Struan Murray

Alex lives a VERY sheltered life with her highly controlling mother, and is mourning her father with whom she had a very close relationship. Alex is drawn back time and time again to the woods where they spent most of their time together, where she feels the closest to her father, but when her mother finds out about all the time she's been spending there, she punishes Alex by forbidding her to go back there again. Alex feels like she is going to explode, and when she goes back to the woods show more and screams out her frustration, she breathes out fire and finds out that she is a dragon who has been living as a human, completely oblivious to her true nature, but things do start to make a lot of sense. She's whisked away to the island of Skralla where she will be schooled in all things dragon, which is kind of hard to do when her body refuses to cooperate and change forms into said dragon. When Alex and her friends learn about an evil legendary dragon, Drak Midna, who wants to start a war against the humans, and Alex may be the only one who can help him attain this goal, things go wildly out of control very quickly.

This was a very exciting book. The premise is unique and is what grabbed my attention in the first place. The world building is truly phenomenal, written with such detail you feel like you are inhabiting the island right along with the dragons. The characters are well written, and the relationships that develop between Alex and her friends allow for a lot of emotional growth. The plotline is very interesting and the pacing is spot on. The thing that stand out the most for me is the action, which is front and center throughout the book. The ending was a complete surprise, and set up the next book in the series very nicely.

One caution I would add is that there is a lot of violence in this book because we're dealing with a lot of children who can and do turn into dragons daily, with the competitiveness that goes along with that, but it's not superfluous and does serve to move the plot along.

All in all, this is a very exciting book, the first in a new series aimed at 9-12 year olds, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing where book 2 takes us.

5/5 stars.

*** I would like to thank NetGalley, Penguin Young Readers Group, and Struan Murray, for the opportunity to read and review Dragonborn. show less

Interesting novel in that the author never quite explains the background story and you, the reader, have to piece it together as you go along. Basically The City where the book is set is the remains of a once enormous city like London, and the only part that remains is that located on high ground; the water level has risen so much that it has covered the rest of the world. We are thrown into this world in which there has been an unusually high tide ans a whale has been washed up on the lower show more roof at the city's edge. Enter Ellie, our heroine, the daughter of an inventor who knows that dead whales can explode. She slices the belly open and out pops a hand that clasps a hold of her ankle. What? There is a live naked boy inside the whale! Then enter the Inquisitors, a group who have the role of stopping The Enemy ( an evil spiritual presence) from taking over a Vessel ( another human) and wreaking havoc on the City. The Inquisitors say that the whale boy named Seth by Ellie's best friend Anna is the Vessel and will therefore be executed the next day. Ellie must then make a bargain with the strange street urchin Finn to try and save Seth from death as she knows he is NOT the Vessel. Have I lost you yet?

Trust me, the book gets easier as it goes along. You could call it sort of dystopian paranormal steam punk but the story is catchy enough. I must admit though, I guessed why Ellie knew Seth wasn't the Vessel and who the Finn urchin really was a long time before the end of the novel. That being said, there were some surprise plot twists to keep me guessing. It seems to me that there will probably be a sequel after Eliie's discovery of the map showing another City and also the repair of her underwater boat meaning she could perhaps take a journey to it in a future novel. Fun book with a dark edge. show less

It had been years since I read the first book in the series so it took me a while to reacquaint myself with the characters and work out where I was in the story. Ellie and Seth have left the City and are on a raft headed out into the ocean after being pursued by the Inquisitors. After some struggles, they land on Shipwreck Island which is totally unlike the City in that the people revere a Queen who is said to have healing powers and people do not seem to be as persecuted as they were in show more their previous home. But the enemy is still lurking in Ellie's consciousness and even when she befriends the Queen ( who turns out to be a young girl like Ellie) things start to go horribly wrong...
Story moves along fairly well although towards the end I found myself wondering what I had got myself into in my attempt to read this trilogy as it seems like a book with a message about good and evil and also about environmental damage and spirituality and self evaluation. Some of the characters are delightful though - I loved Molesworth the boy who owned the pub - great concept! show less

4.5 Stars
A middle-grade fantasy filled with adventure, this book is a great start to a new series for young readers who enjoy stories about dragons and lore, magical schools, tween coming-of-age characters, and quests. It's age-appropriate, fast-paced, and quickly draws in the reader. I think middle-grade students can related to these realistically flawed kids in the novel and even more seasoned readers will start to cheer for them. I'd definitely read a sequel. For fantasy fans.

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