This collection is a delightful, bountiful buffet of ideas. The various authors have contributed many different interpretations of dragons — as hope-inspiring beings of magic and/or technology, helping and cohabitating with humans of all stripes. Most of the major characters are female and/or queer (even some of the dragons!), and the humans are often PoC and/or followers of non-Christian faiths.

My favourite stories? Megan Reynolds’s “Petrichor” is a standout; I definitely think those shape-shifting witches using dragon form to save their village are worth the price of admission to the whole book. I also loved “Refuge” by Mindi Briar, and I wish I could spend more time with starship pilot Prince and his ethereal dragon friend, Fairy. Finally, I think “The Last Guardians” by J. Lee Ellorris was an excellent embodiment of the anthology's spirit and a perfectly placed final story to send the reader off: a dying pair of lovingly mated dragons summon the last of their magic to bring new hope to their community.

I enjoyed nearly all of the stories, although I felt that some of them didn’t quite hit their emotional/thematic marks and needed a little more fine-tuning. Others felt to me like first chapters of novels, not like stand-alone stories. Still, Wings Of Renewal includes some real gems. It’s well worth reading if you’re looking for some positive glimpses into dragon-inhabited worlds. ( )