The Mountain Crown is the first novella in the fantasy western series The Crowns of Ishia, written by Karin Lowachee, and published by Solaris Books. A bold novella that gives us an incredible main character in a challenging quest, and which takes the opportunity to create a perfect setting to discuss colonization and the oppression and eradication of indigenous cultures.

Méka, our main character, returns to the homeland of her nomadic tribe, the Ba'Suon, in order to fulfill an ancient, necessary rite: to capture a king dragon of the Crown Mountains, helping to maintain the ecological balance in the wild. Despite having all the necessary documentation, Méka will soon experience the distrust from Kattakans toward her people, and an act of compassion towards a dragon and a war veteran, Lilley, will put her in trouble with the authorities; as a result, a traitor Ba'suon will join her and Lilley in their journey to the mountains. A quest that will be plagued with difficult moments, decisions that can threaten to reignite the war and even the survivance of the own land.

Lowachee trusts the reader to pick the story as it goes, throwing a huge amount of intriguing worldbuilding at first, starting with the own Méka's ability, the empathy that is practically useless with the Kattakan (they are as dead for her), but that helps her to communicate with other Ba'Suon and dragons; a land with its own history, where the indigenous population has been displaced or subjugated by the invader. Putting us in her shoes allows us to experiment in first hand how she's treated as an inferior person, even if it's not reflected legally; and we can also see how the progress is forgetting about keeping the ecosystem equilibrium, a mission assumed by the Ba'Suon.

Not only that, but we have a marvelous cast of characters, especially Méka, Lilley, and Raka; not only we have a strong main character, but also a compassionate one, who will put herself in a difficult spot to rescue Lilley. Raka is a man conflicted with himself, a traitor to her roots who is drowning in his own guilt, and Lilley gives us additional context on how the war went, including a great queer subplot.

While I found this novella to be a bit dense at points, definitely I can say that Lowachee picked my interest, giving me a great read that also took the opportunity to discuss many themes that appear as a consequence of the disrespect from colonizers. We have a great and bold story, and definitely, I can't wait to continue reading more of The Crowns of Ishia in the future.