This fifth book wrapped up the plot arc of the dragonet prohecy. It’s narrated by Sunny, the smallest of the five dragon protagonists. I think she’s one of my favorite characters. Sunny is very kind and always the optomistic one. Unfortunately her friends often dismiss her as just being little and cute, not really consequential. But Sunny proves in this book that she’s quite clever, and can be just as bold and brave as any dragon. She’s off on her own in this story, determined to still do something about the war, even after that devestating revelation about the prophecy. She goes to the Sandwing kingdom where she learns more about her parentage (and why she’s different from other dragons), runs into an old enemy, and uncovers quite a few important secrets. Sunny comes up with a real plan to end the dragon war, a thing that seems nearly impossible as there’s plenty of dragons who are happy to drag it on for decades, no matter how many dragons die. I liked seeing more about the human “scavengers” in this book, who yes, do have more of a role to play in what’s going on with all the dragon tribes! Oddly, they seem able to understand the dragons, either that or they have their own knowledge of dragon history, based on some of their actions. I really hope that gets explained in future books in the series. Didn’t mention it before, but the last few books and this one have, alongside the spying, kidnapping and violence, a few love stories developing between certain dragons. And I liked how that was handled- it was just as complicated and confusing as real relationships can be, but these young dragons are figuring things out.
In the end of The Brightest Night, Sunny’s actions along with the support of her friends, draw all the dragons together in a final confrontation with the three warring Sandwing queens. Again, nothing in this final scene went as I expected, which is delightful. I think this series is really growing on me, much in the way the Animorphs did. It’s a story that has a lot more going on than you’d expect at first, with continued surprises for the reader. And a very satisfying ending.
