Drifting Dragons vols. 11 & 12

The last time we caught up with the crew of the Quin Zaza, Vannie had run away to take part in the civil war in her homeland while a good chunk of the crew followed after her.  That storyline is wrapped up halfway through vol. 12 with the same level of quality that you’d expect from the series after all this time.  Which is to say that the action is pretty solid, the food looks really tasty, and there’s no real depth to Vannie’s struggle or the conflict tearing apart her home.  While it’s nice to have some clarity regarding her backstory after all this time, this multi-volume arc mainly serves to further establish her badass credentials more than anything else.  This is a series which is far more interested in showcasing Vannie fighting off half a dozen small dragons by herself than reckoning with the choice she makes regarding her country’s future in vol. 12.

I’d be a little disappointed in all this if it wasn’t par for the course for this series twelve volumes in.  There have been flashes where it looks like it’s going to present a more fleshed out world and characters, only to fall back on the most predictable story and character tropes in the end.  At least it continues to be good in the areas it does feel interested to explore:  The hunting of dragons and cooking of their remains.  There are also some nice character bits as we see what’s up with the crew of the Quin Zaza that was left behind during this adventure, but nothing special enough to think that any of these people are going to be the breakout character find of this title.  We do get a promising story lead for the next volume as the crew needs to find a second dragon engine in order to make the ship’s new design work.  It sounds dangerous and it should be fun if it leads to some quality draking along the way.