August 1, 2023 by Clarion Books
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Cassidy Drake has been raised on a dragon sanctuary farm in Texas by her feisty grandmother and her father. The farm takes in rescues, dragons that have been abused in other setting, like the evil FireCorps run by Michael Carne that uses the dragons in the manufacturing of fuel. Carne has been trying to buy the Drake's farm, but they will not sell. Cassidy is a talented dragon racer like her late mother, and her small but speedy dragon, Ranga, does well unless spooked. She decides to compete in a high stakes scavenger hunt race so that she can use the $250,000 prize to help pay off debts, but her father is protective of her and doesn't want to sign the paperwork. Her grandmother becomes suddenly ill and requires expensive hospitalization, and when she recovers a bit, signs the paperwork. Cassidy runs off to compete. She's not completely prepared, and unused to all of the backstabbing that goes on. She does find some competitors, like Laura, who are not as nasty as some. Ash, for examples, pretends to help by offering Cassidy soup, but it ends up drugging her and putting her behind. FireCorps has several racers who are working as a team, but Cassidy doesn't trust anyone, like Rion, enough to band together. She gets the clues, and does fairly well, but there are injuries, storms, and the discovery that FireCorps is using dragon steroids. Interest in her abilities is high, since her mother was a high profile racer, and her underdog story does well in the news. Will she be able to win the race and improve the situation for her family's farm, as well as for dragons?
Strengths: Tui Sutherland's Dragonet Prophecy books have rekindled interest in dragons, so I try to find books that might interest those readers. This was a bit like Silver Batal and the Water Dragon Races combined with, of all things, Teri Farley's Phantom Stallion books! Michael Carne seemed a lot like the evil Slocum, and the rescue dragons were sort of like the wild ponies! Even the grandmothers were similar. There's plenty of details of the races and caring for dragons, which is always appealing to my readers, and the extra layer of conflict with FireCorps will appeal to those who like London's Battle Dragons series.
Weaknesses: There was a lot of political stuff, as well as dragon doping, that just didn't appeal to me. I am not a huge fan of dragon books, so this is mainly a "me" issue.
What I really think: I will probably purchase this one, and I think it will do well with my students.
Strengths: Tui Sutherland's Dragonet Prophecy books have rekindled interest in dragons, so I try to find books that might interest those readers. This was a bit like Silver Batal and the Water Dragon Races combined with, of all things, Teri Farley's Phantom Stallion books! Michael Carne seemed a lot like the evil Slocum, and the rescue dragons were sort of like the wild ponies! Even the grandmothers were similar. There's plenty of details of the races and caring for dragons, which is always appealing to my readers, and the extra layer of conflict with FireCorps will appeal to those who like London's Battle Dragons series.
Weaknesses: There was a lot of political stuff, as well as dragon doping, that just didn't appeal to me. I am not a huge fan of dragon books, so this is mainly a "me" issue.
What I really think: I will probably purchase this one, and I think it will do well with my students.
I like that this is a contemporary fantasy and that it's set in Texas. I'm hoping to read it soon. Thanks for the review.
ReplyDelete