About the AuthorNew York Times bestselling author Michelle Sagara writes as both Michelle Sagara and Michelle West; she is also published as Michelle Sagara West. She lives in Toronto with her long-suffering husband and her two children, and to her regret has no dogs. She can be found @msagara on Twitter or http://msagarawest.wordpress.com what genre is most popular in books Cast in Flight (Chronicles of Elantra)
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Home truths, back history, and strides forward in this fascinating tale!By Kathy DavieTwelfth in The Chronicles of Elantra fantasy series for Young Adults and revolving around Kaylin Neya, still a private with the focus on Moran and the Aerians.My TakeI don't know why, but Cast in Flight was somewhat unsatisfying. Which makes no sense to me, as important discoveries are made, we learn the back history of the Aerians and something about how the Dragons view their children, Kaylin learns some unwelcome but necessary home truths (as does Moran), and, ahem, the Everlasting Emperor comes for dinner. At last, *grin*The focus here is on Aerian conflicts, and we do learn quite a bit about these birdmen. And so does Kaylin, to her cost. Moran also learns how the Dragon secretaries and undersecretaries refer to the Aerians, lol: those harpies.The politics are rife within Cast in Flight, and as always, Kaylin's choices only make things worse. After those "home truths" sink in, I'm curious as to how Kaylin will change in future installments. You do have to feel for the Hawklord with the balancing act he must perform between keeping the Emperor from flaming him to dust and "indulging" all those political liabilities.It's family issues in which love and expectations clash. It's cultural issues which tick off the interested parties who plot to murder to "rectify" the wrongs. And it takes awhile for the consequences to Kaylin's Aerian friends to sink in to my head as well as Kaylin's. It was annoying as Sagara is confusing as a writer anyway in this series, but I can see where that same confusion could be mirroring Kaylin's inability to understand as well.More conflict exists with Moran's decisions and her supposed role within her species. And I cannot blame Moran one bit for flipping her species the bird! Nor can I blame her for her reasons for doing as she did, for not fighting back. Still more conflicts prove that it doesn't matter your species, religion, race, status, whateverwe all have similar insecurities, dreams, goals, fears, and more.Oh, man, I did love Kaylin's speech about fear and respect to the Emperor. I also appreciated the Emperor pointing out to Kaylin the reasons why she must learn to act with care. Oh, boy. Never thought of all that!Kaylin does crack me up with her ambivalence about Nightshade. She thinks he deserves to be hurt (oh, yeah!), but not by Annarion (yeahokay). On the one hand, Nightshade has lost so much, but on the other hand, he's done nothing for others. It's so evocative of humanity's conflicts in which we can see both sides of an issue.I love what Kaylin has been doing with the foundling children and the Tha'alani. Quite the contrast with what the Arkon tells us about children born to the Dragons, who are not considered Dragons. It's part of his speech to explain Makuron to Kaylin.The StoryPrivate Kaylin Neya already has Dragons and Barrani as roommates. Adding one injured, flightless Aerian to her household should be trivial. Sure, the Aerian is Sergeant Moran dar Carafel, but Kaylin's own sergeant is a Leontine, the definition of growly and fanged. She can handle one Aerian.But when a walk to the Halls of Law becomes a street-shattering magical assassination attempt on the sergeant, Kaylin discovers that it's not the guest who's going to be the problem: it's all of the people who suddenly want Moran dar Carafel dead. And though Moran refuses to tell her why she's being targeted, Kaylin is determined to discover her secret and protect her at all costs even if keeping Moran safe means dealing with Aerian politics, angry dragons, and something far more sinister.The CharactersLord Private Kaylin Neya is Chosen and marked by Nightshade, although this doesn't play into Cast in Flight very much. Helen is Kaylin's house. Yes, she's a sentient building, and I want one! Hazielle was Helen's first tenant. Kaylin's familiar, a tiny dragon who can morph into a MUCH larger one, protects her and helps her to see magic ( Cast in Peril , 8).Kaylin has a wide range of housemates: Lord Bellusdeo is the only female dragon in Elantra which makes her the focus of the Emperor, and the injured Sergeant Moran dar Carafel ( Cast in Honor , 11), an Aerian in charge of the infirmary of the Halls of Law. Then there are the Barrani whom Kaylin rescued in Cast in Sorrow , 9: Annarion is Nightshade's very angry brother, and Mandoran has a quirky sense of humor. Kyuthe to each other, they are trying to come to terms with being back in the world.The Halls of Law consist ofthree divisions: the Hawks who walk a beat and investigate crime, the Swords who perform riot control, and the Wolves who are the black ops side. Kaylin is employed bythe Hawks who arecommanded by Lord Grammayre, an Aerian, the Hawklord. Corporal Lord Severn Handred had rescued Kaylin when they lived in the fief; now he's her partner, having been seconded from the Wolves. Other friends of Kaylin's in the Hawks include Teela and Tain, both Barrani; Clint, an Aerian; and, Tanner is a human. Hanson is the Hawklord's personal assistant. Other Hawks include Caitlin, who is the office mother, er, I mean, manager; Sergeant Marcus Kassan, a Leontine lion shifter, who is in charge of the day-to-day of the Hawks; and, Rakkia.The Aerians arebirdmen with wings who can fly with an affinity for Air, but they are not shifters. Their ruling caste, the dar Carafel, live in the Southern Reach. I think Gennet was Moran's grandmother. Lillias was condemned for her actions and made outcast. Aguila dar Carafel is an Arcanist. Fauconne is his father and the castelord.The Barrani area race of immortal beings and deadly enemies to the Dragons. The Lady is Consort to the Lord of the High Halls and mother to the Barrani. Kaylin has had a connection with Lord Ynpharion ever since Cast in Sorrow . Lord Evarrim, Teela's cousin, uses a lot of Arcane magic, and he despises Kaylin. The other lost Barrani included Sedarias, who had been the leader, and Terrano who chose to stay.The Dragonsrule in Elantra, specifically the Everlasting Emperor, Darranatos, who claims Elantra as his hoard. The Arkon, a.k.a., Lannagaros, is the the oldest of the Dragons with the library as his hoard. The loyal Lord Diarmat is struggling to teach Kaylin etiquette. He has still not found his hoard. Lord Emmerian is neither a possessive nor an aggressive Dragon.The Tha'alani area native race of telepaths with an affinity for Water, who are used by the emperor to question suspects and victims. Ybelline Rabon'alani is their castelord and a friend of Kaylin's ( Cast in Silence , 5). Nevoran is a young man in the Tha'alanari, that branch of the Tha'alani who are strong enough to keep their experience with outsiders' thoughts from flooding the group racial memory. Scoros is part of the Tha'alani Council.Elani Street ispart of Kaylin and Severn's beat and the heart of the Emperor's hoard. It's also where the magic shoppes are located, including the Keeper's Garden where Evanton rules and maintains a balance between Air, Earth, Water, and Fire. Grethan is his disabled Tha'alani apprentice ( Cast in Secret , 3). (Kaylin's familiar likes Grethan.) Margot does have an Oracular gift, but is mostly a fraud and Kaylin hates her. Caven is a greedy human.Master Sabrai is head of the Oracular Halls, home to the Oracles, people touched by visions. Marya is the head of the midwives guild.The fiefs areseven "neighborhoods", Seven Towers, to which criminals flee, as they are outside the Emperor's hoard. Turns out they were originally set up as protective barriers against the Shadows.Nightshade isruled by Lord Nightshade, a.k.a., Lord Calarnenne, an outcast Barrani who marked Kaylin. Meliannos is his dragonkiller sword. Karis is the Aerian who sought refuge with Nightshade centuries ago; he's now one of the statues.Barren isthe fief ruled by Lord Tiamaris, a Dragon, who sees it as his hoard ( Cast in Silence , 5); Tara is his Avatar partner, the Tower.Ravellon isthe doomed fief ( Cast in Ruin , 7) where the Shadow, Gilbert Rayelle, was born ( Cast in Honor , 11) and more Shadows reside. Makuron the Black is the Outcaste Dragon Lord who rules here.Each species has its own racial Caste Court which tries those cases which involve only those within its species. Their species law is subordinate to the Emperor's laws, which he can change as he pleases. Bletsian means blessing of wind, of air. The Illumen praevolo is born to the Aerians at a time of trouble. Shadow is a transformative magic, and its study is illegal. The etande is something like a sky bridge from one world to another. And we still don't know what an erenne is! Arcanists are independent mages. To be kyuthe is to be chosen as family.The Cover and TitleThe cover is mostly a range of yellows from the burnt orange of the cliffs on which the black leather-clad Kaylin is standing to the stormy yellows of the sky in which two Aerians are flying over the distant city of Elantra. Kaylin herself, her long brown hair flowing, has her back to us, but she has twisted her body to look back and off to the right. The vest she wears bares her arms with her bracer-encased left arm crossing her chest, her hand clasping the textured black cloak she's wearing. Her right arm with its arcane tattoos is front and center. The author's name, series information, and title are in white in varying sizes.The title is the focus, for Moran's entire purpose for the Aerians is Cast in Flight.8 of 9 people found the following review helpful. RecommendedBy maioFabulous story - yes, a story that moves forward instead of looking backwards or world building. Kaylin is growing - both mentally and emotionally. It was great to 'hear' less whining and more acceptance of her limitations due to lack of understanding, education or knowledge.The world canvas is getting very crowded. This book focused on the arian race and the usual other suspects - Nightshade, barrani, dragons, Hawks, etc... Almost every main characters from past books had a role in this book - somewhat a nice catch up book. I think the entire book only covered 7 - 8 days. So much drama in such a short time - as Mandoran say, 'it's not boring'.Hopefully the next book will be as fast pace - but will manage to move more than one week. At this rate it will take 30 more books before Kaylin turns 30. Love the stories about the all the various races - but would really like to know about Kaylin and her future as Chosen. Is she immortal? Is she mortal? What role will she play for all the races? Will she ever be able to call fire? How about being presented at the dragon court? And Nightshade....consort? So many questions - hoping the next book will answer at a few of them.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Much better than the last book; still no answersBy kadiddlyI liked this one a LOT more than I liked *Cast in Honor*, which I found very confusing and not terribly interesting. This one feels more like the books at the beginning of the series. I really enjoyed learning more about the Aerians and the Shadows and how maybe things aren't always what they seem. There's also a lot more action in this book, which was fun.I can't give it five stars, though, because there's still no real character development, nor are any of the overarching questions answered. One is tantalizingly teased towards the beginning, but then the conversation is interrupted and we still don't get any new information on it. That's getting very frustrating. Kaylin does show much more self-confidence in her home, telling off the Emperor and making suggestions to Nightshade about his brother, which is promising, and she does seem to at least try to think things through instead of accidentally stumbling onto the right answer by instinct, but this progress is a bit tempered by the seemingly constant dwelling on the past. At least, in this case, we see more of her memories of Moran, instead of the fiefs. Hopefully, the emphasis that the Emperor put on the importance of her self-awareness will force her to mature a bit.It's still a good book in the series, and if you keep in mind the fact that the events are happening much closer together in the books than when we get to read about them, the slowness of character building makes sense. Only about two years (if that?) have passed in the books, but some of us have been reading the series and wondering at questions for eleven years now, and we're getting a bit impatient, I think.