Dahl,
Michael. Duel of Dragons. (Dragonborn series) Capstone/Stone Arch 72p $22.65 978-1-4342-4039-2 2013 elm/ms VG Fantasy
When Sam meets others who have dragon
blood like himself, they must do battle to determine a leader. Duel
of Dragons is the brief second installment in the Dragonborn
series. The story picks up several years
after Sam Steven ran away from home to escape his parents, who chained him in a tower when he first
exhibited signs of having dragon blood.
Now Sam has returned to his former prison and finds that the other dragon teens are
waiting for him, hoping to find a leader. Sam
becomes fully dragon in order to fight, but the battle is interrupted by a
rogue dragon who is able to flame, rather than rely on brute strength. Leadership of the teen dragons remains
undetermined.
Dahl’s text is comprised of a handful
of sentences per page. Readers receive a
scene from a serialized novel, rather than a complete novel in one volume, and they are
immediately thrown into the action. The
volume will appeal to elementary and middle-school readers, particularly reluctant
readers. Fluent readers may find the
text too easy or even childish. However,
the volume has the right “look” for early-adolescent fantasy series, which may prompt a
challenged reader to sample a new genre.
Luigi Aime’s illustrations are the
book’s most appealing aspect. Aime is an
Italian artist who uses both traditional and digital media to create fantasy canvases.
From the dragons
depicted on the endpaper through the full-color, dramatic dragon battles,
Aime’s work will have readers and young artists poring over this volume again and again.
Dragons–Fiction, Friendship-Fiction --Hilary
Welliver
No comments:
Post a Comment