This book had a lot of world building aspects to it. To the point I wanted to skim through at really slow points. The story that was being told from a 10 years point of view was very fascinating. I felt like I was reading A spin on Game of Thrones with the image of the avatar the last airbender fire bender land ships. It was very very beautifully written. The book did pull out emotions for me so if an author can pull on my heart strings it’s a great book.

****Please check your TRIGGER WARNINGS****

I thoroughly and whole heartedly enjoyed every part of this book. I can’t hardly wait for the next book. I’m curious to see where Evan Ramspott takes us, because I’m going to be here for all of it. The world building and character development were both totally amazing.

I highly recommend giving this book a go.

Thank you to NetGalley, Storyteller Press and Evan Ramspott, for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for my honest review.

Trigger warnings for: animal cruelty, animal death, horses set on fire, attempted sexual assault of a child, gore,

This book is 90% world building, 10% butchery, and I’m torn. On the one hand, it’s well written, and the overwhelming reality of the world is engaging and fascinating and I can’t wait for more. On the other, the butchery of the dragons is horrific and violent. All of the elements of Moby Dick are there: a Lord Marshall driven by obsession, a crew of hunter/harvester/soldiers on their mobile fortifications that track dragons, kill them, and harvest them for wealth and food, and a narrator who tells the story.

“Hadia” as she comes to be called is a ten year old and her personality is undefined, because she isn’t important. It’s the world around her, the realities of feeding the three giant vessels and their crew, of the numerous horses who pull them, the women Hadia spends time with, and the training she undergoes to be part of this crew. The dragon hunts — two of them are in the book — are well done, effective in their violence and stakes, with thought given to how the dragons would fight, how they make fire, how they might be harvested.

Really, I enjoyed almost every part of this book until the end fight which … I felt bad for the dragon. His death was neither easy nor kind, and rather than feel triumph for the crew who killed him, I regretted his pointless death. So the book did mange to leave an impression, which is good; but the impression it left wasn’t one of catharsis or enjoyment, but regret. This is the first book in the series, and I’m very curious to see where it goes from here, now that the giant dragon has been conquered.

Thank you so much to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC!

At Windsong’s End swept me into a world that feels both epic and intimate. The central pursuit, a dragon hunted not for treasure, but for vengeance, instantly grabbed me. That alone gives the story a fierce emotional core. When the narrative reveals that a ten year old girl is thrust onto a spearwell, a war machine, it immediately humanizes the grandeur. There’s weight here in every scene, a sense that this fantasy isn’t just about monsters and magic, it’s about legacy, grief, and the lengths people will go to reclaim themselves.

The writing style struck me as both confident and adventurous. Ramspott balances vivid, vivid imagery with quiet emotional beats. I could feel the tension in every turn of the spearwell’s mechanism and the potential in every moment of stillness. It reads as epic but not impersonal, characters live and breathe on the page, and the stakes feel personal, even when the world building is vast.

If I’m honest, one thing that had me pausing a bit was settling into the world’s mechanics and culture. It’s rich and detailed, which is wonderful but I did find myself wanting just a bit more anchoring early on to fully feel at home. Beyond that, I was fully invested.