Dragon Slayers Academy

#1 The New Kid at School

#2 Revenge of the Dragon Lady

#3 Class Trip to the Cave of Doom

#4 A Wedding for Wiglaf?

#5 Knight for a Day

#6 Sir Lancelot, Where Are You?

#7 Wheel of Misfortune

#8 Countdown to the Year 1000

#9 97 Ways to Train a Dragon

#10 Help! It’s Parents Day at DSA

#11 Danger! Wizard at Work

 #12 The Ghost of Sir Herbert Dungeonstone

#13 Beware! It’s Friday the 13^th

#14 Pig Latin—Not Just for Pigs!

#15 Double Dragon Trouble

#16 World’s Oldest Living Dragon

#17 Hail! Hail! Camp Dragononka!

#18 Never Trust a Troll!

#19 Little Giant—Big Trouble

#20 School’s Out…Forever!

By Kate McMullan

4 out of 5 Covers

Dragoon Slayers’ Academy is a very entertaining early chapter series.  Each book is really about the length of a short story, but that doesn’t mean it skimps any.  The series follows Wiglaf, the runt of a family of 11 brothers, as he attends the titular school with the goal of slaying dragons and stealing their hordes of treasure.  Most of that money would go to the headmaster Mordred, who would do anything for even a penny.  There he befriends Mordred’s nephew, Angus, and the star pupil, Eric (who is really Princess Erica). 

Each book is about 90-100 pages (except for #17, which is a double sized special).  Because of this, the stories are kept simple, but not simplistic.  The author uses an economy of language to portray concepts; for example, she is able to introduce the main characters and their characterization within the first four pages.  But the lack of volume of prose doesn’t mean that there is a shortage of style, plot, suspense or humor; especially humor.  The comedy aspect undoubtedly appeals to the target demographic, but it is also something a lot more books could use.

Despite the title, only a small portion of the books deal with dragon slaying; dragons don’t even appear in all of them.  There are encounters with witches, ghosts, trolls, and giants; quests to rescue knights or save kingdoms; and the usual school and family drama.  The variety of plots keeps the series from becoming formulaic.  The characters are lively, though sometimes the problems are resolved too easily. 

Despite being written for younger readers, I was still entertained by the series and see it as something that could easily be translated into a Saturday morning cartoon.

Fyre

 

Septimus Heap Book Seven: Fyre

By Angie Sage

3 ½ out of 5 Covers

Septimus Heap has been a very enjoyable series. It began a bit grim, with the murder of the queen, the disappearance of the infant princess and the kidnapping of the newborn seventh son of the seventh son.  Septimus Heap (the seventh son) was supposed to be apprenticed to the great Darke wizard DomDaniel, but was instead a mix up occurred and Septimus was placed in the new ruling Custodian’s Boys Army while DomDaniel was given a nearly non-magical brat.  And the princess was given to the grieving Heap family.  Eventually all these truths were revealed, DomDaniel was defeated and everyone was restored to their proper station.  Princess Jenna began her reign; Septimus became the Apprentice ExtraOrdinary Wizard, restoring many of the magickal and alchemiecal knowledge that had been lost not just during the Custodian’s reign, but over several centuries, culminating with an epic confrontation with the forces of the Darke.

And that is the main problem with this seventh book; that epic confrontation took place in Book Six: Darke.  All the characters have pretty much progressed to their natural concluding point, meaning all that’s left to do is tie up any loose ends.  And while there are loose ends, it’s not enough to build a fulfilling story.  Which may be why the plot doesn’t get into gear until the third act.     

Instead, the reader is treated to a visit with old friends in a wonderful world.  The author has constructed a richly detailed setting, almost to a fault.  Angie Sage may not have quite grasped the concept that while the author needs to know everything about all the characters and settings, the reader does not.  It is both a curse and a blessing, as the details of the function and history of every location and how each character got there is interesting, it does slow down the story.  Unfortunately, Sage feels she has to revisit every character and location for this volume, even when they don’t serve any purpose in the story.

There is a story in there, having to do with destroying two Darke wizards that had been captured in a ring.  Naturally they get out and wreak havoc, leading to a very exciting climax.  But it takes a while to get there.

Make no mistake, I have greatly enjoyed the Septimus Heap series and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys fantasy literature.  I just feel that it ends on a weak note.  But that note includes the promise of a new series set in the same world; hopefully one with a stronger arc.

 

The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain

3 out of 5 Covers

This collection of short stories set in the Land of Prydain highlights much of the history of the land and many of the secondary characters from the series.  There are origin stories for how Dallben became a wizard, how Fflewddur Fflam received his harp that breaks whenever he tells a lie, and how Coll the warrior became a pig keeper.  Other stories tell how important artifacts in the series came to be. 

Throughout there is a strong sense that each story is a fable meant to teach a lesson.  Since the main purpose is didactic, actual storytelling is secondary.  This is not to say that Alexander can’t do a brilliant job with this kind of writing, but it doesn’t have the same spark as the rest of the Prydain chronicles.

This tends to be a problem with most didactic stories.  It is the characters that should come first and then the morals and lessons can be interwoven as a subtext.  Even if the lesson is the text, if the reader doesn’t care about the characters first, then the moral has less impact and may even ring hollow.  And most of the reason the reader would care about the plights of these characters is from pre-existing knowledge from the Prydain Chronicles.  Even then, the impact of the stories is undercut by the fact that the reader already knows the fates of these characters.  These stories serve as prequels to put the characters in place for the first book in the series, The Book of Three.

As a rule of thumb, prequels are not as good as the original.  This volume is really for completists of the series.

 

The High King

5 out of 5 Covers

The final book of the Prydain Chronicles really is the culmination of everything that came before it.  All of Alexander’s work in creating Taran’s journey from boy to man and subtly weaving together the mythology of the land comes to a head in a final battle with Arawn, Lord of the Land of Death. 

It is a desperate time as the most powerful weapon in the land has fallen into the hands of Arawn.  Battle plans against the villain’s forces a nothing as his armies decimate the land.  The only hope lies in a risky gamble to take the fight to the Land of Death.  Taran and his allies must make a perilous journey in the dead of winter if the final battle is to succeed. 

There is true tension that Taran’s mission may fail as friends are lost, allies are betrayed and hope falters.  But the depths of despair are necessary for the any contrasting victory to be truly triumphant. 

Alexander’s prose is at its best here.  The characterization sings.  The situations are dire and provide ample tension.  My one complaint is that Arawn is a bit of a straw tiger.  The reader had only encountered him through his proxy generals, so little was known about him except he is evil.  The final confrontation was over very quickly and would have been anticlimactic if not for the author’s skill.

The book would be excellent as a stand-alone story, but its true power comes as part of a series. As such, the emotional climax equals that of Lord of the Rings.  This is a book that truly deserved the Newberry award.