How to Train Your Dragon Books 5 and 6

By Cressida Crowell

Book 5: How to Twist a Dragon’s Tale

4 out of 5 Covers

Book 6: A Hero’s Guide to Deadly Dragons

4 ½ out of 5 Covers

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III’s troubles continue in Book 5 when a volcano threatens to unleash the Exterminator Dragons on the Viking.  These Exterminator Dragons are impossible to fight.  Fortunately, Hiccup gain a bodyguard in the form of the great Viking hero, Humungously Hotshot.  But Hotshot has a secret from the past that could spell Hiccup’s doom.

Obviously Hiccup wasn’t doomed, because there is a Book 6.  Hiccup, along with Fishlegs, Toothless and Camicazi, must sneak into the Meathead Public Library (on Hiccup’s birthday no less) to steal a copy of How to Train Your Dragon or Toothless will be banished for destroying the Hairy Hooligan tribe’s copy.  Can they get passed the Hairy Scary Librarian?  And what does it mean that there is book called A Hero’s Guide to Deadly Dragons by Hiccup Horrendous Haddock II?

Cressida Crowell increases the dramatic tension in these volumes by diversifying the threats and delving into the backstory of the world she has built.  While there have been attacks of differing sizes and powers, the Exterminator Dragons come across as a real threat that could destroy the Vikings, which makes Hiccup’s actions more heroic.  And the idea that one of Hiccup’s ancestors was, like him, fascinated by dragons is intriguing and drives the reader to continue on with the series.  Having established the Viking world in the first few books, the opportunity to develop the mythology and history of that world adds power to the plot.

And I’ll admit that I have a soft spot for Book 6 as it takes place in a library and addresses the power of books and reading.