“Every wish demands a price.” At eight years old, Hanalei pays it, and then some. An assassination attempt leaves little Hanalei and Princess Oliana in a magical coma. The only cure is the rare dragonfruit, a seadragon egg. When Hanalei’s father steals an egg meant for Oliana and uses it to revive his only child, Hanalei’s life is restored, but at great cost. Alone and in a strange land, she learns to do whatever it takes to survive.
Years later, fate returns her to the nation of Tamarind. Her childhood friend, Prince Samahtitamahenle, is trying to keep his queendom from fracturing. Their society is matriarchal, but the elderly queen is ailing, his mother still sleeps, and he has no wife or heirs. More dragonfruit is spotted along the coast, and it’s a race against time and greed. They have to reach the eggs before they hatch and before the wicked colonizer Captain Bragadin can get his slimy hands on them. Bragadin wants to profit off them like he does with seadragons (think 19th century whaling industry), no matter who is hurt or killed in the process. But is there a way to save Oliana while also saving the seadragons? Can Hanalei restore the balance destroyed by capitalism?
If you ever want a solid beach read, Makiia Lucier has you covered. Her YA fantasies are fast-paced yet thoughtful, full of derring-do, romance, and just enough violence to keep you on your toes. Dragonfruit is similar to her other works. You have a handsome noble son harboring a crush on a childhood friend, a beautiful young woman with deep pockets and a fiery attitude, and a cast of secondary characters who range from passionately loyal to humorous sidekick to curmudgeonly guide. Someone unexpected will betray protagonists, and a beloved side character will undergo a terrible ordeal. And it’s all set around a vaguely 18th century vibe.
Buy the Book
Dragonfruit
I don’t want to imply that Lucier’s novels are interchangeable or shallow. Although her YA fantasies follow a similar structure and are set in the same fantasyland—we don’t have a name for the world yet, but characters and countries from the Tower of Winds series, Year of the Reaper, and Dragonfruit pop up in each other’s books—each feel new and exciting. We knew there were sea monsters in this world thanks to the Tower of Winds, but here we’re introduced to seadragons. There is less romance in this novel than her previous ones, and she fills that void with more blood and animal deaths than I anticipated. There were two deaths in particular that were hard for me to get through. Fair warning.
In her acknowledgements, Lucier mentions being inspired by Manuia Heinrich Sue’s article in Apex Magazine, “How We “Island” Our Writing: A Deep Dive Into Pacific Islander SFF.” Sue points out that many of the books labeled Pacific Islander are written by colonizers—a quick perusal of some of those AAPI book lists going around right now proves that point. Sue also notes the importance of Pacific Islander authors centering their cultures and literary/mythic traditions in their work. It’s clear with Dragonfruit that Lucier took Sue’s words to heart.
Lucier imbues Dragonfruit not just with her own life growing up in Guam but also with other societies indigenous to the islands of the Pacific. Hanalei and Sam live on an island nation much like Elias, Mercedes, Ulises, and Reyna from Tower of Winds, but the former’s is more reminiscent of Pacific Islander culture. For instance, “Hanalei” is the name of a town and bay on Kaua’i, Hawai’i, and the Tamarind people bear elaborate tattoos that mark their personal and ancestral histories similar to Polynesian tattoo styles. There is so little Pacific Islander YA fiction written by actual Pacific Islanders, and even less when it comes to YA speculative fiction (fantasy, science fiction, and horror), so I jump on every opportunity I get to indulge.
The draw of Makiia Lucier’s work isn’t just its cultural context. Dragonfruit is, above all else, a thoroughly enjoyable story with characters you can’t help but root for and a world you want to dive into. I relished every word on every page. Come for the summer romance, stay for the dragons.
Dragonfruit is published by Clarion Books.
