Queste

By Angie Sage

Rating: 4 stars

This is book 4 in the Septimus Heap series. Continuing where we left off in the 3rd book, Physik, Septimus and Jenna are determined to rescue their brother Nicko and Snorri from where they got stuck in the past. Jenna is particularly upset. But as the pair, with the help of friend Beetle, try to find a way into the past, a darke force is moving against Septimus. Merrin, the boy who was mistaken for Septimus for years, is back seeking revenge. With the help of a Darke spell, a Thing, and the ghost of Tertius Fume, Merrin gets Septimus sent on a Queste--which no apprentice has come back from once it has been accepted. Septimus keeps his Queste hidden from the others as long as possible. The trio receive help from Marcellus Pye in the shape of a map and writing from Nicko and Snorri when they set out to find the House of Foryx where all times meet. The three immediately decide to try to find the House of Foryx themselves to rescue Nicko and Snorri. As their journey starts, we run across many of our favorite characters and places, from Alther to Spit Fyre to Marcia to the witches in the wood to Sam Heap and many more. It is an exciting adventure, fraught with danger and magyk, and fans will be happy with the fast pace. And for a change, our story has...dare I say...a happy ending with no immediate cliffhanger. Another enjoyable installment. A fifth book, Syren, is planned for 2009.

The Last of the High Kings

By Kate Thompson

Rating: 4 1/4 stars

Fans of The New Policeman will rejoice to read this companion novel. Jenny, the daughter of the famous musical Liddy family, is different. She can't concentrate in school and prefers to wander the hills and spends time talking to a puka--a magical creature who disguises himself as a white goat. The puka wants her to spend time befriending a ghost--a young man who has been attached to guarding a local beacon for hundreds of years. Meanwhile, Jenny's father, J.J. and his wife Aisling are at odds. J.J. had once visited Tir na n'Og and has become world famous as a violinist as a result, but that has left Aisling with the chore of raising 4 children practically by herself. If only Aengus Og of the fairy folk had kept his bargain about the chiming wood....can J.J. force him to finally give him what is due? And Donal, their son, is drawn to an elderly neighbor man named Mikey who claims to be the last of the high kings and Mikey says he needs to make it up to the beacon. What does the puka really want? What bargain did J.J. make with Aengus? And why does an old man need to climb to the top of the beacon? These three plot threads will wind together to a satisfying conclusion. Full of Irish folklore and music, readers will be happily drawn into the story.

Ever

By Gail Carson Levine

Rating: 4 stars

Olus is a new god of Akka, a god of the winds. Restless, he is fascinated by mortals, those "soap bubbles" that do not last that the other gods mainly ignore. Olus decides to go and live among the mortals as a goatherd, and ends up watching a particular family with a daughter named Kezi who is both skilled at knotting rugs and dancing. Olus begins to fall in love with Kezi and then tragedy strikes. Kezi's mother becomes very ill and her father makes an oath to their god, Admat, that if he makes her well, the next person to congratulate him will be sacrificed to the god. When a beloved aunt forces her way into the house, in desperation Kezi chooses to sacrifice herself. Now poor Kezi has one month to live and Olus can't stand it. He reveals himself to her as a god with a plan--if she can become a heroine and he can become a champion, she may be able to win a spot among the gods and become immortal. But can they face their worst fears for a chance at immortality? An interesting story of love and sacrifice and the truth behind the gods, told from both Kezi and Olus' point of view in alternating chapters. Fans of fantasy and of this author will be pleased with this story.

The New Policeman

By Kate Thompson

Rating: 4 1/4 stars

In this fascinating tale, J.J. Lyddie is a descendent of an Irish family who have been playing music for generations. Despite his family keeping up the musical traditions, J.J. and everyone else is feeling like there just isn't enough time in a day to do everything that needs doing. When his mother asks for more time as a birthday gift, J.J. vows to try and buy some time for her. Little does he know that he is about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime. When a neighbor reveals that there is a time leak between our world and Tir na n'Og, the land of eternal youth, she shows J.J. how to enter that land and sets him the task of trying to find the leak. For if it doesn't stop, our time will keep leaking away into the land of the fairies, then neither world will exist as it should be. Can J.J. find the leak in Tir na n'Og and help save both worlds? To do so, he will have to meet fairies and gods and navigate a world he thought only existed in fairy tales. This is a quick paced and very enjoyable fantasy, brimful of Irish music and legend. A companion story, The Last of the High Kings, is also available to fans.

Dragon Moon

By Carole Wilkinson

Rating: 4 1/4 stars

This is the last book in the Dragon Keeper trilogy. At the end of the last book, The Garden of the Purple Dragon, Ping had escaped with baby dragon Kai to the Princess' kingdom. As this book opens, they have happily been living there for a year, but Ping realizes it is time to move on and find the dragon haven that Danzi, Kai's father, wanted them to reach. Ping discovers on the piece of silk that Danzi left clues to the haven, and soon she and Kai set off on an adventure across the Empire. Good and bad befalls the pair, and they find friends and enemies alike. Jun, the boy from the last story who had posed as a dragon keeper, appears to help out Ping and make amends for his behavior. Then they find the dragon haven--only to find it deserted, with dragon bones littered across it. Dragon hunters had been there and the haven was no longer safe. So they press onwards, only to discover word of yet another haven. Can a girl and a young dragon find someplace no one knows exists? And will wild dragons let them live there? This is a fitting end to this unusual trilogy, which takes place in ancient China. Fantasy and adventure lovers alike will enjoy this whole series.

Garden of the Purple Dragon

By Carole Wilkinson

Rating: 4 1/4 stars

This is book two in the Dragon Keeper series. Ping is the Imperial Dragon Keeper. In her first adventure, she helped Danzi, the last dragon in the empire, to escape the palace and journey to the sea. Danzi taught her much and left her with his newly hatched dragon son while he flew to the Isle of Blest to live. Danzi wanted his son Kai to live in freedom, so Ping is in hiding while learning the hard way to raise a baby dragon. But the necromancer she once outwitted is back, eager to kidnap Kai for his magical properties, so Ping flees again, only to end up back where she started. Captured by guards, she is again the Imperial Dragon Keeper with the young Emperor at Ming Yang Lodge. At first Ping is happy to have her Emperor friend back again. Kai likes the Emperor and Ping is learning to read with his sister, the Princess. Life is comfortable. But the Emperor becomes obsessed with finding a way to become immortal, and a dragon lives a very long life...Ping puts the pieces together too late to avoid disaster. Can she save not only herself but Kai? Another interesting fantasy adventure story set refreshingly in ancient China. Readers will be pleased to hear there is a third installment, Dragon Moon.

The Battle for Skandia

By John Flanagan

Rating: 4 1/4 stars

This is the 4th book in the Ranger's Apprentice series. We pick up where we left off in the last volume, with Will finally beginning to recover from his drug addiction after Evalyn rescued him from slavery with the help of the Skandian, Erak. The two are still in their small cabin in the mountains when spring hits, but before they can worry about moving on, Evalyn is captured by a Temujai--a race of people from the steppes who are unbeatable warriors. Will is soon in pursuit to try and rescue Evalyn. Meanwhile, Will's mentor Halt and his young warrior friend Horace are finally entering Skandia looking to rescue Will, and find the handiwork of the Temujai, so they begin to track the group. Add in Erak also tracking the Temujai and it is inevitable the three groups meet up in time to rescue Evalyn and scatter the small Temujai party. But not before Halt gets a good glimpse of the thousands who have invaded and will be heading for the Skandian capital to conquer the country. And if the Temujai take over Skandia and its access to its ships and the sea, soon they will be coming to conquer Araluen next. So our small band head for the city with the hope that Halt and his friends can convince the Skandian leader to either evacuate or fight in a whole new tactical way to try and defeat the Temujai. This book is nonstop action from beginning to end, with some development in the relationships between our young heros. Fans of the series will not be disappointed, as this is one of the better installments so far, and it could well win new fans who will go back and read from the beginning. Unlike the last couple of books, this one does not end on a cliffhanger, so readers may be able to wait a little longer for the next volume.

The Key to Rondo

By Emily Rodda

Rating: 4 1/4 stars

In this fast-moving fantasy, sensible Leo is less than pleased to find his dour cousin Mimi and her dog Mutt are coming to stay for a month. When Mimi challenges Leo to wind up the old music box he inherited more than the proscribed 3 times, magical things start to happen. The pictures painted on the music box come to life in Leo's room and then the Blue Queen appears. She tries to get Mimi to go with her, but when that fails, the Queen snatches Mutt instead and disppears into the box. There is nothing for it but to begin a quest to rescue Mutt, and Leo reluctantly tags along with Mimi into the fairy tale like world, where animals talk, gingerbread men are pests, and hidey-holes appear out of nowhere. Mimi and Leo meet both friends and enemies along the way to find the Blue Queen, and struggle with whom to trust and what to believe. Both cousins gain in confidence and understanding about themselves as they continue their dangerous quest. Will Mutt get rescued? Will Mimi and Leo find their way back home? Fantasy fans will be well pleased with this entertaining read, which doles out plenty of twists in the plot and neatly ties up the loose ends, with the possibility of sequels left open (it is projected to become a new series). You may also want to read some of Rodda's other books, like the Rowan of Rin series or the Deltora series.

Northlander

By Meg Burden

Rating: 4 1/4 stars

Reviewed by Noelle

This book is dubbed Tales of the Borderlands: Book One, so we hope it heralds the beginning of a new series. The Northland and the Southlands are in a state of open prejuidice and dislike, with Northlanders treating Southlings as though they are dirty or diseased. 16 year old Ellin is a Southling staying in the Northland capital while her father secretly teaches Northlander healers his skills to help their very ill king. Southling healing is considered to be witchcraft and is illegal. But when Ellin gets locked out of the city gates, she ends up unintentionally getting the help of one of the young princes, which gets her in to see the king. Before she knows it, Ellin is living in the castle with her father, helping to heal the king. As she befriends the other princes, she becomes aware of some kind of power in her mind that lets her hear another's thoughts. Finn and Erik, the twin princes, also have the ability. But then Ellin's father explains that this power is exactly what the Northlanders hate and fear about the Southlings, and that she must hide it at all costs. Despite helping the king, Ellin and her father are still sentenced to prison for breaking the Northlander laws, but the princes help them escape. But when the pair make it back to their home in the Southland, it is just the beginning of their trials. For the Guardians know about Ellin and her powers and they are on their way to caputre her...and another group of outcast Southlings with powers are looking to recruit her for their purposes. How will Ellin ultimately use her powers? And can her past exploits with the Northlanders help change both countries for the better? An unusual story, which is packed with plot and will keep fans of fantasy quickly turning the pages to get to the next chapter. Not much is left hanging, but it is a promising beginning for a new series.

The Garden of Eve

By K. L. Going

Rating: 4 stars

Reviewed by Noelle

Evie is resentful when her father up and moves her to Beaumont, New York to try to bring back to life a blighted orchard. Evie fiercely misses her fanciful mother, who always loved magic and stories, who recently has died of cancer. The new town is tiny, the house is old, and the orchard is right next door to a cemetary. Soon Evie notices a pale boy who inhabits the cemetary, and when she talks to him, he claims to be the ghost of a boy who just died. To add to the strangeness, Maggie, the woman who sold them the orchard on behalf of her dead brother, tells them of a curse upon the orchard. Her older sister, also named Eve, disappeared in the orchard one day, and many tales are told of the unsolved mystery. Then, to top everything off, on Evie's 11th birthday, Maggie hands her a gift from her brother--an old box that contains a seed which supposedly has come from the Garden of Eden. Evie isn't sure what to believe--is this boy Alex really a ghost? What really happened to Maggie's sister? Can this old seed really be from the Garden of Eden? All Evie knows is that a warm wind seems to blow whenever she opens the box, and she begins to imagine a glorious tree growing from the seed. She knows she has to plant it to see what happens--but can Evie believe in a world of magic when that same world robbed her of her mother? Believe it or not, all of these mysteries will be answered by the end of the book, when Evie deals with magic and reality, grief and happiness. An unusual story which effectively mixes magic into our every day world.

The Glass Word

By Kai Meyer

Rating: 4 stars

Reviewed by Noelle

This is the 3rd book in the Dark Reflections Trilogy. The story takes up where we left off in The Stone Light. The girls Merle and Junipa, riding on the stone lion Vermithrax, escape Hell by following Winter out into the deserts of Egypt. Seth, the evil Horus priest, also escapes when he fails to kill the ruler of Hell, Lord Light. All are surprised to find the desert covered in snow and cold, courtesy of Winter, as he searches for his true love, Summer. Uneasily, the girls and lion join forces with Seth to infiltrate the Iron Eye--the fortress of the Sphinxes. Also on the way to the Iron Eye are the mermaid Eft, Serafin, Lalapeya the Sphinx, and the other boys from the guild. Once inside the Iron Eye, many secrets are revealed, including the identity of Merle's parents, the Sphinxes' plan to raise the Son of the Mother from the dead to conquer the earth as well as other worlds, and the power of the glass word which Junipa can use to pass through the mirrors. Their quest will include finding and rescuing Summer, conquering the Son of the Mother, and discovering the true nature of the Flowing Queen. With lots of action and plenty of dark overtones, fantasy and adventure readers will find much to like about the final entry in the series. But as the Flowing Queen tells Merle, this is not a fairy tale, so you cannot expect a happy ending. Enough threads are left hanging that possible other books may be written about further adventures of all our heroes. Fans of Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy and other heavier weight fantasy will find much to like here.

Into the Woods

By Lyn Gardner

Rating: 4 stars

Reviewed by Noelle

Fans of fairy-tale retellings will rejoice to read this entertaining fantasy/adventure. Storm, Aurora and Any(thing) Eden are three sisters living on their own in their house at Eden End. Their father is off on another of his expeditions and their mother, Zella, died after the birth of Any. Before her death, Zella gave Storm an unremarkable tin pipe with a warning to keep it safe. Suddenly, nefarious characters, including the evil Dr. DeWilde have appeared, bent on getting that same pipe. The sisters are forced to become fugitives as Dr. DeWilde and the numerous wolves he has at his command search for them. Their adventure will take them all over the map and will touch upon fairy tales like Rapunzel, the Pied Piper, Hansel and Gretel, Sleeping Beauty and more. Readers will enjoy the allusions to well-known tales as well as the new twists given to them. It is only by their wits and courage that the three sisters will be able to make it through their adventure, and readers will be happy to come along for the ride. Fans of the Sisters Grimm stories (i.e. The Fairy-Tale Detectives, etc.) will find certain similarities between this book and that series, and be happily engaged. Happy ending guaranteed!

Book of a Thousand Days

By Shannon Hale

Rating: 4 1/4 stars

Reviewed by Noelle

With a small nod to the fairy tale of Rapunzel, Hale writes a hard to put down piece of fiction. Dashti is a "mucker," a commoner alone in the world after the death of her mother. Muckers are well known for their healing songs which ease pain and suffering. With nowhere to turn, Dashti goes to seek training as a maid in the royal city. She is assigned to the Lady Saren, a royal lady Dashti's own age, who makes her swear to stay with her. Little does Dashti know that Saren has just been sentenced by her own father to be locked in a tower for seven years--or until she agrees to marry the fearsome Lord Khasar. Dashti keeps a journal of their trials in their prison, including visits from Khan Tegus, Saren's long distance lover, and from the evil Lord Khasar himself. But after two and a half years, Dashti finds a way for them to escape the tower, only to find the country destroyed; laid to waste by the ambitious Khasar. Their best hope is to travel to Song of Evela and to throw themselves on the mercy of Khan Tegus. But Lady Saren seems mentally unstable and unable to care for herself, and Dashti finds herself forced to be leader and nursemaid. When finally the pair reach the Khan's home, Saren refuses to reveal herself and word on the street is that Lord Khasar is on his way to attack Song of Evela, too. Dashti is brought to the Khan to sing the healing songs for his old leg pain; should she take the chance to unmask Saren when so much depends upon it? Hard choices, bravery, songs, romance, loyalty and duty are all major plot themes and will keep readers turning the pages to see how everything ends. Written as journal entries, the sections feel so short you keep reading just one more...just one more....just one more....until suddenly the conclusion is upon you. Hale has gotten kudos before now for her wonderful descriptive writing style, particularly for her fabulous Newbery Honor book, Princess Academy (see review). Fans of rewritten fairy tales and fantasy will find much to like here.

The Land of the Silver Apples

By Nancy Farmer

Rating: 4 1/2 stars

Reviewed by Noelle

This is the sequel to The Sea of Trolls. It helps if you have read the first book, but new readers will be able to follow along fairly well even so. Set in Great Britain in the year 790, 13 year old Jack is a bard-in-training in his tiny village. Trouble is afoot when Jack's beautiful and selfish little sister Lucy seems to go mad. The Bard travels with Jack's father, Jack, Brother Aiden, and the freed slave Pega, to the monastery of St.Filian's to hopefully purge Lucy of her condition. But when Jack sees the monks mistreating the people who come for help, his anger unintentionally causes an earthquake through his staff. A chasm appears in the earth, and Lucy is snatched away by an elf queen. To set things to rights, Jack is forced to journey through the tunnels with Pega and the slave Brutus to Elfland to try and recover Lucy and get the waters flowing again. The trio have numerous adventures, like running into monsters, meeting up unexpectedly with the pillager Thorgil, and being held captive by the hobgoblins before they finally reach Elfland. Readers will be riveted to the pages as the young teens face each new hurdle, making friends and enemies as they journey. Fantasy and adventure lovers alike will be more than satisfied by this inventive story, which mixes magic with the history of early Great Britain, Christianity and the old gods. A historical note in the back provides information about life during that period of time. A third book is promised in 2009, titled The Islands of the Blessed.

Dragonhaven

By Robin McKinley

Rating 4 1/4 stars

Reviewed by Noelle

Kudos to established fantasy writer McKinley for doing the unexpected. Instead of putting us in a new fantasy environment, this novel places us in what seems to be normal, every day America with one big difference--dragons exist. Our narrator is the teenager Jake, who lives at the Institute, a nature preserve for dragons. And like most non-profit places, it is struggling to survive. Dragons, for all their size and glory, seem able to hide away, and almost no one ever sees them. They also seem to be dwindling in number. And then Jake goes on his overnight solo in the park and finds both a dead poacher and a dying dragon who just gave birth...and one of the dragonlets is still alive. Unthinking, Jake picks up the baby dragon and before he knows it, Jake becomes both the dragon's mom and on America's most wanted list for it is a crime to try and save a dragon's life. The Institute rallies around Jake and his big secret (whom he names Lois), and then things get really out of control. While Jake is learning all about dragons from birth on up with Lois, the Institute is under attack from a group trying to close them down for protecting dangerous creatures--the fallout of the dead poacher. Jake has to leave the Institute with Lois and head out into the backcountry to hide, and it there that he makes contact with other dragons. Real dragons. Big, fire-breathing, house-sized dragons. Can Jake find a way to communicate with the dragons and save the Institute? This novel is compelling, especially told from Jake's stream of consciousness point of view where raising a dragon is tackled from a very practical standpoint. The existence of dragons among us is enough to tease in many a reader, but all of them will stay to see what ends up happening with Lois, Jake and the Institute. Thumbs up!

Elissa's Quest

By Erica Verrillo

Rating: 4 stars

Reviewed by Noelle

This is the first book in the Phoenix Rising series. As far as Elissa knows, she is an orphaned peasant girl, apprenticed to the healer Nana in a small village. She fantasizes about the identity of her unknown father, only knowing that her mother died in childbirth. Elissa does have one secret: a magical gift to speak to and understand animals that Nana warns her to keep silent about. Then when Elissa is 13 years old, her father appears, and he turns out to be the prince of Castlemar, Lord Falk. In an instant, Elissa is swept out of the only life she knows and brought with Lord Falk on a journey to meet with the Khan. Although Elissa is desperate for a sign of love from her father, she despairs when Lord Falk tells her that she is to be used as a bargaining chip with the Khan so he'll lend Falk the army he needs to win a war in Castlemar. Left in the Citadel with her faithful donkey Gertrude and a young enslaved serving girl named Maya, Elissa begins to learn of her destiny when she hears a prophecy about the Phoenix and the Seeker. But first before she fulfills any prophecies, Elissa must escape the evil Khan! Can she find a way out of the Citadel and back to her father? This is a very likeable fantasy, with a plucky heroine. Although some elements of the story are rather contrived and convenient, most readers won't mind and will be swept up in the fast-moving plot. Those who like this story will look forward to the sequels.

The Dark is Rising

By Susan Cooper

Rating: 4 1/2 stars

Newbery Honor

Reviewed by Noelle

This is book 2 in the excellent 5 book The Dark is Rising Sequence. Will Stanton turns 11 years old in December, and his whole world changes. For Will is an Old One, the last one to be born in the world, and with his eleventh birthday, he becomes the Sign Seeker. He must collect signs from the different elements as he finds them, and in so doing, help to defeat the Dark. For the Old Ones are of the Light, forever fighting those who serve the Dark, in an everlasting battle for dominance of the planet. Will finds the change bewildering, as he still is a young boy celebrating the holidays with his large family as much as he is fighting the Dark in moments that are out of his time. As Will journeys through long winter days, he discovers the powers that are his right as an Old One, and the long arm the Dark has to reach into Will's every day world and family. It is as much an adventure in being and becoming and standing for what is right as it is racing the Dark to collect the signs. Merriman Lyon, the professor we met in Over Sea, Under Stone, makes an appearance here as well, as Will's mentor and an Old One himself. Readers will enjoy the many-layered plot, the symbolism, and the action, and will look forward to reading book 3, Greenwitch, when the characters from the first two stories come together. The film of The Dark is Rising: The Sign Seeker has just been released (October 2007), although what previews I have seen seem to suggest some pretty major changes. Still, fans of the book may be interested.

The Treekeepers

By Susan McGee Britton

Rating: 4 stars

Reviewed by Noelle

In the country of Wen, the Tree That Speaks has fallen, when Soladin, the Treekeeper, is betrayed by the evil Rendarren. Since then, the evil king has set about destroying any mention of the Tree and of thalasse, the magical liquid the Tree would produce. When the orphan Bird summons Farwender to help a sick child, she sees him use a vial of thalasse, the last in the world. To protect Bird from the Searchers, Farwender takes Bird to stay with Soladin, where she finds other orphans around her same age. There, Bird discovers she is the chosen one in a prophecy telling of one who will plant the seed that will bring back the Tree. Then Rendarren takes action, and Soladin and Farwender disappear, leaving Bird and the other children to set off on a dangerous quest to bring the seed to Wen and make things right. This is a great story, filled with magic, betrayal, courage, a perilous quest, friendship and adventure. Bird is a fierce but lovable character, stubborn but true. Her personal quest to find her father is woven into the adventure as well. Readers will enjoy this quick-paced and satisfying fantasy.

Once Upon a Crime

By Michael Buckley

Rating: 4 stars

Reviewed by Noelle

This is book 4 in the Sisters Grimm series. Picking up where we left off in the third book, The Problem Child (see review, October 2006), Granny Relda, Mr. Canis, Mr. Hamstead, Daphne and Sabrina are all driving pellmell to New York City to find the fairies who live there in the hopes that they can cure the seriously injured Puck. The fairies take in the once-banished Puck to cure him, but the Grimms soon are embroiled in another mystery when Oberon, the King of the Fairies (and Puck's father), turns up dead with a red handprint on his body. The Scarlet Hand strikes again! The Grimms are hired to track down his killer, but as they run into the Everafters living in New York, they uncover another secret. Veronica Grimm, mother of the girls, was heavily involved with helping the Everafter community--and her family knew nothing about it. The news about her mother confuses Sabrina, just when she was deciding to give up fairy tale detective work. But as the family unravels the clues, running into Sinbad the Sailor, Mother Goose, the Seven Dwarves, the Wizard of Oz, and other new characters, Sabrina realizes she is doing just what she is meant to do. There are plenty of chases and escapes, and plenty of humor as usual, in this Sisters Grimm story. Fans will be happy to know book 5, Magic and Other Misdemeanors, will soon be available.

The Hero and the Crown

By Robin McKinley

Newbery Award Winner 1985

Rating: 4 3/4 stars

Reviewed by Noelle

This is the prequel to the excellent The Blue Sword (see review, Oct. 2006), and is set hundreds of years in the past. Aerin is the misfit daughter and only child of the king of Damar. Other members of the royal family possess the "Gift," a type of magic. But Aerin remains stubbornly without any such proof that she belongs in the family. Her only friends are her old nurse, Teka, Tor, the heir to the kingdom, and Talat, her father's castoff war horse. But when Aerin stumbles across a recipe for kenet, a salve that supposedly makes one fireproof, she becomes a slayer of the small and nasty dragons who inhabit the country and feels she has finally found a niche in her world. Trouble is also brewing in the North, and talk comes of trying to find the long lost Crown, which makes the wearer unbeatable. Then Maur, the last great dragon, awakes to lay waste to Damar. Will a second-rate king's daughter, kenet and an old war horse be enough to face him? And what happens when Maur is just the beginning of the threat to Damar? Readers cannot help but be swept into Aerin's world, where she undertakes the slow changes from the girl who hides in her room to a hero of Damar. A fully realized world and great characters make this a fantastic work of fiction.