Cairn: A Dragon Memoir (Legends of the Aurora Book 2) by Rebecca Ferrell Porter
Review by Debra L Scott

“Never guess, know, that is what the memories provide.”

When fairies or elves are involved in a story, they are usually considered the good guys, or at least not the really bad guys. Dragons can go either way, but trolls are those ugly vicious things that eat people, right? Well, no, not in Rebecca Ferrell Porter’s trilogy, 'Legends of the Aurora'. As it turns out, trolls are the very good guys, fairies are the very bad guys and dragons… well, they can still go either way!

This is an engaging tale of mythos and mystery, of culture and deception. Porter writes simply enough for school age children (or at least children who enjoy a dark turn of events like in the Harry Potter books), but her characters also mirror humanity in a way that will intrigue adults. It starts off a bit slow, but soon becomes a page turner. I read it without the benefit of the first book so was a little lost about the backstory, but it is still readable as a stand-alone plot.

Book two of the 'Legends' trilogy, 'Cairn: A Dragon Memoir', finds a young dragon called Troika living in the forest among the trolls, unable to return to his family of dragons by the sea. He was different from birth; he had the mark of the Chosen One. His mother hid him there after a deadly battle with the fairies that occurred in book one. And now, a voice is calling to him:

“With his eyes closed, his body tense, and his scales screaming for him to stop, he finally heard the voice: a child’s giggle that morphed into a cackle like ice fracturing in a sudden violent scream. Troika broke contact, locked his hands over his ears, and left the river. Momma had been right; danger hid in the lullaby.”

The voice lures him to return home, to the cave deep in the coastal mountains. Troika knows danger awaits there and is loath to leave his comfortable life among the peaceful trolls. But he can no longer ignore the relentless whispered commands of Aurora. He returns, bringing his troll friend with him to a society as alien to him as to his trusted companion.

The dragons of his home are suspicious of him, ridicule and threaten him. They say he is no true dragon. He is different, yes, he knows that. But the knowledge of dragon lore is imprinted in his scales. With encouragement from his mother, he learns to listen to what his scales tell him and separate out dragon life from his troll upbringing. And all the while the invisible voice who calls herself Aurora continues to speak to him of things no one else can hear. He knows the leader of the pack, his father, was murdered… and he knows who did it. ( )