Review by Alexandra.
Did you know Battledragons have three stomachs? Do you want to know what makes them special? If so, this book may be for you.
I love dragon stories so I was looking forward to this book, and I wasn’t disappointed. I kept thinking as I read it: what Harry Potter did for tales of wizardry, this book does for tales of dragons. It’s very accessible; anyone could enjoy it - older children, teens, adults.
So what is it about? Without spoilers? Well...
It’s the tale of Quenelda. She’s only 11 and yet she’s quite extraordinary; she can talk to dragons and can fly them without any problems. She’s the daughter of the most important person in the SevenSea Kingdoms after the Queen, but instead of attending Court as Earl’s daughters ought to, Quenelda wants to join the elite fighters (Stealth Dragon Forces) that protect their lands from the never-ending attacks from Hobgoblins.
In the world around Quenelda, things are not perfect, the Hobgoblins are getting help from someone inside their own ranks - a traitor is in their midst and no one knows it! When her father is put in danger, who will save him?
It’s strange as I really did enjoy this book, and it definitely gets five out of five but at the same time I was disappointed by a couple of things. First, I didn’t realize it was set up for a sequel until practically the end. It didn’t tie off as much as I’d like so it felt a bit unfinished. Also, the reason for the rise of the ‘bad guy’ (sorry for my phrasing but I’m trying not to give spoilers on who that is!) is kind of pushed into a couple of pages two-thirds of the way through, which felt a bit rushed in. But as I say, I think it’s a fantastic novel, and I can’t wait for the next one!
Review by Alexandra
I'm not a huge fan of dragon novels but this one sounds okay. Thanks for the review, Alexandra!
Posted by: Sophie | 15 December 2009 at 01:17 PM
I'm a major fan of dragons, so this really interests me. I do get frustrated when I realise too late that the story won't be resolved until the sequel... but you've kind of solved that problem with your review! I'll look out for this one.
Posted by: Lauren (I Was A Teenage Book Geek) | 15 December 2009 at 08:53 PM
It is definitely fantastic for dragon fans and anyone that likes a bit of action. I am really hoping they'd make a film of it, you can visualize so much of the book it would be fabulous to see it on screen.
Posted by: Alexandra | 18 December 2009 at 02:28 PM
Definitely going to add this title to the school library. Sounds like a great book for fantasy fans.
Posted by: Becky (The Bookette) | 19 December 2009 at 01:21 PM