Many children grow up exposed to different types of books and quickly find interest in a specific genre or series. Whether the book is Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan or Warriors by Erin Hunter, these books hold a special place in many children’s and teenager’s hearts.
When Percy Jackson and the Olympians was brought to the screens of fans with the release of the TV show on Disney Plus, these now grown-up fans were ecstatic to see their favorite characters be depicted in a new medium.
Now, the book series, Wings of Fire by Tui T. Sutherland will experience the same exciting turn of events as the continents of Pyrrhia and Pantala will be depicted in an animated TV show on Amazon Prime, marking a triumph for the fans of the dragon world.
Wings of Fire brings to life a large world revolving around the mythical creatures of dragons. What’s so special about another book series on some fantasy creature? The world and stories told by these dragons are some of the key reasons to the book series success.
The series opened with a map of the continent of Phyrria–the world in which Wings of Fire takes place. What’s interesting to note is that a Phyrria is also a species of moth, tying reality back to the fantasy world. However, the continent is in the shape of a dragon, emphasizing the fact that this is a dragon’s world, not a human’s.
The map of the continent is divided into the seven different dragon kingdoms: The Mud Kingdom, Sky Kingdom, Sand Kingdom, Rainforest Kingdom, Sea Kingdom, and Ice Kingdom. Each of these sections have highly varied biomes that are populated by the dragon tribe best suited for the environment.
An example of this would be the ‘head’ of the continent in which the Ice kKngdom is located and is where the Icewings live. Tribes tend to live in locations that reflect their powers. Icewings can breathe out an icy blast, while Skywings are the fastest fliers and live on the ‘wing’ of the continent.
Sutherland follows the map up with a description of each dragon tribe and a drawing done by the book’s artist underneath each description.
Sandwings live in the desert region of the west, described as dragons that can withstand extreme temperatures, can breathe fire, go long periods of time without food or water, and even have venom tail barbs, reminiscent of scorpions. Their powers are a direct reflection of their environment and the creatures in such lands.
Not only are powers and coloring part of the tribe’s description but so is their leader.
All tribes are led by a queen, in a matriarchal system where females are the only ones to lead the kingdom. This is a shining example of how Sutherland differentiates herself between other fantasy writers–by choosing to rebuke the patriarchy in more traditional fantasy novels.
When reading the names of the characters in this series, it is important to note that all have names that seem to relate to the tribe. For example, the Queen of the Seawings is named Queen Coral, relating a species located in the ocean to the tribe that lives underwater in such a location. Names can be correlated to colors, gemstones, natural events, or even animals found in the region.
Sutherland also dives into the societal aspects each tribe presents in the books. Seawings put an emphasis on reading stories from scrolls, while Sandwings embrace music in music festivals. Icewings have rigid standards for the nobility and even rank their children to track the best of the best. Rainwings place an emphasis on community as they raise younger dragons together as a village rather than with separate families, with the dragons not even knowing who their parents are. The backstories of such characters dive into the convoluted and sophisticated way of applying human behavior and structure in a fantasy world to creatures who are not human.
With the dragon’s feelings and emotions presented on full display, the reader can connect with these mythical creatures and better understand them. Much of what Sutherland writes relates to real life problems but is presented in a way that children can understand. This includes scenes discussing slavery, propaganda, old versus new traditions, and even discussions on breaking cycles of revenge caused by war.
This book series is much more complex than others that also try to target the same demographic and age range. It is because of this that older readers can appreciate the sophisticated approach of tackling real life problems through a mystical world.
Due to its lack of age constraints, Wings of Fire has garnered a massive following and fan base. On YouTube, you can find video essays, discussions of lore, book theories, and even animated videos. Artists gather to create huge multi-animator projects to share with the fanbase while some use their coding skills to create fan games on Roblox.
Many people have created their own characters based on the books and given them original personalities and life stories based on the given information from the books. Some have even created their own tribes to spin off the already existing ones including: GemWings, StormWings, and DeepWings. This world lets readers expand the already existing universe, gathering more and more interested readers to view the book series as not just books, but a world to be explored and added on to.
However, it was still taken as a surprise when in 2021, Netflix announced it would be turning the beloved series into an animated TV show, featuring 10 episodes with 40 minutes each episode.
The community surged with excitement as YouTube videos, Wiki articles and fan art were all created within a few days of the announcement. More excitement was felt as Tui T. Sutherland stated that she would be able to work with the script writers and director to help make the universe come to life on the big screen.
When Netflix released teasers and backgrounds, many fans were excited to see the passion being put into the project. The community, in general, thought that this T.V. series would help draw in more readers to the books.
Some concern was felt as many believed some parts of the story would be cut out due to the graphic violence depicted in the books, while others thought that the death would be shown after the kill. Still, it was believed that the show would move forward with including such scenes, implying that the show itself would have a rating of PG.
As time passed, Netflix continued to work on the project, assigning Ava DuVernay as executive producer. More and more leaks were released, resulting in a strong sense of support from the community.
But, in May 2022, this excitement came crashing down.
The project was scrapped by Netflix and many other upcoming animated projects soon followed. Netflix pulled the plug on so many shows that people questioned why this occurred.
The answer was that Netflix had removed about 150 positions from its workforce amid a slowdown in the company’s revenue growth due to animation cuts. This decision caused Netflix to cancel many upcoming shows, claiming that the shows were shut down due to “creative issues.”
Netflix’s explanation did not quell the anger of the Wings of Fire community. As fast as material was made to celebrate Netflix for picking up the series, the community was just as quick to create videos, posts, and art of the situation to further emphasize the drastic effect of this decision.
So many were left disappointed by the sudden drop as was Sutherland. However, she decided to continue to try to find a new studio to turn the book series into a show.
Some artists of the community banded together to try to make their own animated TV show on YouTube with a 2-D art style reminiscent of old Disney cartoons. The project is called Animated Wings and the show continues to be worked on to this day.
In 2024, two years after the show was scrapped by Netflix, Sutherland announced news that shook the community once again. She was able to get Amazon MGM Studios to pick the project up from where Netflix discarded it.
Again, videos were made to celebrate the revival of the show and, despite some lingering concerns, many are hopeful that the show would continue.
Amazon MGM Studios created a new team for the project with Marc Resteghini being the new executive producer. No writer has been attached to the project yet but the community is more than happy to wait.
The year is currently 2025 and no new updates have been shared to the public regarding the T.V. show. Yet, the community stays so passionate about this new medium for the series that they are still showing support for the project through art and videos.
As the show continues down its road to production, all it takes is one google search to see how invigorated the community really is as the book series that inspires so many of them is getting more recognition than ever before.
Now, the book series, Wings of Fire by Tui T. Sutherland will experience the same exciting turn of events as the continents of Pyrrhia and Pantala will be depicted in an animated TV show on Amazon Prime, marking a triumph for the fans of the dragon world.