Book Review: The Griffin's Flight

By Sandy Amazeen Feb 3, 2011, 16:03 GMT

Although he was once chosen as a griffin\'s companion, Arren Cardockson was reviled, betrayed, and ultimately killed. Brought back to life by a power beyond his understanding, Arren flees for the frozen sanctuary of the North. With the man-eating griffin Skandar by his side, and an entire country hunting him, Arren has little hope of reaching the place of his ancestry and of lifting his curse. But then he comes ...more

The Griffin’s Flight picks up Arren Cardockson’s story shortly after The Dark Griffin where, with the help of Skandar a black griffin, Arren wreaked his revenge on those who orchestrated his fall and destroyed a city. During the course of those actions, Arren plunged to his death. Skandar, unable to accept the loss of the only ally he’d ever known, unwittingly used some serious griffin magic to bring Arren back. Hunted by all griffiners and most of the southern population, the pair has taken refuge in the far north. While remaining hidden, Arren searches for anyone who might know why he lives without a heartbeat. Arren’s noblewoman girlfriend, pregnant with his child struggles with grief and the sting of what she sees as bitter betrayal by the man she once loved.

During their travels, they meet with Skade, a fellow renegade who is not what she appears to be who agrees to help Arren find someone schooled in the ways of magic that might restore them both. As the three attempt to elude detection in the northland, Skade fills Arren in on the bloody history of the area. They eventually find a haven of sorts where Arren undergoes the rites of passage necessary to turn him into someone capable of uniting the people in an uprising. It is a destiny Arren wants no part of and in an all or nothing gamble; he risks everything to free those he loves.

With better developed characters, a stronger plot, subplots, and more detailed world building, the second book of the Fallen Moon series makes a better read then The Dark Griffin. Readers learn more about Arren’s mysterious resurrection and while there still isn’t much made of griffins’ magic, there are hints of what they are capable of. The conclusion has a déjà vu sense, as it seems Arren has been in that hopeless position before. Particularly interesting is the cover art which portraits a giant hawk instead of the griffin shown on The Dark Griffin leading readers to wonder which is the more accurate rendering.