Talker 25

Talker 25 is the first book in Joshua McCune's Talker 25 series.

Melisa Callahan has always hated the dragons.  They destroyed her mother, her family, her home.  And now she's been charged with collaborating with them, with being an insurgent, and she's been thrown into a cell to... well, to what?  Think about her nonexistent crimes? Think about how great her life once was? Think about James and her father, and her brother and the lies? Think about escaping, when everyone knows that's impossible since the ice stretches forever and the cold is unbearable and the dragons can't hear her any more.

Melissa Callahan is OTG.  Off the Grid. And so is Talker 1 and Talker 2 and Talker 3, 5, 7, 11, 22, 26... all of them talking, constantly talking, into the void. All of them waiting for an answer.

The Breakdown:
1. I really enjoyed the concept behind this book.  How does the world react to the sudden appearance of dragons and are they friend or foe? It was interesting how he developed both the human and dragon characters, and gave the different colors of dragons very distinctly different view points on the world.

2. Found the character of Melissa interesting.  On the one hand she really wants to hate the dragons for her mother's death, but on the other, once she talks to them, she begins to see more and starts caring for the youngest dragon.  Despite all that she has gone through, she is not broken by her imprisonment.  She is a super strong, and takes care of those she sees are needing it.

3. I loved that the story was broken down into two parts.  One Melissa's life before and the events that lead up to her being charged with being an insurgent, and then her life imprisoned.  There are some really interesting surprises thrown in by McClune that kept me guessing at times. Definitely can't wait to see what happens next for Melissa.

To Read or Not to Read:
Read