The Mark of the Dragonfly

The Mark of the Dragonfly is the first book in Jaleigh Johnson’s World of Solace trilogy. Though one might expect to see the central characters return in subsequent installments, that isn’t the case. Piper and Anna aren’t the common thread that runs through all the books. Instead, the connecting link is the world of Solace itself and the competition between the Merrow Kingdom and the Dragonfly territories. All three novels are set in the same fictional universe, but each one unfolds in a different region and with different central characters.

The Mark of the Dragonfly examines the tension between the Merrow Kingdom to the north and the Dragonfly territories to the south. Merrow is interested in conquest and wants to take over the southern region by force of arms. In contrast, King Aron of the Dragonfly territories is interested in exploration via ships and innovative aircraft. Presumably, he might want to colonize yet undiscovered lands in Solace and is focused on enhancing the technology his region already possesses. Iron becomes especially important to both kingdoms. Merrow wants the metal to build more powerful weapons of war. King Aron wants it to build more sophisticated modes of transportation. Caught in the middle between these two factions is the crew of the 401 since the train serves both realms and travels between them.

The second book in the series, The Secrets of Solace, continues to examine the military and political ambitions of the region’s rulers from a different perspective. The book is set among the archivists who live in the mountain range to the west of the train line as it crosses through Merrow. The archivists catalog and preserve all the objects that the meteor storms deposit in Solace. Their mountain stronghold is politically neutral, while the Merrow Kingdom and the Dragonfly territories are now engaged in a feud over resources known as the Iron War. The conflict has disrupted the work in the archives because some of the local people have fled to seek shelter among the archivists to avoid the war.

This novel follows the adventures of an apprentice archivist named Lina Winterbock. Lina spends much of her time exploring the vast caves that honeycomb the mountain chambers where the archivists live and work. During one of her explorations, she stumbles upon a forgotten artifact—a sentient airship. This technology could change the course of the Iron War. Lina finds an ally in a mysterious boy named Ozben, and the two do their best to keep this new technology from falling into the wrong hands.

The third book in the series, The Quest to the Uncharted Lands, takes place after the Iron War ends, and the two kingdoms form a tentative alliance. As a joint effort, their leaders send personnel on an exploratory mission to the uncharted lands beyond their borders. The team will be traveling aboard an airship known as Iron Glory. The protagonist in this novel is a girl named Stella Glass. Her parents are healers who are part of the airship’s crew. Rather than being left behind, Stella stows away aboard the aircraft and discovers that a boy named Cyrus has also hidden aboard. The two young people also realize that a saboteur is lurking on the air ship and is intent on keeping the craft from ever reaching its destination. Cyrus and Stella take on the task of stopping the saboteur and saving the Iron Glory’s crew.

NOTE: Even though the world of Solace contains much more geographic space to spin further adventures, the author currently has no plans to continue the series.