My daughter is a huge fan of the Wings of Fire series by Tui T. Sutherland. At first she was only able to get her hands on one novel every few months or so, but as soon as she got her hands on the rest of the books that were available up to that point, she devoured them all. Her enthusiasm about the stories and characters spilled over into the art pieces she created, and even her writing. She became very adept at drawing dragons, and created an entirely new species of dragons to incorporate into her fanfiction. It was impossible not to notice her excitement but the rest of us weren’t familiar with the series, so she didn’t have anyone to gush over the storylines and characters with.
When my daughter asked me if I would read the Wings of Fire books she had, so that we could talk about them together, I said I would give them a try. I started with the graphic novel versions because they were quicker to get through, and she was eager to get started on our chats. When I began this journey, only seven of the novels had been adapted into graphic novels. I thoroughly enjoyed having something to bond over with my kiddo. The art was very well done, those dragons were quite expressive, and the writing was engaging as well. When I ran out of graphic novels, my daughter’s enthusiasm had not dimmed any and I said I would continue on reading the full novels. I enjoy middle-grade stories and children’s books, so it wasn’t much of a stretch for me to get into Wings of Fire too, but I was admittedly relieved to find that Tui T. Sutherland’s writing style and humor kept me absorbed in the stories without the art. Having read both traditional novels and graphic novels in the series, I’d say that both have merits.
~Brought Escaping Peril with me to the beach. (Oct. 3, 2024)~
I did slow down in my consumption of the Wings of Fire books because I was reading full novels, but my daughter would check where my bookmark was each day, when I came down with the book I was on, to see which part of the story I was in. It gave me a nice push to keep going, because even though I was enjoying them, I was also busy, feeling poorly, and additionally trying to finish the Wheel of Time series because Raymond was eager to discuss it with me. (In case you were wondering, I did finish the Wheel of Time series.) I made the deadline for myself so that my kiddo could freely discuss all of the dragons and storylines with me without fear of spoiling anything for me. Also, there is a new novel coming out in March, so I needed to be caught up in time for that as well, because I know my daughter will be eager to discuss it too.
~Using the cute bookmark my daughter made me to mark my place in book ten. (Dec. 24, 2024)~
At the time of creating my Forty Before Forty list, I had at least twelve books on my list. I don’t remember if I only started with the twelve I listed below, or if this is just what remained when my daughter made the checklist for me. Regardless, these were the ones that I had not read that were left, up until the most current at the time, which was Escaping Peril. (There have been a couple more graphic novels released since this list was made.)
~Front stack: The remainder of the Wings of Fire books I challenged myself to finish.
(Jan. 18, 2026)~
- The Lost Continent #11
- The Hive Queen #12
- The Poison Jungle #13
- The Dangerous Gift #14
- The Flames of Hope #15
- Dragonslayer (Legends)
- Prisoners (Winglet)*
- Assassin (Winglet)*
- Deserter (Winglet)*
- Runaway (Winglet)*
- A Guide to the Dragon World
- Escaping Peril (Graphic Novel)
*My daughter had The Winglets Quartet, so I read them all in one book.
~All of the Wings of Fire books I have read, minus The Poison Jungle
because I couldn’t find it when I took this picture. (Jan. 18, 2026) ~
We not only have read the books together, we’ve met Tui T. Sutherland together, twice. Raymond drove me, along with our daughter and our son, to an author Q&A just east of us in North Carolina. After we listened to her speak about her writing, upcoming projects, ships and all sorts of things that made the crowd go wild, we got in line to have our books signed. We were one of the last groups, but she was very gracious still. I say that, because I am sure she had to be exhausted at that point and I know my social battery would be gone at that point. My son and I got the special edition, signed copies of The Dragonet Prophecy that came with our tickets signed and personalized, while my sweet girl got her copy of Talons of Power signed because it’s her absolute favourite (and she adores Turtle).
~My daughter, creating a core memory right here with Tui T. Sutherland. (Oct. 1, 2024) ~
~Waiting in line with our books to get them personalized. (Oct. 1, 2024)~
Raymond and I also took our daughter to FanWing Fest last year. We went to the stop in Georgia, and she made friends with a small group of kids about her age. A lot of them were dressed up as dragons from the series. My daughter was dressed up as Kinkajou, a Rainwing dragon. She had the time of her life, and went up with her entire new group of dragon friends during the costume fashion show. They called themselves the Diamond Winglet. It was fun to see her soaking up so much joy, and participating in the activities. It was a bit awkward for me and my husband, because the activities seemed to be mostly aimed at children, and I think it was generally assumed that the kids were the fans. However, I really enjoy the books too and felt a little out of place as a result. We got to take a picture with the author before we left, and it did my heart so much good to see our daughter beaming all the way home.
~FanWing Fest was a success for our little Kinkajou. (May 31, 2025)~
~I had a lot of fun making decorations for my daughter’s birthday party. She has these dragon eggs on her bookshelves now. (June 2025)~
So, if anyone quietly wondered to themselves why I included this goal on my list, I hope this gives you a better understanding of my motivation. It’s an excellent series, but moreover I thoroughly enjoy having something that brings my daughter and I closer together. It took me a bit longer to finish because said daughter was unable to locate a few of her books in the abyss that is her room, but once she found them I made quick work of reading them as well. I wanted to include pictures, so it took me even longer to get around to posting a blog about my success. I couldn’t find all of the books (again, refer back to the abyss that is my daughter’s room).
On Sunday, I got fed up with how much pain I was in and decided to throw myself into organization, blogging and finding those books for photos. I confess, I didn’t realize book thirteen was missing in the first shots until I set up the next. All I could find was the dust jacket, so I wrapped it around a different book for the purpose of documentation. I am well on my way to checking off some more of the remaining goals, but I am concerned about a few of them given our financial predicament. However, it is still satisfying to have pushed myself to get so many things done already. I think I am on track to do better than I did with my Thirty Before Thirty, which is an accomplishment itself.
Goal Accomplished: December 31, 2025
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