To Ride a Rising Storm

The Second Book of Nampeshiweisit

By: Moniquill Blackgoose

Narrated by: Charley Flyte

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A young indigenous woman and her dragon fight for the independence of their homeland in this epic sequel to the bestselling and multi-award-winning To Shape a Dragon’s Breath, “a remarkable novel that is bound to be a staple of fantasy shelves for years to come” (BuzzFeed).

Anequs has not only survived her first year at Kuiper’s Academy but exceeded her professors’ admittedly low expectations—and passed all her courses with honors. Now she and her dragon, Kasaqua, are headed home for the summer, along with Theod, the only other native student at the Academy.

But what should have been a relaxing break takes a darker turn. Thanks to Anequs’s notoriety, there is an Anglish presence on Masquapaug for the first time ever: a presence that Anequs hates. Anequs will always fight for what she believes in, however, and what she believes in is her people’s right to self-govern and live as they have for generations, without the restrictive yoke of Anglish rules and social customs. And fight she will—even if it means lighting a spark that may flare into civil war.

Critic reviews

“The smart and exciting sequel to Blackgoose’s Nebula Award–winning debut, To Shape a Dragon’s Breath, digs into the colonialism and classism of magic academy and dragon rider tropes. . . . Readers will be eager for more.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

Slow Burn into Anticipated Finale

Love! The second book in this series spends more time in character/world building, and creating that unease of political tension. Left me eager to see how the series will continue!

A dragon school that doesn’t have it’s students trying to murder each other

This book/series so far has been such a refreshing take on the fantasy schooling genre. The main character’s background, how the book is paced, where the story is focused all have me loving this series and wanting more.

Wonderful fantasy with historical important themes

The book is amazing at immersion and very thought provoking as far as the cultural themes within the fantasy setting. The magic system for dragons is so intricate and interesting. Not to mention the thought provoking message about colonization and the disregard and dismissal of Indigenous culture and removal of the people by colonizers.

Spectacular second book!

This book is well worth the wait. The characters continue to grow and wrestle with complex ideas. And the performance of character voices and accents is even more astounding than the first book.
The view of “good” privileged white folks from this angle is uncomfortable in all the right ways.

Very Nuanced

I like that the story does an unapologetic deep dive into the class and racial divides of New England. It asks minorities to learn how to navigate a world where one side is condescending vs one that is genocidal. How much of your dignity you are willing to part with for security?