Drifting Dragons vols 13 & 14

These two volumes follow the crew of the Quin Zaza as they track down a second engine to be used in the ship’s new redesign.  I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that they find it, as the real surprises lie in seeing what’s become of the previous ship to bear that name.  Once it’s done, they find out from Brno about a conference between shipping magnates  to expand intercontinental shipping lanes at the expense of dragons themselves.  Rather than placing bounties and harvesting them to clear the airways, they will leave it to slaying vessels like the Plana Grava to take them out on sight.  The crew of that ship is asked to prove themselves before their plan can be put into effect, and they’ve got the perfect way to do so:  Slay the legendary ship-killer Typhon themselves.

Even though these volumes cover two separate arcs, they’re still more entertaining than the multi-volume trip we took to Vannie’s homeland.  This is due to the fact that we get some key bits of backstory for the Quin Zaza and some above-average draking action for this series.  Vol. 13 does have one of the more unique dragons to feature in “Drifting Dragons” so far, even if the reader will likely figure out what’s going on before the cast does (and correctly observe that it’s borrowing more than a little from “Alien” here).  Vol. 14 has the showdown with Typhon to elevate it, even if it feels like things wrap up too quickly for a match against what has been built up as a living legend of the skies.

While this means that neither volume is bad, and both are generally engaging on balance, they really drive home the fact that this series is never going to be more than “pretty good.”  It has likeable characters, an interesting world, and generally decent storytelling from chapter-to-chapter and arc-to-arc.  However, it has yet to put all these together to take it to the next level and make it feel like the great series that these elements, and its art make it feel like it could reach.  Maybe that would change if mangaka Taku Kuwabara could deliver a genuine surprise in one of these stories that I didn’t see coming, but I think I’m going to have to resign myself to enjoying “Drifting Dragons’” current level of quality to the end of its run.