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Loading... Dragon Rider (original 1997; edition 2005)by Cornelia Funke
2   fyrefly98 | Sep 27, 2009 | 
This book was really good, nice details nice story. I loved the plot of the story (  ) Mr.McCarthysClass | Jan 12, 2012 | “Dragon Rider” by Cornelia Funke. Cornelia Funke creates a story of dragons and mystical creatures living in the modern world keeping their existence hidden from all humans until now. Firedrake is a young male dragon who lives high up in the mountains with many other dragons. The dragons have always hidden their existence from humans. The danger draws near and humans are on their way to the area where the dragons live. The dragons need to decide whether to stay and hide from the humans or find a new home. One of the oldest dragons suggests that the safest place to hide from humans would be the Rim of Heaven. The highest mountain range in the world has been talked about for generations. The problem with this is that no one really knows where to find the Rim of Heaven or if it truly exists. No other dragon has the courage to leave and try to find this mountain range, except for young firedrake. So it is decided, true or not Firedrake and his friend sorrel a brownie creature will venture out in hopes of finding the mountain called the Rim of Heaven. Firedrake and Sorrel will travels by the light of the moon. Along the way they make new friends, humans and interesting creatures. All of which are very helpful in this adventure to find the Rim of Heaven. Now the team of three, Firedrake, sorrel, and a young boy named Ben realize they are being followed by the dangerous golden dragon. The golden dragon has only one agenda and that is to destroy all dragons. Firedrake does not want to lead the golden dragon to the Rim of Heaven in case there are dragons living there. Firedrake needs to decide and quick to either pack it in and just go home, or continue on with the possibility of having to fight the golden dragon once and for all. Cornelia Funke weaves a wonderful tale of the adventure that a dragons, a mystical creature and a human boy have. The strength and courage gained from friendship is what helps to keep the story flowing along. The illustrations in this book are comical and perfect for the recommended age group of 9-12 years. The suspense in this story is weak but the characters are what will keep the reader going. Sorrel with her sharp and sour ways of saying what is on her mind, will keep the reader laughing and turning the pages. (  ) corrylloyd | Oct 31, 2011 | 9033  BRCSBooks | Aug 29, 2011 | This is a good book for young readers, but I didn't find it wonderful. It just didn't stand out to me. It wasn't a bad book, but it wasn't great either. ( ) emrefner | Aug 20, 2011 | By: Funke, Cornelia Caroline After learning that humans are headed toward his hidden home, Firedrake, a silver dragon, is joined by a brownie and an orphan boy in a quest to find the legendary valley known as the Rim of Heaven, encountering friendly and unfriendly creatures along the way, and struggling to evade the relentless pursuit of an old enemy. Lexile: 710 [view chart 211Fern | Feb 25, 2011 | A very long book. but its very fictional, but it is hard to know whats going on in the story if you dontt pay attention. (  ) maly | Feb 1, 2011 | I loved it. The detail was fascinating. I myself enjoy traveling, so the detail and amount invested in all the traveling the characters did was enthralling. I love mythical tales, filled with fanstasy and intrigue. All the creautres Funke came up with were extremely neat. She was very creative with her creations, unlike anything I have seen. The protrayal of dragons was very unique, and it was quite cool. I enjoyed how long the book was, to the point that I was saddened when it ended. 5Q, 5P; Cover Art: Okay. This book is best suited for all ages. It was selected due to the size of the novel, and the genre. Grade (of reviewer): 10th (NC-AHS-NC) edspicer | Jan 3, 2011 | I fancied something completely different, and saw this on my shelf. I have read Inkheart, so know of Funke's style and this book did not disappoint. Humans are encroaching on the dragons' territory, so the young dragon Firedrake sets off to find the Rim of Heaven, a mythical place of safety. With him on his journey is a very grumpy brownie, Sorrel, and Ben, a young boy. On their way, they meet other fantastical creatures, it seems that these creatures somehow attract each other and other fun characters. But, ultimately, this is a classically told children's tale, so along with our heroes, we have our baddy in the form of Nettlebrand, a dragon-thing made by an alchemist, who feasts on dragons. Nettlebrand is covered in a golden armour, but is unable to fly. He does have abilities linked with water, he can move through it as if it were a portal. He is helped by enchanted ravens, a dwarf and Twigleg, another creature made by the alchemist. I enjoyed reading about their quest and meetings with the other characters, the illustrations are an added bonus. (  ) soffitta1 | Dec 16, 2010 | Dragon Rider is a fun and exsiting book about a dragon called Firedrake who goes in search for a magical place, where all dragons can live peace away from humans, which are moving into their territory. Along with a brownie, and a young boy named Sam, Firedrake tries to find a way to get to the special place, without running into a dangerous enemy, who wants to eat and destory all exsiting dragons. I found this story to be very engrossing, as i read along with Firedrake's journey. Dragon Rider is a #1 New York Times Bestseller. ( ) stieglitzcnewaccount | Nov 13, 2010 | A great adventure that gives hope to mystical belivers. ( ) EvanAllen | Oct 25, 2010 | A delightful tale of a dragon and his brownie companion on a search for the Rim of Heaven, the legendary dragon home that may or may not exist. This is the sort of thing I think of when I think of fantasy epics: quests, dragons, genies, dwarfs, magic, legends, peril, humor, excitement, new friends, trust, betrayal, and a happy ending. It reminded me in many ways of The Neverending Story. In other words, I absolutely loved it. It's the sort of thing I would enjoy reading again and again, just to relive the adventure. ( ) melydia | Oct 19, 2010 | I got so crazy I read this book three or four times ( ) a11anna | Oct 5, 2010 | Can't really be compared to "Inkheart," but a fun read nevertheless ( ) willowcove | Sep 1, 2010 | This book was a fun read! The characters, while being rooted in traditional myth and legend, each had unique and fresh quailities. It had a nice pace, and while being somewhat predictable due to blatant foreshadowing, still was full of present surprises. Recommended for any fan of fantasy and dragon lore. ( ) TiffanyHickox | May 27, 2010 | Ben and his friend Firedrake and Sorrel are on a journey to find the Rim of Heaven. But on their way, the spy Twigleg is trying to get information about where the Rim of Heaven lies for his master. This book was very good and interesting because of the spy Twigleg and his master trying to find the Rim of Heaven. ( ) syoon2 | Apr 8, 2010 | I highly recommend the audio version. A delightful tale. ( ) lisasimone | Mar 20, 2010 | This is a great book all about a boy, a dragon, a brownie, a homunculous, and a big bad dragon, named Nettlebrand. I LOVED this book because it had funny parts, scary parts, and just plain fun parts! ( ) Heron.Rose | Jan 10, 2010 | Firedrake, a young dragon, his loyal brownie friend Sorrel, and a homeless boy named Ben are united as if by destiny. Together they embark on a magical journey to find the rim of heaven, a place where all silver dragons can live in peace and harmony. With only a curious map from a rat, and the scarce whispers from an old dragon to guide them. They fly across the moonlit lands and seas to reach the highest mountains in the world. If you want to find out if they find the rim of heaven, read Dragon Rider, by Cornelia Funke. ( ) sasgrade4 | Oct 29, 2009 | Summary: Dragons have always tried to stay out of the way of humans, so when a construction team threatens to invade their mountainous highland hideout, they must find another place to live. A young silver dragon named Firedrake volunteers to go search for the Rim of Heaven, a fabled valley far to the east - supposedly home to another group of refugee dragons, and so isolated that no humans will ever be able to find it. He's accompanied by Sorrell, a brownie with a sharp attitude and an insatiable craving for mushrooms, and it's not long into their travels before they pick up Ben, a young human orphan who helps them out of a tight spot. But that's not all they've picked up: they've also attracted the attention of Nettlebrand, a giant golden dragon whose sole purpose in life is to hunt and kill other dragons... and now they're unwittingly leading him to the one place they thought they could be safe. Review: This is one of those case where I don't think I would have enjoyed this book in book form nearly as much as I did in audiobook form. Not that it's not good: it's a fun little fantasy adventure geared towards mid-grade to pre-teen kids, and the interesting complexity of the world meant that it held my attention a lot better than many other mid-grade fantasy novels have. Although it certainly could have been tightened up a bit in places (500+ pages is a long book for this reading level), it never felt particularly draggy, and although there were elements that would have been more interesting if they were left a little bit more morally ambiguous, I can let that go as writing for a younger audience. However, what really made this book a stand-out for me was the audiobook narration. Brendan Fraser does such an incredible job with the voice-acting that it makes me sad that he hasn't narrated more audiobooks (this and Funke's Inkspell are the only two I can find). He doesn't have a "typical" reader's style or cadence, but he reads into the microphone exactly as if he were reading a bedtime story to his own kids - complete with acted-out sneezes, whispers, grumbling noises, a huge range of consistently well-done accents, even bird noises and other not-strictly-textual sounds. If you'd ask me a priori if I wanted my audiobook narrator making spitting noises and raven squawks into my ear, I would have said absolutely not - ordinarily that kind of thing comes off as over-produced and totally obnoxious. But somehow Brendan Fraser makes it work, and the effect is more charming than annoying, and if it did its job pulling me into the story, I can only imagine how well it would work on kids closer to the intended age range. 4 out of 5 stars. Recommendation: As a book, it would be good for mid-grade fantasy fans, or adults who want a light, well-told fantasy adventure. As an audiobook, it would be perfect for a long car trip with the whole family, or just for grown-ups who miss having someone read them bedtime stories. ( )2 fyrefly98 | Sep 27, 2009 | Love Brendon Fraser's reading!!!! ( ) Evynrude | Aug 22, 2009 | this is an amasing book about a dragon named firedrack that has to find a better home for the other dragons that live in the same valy away from the humans so they can live in peace. with the help of his browny friend named sroole he looks for the rim of hevan. along the way he meets a boy named ben that lived alown in a old factoury, he has no family or money. he ends up going on this fabulis jurny to the other side of the world. they stoped at a mouten where firedrack resed, later some mouten dwarfs came and looked at firedrack. one dwarf named gravelberd whent to the golden one that hunted dragons he looks like a dragon but he is not a dragon......... i wont tell you any more if you want to now the rest you have to read this amazing book. ( ) dragongirl2 | Apr 25, 2009 | I always like adventure stories, and this one has the theme of where home is. Memorable and likable characters. ( ) AtaraxiaM | Apr 10, 2009 | A group of dragons threatened by people invading and destroying their home. Firedrake (a young dragon) and Sorrel (a brownie) set out to find the Rim of Heaven by the direction of the eldest dragon, Slatebeard. The Rim of Heaven is suppose to be a place that dragons can live without being discovered. Along their journey they're discovered by Ben (a human boy) that helps them and joins them on their journey. I read a few chapters of this book to a fifth grade class to see if I could spark their interest in Cornelia Funke's books. I was surprised to see that I was able to keep the interest of the whole class by pausing to asks questions or have them give me a response. By the end of the hour of reading to them, several of the students were asking the teacher if this book was in their library. I also told them that one of the author's books was turned into a movie, Inkheart. For an extension, I would have the class do a compare/contrast between the book and modern day society. I would also have the students do a research project of the different kinds of dragons. I also think the students would enjoy a scavenger hunt of as many books they can find that involve dragons. ( ) imagrtdnlvr | Mar 20, 2009 | This is a long and character rich story of an orphan boy named Ben who befriends Sorrell, a brownie, and Firedrake, a silver Dragon. He accompanies them on the quest to find the rim of heaven so that all dragons can live free from humans. Along the way, they are being watched by Nettlebrand, the evil dragon. Twigleg, a homunculus, spies on them for Nettlebrand at first, but then quickly falls for Ben's friendship and helps the three of them out on their journey. Gravelbeard replaces Twigleg and helps Nettlebrand find them. However, in the end it is the three plus another dragon that they found in a cave at the rim of heaven, that defeats Nettlebrand. At the end, Ben has a new family and Firedrake brings all of the dragons from his home to live at the rim of heaven with the new found dragons. The strength in this book are the characters and their ability to keep the reader interested in what happens to them. sbpagac | Mar 16, 2009 | After learning that humans are headed toward his hidden home, Firedrake, a silver dragon, is joined by a brownie and an orphan boy in a quest to find the legendary valley known as the Rim of Heaven, encountering friendly and unfriendly creatures along the way, and struggling to evade the relentless pursuit of an old enemy. Cottonwood.School | Mar 12, 2009 | |
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Review: This is one of those case where I don't think I would have enjoyed this book in book form nearly as much as I did in audiobook form. Not that it's not good: it's a fun little fantasy adventure geared towards mid-grade to pre-teen kids, and the interesting complexity of the world meant that it held my attention a lot better than many other mid-grade fantasy novels have. Although it certainly could have been tightened up a bit in places (500+ pages is a long book for this reading level), it never felt particularly draggy, and although there were elements that would have been more interesting if they were left a little bit more morally ambiguous, I can let that go as writing for a younger audience.
However, what really made this book a stand-out for me was the audiobook narration. Brendan Fraser does such an incredible job with the voice-acting that it makes me sad that he hasn't narrated more audiobooks (this and Funke's Inkspell are the only two I can find). He doesn't have a "typical" reader's style or cadence, but he reads into the microphone exactly as if he were reading a bedtime story to his own kids - complete with acted-out sneezes, whispers, grumbling noises, a huge range of consistently well-done accents, even bird noises and other not-strictly-textual sounds. If you'd ask me a priori if I wanted my audiobook narrator making spitting noises and raven squawks into my ear, I would have said absolutely not - ordinarily that kind of thing comes off as over-produced and totally obnoxious. But somehow Brendan Fraser makes it work, and the effect is more charming than annoying, and if it did its job pulling me into the story, I can only imagine how well it would work on kids closer to the intended age range. 4 out of 5 stars.
Recommendation: As a book, it would be good for mid-grade fantasy fans, or adults who want a light, well-told fantasy adventure. As an audiobook, it would be perfect for a long car trip with the whole family, or just for grown-ups who miss having someone read them bedtime stories. (