didn't know that because maybe she was planning to challenge her mother next week. She turned and paced away, and thought about how Lynx was right that she should have had at least a couple more decades to prepare to be queen, and that that was what Darkstalker stole. Lynx caught up to Snowfall, walking beside her rather than behind her, which made Snowfall wonder how Lynx did so well on her exams. Lynx said that maybe it was better for Snowfall this way because rather than having to take the throne before someone else did (like Icicle), the throne was just given to her. Snowfall replied that she could've taken it anytime she wanted to.

Trivia

• The cover has not come out yet, but Tui has confirmed that Lynx will appear on the back cover, likely only on the hardcover versions, like Moon Rising, Escaping Peril, and Talons of Power.
• Tui stated that someone (a "she") knows more than they appear to.
• Tui has stated that Wren will appear in The Dangerous Gift.
• Tui stated that three characters from Dragonslayer will be in The Dangerous Gift.
• This book will reveal why animus magic is not working.
• Umber and Sora will not appear in this book.

References

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