NextBookAfter Magic Academies, Liberation, and Polyamory

Books Like To Ride a Rising Storm

Readers loved the way To Ride a Rising Storm weaves rigorous dragonriding training and detailed magic systems into a powerful story about sovereignty and resistance. The immersive alt-historical language and step-by-step "skiltakraft" lessons pull you deep into academy life, while political tensions and a provocative student society raise the stakes with every chapter. A compelling dual-love-interest thread and escalating action at home make this sequel nearly impossible to put down, building to a finale that will leave you breathless.

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Mastering Magic Through Academy Training

You loved watching skills build step by step—riding drills, exams, and those lab-precise skiltakraft exercises that made dragon magic feel earned and real. These next reads deliver that same satisfying progression: clear rules, hands-on craft, and characters who grow stronger one lesson at a time.

The Go-To Read
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Eon

by Alison Goodman

  • Dragon-bonding drills & high-stakes exams = skiltakraft-level precision vibes
  • Energy-channeling practice w/ measurable costs—magic feels earned, not given
  • Disguised protag navigating academy politics under intense surveillance pressure
  • Forbidden bond + court intrigue = classroom craft meets real consequences
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The Under-the-Radar Pick
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Shatter the Sky

by Rebecca Kim Wells

  • Dragon-bonding academy w/ scent-based drills & harness protocols you'll feel
  • Stolen heritage + infiltration plot = every lesson doubles as rebellion
  • Sapphic love triangle unfolds mid-training without killing the craft vibes
  • Step-by-step flight progression hits like skiltakraft but make it dragons
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The Wildcard Pick
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So Let Them Burn

by Kamilah Cole

  • Dragon-bonding boot camp w/ graded sky trials & rule-bound drills
  • Magic treated like science—protocols, performance evals, measurable progress tbh
  • Co-rider enemies-to-? tension during formation flights & incendio duels
  • Post-colonial academy setting where every lesson = survival & sovereignty
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Liberation Struggle at the Heart

You felt the weight of occupation pressing against every lesson and flight drill, turning Thaya's academy year into something far bigger than exams. Now you'll find stories where magical training or coming-of-age journeys collide with the fight for sovereignty—where personal growth and political awakening can't be untangled.

The Go-To Read
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Fireborne

by Rosaria Munda

  • Dragonrider academy where every drill = a fight for liberation
  • Post-revolution world wrestling w/ colonial violence & who rules next
  • Dragon formations become literal political theater during mass uprisings
  • Dual POVs keep it intimate while revolution burns around them
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The Under-the-Radar Pick
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This Ends in Embers

by Kamilah Cole

  • Imperial dragon academy where every drill = choosing your homeland's freedom
  • Bond protocols & flight formations meet anti-colonial resistance at school
  • Sapphic love triangle mirrors the sovereignty vs. empire war brewing
  • Dragon bonding becomes political weapon—liberation or subjugation on the line
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The Wildcard Pick
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Dragonfall

by L. R. Lam

  • Dragon-human bond w/ ritual magic rules parsed step-by-step like skiltakraft
  • Anti-colonial insurgency: exiled dragons fight to reclaim sovereignty from human rule
  • Staged skill progression (sigils, cons, artifacts) = academy urgency, underground
  • Queer slow-burn romance threaded through loyalty, desire & explicit consent dynamics
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The Slow Burn That Ignites

You loved how To Ride a Rising Storm layered tension chapter by chapter, then delivered that explosive finale you couldn't put down. These next reads master that same patient build—stacking stakes, deepening pressure, and rewarding your patience with climaxes that make every carefully placed piece worth it.

The Go-To Read
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The Priory of the Orange Tree

by Samantha Shannon

  • Dragon-bonding trials meet court intrigue—parallel slow burns explode together
  • Codified Water Trials & oaths = same rules-forward magical rigor
  • East vs West imperialism interrogated on-page, sovereignty stakes front-loaded
  • F/F romance collides w/ royal duty—dual pull sustained thru climax
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The Under-the-Radar Pick
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Rebel Dragon

by Steve Turnbull

  • Enslaved dragon-keeper escapes empire, earns trust one flight at a time
  • Personal survival stakes explode into full-blown systemic rebellion arc
  • Rule-bound dragon handling = satisfying skill progression that pays off
  • Slow-burn tension detonates in sky-blazing aerial combat & hard choices
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The Wildcard Pick
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Novice Dragoneer

by E. E. Knight

  • Orphan w/ stutter trains dragoneer—slow academy grind → high-stakes mission payoff
  • Semester-by-semester tension stacking = that same patient build you loved
  • Hands-on dragon care & flight drills mirror skiltakraft's methodical immersion
  • Procedural climb erupts into enemy-territory chaos that rewards every chapter
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A Language All Its Own

You loved how Blackgoose's alt-historical vocabulary—Anglish titles, culture-coded terms, and craft jargon—pulled you deeper into the world with every page. The books ahead offer that same delicious learning curve: invented languages and specialized vocabularies that reward your attention and make each world feel utterly, thrillingly real.

The Go-To Read
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Blazewrath Games

by Amparo Ortiz

  • Dragon-racing lexicon hits like skiltakraft—positions, flights, heat codes explained fast
  • Training-camp drills & rule-forward magic = academy structure w/ sports twist
  • PR sovereignty stakes mirror anti-colonial classroom politics you loved
  • Queer team dynamics + propulsive voicey pacing = compulsive listen
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The Under-the-Radar Pick
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The Mountain Crown

by Karin Lowachee

  • Invented terms (suon, Ba'Suon, covenants) = that Anglish-level world-building high
  • Anti-colonial dragon pact w/ rules-heavy magic system you can track
  • Culture-coded vocab drops you straight into occupied homeland sovereignty stakes
  • Crisp novella pacing + audio narration locks in terminology fast
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Complex Romance Between Three

You watched Anequs navigate her feelings for two partners, weaving emotional tension through every political twist. The books ahead offer that same queer-positive, slow-burn complexity—relationships that deepen loyalties and complicate choices while the larger story unfolds around them.

The Go-To Read
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The House of Always

by Jenn Lyons

  • Queer triad w/ jealousy + consent convos like Anequs's dual romance
  • Soul-binding magic rules give same crunchy skiltakraft vibes
  • Anti-imperial stakes mirror sovereignty fights from the academy
  • Dragons + world-ending tension = high-stakes relationship pressure
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Campus Politics and Secret Societies

You watched Eiji navigate the tension between radical talk and real action when a student society recruited her, only to hesitate when words had to become deeds. Now you'll find more stories where campus clubs, underground movements, and ideological debates turn school halls into arenas of loyalty, courage, and choice.

The Go-To Read
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Legendborn

by Tracy Deonn

  • Secret society recruits her, then balks when she demands real change
  • Structured magic trials + oaths = Eiji's skiltakraft vibes but Arthurian
  • Anti-colonial lens exposes whose power the Order protects & erases
  • Love triangle complicates loyalty inside campus hierarchy & ideology
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The Under-the-Radar Pick
No qualifying title under provided constraints cover

No qualifying title under provided constraints

by N/A

  • No current title hits dragonrider academy + Indigenous anti-colonial lens together
  • We need dragons, sovereignty politics & queer campus tension in one
  • Eiji's student-society dilemma deserves a perfect match—none exists yet
  • Relax one constraint (dragons? academy? representation?) for a real rec
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