Thursday, May 24, 2007

Here there are dragons

Ann Downer's The Dragon of Never-Was (Sequel to Hatching Magic) was quite fun. It continues the tale of Theodosia Oglethorpe (say it a couple of times-- great name!) and budding and somewhat unwilling wizard who goes to Scotland to help her professor father investigate a dragon's scale. Adventures abound, and the depiction of the Scottish countryside is pleasant without throwing in tons of dialect. Things move quickly and make sense if you pay attention.

The thing that I liked about this that was missing in The Dragon's Eye was the freshness. There were some very clever moments, but they weren't overplayed, such as this one (p.217): "With the sound of the dragon's sneeze came a smell of burnt sugar, and Merlin set down his crossword to go see what had happened."

He found the dragon in the kitchen, standing over the upturned sugar bowl, wearing a sticky mask and a hood of hardening caramel.

"So that's what happens when you sneeze on the sugar bowl," Merlin said, laughing. "Dragon brulee."

This is a good time to list a lot of dragon books. More are coming out all the time. Thought I had more.

Bradshaw, Gillian. The Dragon and the Thief
Coville, Bruce. Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher; The Dragonslayers
Cowell, Cressida. How to Train Your Dragon (series)
McCaffrey, Anne. Just about anything!
Paolini, Christopher. Eragon and Eldest
Wrede, Patricia. Dealing with Dragons
Yep,Laurence. Dragon of the Lost Sea
Yolen, Jane. Dragon's Blood (series)

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